NON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS PODCASTARE NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS WORTH IT: EPISODE #002

Summary

On Episode #002 we jumped right into the elephant in the room that is the question, “are non-alcoholic drinks worth it?” We did this by touching on: 

• Are they worth your time getting to know?
• Are they worth learning about? And the big one
• Are they worth subbing out your traditional alcoholic drinks for them? 

In Episode #002 we jumped into:

1. Aroma;
2. Taste; and 
3. Mouthfeel

Using these three pillars we gave you a way to identify what drinks might be right for you and gave you a guide on how you can find that next favourite drink to suit your taste profile.

In the show notes of this episode you will find the

1. Podcast #002 Recap
2. Drinks mentioned and referenced in the episode; and
3. The full episode transcript.

Podcast #002 Key Recap: What to keep in mind

• Aroma is the sensation when we first pick up the glass and put it to our noses.
• Aroma is made up of the smells and the odors that we observe, which come from the ingredients that are used in the product creation process
• Taste is made up of 4 elements – a sweet element, sour element, a salty element, and a bitter element.
• A drink that balances each of the 4 taste profile elements leads to a pleasant experience.
• Mouthfeel is what we experience from a physical perspective when the drink is in our mouth 
• Mouthfeel may present as the weight of a drink, the thickness or the viscosity of a drink, whether there is any heat coming from the drink, and the overall texture of it as well. 
• Spirits are well worth your time.
• Beer is an absolute gold mine and there are more high-quality options available than you can poke a stick at.
• Wheat beer responds well to de-alcoholisation (thanks to @af.beersquad, on Instagram for the Erdinger suggestion!)
• Wines are on the improve and sparklings are leading the charge, with whites not far behind. 
• Red wines are in this ‘holding pattern’ or in that ‘under construction zone’.

Drinks Mentioned in Episdoe #002 of the Non-Alcoholic Drinks Podcast

Spirits

• Brunswick Aces (Spades Sapiir and Hearts Sapiir)
• Clovendoe
• Gnista
• Lyre’s (Dry London Spirit, Italian Orange and Malt Spirit)
• Monday Distillery
• Ovant
• Seadrift
• Seedlip (Garden 108)
• Vera

Beer

• Big Drop
• Heaps Normal (check out the review of the Quiet XPA here)
• NORT
• UpFlow Brewing
• Australian Sports Brewing Company
• UNLTD
• Sobah (check out the Cerveza Fingerlime Review)
• Heineken (check out the Heineken 0.0 Review)
• Carlton
• Peroni
• Corona
• Vanderstreek Playground
• Athletic Brew Co (Upside Dawn Golden Ale Review)
• Solo
• Bitburger
• Drop Bear Beer Co.
• Adnams Southwold
• Clausthaler 
• Devil’s Peak
• Holgate Love
• Hawkesbury Prohibition
• Hills Cider Company
• Baltika
• Bridge
• Bilpin
• Brooklyn Special EffectsCostal Beer Co
• Erdinger
• Free Damm
• Fruh Kolsch
• Alpine 
• Budejovicky Budva
• Holsten 
• Früh 
• Efes
• Schneider Weisse
• Lucky Saint
• Schloss Eggenberg 
• u.NN 
• Tinnies
• Mornington Brewery

Wines

• Barton Guestier
• Giesen (check out the Giesen 0% Sauv Blan review and the blog on the process behind the creation of the 0% wine)
• McGuigan
• Newblood (check out the review of the 2019 Newblood Shiraz)
• Odd Bird x Richard Juhlin
• Thompson and Scott 
• Plus and Minus Wines
• Funk Monkey Wines 

Episode #002 Transcript

Non-Alcoholic Drinks Podcast #002 Transcript

Hello hello there and thank you so much for joining me on the non-alcoholic drinks podcast, brought to you by TippleZero.com, where we believe enjoying a drink, is more about the taste and the company you’re with while being, a little bit less about the alcohol. 

I am your host, Jonathan Lambrianidis, and this is the podcast for anyone looking to stay up to date with the latest drink releases, news, and interviews from people in the non-alcoholic drink category. 

On today’s episode, we are going to dive into whether non-alcoholic drinks are worth it. 

Are they worth your time getting to know, learning about them, and are they worth subbing out your traditional alcoholic drinks. 

We’re going to dive into aroma, taste, and mouthfeel and hopefully give you a bit of information that can help you make a great choice to find your favorite non-alcoholic drink. 

If you’re considering getting involved with zero alcohol drinks for the first time, or simply looking to try a different category or a different sector of them. This is the podcast for you, so definitely stick around, have a listen and let me know what you think. 

By the way, one last thing before we get started, if you want to get in touch with me and share what you’re up to what you’re drinking, and what your thoughts are of the podcast, you can find me over on Instagram @tipplezerodrinks, that is T-I-P-P-L-E Zero Drinks on Instagram, or email me on podcast [at] tipplezero.com All right, let’s transition over to today’s episode. 

Okay, we’re going to get started by running over really quickly about aroma, taste, and mouthfeel, kicking off with aroma. 

That’s what we have when we first pick up the glass and put it to our nose it’s the smells and the odors that we observe, and they’re really the byproducts are the result of the ingredients that are used in the product creation and the manufacturing process.

And often we find when these smells are complex and they’re deep and they’re really well-balanced lead us to the first sign that the drink is quite good. Now as you’ve probably gathered our sense of smell and taste are so well connected. 

I bet there’s been a few times when you’ve been sick, and you’ve tried to eat something and it tastes like cardboard. So when you’ve got a really nice tasting drink, like we said, it often means it is a good smelling drink diving a little bit into what makes a good tasting drink. 

The way that we look at taste really comes in four different elements of the profile that is a:

1. sweet element, 
2. sour one; 
3. salty; and finally
4. bitter

It is the balancing of these four elements within the taste profile that go to how we enjoy what we’re drinking. Often, each of the drinks that we are trying, we’ve got a preconceived thought on what it should taste like.

• A Sparkling maybe dry and maybe sweet;
• A Shiraz definitely shouldn’t be sweet;
• An IPA hoppy; and 
• A Stout bold!

Moving on to mouthfeel. This is what we experienced from the physical drink in our mouth the actual feeling of it. So what does it feel like how is it presenting and the things that you might look for here are what’s the weight of it, the thickness or the viscosity of it, is there any heat coming from the drink, and the overall texture of it as well. 

So those descriptors of what it feels like when you’re taking a sip, or having a drink. 

Now that we’ve got the peace around the aroma, taste, and mouthfeel, out of the way, let’s have a look at whether spirits are for you.

Now I want to start with spirits because there are so many great drinks out there that are really quite deserving of your time. For me, I just love the way that creators and distillers are out there individually distilling each and every botanical and flavor profile and then blending them together in a way that creates some really complex and amazing flavors. 

What this does is give great control to the person making the drink, and really allows them to hone in on a specific style, taste and flavor that they’re looking to achieve. More often than not, I’ve experienced that so many of these waivers are complex, balanced, and really feed off each other, and give you a really pleasant thing to have in your glass and to sip on. 

That said, they are also really good to be used in either a non alcoholic cocktail, or a low alcohol cocktail, if you want to sub some of your original or your traditional alcohol out and maybe go for a lighter alternative. The example I want to use here comes from the flavors of handpicked peas and spearmint. 

Granted the Seedlip Garden 108 may not be for everybody, but what it does do is really show the creativity and the approach that is behind this sort of drink. And the way that botanicals are used to really develop complex and creative flavors. 

Now you can really see the way that this Seedlip might come in handy with a melon and Cucumber Martini. And if you finish it off with a sprig of citrus, maybe something orange or even grapefruity you’d really get a great range and broad set of enjoyable flavors. 

With that, I can say that I really enjoyed the wide range of nonalcoholic spirits I’ve tried, and there’s been a few standouts, and I will list them all towards the end of the show and kind of give you a bit of a rundown on what I’ve tried, and I’ll also include them over at the show notes on TippleZero.com/session02. 

Now that we’ve landed on the fact that the spirits are quite good, and there’s a real range and option out there for everyone, no matter what you’re looking to try. Let’s hop across and chat about the beers.

Now, the nonalcoholic beer scene is driven by the fact that the craft brewing scene internationally is really well developed and really quite large. On the back of this, so many of these craft brewers are now looking to get into the non-alcoholic scene as well and try their hand at creating a non-alcoholic beer. 

This means, thankfully for us, we have quite a number of good non alcoholics to try out. Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to sample quite a number of these beers, and there’s been a really great taste range from a malt perspective, I really enjoyed the caramely toasty and sweet notes as well as the really great hoppy tastes that come from the floral piney and citrus elements of it too. 

Now, as you can probably tell, there have been quite a number of developments in this area, in the last five or six years, these have mostly been centered around the way that the drinks are created, or develop themselves. 

I was listening to the founder of Athletic Brewing Co, the other day who mentioned that he had moved or adjusted the way that they develop their beers in 15 or 16 ways from the traditional approach to brewing beer. 

What is really exciting to see out there from the creators of these beers, is that they’re now really focusing on engineering the products from the ground up in a way that focuses on not having any alcohol in them at all, so no alcohol extraction, no need to actually heat or treat or do anything else to the beer, because what you’re getting after the initial fermentation is a beer that’s ready to go, ready to be carbonated and actually has ZERO alcohol in it, by design.

While typically I haven’t had a great experience with bees that have been subject to alcohol extraction or removal processes. This week I was lucky enough to run across two really good ones, they were that Weihenstephaner and the Erdinger. The Erdinger was on the back of a recommendation from @AF.beersquad on Instagram, who sent me in that direction, and they’re really quite nice. 

While you can tell they’re a little bit lighter and spriteful than their alcoholic counterparts, they are really enjoyable, and they are presenting in a way which is tangy and fresh and perfect for lighter meals. 

If you’re looking for a good beer that’s been subject to alcohol extraction treatments, I would recommend the Weihenstephaner and the Erdinger.  

Looking back at the Beers, we’re finding that there are quite a number of really good options out there at the moment, and the flavors that you’re getting, the aromas that you’re getting are really quite spriteful, you’re finding sweet toasty caramely flavors which are not too overpowering and really well balanced by hoppy textures and flavors as well. 

This all leads to a really good experience when you take the sip and you feel that weight and that viscosity in your mouth, and the drink tastes like it should be there from an alcoholic perspective, it doesn’t taste like the watery ones we’ve come to know and really tried to avoid in the past.

On a non alcoholic, I would recommend if you’re looking at these jumping into something which you’re comfortable with and you already like drinking. Once you get comfortable with the different types in that space venture out and try something different. And I think that’s really the easiest way to get going in it, find what you like from an alcoholic perspective, get comfortable there, and then start venturing because the world seriously is your oyster. 

There are so many different varieties that it just is impossible to know where to start, and I think that’s why they kind of wind back the overwhelm and get you on the right path.

Alrighty onto the wines. Now I’ve intentionally left these to last because I feel like we’re in a bit of a holding pattern where feel like we’re in that little bit of under-construction zone, I’ve found that the sparklings have been the real pick of the bunch of the Richard Juhlin, the Barton Guestier, Thompson and Scott, and also the McGuigan sparklings have really been something which have been quite enjoyable. 

The reason that I can pinpoint for that is that they give you something that you’re expecting from the sparkling. That’s probably the key thing to touch on in terms of the whites and the red. These on their own and not quite giving you the thing that your brain is trained to look for and think of when you have a glass of wine or a glass of red, you’re often getting the aromas from the white wines and sometimes from the reds, but you’re not getting those tastes and those deep and complex flavors from the red, nor are you really getting the mouthfeel from them either.

I have found that the whites tend to do a little bit better in this area, and I have heard there are a couple of new reds out that are doing the job as well. This week I am hoping to get my hands on the new blood, one of the red suits out at the moment, and to give that a go. I’ve heard good things, read good reviews, and I’m really keen to see if they are the brand to really start shifting the way that non alcoholic red wine is perceived and presented in the market.

For the most part for me at least, as someone who really likes a heavier red wine, like a Shiraz, I would have to say that if I was to go for a non alcoholic wine at the moment, I’d go for a sparkling. 

I really really would like to hear what you guys think on this subject. I know a lot of people are not really heavy or big red wine drinkers and they do prefer something lighter like a pinot or a tempranillo and often with those textures and those flavors in mind, the current state of red wines and non alcoholic white wines might be something that you like.

You can drop me a line over at triple zero drinks on Instagram, or drop me a line at podcast [at] TippleZero.com.

Before we wrap up, I want to give you a few drinks to try from each of the spots of beer, wine and spirits, and let me know what you think if you managed to get them or if you’ve had them recently. 

So recently on a spirits front, I’ve been drinking the:

• Brunswick Aces Spades Sapiir and Hearts Sapiir;
• I’ve also been drinking the Lyre’s Dry London Gin;
• the non alcoholic the orange (Lyres);
• also the malt spirit (Lyres).

Those are a few that I’ve had recently and I’m also looking to get my hands on the :

• Clovendoe, from the team up north in Australia, as well as the event from the team over in WA in Australia.;
• Beyond that, I am looking to get my hands on the Gnista; and 
• the Vera as well. 

Alternatively, you could try to find something with a bit of a wider distribution, like a:

• Seadrift;
• Seedlip, or maybe even 
• Monday distillery,

they are all really great options, and if you’re heading to your local Bottl-o, they should be there and available for you to try!

On the beer front we’re really really spoilt for choice. There are just so many options, it’s going to be impossible for me to rattle off all 40 in front of me right now, so I will add all of them into the show notes at TippleZero.com/session02. 

But you’ve got so many options right, so you’ve got some from the big production houses like your:

• Heineken;
• Corona;
• Peroni; and 
• Carlton

and also quite a few from the smaller and more craft areas as well like the Big Drop.

Alrighty onto the Wines. Now I’ve intentionally left these to last. And I’ve done this because I feel like we’re in this under construction zone, or another way to put it is maybe in this little bit of a holding pattern. And that is largely thanks to the way that the tech keeps developing and the techniques kind of shift around that as well. 

 

So while we are seeing quite a number of improvements and a whole range of different approaches to making wine, at the moment for me there are two standout areas that I am really enjoying. 

 STANDOUTS: WHITE WINE AND SPARKLING

 They are in the sparkling range and the white range. 

 My pick up the bunch for the moment have been the 

• Oddbird;
• Noughty (by Thomson & Scott)
• McGuigan;
• Barton & Guestier as well.

 All of these you can find them in the blog. I’ve got up on tipple zero For sparkling wines I’m all over and enjoying at the moment. I’ll link it in the show notes at tipplezero.com/session02.

 That said, I do also have a bottle of the Fizzero in my fridge, which I haven’t tried yet, and I might get to this weekend. 

 Looking at the whites, I’m a really, really big fan of the decent Sauv Blanc blank 0%. 

 Again, this is another one which, is really interesting and a really great flavoured white wine. 

 I’ve written a little bit about how the team at Giesen go around making their non-alcoholic wine. And it is super interesting to hear about the way that they do it with the spinning cone technology and separate out each and every element of the wine before blending it back in together, of course without the alcohol. 

 So I’ll add that along with my review of it up onto the show notes so you can check them out. 

 And hopefully, you can find yourself a new favourite white wine.

 RED WINE

Wrapping up with the piece around the non alcoholic reds. As someone who enjoys the bigger reds or something with a bit more body behind it. 

 The ones that are out there at the moment are a little bit too sweet for my taste. But that said for people who really enjoyed the lighter wines, maybe something made out of a Moscato grape or something like a Merlot, the wines out there at the moment may actually be something you quite enjoy. 

 With that, I’d really be keen to hear your thoughts and hear what you’re liking about the Reds that are out there at the moment and what the characteristics are of them. So you can hit me up on tipple zero drinks at Instagram that is at T-I-P-P-L-E zero drinks over on Instagram, and let me know what you are drinking. 

 RECAP: SPIRITS

Finally, a quick recap on what we’ve covered today. are non-alcoholic drinks worth it? And I can say from a spirits perspective. Yes, Yes they are. 

 So due to the complexity and the way these are created and put together I would highly recommend getting yourself some trying them out and finding what you enjoy. 

 And look there are so many to touch on.  But I’m just gonna rattle off a couple here:

• you’ve got the Brunswick aces from the team down in Melbourne;
• you’ve got the Clovendoe from the team up in Northern Australia up in Queensland;
• you’ve also got the Vera;
• the Seedlip; and 
• a wide range of others like Monday distillery who have a really good distribution; and 
• Lyre’s as well.

RECAP: BEER

In terms of beer, I think we’re on the same page as the spirits. 

There’s quite a range of beers out there. And there are so many that are really doing well from a taste and aroma and a mouthfeel perspective, I will let you know the ones I’ve been drinking this week in the show notes at tipplezero.com/session02.

They include the:

• Athletic Brewing Co; 
• I have also been on the Bridge Road;
• Heaps Normal; as well as the 
• Erdinger.

I will add everything into today’s show notes at tipplezero.com/session02. 

RECAP: WINE

Finally, the wines recap. Now the whites and the sparklings are the picks of the bunch here at the moment, you’ve got the Giesen 0% for the whites.

And then you’ve also got the:

• Barton & Guestier;
• Thompson and Scott with their Noughy; and
• The odd bird for sparkling; as well 
• The McGuigan. 

A Fizzero which I am yet to try. 

Like I said earlier about the reds, as someone who enjoys a bigger red, there is a little bit of residual sweetness in there. 

So if you’re more into the sweeter reds or something which is not as intense or big, as a Shiraz the Reds out there at the moment may be something that you quite enjoy. 

In the next week or so I am going to try and get my hands on the Win Tempranillo and give that a go, I’ve heard it’s quite good. 

So if you’ve tried it, let me know. And I’ll compare notes once we get it done and tasted. 

And with that summary, we have reached the end of today’s second episode. Like I said at the top of the show, we took all the notes for you over at tipplezero.com/session02.

And by the way, if you haven’t kind of done so already, I would love it if you could follow the podcast so you don’t miss out on any episodes or any information when it drops. And if you’re really enjoying it, I’d love it if you could give me a review on your favourite platform, whether that’s Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you’re listening. 

 

I am your host, Jonathan Lambrianidis and I will be back with you next time and I hope you have a great rest of your day and that you discover some amazing non-alcoholic drinks during the rest of this week.

About the Non-Alcoholic Drinks Podcast

This episode is brought to you by:

As always the non-alcoholic drink podcast is brought to you by Tipple Zero and TippleZero.com, your home and one source of truth for all things non-alcoholic drinks.

Curating reviews, news and bringing you interviews with people making waves in the industry and community that is non-alcoholic drinks.

Want to get involved and feature in the show?

If you’re keen to chat non-alcoholic drinks, share your story or talk about the zero alcohols scene, drop me an email – podcast@tipplezero.com!