Fire & 5th's range is built around the idea that alcohol-free spirits should actually taste like something. The Rhubarb & Grapefruit is the most classically aperitivo-esque of their three expressions — sharp, bitter, and thoroughly adult. The rhubarb flavouring is convincingly tart, more stem than stewed, and the grapefruit keeps pace without going candied. Gentian root is listed as a botanical and you can taste it: that clean, bone-dry bitterness familiar from Campari and Aperol is here in a subtler form, stopping the whole thing from reading as a fruit squash. Pomegranate concentrate adds tangy depth, chamomile softens the edges, and ginger brings a faint warmth in the finish. It's designed to be mixed with soda water (35ml to 150ml is their suggestion), and that's where it performs best — the bitterness opens up with dilution and the carbonation lifts the aromatics. Available direct from the brand's website for €25 a bottle.