Conker Spirit from Dorset has turned its hand to making something for the sober crew – and we rather like it. As with most alcoholic gins, each brand tends to have a signature serve which we try alongside testing the spirit neat and in various styles of gin and tonic. In fact, many of the bottles in our new range have been distilled by our trusted Family of Distillers, who bring their expertise and craftsmanship with gin to this exciting new range of botanical-based drinks. The vapour is then cooled and becomes liquid again; the distiller captures this liquid and dilutes it with water. Get started with a gin and tonic or your favourite cocktail to take these liquor-free libations for a spin.

Botanicals are all the different herbs, spices, fruits and other natural flavourings that craft distillers use to produce the unique flavour of their spirits (and is the reason why gin is such a marvellously versatile drink - the varieties of flavour are endless! Low-ABV (low-alcohol) beverages are often made using a classic distillation process, which is how full-strength gins are made. Like all of our straight spirit reviews, we select the best 0% gins for the job by taste-testing them. Here at Craft Gin Club, whilst it’s often gin o’clock, sometimes we gin-lovers just fancy a low - or no - alcoholic cocktail. As alcohol-free gin and low-alcohol drinks have less alcohol content, they are less damaging to your health in comparison to gin of a higher alcoholic content.

We invite a few gin fans who also enjoy an occasional alcohol-free version to test the gins with us to allow a wider spectrum of taste preferences. Most do manage to capture the herbal, slightly citrus notes of a generic gin, and other brands, like Seedlip, have even developed different flavours to emulate the different styles of gin you find: spiced, floral and so on. So, one the base spirit and the botanicals have been added to the still, the liquid is heated, and the alcohol vapour created from the heating separates from the water, capturing the flavours of the botanicals as it moves through a series of tubes. The legal definition of gin states that the liquid must contain an alcohol level (ABV) of at least 37. Similarly to a full-ABV version, alcohol-free gin and low-alcohol drinks are best when enjoyed in moderation.

Tasting the gins together means we can easily rate each bottle against other competitors on the market and pick the best selection for our list.When creating these alcohol-free alternatives to gin, many of the best craft producers are using all the same strict methods, equipment and high-quality ingredients that they would to create a bottle of real gin. From copper-distilled spirits to blushing pink gins, citrussy serves and everything in between, there’s sure to be a bottle to suit your taste. Summer screams pink gin, while classic serves are best with juniper to the fore; cocktails require a bold all-rounder to shine through the other ingredients.

The level of herbiness almost makes it spicy, which delivers that all-important warming feeling that can so often be missing from non-alcoholic substitutes. This is why it is probably worth spending a little bit more, and choosing beverages from a trusted craft gin distiller, when selecting your no- or low-ABV ‘gin’; hopefully, it’s a sign that your drink will have been crafted with real care and premium ingredients. You could try to replicate the ‘maceration’ method by experimenting with botanicals and booze-free liquid; but in all honesty, why bother? With an aroma that’s closest to the real thing, with plenty of juniper and forest botanicals on the nose, sipped straight up the KVÎST Rosa is rather more balanced. The spirit is then blended with classic woody botanicals – rosemary, sage and cascarilla bark – and aromats such as cardamom, lemongrass and orange, to create a complex sip.This is thanks to a blend of distilled silver birch, orange peel, pimento, cascarilla bark, gentian, cardamom and subtle rhubarb root alongside those juniper-heavy notes. Alcohol-free gin or low-alcohol drinks are perfect for those who still want to enjoy a social drink without the sometimes negative effects associated with full ABV gin (when not enjoyed in moderation! The juniper character is retained as a result of copper pot distilling, a Nordic tradition, which is what makes this feel like a true alcoholic gin.