Have you ever thought to yourself “Man, I could really enjoy a whiskey cocktail right now, but I don’t feel like drinking?”
I haven’t either, when I don’t feel like drinking but don’t want something sweet, I shake some bitters into soda water and call it good. When I feel like a cocktail, I have a cocktail. But I am apparently out of touch with trends these days because I’m hearing more and more people talk about mocktails (a name I seriously hate) and even alcohol-free bars. I’ve even started seeing bottles of “Whiskey Alternative” on the shelf of my local liquor store.
Now, I like to think I have an open mind. And when I don’t exactly understand something, I like to learn more about it. And being the curious fellow that I am, I took it upon myself to find out a little more about why I might want a “Zero-Proof Whiskey Alternative” and if there is any room for them in my life. So I bought the bottle at my local liquor store which happened to be from Ritual Zero-Proof. They make a whiskey alternative and a gin alternative. And because I like to be thorough, I ordered a bottle of Lyre’s American Malt as well. I’d been seeing mentions of Lyre’s since the end of last year and I was genuinely curious about them.
I tasted each of these neat (not how they were intended to be served) so that I could get a handle on their flavors. I also used each of these in a variety of cocktails. I made each into a Manhattan (using actual vermouth and bitters), a sour, and a highball with Q ginger ale and a squeeze of lime.
Lyre's American Malt
Purchase Info: $35.99 plus shipping for a 700 mL bottle from the company website.
Nose: Molasses, caramel, ginger
Mouth: Very thin, no body to the mouthfeel. Weak iced tea notes.
Finish: Ginger, cinnamon, molasses, weak iced tea.
Thoughts: This smells and tastes way more like a rum than a whiskey. Those molasses notes are very prominent. Obviously this wasn't meant to be a sipping drink and it isn't. It doesn't taste bad for what it is.
Ritual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative
Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN
Nose: Smoke, bubblegum, apple
Mouth: Smoke, hot pepper, and weak green tea.
Finish: Hot pepper spice and smoke.
Thoughts: Ever been sick after eating a spicy meal? This tastes like that with a healthy dose of smoke thrown in.
Manhattan:
Lyre's kinda gets lost among the other ingredients. Orange and vermouth with a hint of molasses.
Ritual does not get lost, but that’s a problem since it tastes so bad that I was hoping the vermouth and orange would help hide it.
Sour:
Lyre's kinda tastes like a lemonade. Not too bad, might be good sparkling.
Ritual tastes more like a cocktail but the hot pepper flavor comes through too much for me.
Ginger Ale Highball:
Lyre's actually isn't bad at all. the molasses notes pair very nicely with the ginger ale. This would be my favorite of the six cocktails we made today.
Ritual once again suffers from the notes of raw hot peppers. Of the cocktail I've tried Ritual in today, the ginger ale highball is the best, but I'd still rather just have the ginger ale.
Thoughts:
I was genuinely curious about these. The Lyre's especially since they make an entire line of spirit alternatives. And truthfully, the Lyre’s American Malt wasn't bad. I could wish for a bit more spice to it, but bitters will help with that. If you are in the market for a "whiskey" with no alcohol you could do worse.
Speaking of worse, there is the Ritual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative. This tastes like no whiskey I've ever had except maybe the Dickel/Tabasco thing. I think they were trying to hit the burn of a whiskey by using the hot peppers but it didn't land. At all. I'll probably just dump this one. I do not even remotely like it.
So do I have a place in my life for these? Probably not. Like I said earlier, I get more enjoyment and variety out of a couple of dashes of bitters in my soda water than I did from either of these. It’s easier too. Honestly, I think that the non-aged spirit alternatives from these brands might work better. Anything that is based on an infusion in spirit form, like gin or some of the liqueurs, might actually be ok since you could follow the same process to make these. Trying to hit the flavor profile of an oak barrel with spices seems to be a dicey proposition at best.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.