Written by Kathryn Stone.

Alcohol free gin? Non-alcoholic whisky? Vermouth without alcohol? There are so many different alcohol free spirits now on the market. But have you ever wondered how they make alcohol free spirits?

Well, there are many different methods used around the world to make alcohol free spirits. Making alcohol free drinks is a more nuanced and involved art than many would expect. 

The most common methods used include distillation, maceration, percolation, infusion and cold pressing.

Distillation

Distillation is a process commonly used when making alcohol to make it stronger. Most alcohol is made through fermentation, but this can only reach a strength of 15 to 20% alcohol before the yeast dies. Therefore companies distil the fermented alcohol to make stronger drinks such as vodka, whisky and rum.

However, this process can also be used to lower the alcohol content or even fully remove the alcohol.

The way this works is that producers mix botanicals (mixtures of herbs, leaves, fruits and roots that create flavours) with a neutral grain alcoholic spirit. Alcohol is a solvent, so it works really well to remove the flavour from the botanicals.

Once the alcohol and flavouring have been distilled together the mixture is distilled again to remove the alcohol from the mixture. Alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water, so distilling allows you to separate the alcohol by heating the mixture and letting the alcohol evaporate off.

In the end, you are left with an alcohol free spirit that shares many characteristics, such as a nuanced flavour and an interesting texture, with an alcoholic spirit.

This process was pioneered by Seedlip but is now used when making many alcohol free or low alcohol spirits. Some companies, such as Damrak, distil botanicals using water, so no alcohol is involved in the process at all making the drink halal.

Maceration

Maceration is another common technique used when creating non-alcoholic spirits. It is often used in combination with other techniques such as distilling. To vastly oversimplify it, maceration is basically the same process used when making a cup of tea.

Macerating is the process of steeping or soaking ingredients in a liquid in order to draw out their flavour. So, when making alcohol free spirits producers add their preferred flavourings, for example, ground-up, whole ingredients or chopped flavourings, to a liquid base with a low water concentration such as juice, alcohol (which is then distilled off) and glycerine. The flavours then permeate into the liquid.

This works through osmosis. Osmosis occurs because water naturally wants to balance itself out, so when two bodies of water are connected with a semi-permeable cell membrane (for instance the skin of fruit) the water content will move from the area of high concentration to the lower concentration. This allows the liquid to take on the flavours of whatever is soaked in it.

Some companies choose to heat the mixture during the maceration process as this can speed up the process and allow more flavour to be released. After the maceration is completed, the mixture just needs to be strained, and you are left with a delicious, flavourful alcohol free spirit

Infusion

Infusion is very similar to maceration and also involves steeping the liquid with botanicals or the aroma of botanicals. There are different methods of infusion, such as vapour infusion. This involves suspending a basket of botanicals above the solvent, and then heating the solvent up, passing it through the botanicals to pick up flavour, and then condensing it into a deliciously infused drink.

Percolation

If maceration is like making tea, percolation is more like making filter or drip-brewed coffee. To percolate an alcohol free spirit, you start with a percolation tincture. This is ground down botanicals and will provide the flavouring for the drink.

The tincture is put into a cone and then a solvent, which is usually distilled water, is gently poured over the top of the botanicals. This is then left for several hours between room temperature and about 60 degrees centigrade and drips through the herb, pulling the flavour with it as it goes.

Percolation is sometimes considered a fuller way of adding flavour to a solvent than maceration because it is able to pull more of the flavour. This is because the fresh solvent is constantly being poured through and is able to pick up the most soluble constituents instead of these constituents having to fight for space.

The result is an alcohol free spirit with a very deep flavour.

Cold Pressing

Cold pressing is the process of extracting oils and flavourings using a cold pressing process which requires no heat. This process requires slow and gentle pressure to be put on an ingredient to extract the juice or flavours from an otherwise fibrous ingredient.

This method is less popular, but one major benefit is that because you do not heat the ingredients, they are able to retain all of their natural flavourings and aromas. Therefore you are left with a very richly flavoured drink.

Alcohol Free Spirits Require an Involved Production Process

As you can see, alcohol free spirits are made with careful, slow and precise techniques, requiring equipment and nuanced recipes. These techniques allow producers to experiment with and create nuanced, layered flavours. These techniques also change the texture of the drink, giving you a more complex and enjoyable drinking experience.

Want to experience this for yourself and enjoy the range of techniques used in making alcohol free spirits? Then sign up for a JOMO subscription box and try a new non-alcoholic spirit each month.