? THE BURNING QUESTION

What do you think are the best non-alcoholic drinks?

�In the past I've been sceptical of non-alcoholic beverages. I was never a fan of the lingering sweetness. Recently products are so much better and brands nowadays are more confident to bring out something that is stand-alone rather than something that is just imitating a gin or a rum. I really rate Talonmore. I prefer a dark spirit if I'm drinking the hard stuff, so I love the fiery kick the Talonmore has. We recently got the ALT Wines in and I have to say I was really impressed with those as well.”

Kirsty McEwan H Champagne winner H WineKraft, Edinburgh

�There are a number of non-alcoholic beers that we see are popular … the beers from Big Drop do really well for us. We have a steady stream of people buying them all year round. It’s the wines and spirits that don’t seem to have caught the imagination in the same way. We stock Natureo from Torres. There’s a red, white and a rosé in the range and we have all of them.”

Mark Stammers Vine & Bine, Solihull

�I would say the quality is getting better but we don’t have a lot of people asking for them. We stock no-alcohol Prosecco, wine and beer. I’ve been selling Nozeco because the feedback is that it's actually quite nice to drink, because it's quite fizzy and has a similar texture to Prosecco. I haven’t got any at the moment but the Eins Zwei Zero Riesling from Enotria&Coe is also quite popular – they do a still and a sparkling.”

Christine Longden

The Twisted Cork, Kelvedon, Essex

�We have the Walt Lo, which is a German Riesling, it’s 0.5%. I think people are still wary of low-and-no wines but much more accepting of beers. We sell Green Light from Powderkeg, a low-alcohol IPA, and I think it’s brilliant – it has full flavour. I find people are much happier with a really good soft drink, something that’s not too sugary. I was really keen to get a few more non-alcoholic wines in and so I tried a few at the LWF last year, but a lot of them contain tea, so if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you’d be bouncing off the walls.”

Anne Cleminson