Adding a desert vibe makes it seem a little more exotic.

In an effort to give our livers a break, we’ve joined the Dry January bandwagon. Well, we haven’t entirely joined. It’s a mostly dry month, but we’re attending a Burns Night celebration on the 26th of January so there will necessarily be a little whisky imbibing. That doesn’t mean we have been going without interesting fluids entirely…

Sentia

If you’ve been looking into alcohol-free alternatives to traditional booze, you might well have stumbled across Sentia. Called the GABA spirit by the company fronted by Professor David Nutt; you might recognise him from the infamous “ecstasy and LSD are safer than alcohol” stance which, although accurate, did not sit nicely with political ideals when he was the government’s scientific advisor on drugs. He’s a neuropharmacologist by trade, and has been working with GABA Labs to produce something to mimic the effects of alcohol by stimulating GABA (gamma aminobutryic acid), the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, without the hangover and liver damaged packaged into ethanol ingestion. There is a lot of flashy marketing and premium packaging, but does it work?

The short answer: maybe? There are two varieties with very different flavour profiles. Sentia Red and Black. The website lists the various herbal components that go into each bottle, but the reviews are mixed. It works for some people, and does nothing for others. I found Sentia Red, when drunk neat, had a fairly calming effect on one occasion, but subsequent times I’ve had a Sentia-containing drink to little effect. The others I know who have tried it haven’t felt much effect.

The Red variety has a floral scent and a slightly citrusy taste. I’ve mixed it in a few drinks including an elderflower spritz (recipe here) and it works really nicey in those. I’m enjoying the novelty of making mixed drinks without the alcohol-associated guilt. Even if the effects are minimal to negligible, the drink itself is pleasant and worth experimenting with. I mixed myself a spritz to have while writing this article and it scratches an itch for sure. Moving on from the Red variety, Sentia GABA Black is next.

Sentia GABA Black is an entirely different beast. Moving away from the more delicate floral notes and hints of citrus, Sentia Black is like a coal shovel full of freshly cracked black peppercorns. Robust to say the least. It’s not an easy flavour for me, despite my love of potable bitters and controversial tastes. Not bad, in a sense, but challenging. We tried it straight up but struggled to enjoy it. Inspired by one of the company’s Instagram posts, I made a version of an espresso martini with Sentia GABA Black, decaffinated espresso, and simple syrup. It was interesting, resembling a pepper grinder that has fallen into an espresso martini. There’s an almost savoury aspect to Sentia Black which I find off-putting in most of the drink spaces I usually occupy, but I suspect it would work well in a mocktail Bloody Mary or even in cooking.

The Others

Alcohol-free products are a mixed bag. There is so much choice these days, but some things lend themselves better to the job than others. The red wines we have tried have been fairly atrocious, to put it kindly. The most recent “Not Guilty” de-alcoholised red wine blend resembled sparkling grape juice cut with vinegar, and did a reasonable job of simulating a cheap wine left for a week on the counter with the top off. The sparkling wines have had a better time of it, including the prosecco knock-offs which are quite pleasant.

The king of alcohol-free has to be the ciders. Most ciders taste like sparkling apple juice at the best of times, so it’s a natural progression to remove the alcohol from them completely. We not infrequently take a few with us if we’re visiting friends out in the sticks but still need to drive back. Most of the varieties we have tried have been great, although they tend to be a bit sweeter than the traditional ciders.

Seedlip gin alternatives work pretty well in mixed drinks and with tonic, and we’ve recently bought a bottle of CleanCo botanical spirit to try in cocktails. It smells like the real thing, although there’s never the same mouthfeel without alcohol.

Is there enough here to give up drinking entirely? Although that would be the most health conscious approach, I enjoy a drink and making cocktails, and until every ingredient has been replicated with a decent non-alcoholic alternative, I’m not throwing out my spirit cabinet quite yet. All in moderation, after all. We never really know how long we have on this planet, so choose your battles wisely.

(Having said that, don’t smoke or vape, and avoid drugs of questionable provenance…)