What to Drink Instead of Alcohol: Beyond the AF Aisle

This site focuses on alcohol-free beers, wines, spirits, and the drinks designed to replace them. That's our thing.

But what to drink instead of alcohol isn't a question that starts and ends in the AF aisle. The options extend far beyond AF alternatives. Some have been around for centuries. Some are having a moment right now. All of them deserve a brief nod, even if we won't be reviewing them in depth.

Consider this your quick tour of everything else in the glass.

What to drink instead of alcohol when AF drinks don't fit

AF beer, wine, and spirits solve one specific problem: giving you something that feels like the real thing. Most evenings, that's exactly what you want.

But not every moment wants a beer-shaped beverage or a wine-shaped experience. Some occasions call for a cup of tea, a glass of kombucha, or something sharp and citrus-fresh that never pretended to be anything else. This guide is a quick map of the rest of the non-AF aisle: the drinks sitting outside the alcohol-free category that are still worth knowing about.

Soft Drinks

The originals. Carbonated, sweetened, ubiquitous.

Soft drinks emerged from medieval fruit syrups and 18th-century artificial mineral waters. Thomas Henry of Manchester pioneered the sale of artificial mineral water in the late 1770s, opening his factory in 1781. By the late 1800s, brands we still recognise had appeared: Dr Pepper (1885), Coca-Cola (1886), Pepsi (1893).

Temperance movements in Britain and the United States drove early soft drink innovation. Vimto launched in Manchester in 1908 as a temperance cordial. Dandelion and burdock, sarsaparilla, and cream soda are commonly associated with temperance bars offering alternatives to alcohol.

The health reality: Modern soft drinks are essentially sugar delivery systems. A 330ml can of cola contains around nine teaspoons of sugar, already more than the WHO's conditional six-teaspoon-a-day limit for adults. The links to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dental decay are well-established. Diet versions avoid sugar but bring their own controversies around artificial sweeteners.

When they work: Mixers for AF spirits, occasional treats, nostalgic indulgence. Not as daily hydration.

Tea and Coffee

The world's most popular psychoactive substances, consumed for millennia.

Tea drinking became a daily beverage in China around the 3rd century. Coffee emerged in Ethiopia and Yemen, reaching Europe via Ottoman and Venetian trade routes in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first London coffee house opened in 1652. By 1739, the city had over 550.

Both contain caffeine but deliver it differently. Coffee hits faster and harder. Tea's L-theanine moderates the caffeine effect, producing alertness without the jitters. Both contain antioxidants and have been linked to various health benefits in research.

Why we don't cover them: They're not trying to replace alcoholic drinks. Nobody orders a flat white when they want something that feels like a glass of wine. Different category entirely.

The exception: Coffee and tea do appear in some AF cocktails and mocktails. Espresso martini mocktails are popular. Cold brew makes an excellent mixer. Chai works in winter warmers. When they cross into our territory, we'll mention them.

Juices and Smoothies

Fruit in liquid form, with varying degrees of processing.

Fresh juice retains vitamins but loses fibre. The sugar hits your bloodstream fast without the moderating effect of whole fruit's cellular structure. A glass of orange juice contains roughly as much sugar per serving as a glass of cola, just with added vitamin C.

Smoothies keep more fibre if made from whole fruit, but commercial versions often add juice, yogurt, or sweeteners that push sugar content high. A large commercial smoothie can contain well over 50g of sugar in a single serving.

The health nuance: UK NHS guidance counts a 150ml glass of juice as one of your five-a-day, but only one, no matter how much you drink. The international advice converges: eat whole fruit, drink juice sparingly.

Homemade smoothies using whole fruit, vegetables, and protein sources (yogurt, nut butter) can be genuinely nutritious. Shop-bought ones vary wildly. Read labels.

Kombucha

Fermented tea with a cult following and contested health claims.

Kombucha traces back to north-east China, where tradition places its origin as far back as 220 BC, though the earliest reliable documentation is only around a century old. A SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) ferments sweetened tea: yeast converts the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide, and acetic acid bacteria then oxidise most of that ethanol into acetic acid. The result is tangy, slightly vinegary, and fizzy.

The grey area: Commercial kombucha is typically kept under 0.5% ABV, the US TTB threshold above which a product is regulated as an alcoholic beverage. Homemade versions can drift well above 0.5% if fermentation isn't controlled, and uncontrolled brews higher still. That puts some home batches above the threshold we use for 'alcohol-free'. Fermented, complex, and sitting somewhere between a soft drink and an AF beer in character.

Health claims: Proponents cite gut health benefits from probiotics. The evidence is thin. A 2019 systematic review found exactly one human clinical trial on kombucha; the rest of the literature extrapolates from general probiotic or animal studies. It probably won't hurt you. It probably won't transform your microbiome either.

Why we might cover it occasionally: It occupies similar territory to AF drinks: adult, complex, interesting, low or no alcohol. When a kombucha genuinely competes with AF beer for the same occasion, it's relevant.

Sparkling Water

Water with bubbles. Simple, effective, underrated.

Naturally carbonated mineral waters have been drunk for centuries. Artificial carbonation arrived in the 1770s, when Joseph Priestley worked out how to dissolve carbon dioxide into water, and Thomas Henry commercialised the technique soon after. Modern options range from plain sparkling water to flavoured varieties with everything from citrus to cucumber to exotic botanicals.

Why it matters: Sparkling water is the ultimate AF drink hack. It provides the ritual (popping a cap, hearing fizz, holding a glass of something interesting) with zero calories, zero sugar, zero alcohol, zero complexity.

In a wine glass with ice and a slice of lime, sparkling water passes as a drink at any social occasion. No questions, no explanations.

The fancy end: Brands like Fever-Tree, Folkington's, and London Essence make premium mixers and tonics designed for use with homemade alcohol-free cocktails but equally good solo. San Pellegrino and Perrier bring mineral complexity. Flavoured sparkling waters from brands like Ugly, Dash, and Something & Nothing offer interest without sweetness.

Functional Drinks

The newest category: drinks designed to do something beyond hydration.

Functional drinks contain active ingredients targeting specific effects: adaptogens for stress relief, nootropics for focus, botanicals for calm. They're positioned as alternatives to both alcohol and caffeine, promising mood modification without either.

Examples:

• Three Spirit: Botanical drinks with ingredients like guayusa (energising) or valerian (calming)
• Kin Euphorics: Mood-enhancing blends targeting relaxation and social ease
• TRIP: CBD-infused drinks and adaptogen blends positioned for calm
• Sentia: GABA-targeting spirits designed to mimic alcohol's relaxing effects

The reality check: Adaptogens and nootropics are real research areas. Whether the doses inside a given functional drink are enough to deliver the advertised effect is a separate question, and not one most brands publish enough about to settle. Treat the bigger mood and benefit claims with healthy scepticism until the dosing in a specific product is backed by published evidence.

Why they're interesting: They're trying to solve the same problem as AF drinks: how do you unwind, socialise, and mark occasions without alcohol? Different approach, same question.

Squash and Cordials

Diluted fruit concentrate, simple and reliable.

Squash is a UK and Commonwealth staple, with similar formats sold elsewhere as fruit cordial, drink syrup, or sirop. Robinsons (whose famous squash launched in the 1930s), Ribena, and Vimto are household names in Britain. Cordials are the posher cousins: elderflower, lime, rose.

The familiarity factor: For a lot of drinkers in the UK and Ireland, squash carries strong childhood associations. It's not sophisticated, but it's familiar and comforting. Equivalents exist in most countries: French sirops, Italian sciroppi, Scandinavian saft.

Modern takes: Premium cordials from Belvoir, Bottlegreen, and others have elevated the category. Mixed with sparkling water, they make credible drinks for occasions where AF beer or wine feels wrong.

Traditional and Regional Drinks

Every culture has non-alcoholic traditions worth knowing:

Lassi (India): Yogurt-based drink, sweet or salted, sometimes with fruit or spices. Cooling, probiotic-rich, deeply refreshing.

Horchata (Spain/Mexico): Tiger nut milk in Valencia, rice milk with cinnamon and vanilla in Mexico. Sweet, creamy, distinctive.

Agua fresca (Mexico): Fresh fruit blended with water and sugar. Lighter than juice, endlessly variable.

Ayran (Turkey/Central Asia): Salted yogurt drink. Acquired taste for some, essential refreshment for others.

Sharbat (Persia/South Asia): The ancestor of sherbet. Fruit syrups with rosewater, cardamom, saffron. Sweet, aromatic, ancient.

Kvass (Russia/Eastern Europe): Fermented bread drink. Low alcohol (typically 0.5 to 1%), slightly sour, slightly sweet. Another grey-area ferment.

These aren't trying to replace wine or beer. They're their own thing, developed over centuries for their own reasons. Worth exploring if you're expanding your drinking horizons beyond the Western AF aisle.

What We Focus On (And Why)

Practically Clear exists because AF beers, wines, and spirits are having a moment. The quality has improved dramatically. The options have multiplied. The cultural acceptance has shifted.

These drinks are trying to solve a specific problem: how do you have a drink that feels like a drink when you're not drinking? They occupy social occasions, rituals, and taste territories that soft drinks don't reach.

That's what interests us. The craft, the innovation, the question of whether an AF pale ale can satisfy like the real thing.

Everything in this article is valid. Tea, coffee, sparkling water, and kombucha are all excellent choices. But they're not what we're here to write about.

For that stuff, you're in the right place.