7 Non-Alcoholic Spirits With Functional Ingredients for Wellness-Minded Drinkers to Try

(Photo: Opius)

The non-alcoholic spirits category has matured far beyond simple botanical blends and watered-down alternatives. Today’s most ambitious producers are building complex expressions around functional ingredients: adaptogens, nootropics, nervines, and mood-modulators, creating bottles that offer something beyond flavor. These are the seven best non-alcoholic functional spirits, as determined by The Daily Pour’s Critics’ Score, a proprietary metric that aggregates and averages ratings from the internet’s most trusted beverage critics.

7. ISH Non-Alcoholic London Botanical Spirit

Price: $35

ISH London Botanical Spirit is a non-alcoholic gin-inspired beverage made using a distillation process that includes steaming and extracting botanicals. The botanicals, sourced from Southern Europe and Provence, France, include juniper berries, coriander seeds, peppercorn and bitter orange. A distillate made from chili seed shells adds a heat sensation to the spirit, per the brand. The functional dimension is subtle, as the chili distillate physiologically mimics the burn of a high-proof gin, but the botanical architecture is genuine. A Silver Medal at the Zero Proof Choice Awards marks it as one of the better botanical gin alternatives on the market.

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6. Sentia GABA Gold

Price: $45

Produced by Sentia Spirits, GABA Gold is one of the most seriously functional bottles in this roundup. Each serving contains an herbal extract blend of ashwagandha root, eleuthero root, schisandra berry, chamomile flower, ginseng root, hops strobile, rhodiola root, damiana leaf, hawthorn berry, gotu kola leaf, lemon balm leaf, ginkgo leaf and licorice root. The GABA-activating botanical stack is among the most comprehensive in the non-alc category. The brand earned a panel score from The Daily Pour’s inaugural Zero Proof Choice Awards, a blind tasting by expert judges across hundreds of functional and non-alcoholic beverages.

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5. Curious No. 4

Price: $48 (4-pack)

Curious No. 4 is an alcohol-free aperitif inspired by Italian classics like the Aperol Spritz. This blend combines blood orange, green mandarin and lemon juice concentrates with carbonated filtered water, American ginseng, turmeric, holy basil, gentian root, rhubarb root and sea salt. The functional case rests on a digestive and adaptogenic backbone: gentian is a classic European bitter, holy basil is an adaptogen and American ginseng is purported to bring cognitive and stress-modulating properties. Best served over ice with a splash of soda.

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4. Optimist Botanicals Smokey

Price: $38

Produced in Los Angeles, Optimist Botanicals Smokey is crafted to capture the essence of mezcal or tequila without the alcohol. This 500 ml offering features a blend of Lapsang Souchong, bitter red orange, clove, ginger, bergamot, cinnamon leaf, habanero and sage. The smoke is not cosmetic, as Lapsang Souchong is a genuine smoked tea with a long history in botanical applications, and the habanero adds a heat response that mimics the physiological burn of a high-proof spirit. Good Spirits News awarded it a 92, with critic FRODELICIOUS finding the smoke well-integrated rather than dominant, with clove, bergamot and orange lifting the profile into something closer to a complex herbal tea than a straight mezcal imitation.

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3. Little Saints St. Oak

Price: $49.99

Miami-based Little Saints has built one of the most credible functional non-alc whiskey alternatives on the market, and The Daily Pour named it one of the best non-alcoholic drinks of 2025. Its unorthodox approach revolves around three batches of ingredients: American and French oak; vanilla, cardamom and caramel extracts; and a trio of adaptogens, lion’s mane, reishi mushroom and damiana. The attention to detail is apparent from the first whiff, with aromas of cinnamon candies, tobacco leaf, clove and vanilla frosting leading into a palate of chili pepper, black coffee and brown sugar. It was concluded to be one of the few NA spirits that truly shine over ice.

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2. Drømme Calm Zero Proof Elixir

Price: $39

Drømme Calm takes the top Critics’ Score on this list and earns it by doing something most functional non-alc spirits fail to do: carve its own lane entirely. Produced in San Diego, California, it is made with a blend of botanicals, adaptogens and nootropics, as well as ginger root, lemon balm and turmeric. It is praised as a bottle that is not trying to just be a cheap imitation of a whiskey or tequila; it’s doing its own thing. On the nose, maple syrup gives way to ginger and turmeric. The palate is viscous, with maple, licorice, ginger and citrus. The finish is soft and long, with marshmallow and maple, joined by spicy ginger.

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1. Opius Albedo

Price: $45

The only non-alcoholic spirit to earn a Double Gold Medal at The Daily Pour’s inaugural Zero Proof Choice Awards, meaning every judge on the panel voted it Gold, Opius Albedo is the flagship expression from a Belgian company led by a master distiller and professor with a background in alchemical botanical techniques. Albedo is crafted from fennel seed, juniper, cardamom, cloves and star anise. The brand sources botanicals known for their stimulating effects and claims the blend activates GABA receptors, making it a great booze-free drink for social settings. A unanimous Gold result from a blind expert panel is among the most persuasive credentials any bottle in this category can carry.

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