Alcohol-free is hot: read about the tastiest 0.0 drinks on What To Drink
We’re secretly so used to drinking wine that we previously wondered: is alcohol-free wine actually drinkable? If we still have our doubts, from now on we should turn to Esmee Langereis’s What To Drink. The originally wine journalist tests everything alcohol-free, from wine to spirits and from kombucha to cider, and shares her findings with us on the online platform.
Actually, ‘used to wine’ sounds rather strange too. Or beer, cocktails or spirits. We should really say used to alcohol. For a long time, drinking alcohol seemed to be the norm in social settings. ‘You’re not drinking?!’, ‘Don’t be so boring, just have a drink!’, are things you’ve undoubtedly heard when you turned down an alcoholic beverage.
But the tide seems to be turning. Research by ISWR shows that half of all alcohol drinkers want to reduce their alcohol consumption. Drink producers are eagerly responding to this. There have never been as many alcohol-free alternatives available as there are now. There are even several completely alcohol-free liquor stores in our country, including in Amsterdam and Haarlem.
Alcohol-free at Ron Gastrobar
You can see this development not only in supermarkets and liquor stores. In many (high-end) restaurants and cafés, the alcohol-free section of the menu is also becoming increasingly extensive. Top chef Ron Blaauw, for example, has already decided to offer more alcohol-free options at his Michelin-starred restaurant Ron Gastrobar in Amsterdam. You can now choose from 20 different alcohol-free options there. The collaboration came about with Nix & Nix, a liquor store specialising in alcohol-free drinks. ‘We see it as a lasting development and are happy to get started with it right away,’ says Ron.
What To Drink?
If it really is a lasting development, we’d better get to know the alcohol-free options properly. For that, we should turn to Esmee Langereis’s new platform What To Drink. The wine journalist and founder of the platform tests all kinds of alcohol-free alternatives to alcoholic drinks. A platform for when you ‘want to drink something tasty, but (for a while) don’t feel like having alcohol’.
Esmee has now tested more than 200 beers, wines and spirits, all with no or almost no alcohol in them. For each drink, she describes her opinion and the useful information that comes with it. Think price and origin. Handy: at a glance, you can see the score the drink receives, as well as which characteristic points apply to it. Is it vegan, for example? Maybe sugar-free? And does the drink taste fruity, spicy or somewhere in between?
First 0.0 platform in the Benelux
What To Drink is the first platform in the Benelux to honestly review 0.0 drinks. Isn’t it strange that a former wine journalist is providing these reviews? Not according to Esmee herself. There are so many (good) alternatives nowadays that there is plenty to review. Moreover, Esmee herself has good reasons for no longer drinking alcohol. She feels much better physically and mentally as a result, and that is worth a lot to her.
Want to take a look at What To Drink? Check it out!
Also read:
- An alcohol-free beer after exercising: does it actually help with your recovery?
- With the alcohol-free spirit Selati, you can make an incredible Daiquiri or Old Fashioned
- Guinness is launching an alcohol-free beer
Source and image: What To Drink and Misset Horeca
