We’re all aware, sometimes painfully, that whiskey – our national spirit – gin, vodka and the like cost so much more here than in other countries. We usually blame the swingeing duties the Government levies on alcohol in general and spirits in particular. Duty on a standard bottle of spirit is €10.99. So shouldn’t a bottle of alcohol-free “gin” or “whiskey” cost at least €10 less?
I use quotation marks as neither alcohol-free drink can legally use the name gin or whiskey/whisky. Gin is defined as a juniper-flavoured spirit made from ethyl alcohol, and whiskey as a spirit distilled from the fermented mash of grain. Both must be bottled at not less than 40 per cent alcohol by volume. So the alcohol-free imitations come up with names such as Juniper Edition, or Dry London Spirit, that hint at their alcoholic versions. At anything from €20 to €40 a bottle, these alcohol-free drinks are certainly not cheap – why is Gordon’s Alcohol Free 0.0% €19 while the same brand’s gin is €20?
It is partly down to size: most alcohol-free spirits are made by small producers, says Mark Livings, founder of the Australian company Lyre’s. “The big alcohol companies are making products in Olympic-swimming-pool quantities, every day. The cost is less than £1 per bottle, and we don’t have that luxury. With time the category will mature, and so we may see some lower prices.”
The second issue is the manufacturing process. "People don't understand how technically challenging it is to make alcohol-free drinks," says Stephen Dillon of RTM Beverages, which makes Noki & Co Juniper Edition. "You are trying to balance body, burn, flavours and a host of other things. It took me 70 attempts for the Juniper Edition Noki. We use juniper, verbena, lemon and other botanicals, and balance them so that when you add tonic it tastes great."
Andrew Oates of Silk Tree Botanics agrees. "It is very costly to produce the oils using a pot still. Other, larger companies use vacuum distillation. You need five to nine times more botanicals to replace the impact of alcohol, and the yield is a lot less. It takes a lot more time than a normal distillation and therefore more power too. Smaller producers use the costlier and arguably tastier way to make gin. Large-scale producers from Spain and the UK are dropping prices, but they don't have the same mouthfeel and depth of flavour – you actually have to use more in your cocktail."
“The process of extraction is extremely complicated,” Dillon says. “Alcohol is a great extractor of flavour as well as being a great conveyor of flavour. We do a vapour infusion with water; obviously we can’t use spirit and have to make sure no alcohol occurs. Then you have to make sure it doesn’t go off. Alcohol is also a great preservative, killing bacteria, and will last for years in a drinks cabinet or on a bar shelf. Technically, the entire process is difficult, which is why there is such a wide variety of quality out there.”
Steve Murphy of Carrick Mill Ltd, who makes a number of spirits, echoes the sentiments. “The price increase comes from low extraction of essential oils; the yield is very, very low, and it takes a lot longer.” As well as some of its fruit gins, Old Carrick Mill Distillery makes the alcohol-free Saoirse, which trialled well with Aldi last year and may return this month. At €9.99 it is one of the less expensive alcohol-free spirits, made using a combination of distillation and essential oils.
Although there are plenty of alcohol-free “gins” around, there are far fewer whiskey imitations. “Whiskey is challenging. We haven’t released one yet because we are not 100 per cent happy with any formula so far,” Dillon says. His next project is a range of alcohol-free craft beers, called Quiet Noise. He is starting with a pale ale, a pilsner and a lager.
Steve Murphy has made more progress. “We will soon have a nonalcoholic whiskey. We have now developed alcohol-free versions of rum, gin and whiskey. The rum will be trialled next. It was extremely difficult; the coloured flavours are all very difficult; you are trying to extract flavours that won’t extract. It didn’t work the first few times, but after lots of trial and error we are happy with it.”
Lyre's, the Australian company, makes no fewer than 14 alcohol-free drinks, including "whiskey". "Getting the flavours of barrel ageing into an alcohol-free drink is extraordinarily difficult," says Livings. Lyre's has done a significant amount of research and development. "Gin is a lot easier, as most flavourings are water soluble. We created methods to extract flavours of oak and molasses, and we've also got a number of naturally extracted products that mimic the burn you get from a whiskey. You have to understand what ethanol does: it is a powerful solvent that can pull flavour out of barrels in a way that is difficult with water."
Overall, Livings says, the key to all alcohol-free spirits is mimicking the way alcohol works. “You’ve got to understand the physiological reaction in the mouth: it causes blood to flow to the palate and increases flavour and dilutes saliva. You have to resynthesise on the palate with water what that ethanol would deliver.”
So it seems we will be paying a premium for our alcohol-free spirits for some time to come. It is worth remembering that, alcohol-free or not, the Government still levies 23 per cent VAT on both.
