Get serious about non-alc cocktails

NO NEED TO MOCK GET SERIOUS ABOUT NON-ALC COCKTAILS

Season’s greetings, merry new year, and all that. We know Christmas for licensees just isn’t like how the rest of the country experience it. As they wind down, you get busy. As one of the most important trading windows of the year opens, we wish you luck, and after it’s all done, a jolly good rest.

However, there’s no time to pause your business plans. Over the next few pages we look into the trends you need to know about for 2024. And, eight years after the launch of the first non-alc spirit, we take a look at where the low and no category is going.

With that in mind, we wanted to give you some non-alc business ideas for the festive period. Non-alc cocktails can sometimes be a struggle, without a zero-strength alternative for every ingredient. This new range of alcohol-free liqueur inspired products from Giffard then, might be just what you need. Flavours include Elderflower, Grapefruit, Ginger, and Pineapple.

And what could be more wintry than a hot toddy? Again, there's no need to leave the abstainers out. Edinburgh-based Talonmore has ginger and cinnamon notes with malty and fruit sweetness. Use it in place of Scotch, and add honey, lemon, cinnamon and cloves to a zero-strength festive treat.

And speaking of Christmas treats, we wanted to let you know that Westons Cider is giving 12 lucky pubs the chance to win a year’s worth of Stowford Press. “With on-going staff shortages framed by the cost-of-living crisis, we wanted to show our support with our biggest ever giveaway to the on-trade,” says Sally McKinnon, head of marketing at Westons Cider.

The winning venues will each be receiving a year’s worth of Stowford Press Apple or Dark Berry with an additional 12 venues receiving five free Kegs.

Winners will be selected at random via an online draw. To be in with a chance of winning, outlets must purchase three 50-litre kegs of Stowford Press Apple or Dark Berry before 29th February 2024 and enter via www.westons-cider.co.uk/win-a-year