(courtesy of Stuart Miles and www.freedigitalphotos.net)
As the last bong tolled on Big Ben at midnight 31st December, 2018, many of you lovely people would have greedily been tucking into something tasty and boozy to welcome in the New Year. What you may have also been doing is saying goodbye to your beloved companion Alcohol for January; your partner through the good times and bad, the devil (or angel) on your shoulder guiding you through life's tricky decisions such as "I know I'm at work at 6am tomorrow, but should I really leave the bar yet? Nah..." or "Karaoke is definitely my bag, but will one more glass of plonk make me better? Damn right it will!"
'Dry January' has become a phenomenon that is really taking hold. As people shudder at the excesses that come with a bit of time off from work at Christmas and the excuse of over-eating and over-drinking, the charity Alcohol Concern and the government joined together to push the idea of giving up the booze for 31 days, in order to get the population to think more about their consumption and the effect it can have on them.
Now, not being one to be tight-lipped on questions of drink, I have my reservations with regards to it, which I'll come to later, but rather than give up in its entirety (even smokers have to have something minty to chew on to munch through the cravings), I have decided to see if there is something on the market out there to fill in the gap of 4 weeks where many of you will be abstaining and waiving the hand of 'no thank you'. Over two articles, I'm going to try some of the alcohol-free alternatives that you can get on the market at the moment (and I'm not doing a taste test on different flavours of Fanta, if that's what you think...).
There are 3 main ways in which you can get rid of the alcohol in wine, but it is important to remember that even de-alcoholised wines start off as normal 9%-12% beverages, and the removal of alcohol only happens after the fermentation process has been completed. The main way of doing it is through a process of 'Steam Vacuuming', where the wine is passed through a vacuum and heated to remove the alcohol (alcohol has a lower boiling point than other liquids), allegedly without getting rid of all the flavours of the wine. Other ways it can be done are through 'Reverse Osmosis' (forcing the wine through a membrane to separate the alcohol from the wine) and through centrifugal force (essentially throwing the alcohol out of the wine - this one is rarely done as it takes many attempts to get a finished product). Debate rages about whether these processes alter the flavour compounds of the liquid (one read of The Daily Telegraph critic Victoria Moore's opinions will have you running for the nearest Shiraz), but the best way to test to see is by quite literally 'downing the entire bottle'...
First off, me and The Lass (who is content to push alcohol to one side for January) popped the cork on Echo Falls Tisane (available at Asda for £3 a bottle). The USP with this is that even though it technically contains 10% grape juice concentrate, it looks like a proper sparkling wine and even smells faintly of a Cava-like drink. A bit citrussy, and a bit herby on the nose (it is infused with Green Tea, mind, so I'd hope it should do), it looks a faintly like apple juice in the glass. Tasting-wise, it isn't bad. Lively stuff and it has a clean taste. Nothing like the real thing though mind.
The following day, we consumed Eisberg Alcohol Free Rose (available to buy in Morrisons for £2.75). We'll start with the good point. Marketed at only 33 calories per glass, it seems to be the perfect tipple for the staunch Dry January-er. Unfortunately, the bad points seem to pile high. It has a slightly oxidised pink look to it, like someone has diluted crab paste. It smells of jelly babies and has a real sweetness on the taste. The taste isn't unpleasant, but it has a slightly fishy aftertaste. Not for everyone.
To finish off, we then tucked into Sainsbury's 'Winemakers Selection' Alcohol Free Red (on sale at Sainsburys for £3). What I found startling was how sweet the wine was. After having a sly butchers at the label, I saw that it has 7.5g of sugar per 125ml glass! Fine if you are trying to avoid the booze, but not so great if you are trying to keep the calories down. It has a slight undiluted blackcurrant cordial taste to it and quite light in body. Perfectly drinkable if you chill it slightly, but don't treat it as a normal red wine.
There are many different places where you can get 'de-alcoholised wines'. Not only are there specialist websites that you can peruse to see what percentage-less bottles you desire (a couple of the best ones are www.lono.co.uk or www.alcoholfree.co.uk), but you can easily wander into your local supermarket and get a good selection of products for you to choose from.
Next week, I'll give you a run-down on some alcohol free lagers that can hopefully tame the raging beer beast inside you.
There are 3 main ways in which you can get rid of the alcohol in wine, but it is important to remember that even de-alcoholised wines start off as normal 9%-12% beverages, and the removal of alcohol only happens after the fermentation process has been completed. The main way of doing it is through a process of 'Steam Vacuuming', where the wine is passed through a vacuum and heated to remove the alcohol (alcohol has a lower boiling point than other liquids), allegedly without getting rid of all the flavours of the wine. Other ways it can be done are through 'Reverse Osmosis' (forcing the wine through a membrane to separate the alcohol from the wine) and through centrifugal force (essentially throwing the alcohol out of the wine - this one is rarely done as it takes many attempts to get a finished product). Debate rages about whether these processes alter the flavour compounds of the liquid (one read of The Daily Telegraph critic Victoria Moore's opinions will have you running for the nearest Shiraz), but the best way to test to see is by quite literally 'downing the entire bottle'...
First off, me and The Lass (who is content to push alcohol to one side for January) popped the cork on Echo Falls Tisane (available at Asda for £3 a bottle). The USP with this is that even though it technically contains 10% grape juice concentrate, it looks like a proper sparkling wine and even smells faintly of a Cava-like drink. A bit citrussy, and a bit herby on the nose (it is infused with Green Tea, mind, so I'd hope it should do), it looks a faintly like apple juice in the glass. Tasting-wise, it isn't bad. Lively stuff and it has a clean taste. Nothing like the real thing though mind.
The following day, we consumed Eisberg Alcohol Free Rose (available to buy in Morrisons for £2.75). We'll start with the good point. Marketed at only 33 calories per glass, it seems to be the perfect tipple for the staunch Dry January-er. Unfortunately, the bad points seem to pile high. It has a slightly oxidised pink look to it, like someone has diluted crab paste. It smells of jelly babies and has a real sweetness on the taste. The taste isn't unpleasant, but it has a slightly fishy aftertaste. Not for everyone.
To finish off, we then tucked into Sainsbury's 'Winemakers Selection' Alcohol Free Red (on sale at Sainsburys for £3). What I found startling was how sweet the wine was. After having a sly butchers at the label, I saw that it has 7.5g of sugar per 125ml glass! Fine if you are trying to avoid the booze, but not so great if you are trying to keep the calories down. It has a slight undiluted blackcurrant cordial taste to it and quite light in body. Perfectly drinkable if you chill it slightly, but don't treat it as a normal red wine.
There are many different places where you can get 'de-alcoholised wines'. Not only are there specialist websites that you can peruse to see what percentage-less bottles you desire (a couple of the best ones are www.lono.co.uk or www.alcoholfree.co.uk), but you can easily wander into your local supermarket and get a good selection of products for you to choose from.
Next week, I'll give you a run-down on some alcohol free lagers that can hopefully tame the raging beer beast inside you.
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