Best Non-Alcoholic Drinks That Are Not Too Sweet

If you are tired of juice-heavy mocktails, start with NA beer, bitter aperitifs, dry sparkling bottles, tonic, ginger, and citrus.

Start with bitterness, bubbles, and acid

The easiest way to avoid sweet non-alcoholic drinks is to stop shopping like every drink has to be a mocktail. NA beer, bitter aperitifs, dry sparkling wine alternatives, tonic, ginger beer, citrus, and soda water are usually better starting points.

Sweetness is not always bad. The problem is when a drink has nothing else going on. Bitterness, carbonation, salt, acid, herbs, and cold temperature all make a drink taste more adult without adding alcohol.

Best options to try first

• NA pilsners and lagers: good when you want crisp and cold instead of fruity.
• NA IPAs: better if you want hop bitterness and more flavor.
• Bitter aperitifs: good for spritzes, soda, citrus, and pre-dinner drinks.
• Dry sparkling wine alternatives: best for brunch, dinner, and celebrations.
• Tonic with lime or grapefruit: a simple bar order that does not taste like soda.
• Ginger beer with lime: good when you want bite and spice.

What I would avoid

Be careful with canned mocktails that lead with fruit punch, lemonade, cotton candy, coconut, or dessert flavors unless that is exactly what you want. Some are fun, but they can start to taste like soda quickly.

Also be careful with zero-proof spirits if the drink around them is sweet. A tequila alternative in a margarita can work well. A tequila alternative buried under bottled sour mix may just taste like sugar and lime.

Good first buys

If I were building a not-too-sweet first order, I would buy one German NA beer, one NA IPA, one bitter aperitif, one dry sparkling bottle, and a few mixers: tonic, soda water, ginger beer, grapefruit, lime, and orange.

That gives you several directions without relying on juice-heavy drinks.

Bottom line

For non-alcoholic drinks that are not too sweet, start with beer, bitter aperitifs, dry sparkling bottles, tonic, ginger, citrus, and bubbles. The best NA drink is often the one with enough bitterness or acid to make you want a second sip.