New desire to stay sober: no alcohol is also a solution

Those who want to forego alcohol no longer have to drink just water, apple spritzer or cola in the bar in the evening. In addition to beer and wine without a spin, there is now also gin and vodka that won't cause a headache the next day.

Germans drink less alcohol every year. Toasting without alcohol has long become the norm. Thanks to the new desire to stay sober, the selection of alcohol-free spirits alternatives has grown in recent years. In the meantime, there is not only beer, wine and sparkling wine without revolutions, but vendors have also dared to produce gin and vodka without alcohol.

Industry pioneer Seedlip from England launched an alcohol-free gin in 2016. Around 70 other comrades-in-arms have now jumped on the trend. With their offer, they are aimed at those who want to indulge in one or the other drink without a guilty conscience – and can do without the hangover the next morning.

The same thing happened to the founder of the food tech start-up Laori, Stella-Oriana Strüfing. The 34-year-old was sitting with friends in a Berlin bar one evening and did not want to drink alcohol in order to be fit the next day. But the alternatives – soda, non-alcoholic juice cocktails or water – bored her. "I just wanted a gin and tonic without alcohol," says Strüfing ntv.de. Finally, two years ago, she started distilling an alcohol-free gin in her home kitchen. Strüfing experimented with juniper, cardamom, coriander and angelica roots. "Many people always like to say that non-alcoholic alternatives are just cold tea. But they are not. Because when I pour hot water into juniper, there is relatively little taste."

Closer to the original in terms of taste?

There are different approaches to the production of non-alcoholic spirits alternatives. In one method, distilling simply replaces the alcohol with water. The problem: alcohol dissolves the aromas and also acts as a flavor carrier. The result therefore often does not come close to a gin with alcohol. In another process, the alcohol is subsequently removed from the drink, just like with non-alcoholic beer. Even in his own kitchen, Strüfing quickly realized: In order for an alcohol-free gin to taste like gin, the production method has to change.

Together with the food technologist Christian Zimmermann, Strüfing then developed a new process that can extract more aromas and herbs in a natural way. Strüfing and Zimmermann have adapted a technique from perfume production for this purpose. "We distill herbs and spices with steam because we can respond much better to the peculiarities of the individual ingredients." After all, a tender lavender needs a different treatment than a hard juniper berry in order to develop its aroma.

Thanks to the new manufacturing process, Strüfing's alcohol-free alternative promises to be closer to the original in terms of taste, but it cannot be drunk on its own either. During the development process, the founders had to decide: should the gin alternative be drunk neat or should it be an ingredient in a cocktail or long drink? According to Strüfing, producing an alcohol-free alternative that can be drunk straight would have taken a lot of time. But Laori is still a young startup. "We cannot afford to develop in secret for two years, after all, we want to be profitable soon."

Traditional spirits manufacturers have also recognized the trend

Even if the Federal Association of the German Spirits Industry describes the market as rather "marginal": The market potential of alcohol-free spirits is not to be despised, after all, around 60 percent of the population do not drink alcohol. In Germany, too, more and more people are voluntarily staying sober. In the past five years, young people in Germany have drunk ten percent less alcohol. The spirits industry is also feeling the effects. This spring – also due to the Corona crisis – significantly less alcohol was sold than usual. According to tax statistics, beer sales fell sharply, in May even by 62 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

In return, the production of non-alcoholic beer has increased over the past ten years. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 4.2 million hectoliters of alcohol-free beer was produced in 2019. This means that the production volume intended for sale has almost doubled since 2009 to 97 percent. The trend shows: "Even the traditional spirits companies are increasingly relying on alcohol-free alternatives," says Strüfing. After all, people who otherwise drink alcohol would also do without it at times. Be it through illness or pregnancy.

While Strüfing was bored of the range of non-alcoholic drinks two years ago, there are now even bars that only offer drinks without alcohol. The first alcohol-free bar in Germany opened in Berlin a few weeks ago – the gin alternative from Strüfing will also be available there soon.