We tried a tiny sip of Ghia straight before mixing with some non-alcoholic sparkling wine. That sip was slightly savory and sour with grapefruit and orange flavors. It almost hearkens to Campari or Aperol with the lingering bitterness on the end. Mixing with bubbles, as suggested, gave it some dimension, but didn’t diminish the bitterness, which was a pro for some of our panel. Since it had a slightly juicy character, mixed with lots of bitter texture, it was unlike many things we’d tasted before.

This gorgeous, orange-red liquid which draws flavor from bitter orange, rosemary, and rhubarb might sound like an Aperol replacement at first blush. You certainly could use it that way, in a cocktail, but I found the flavors so complex, the layers of herb, light bitterness, a hint of sour, spice, and sweet, I drank this happily on the rocks. I’ve always considered Aperol to be a summer drink, but Wilfred’s seems like it would be at home at any time of the year. The beautifully designed bottle suggests making a spritz—another solid choice, and one that will yield a few more servings. Like so many delicious non-alcoholic options, this one was born in the UK. This drink was a favorite of our panel.

This drink requires very little to make it delicious. You can purchase it as a premixed can of spritz, or buy the large format bottle and make your own with sparkling water, tonic, or NA sparkling wine. As I sipped it, I was initially most aware of the rose flavor (while I am a great fan of rose, this wasn’t heavy-handed, but balanced). Our panel didn’t feel that this was at its best straight, but when mixed with some bubbles and a hint of sweetness, it opens up and offers a floral, slightly spicy flavor that makes it feel so much more layered and sophisticated than juice. I was happy to notice that the rose lingered for me at the end.

Dhos favors menthol in their non-alcoholic spirits to simulate the alcohol burn—this was successful for our panel. This aperitif is very orange-forward, we didn’t get the rhubarb. It almost had a Fanta flavor. Our panel felt that this bottle was very close to the taste and experience of alcohol.

These three aperitifs from Rasāsvāda were each so different and complex, but not necessarily easy to drink. This one was tannic and tea-forward with a bitter finish. We added tonic and ice and it tasted a bit like sparkling iced yerba mate.

This one was floral-forward with an almost perfume taste. It’s very herby.

When we sipped this straight, it tasted like ginger and chocolate with a cherry almond nose, but when we mixed with tonic, it began to smell like molasses and took on a pleasantly light sweetness. This was our favorite of the three, though the rose definitely had fans.

This is a very good triple sec replacement. It has a syrupy consistency and is slightly sweeter than the Lyre’s. This also did well in margaritas.

This has a honeysuckle and honey smell with a tiny burn that lingers. We really enjoyed this spirit but it didn’t seem like a tequila.

This spirit has a nice burn with a lingering heat and all the right flavors and scents. We found it to be excellent in a margarita.

This spirit is smoke-forward with a light burn. We felt it was a good choice for 1 to 1 replacement in mezcal cocktails.

This spirit has quite a bit of heat and some smoke, but it’s fairly light. It was too spicy for our panelist who isn’t a fan of too much heat, but the rest of us enjoyed the burn in a margarita. While we liked the flavors and the heat here, we didn’t feel the smoke flavor was strong enough to call it a mezcal, but we can see lots of mixing opportunities.

This is a very subtle spirit, which was also very polarizing. It has warming spice on the nose and when mixed with light tonic (regular will overpower the flavors) it’s complex, bright, and interesting. It was too subtle for some of us, but for others it was a favorite.

This spirit is very herbal on the nose which translates to the taste. It’s almost spicy, almost brackish. Some of us got a dried basil taste. In tonic, it’s allowed to stand alone, especially good for those who like strong flavors, but I think it would also make a good building block in an herb-forward martini or another cocktail where it is tempered by other complementary ingredients.

This is a floral forward gin that doesn’t get lost in tonic. A favorite of the panelists who enjoy gin on the floral side.

This gin seemed most likely to fool us into thinking it was alcoholic. Just slightly more floral than not, but with plenty of juniper, it’s ideal for Gin & Tonic, or mixing in other gin drinks. A panel favorite.

This spirit is juniper forward and also has menthol for a burn sensation. This was a favorite of those who enjoy gin on the strong juniper side.

This gin doesn’t have a juniper nose, and taste is somewhat herby, almost minty. Most of the panelists felt it didn’t taste like gin.

Seedlip is the original non-alcoholic, and Garden 108 is the first one I tried with tonic. It’s important to note that this isn’t trying to be a gin, although it certainly will mix in many gin cocktails. Of the Seedlip spirits, this is the most beloved version, I think because it has the most concentrated flavor, which comes, in large part from English peas. I’m sure that’s how they get it to be both vegetal and sweet. Though the recommendation is for tonic or soda on this, I actually think it’s at its best in a still cocktail. This is a panel favorite.

Grove is the citrus expression of Seedlip and it has notes of orange, and lemon, although apparently it’s also distilled with lemongrass and ginger, which might be interesting things to pull out when mixing. There is a very slight, pleasing peppercorn taste on the finish, but it’s very subtle. This one suggests Indian tonic or soda and I would go a step further to suggest light Indian tonic so that you don’t overwhelm the delicate flavors here. Seedlip has both an entire cocktail book and a wealth of recipes online, and it would be interesting to see where this and the Spice 94 shine most. However, this one works with tonic.

This has a lovely spice nose and a real clove character that holds up with the right balance of tonic. There is almost a tannic texture, I imagine, from the distilled barks. This one does recommend a grapefruit twist, but that didn’t quite work for me.

Though it looks, at first glance, like a neutral clear spirit, maybe just slightly yellow, when sipped neat, Marine is sweet. It tasted like what we imagined a liquified dried apricot would, which we really liked. The tonic cut the sweetness, lengthening the drink and turning it into a still-sweet refreshing drink. The front of the bottle says it contains bergamot, kelp, and sea buckthorn, and we did get a bit more complexity when mixed with tonic, but felt the name and description: crisp and refreshing, didn’t quite fit what we were drinking. However, this was our favorite of the Everleaf trio.

Strong tea nose when smelled straight. Refreshing and herbal, sort of like a sparkling herbal tea when mixed with tonic.

Spiced fruit nose. This is complex and nuanced with enough bitterness to keep it interesting. It was very hard for us to put a finger on what we were tasting. This one feels a little more warming and wintery. Both of these need the sweetness of tonic to balance them, so if you choose to use soda, consider some simple syrup or another lightly sweet ingredient.

A note about this brand: they do sell pre-mixed spirits and tonics, but we found them slightly lacking in sweetness. We enjoyed the spirits much more when we used our own tonic.

We found a smoky character to this one. One of our panelists felt it gave almost the impression of a mixing Scotch, especially at the finish. Very light smell, both neat and when mixed into a sour. Our panel felt that this one was close to what their experience of a whiskey drink tastes like.

We found this to have a banana nose and a light burn. One of our panelists felt that it smelled like Bourbon. Mixed into a sour it gave us orange notes at the front and banana at the finish. Very slight caramel.

The Pathfinder is very much its own thing, it’s a hemp-based beverage, but doesn’t contain any CBD or THC, the hemp is strictly for taste. Our panelists liked the smell and the sweetness. We felt that it has a character close to an amaro. There are lots of layers of flavor. When simply mixed, and tasted on its own, we got notes of cola. When mixed into a sour we found that it added a bitterness that lingers. It has a round mouthfeel with a zesty spice to it with some anise notes for some of us. Our panelists weren’t sure about it at first, but liked it more as they continued to sip. I’ve also tried this in a Negroni riff and found it to shine nicely.

Another dark spirit that isn’t trying to be anything but itself, this is made at the first dedicated non-alcoholic distillery in Scotland and is a brand new import. There are lots of layers to this, and it has a variety of black tea and herbal notes. Suggested pairings include tonic, ginger beer, and cocktails. Our panel thought it wasn’t quite right with tonic (we used Fever Tree light, for reference, so it might warrant some experimentation) but we loved it with ginger beer, where it seemed to mellow the sharpness of the ginger, melding into a slightly sweet, herbal drink we found totally unique and enjoyable.

This has a nice nose, almost a chocolate or syrup character. When tasted, it has a nice light burn and a spiciness. We found it pleasing with both tonic for a neutral taste, but also with ginger beer.

This dark spirit is sold as a rum alternative. We found that it had a lovely lightly sweet spiced tropical character and notes of pineapple and coconut. We liked it straight over ice, and found that coconut water (which we thought might marry well) was overpowering to it. The recommendation is over ice with tonic and a pineapple garnish, and that was delicious.

This is a deep yellow liquid. It doesn’t immediately have a recognizable scent, other than a light spice. Like the Marine from Everleaf, it’s lightly sweet when sipped neat. Adding tonic gives a lot of depth and there is a very light piney taste that lingers on the tongue and the back of the throat. When we initially tried this, we thought the pine and citrus notes were a bit overpowering, but we may not have shaken it enough, as trying it later made the whole effect subtle and pleasant.

Cherry on the nose. There are notes of cherry and red berries, with a lingering bitterness that really sets it apart from a soda, especially considering the pink color. They mention that it has juniper notes, and while I wouldn’t have picked that out, I do think it explains at least part of the lingering botanical bitterness on the finish.

This drink suggests mixing with ginger ale and ice and garnishing with orange. The smell is almost a buttery juice. When mixed the bitterness is gentle. I think the sharpness of a ginger beer might complement this more. Even so, trying it neat, there is a lot of subtle character that seems lost when mixing. If you like the flavor, it might be a good one to have on the rocks, or with a little soda. The sweetness of the mixer evens out the bitterness, but seems to blunt the herbal character somewhat.

This has a spicy smell and a nice burn that sneaks up on you as you sip. By itself, it’s complex and interesting, and the long lingering burn is pleasant. This one suggests mixing with soda water, but it’s also very lovely with tonic.

I don’t immediately get a smell from this, but at first sip, neat, it has a complex tea characteristic followed by a very light bitterness that lingers. While it recommends serving by itself over ice, I found a light splash on tonic to level out the bitterness and add a bit of texture.