Another pricey n/a bubbly...is it worth it?
Make It Non-Alcoholic, Friday, July 11
It was my 21st wedding anniversary yesterday, so I opened up an expensive bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly to celebrate, and sharing my thoughts on whether this ‘new-to-me’ bottle is worth the price tag. But first…
Margaritaville is still my favourite place!
When it’s hot out, it’s so fun to be able to make a good margarita that tastes like a reasonable facisimile of the real thing but without alcohol, truly. Milan Martin, the CEO of Free Spirits, recently reposted a review of his tequila that had been published in a proper drinks publication. The tone the drinks ‘expert’ took was lukewarm and it was a borderline backhanded compliment - their highest praise was it tasted good. I thought it was sad this writer still couldn’t see how CRAZY it is that we even have non-alcoholic tequila. This is what I’m here for. I’m still the hype girl who can’t believe we have the option to be hangover free and have a drink that isn’t a Shirley Temple.
On that note, for anyone new here, I have an updated 2025 list of my best non-alcoholic tequila picks - my top pick is Almave Blanco, but I should have paired that with the Almave Ambar. Both of Lewis Hamilton’s products are just delicious, so if you haven’t tried it now is the time!
For my Canadian readers, here is the Canada-only version of my best tequila list!
And my classic margarita mocktail (pictured above) is a beaut!!! Give it a try with Ritual as that’s the one I created it with for the best flavour and smoke.
Non-Alcoholic Wine Review: A château-worthy bubbly
I absolutely hate that I’m reviewing yet another non-alcoholic wine priced above $50, but this bottle was on my radar for awhile because of the praise from Dry Atlas. Personally, as mentioned in my last article, I believe there is now a true château tier in the non-alcoholic wine category. My definition of this means a) no juices, additives or preservatives have been added after dealcoholization b) the wine is made from a pre-existing vintage c) optionally has been lying down for some time before being dealcoholized.
Today’s review is a bottle that has great marketing and branding to fit into this tier, and the founder has even eluded to the great centuries old Champagne houses as an inspiration.
That’s where the similarity might have ended, as this $65USD bottle has charm and elegance aplenty but I was sceptical given the track record of that other more mass market ‘luxury’ wine (that doesn’t actually taste like luxury).