The presence of non-alc spirits has become widespread but it’s concentrated among just a handful of brands. The top three bestsellers in our ranking account for about three-quarters of the total category share. 

The category might still be finding its level in the UK’s top bars, but its champion has emerged. Everleaf has again topped both the Bestselling and Bartenders’ Favourite rankings in the Class Report. More than 30% said it was their bestselling non-alc brand and 43% said it was in their top-two brands. The independently owned non-alc has grown its market share too, now accounting for about 36% of the total category. 

Diageo’s Seedlip is the brand that started it all but hasn’t been able to maintain its early market control. It was the bestselling non-alc spirit in 14% of bars and a top-two bestseller in another 14%, so the early architect still boasts plenty of listings, but Everleaf’s lead shows where the category momentum currently sits. 

In a basic sense, there are two approaches to the category. Brands like Everleaf and Seedlip have built flavour profiles unencumbered by the traditional spirits categories. They are the signature cocktails of the space. Other brands have looked to faithfully emulate existing alcoholic styles to be seamlessly swapped into time-honoured recipes. Call them the classics. 

Lyre’s, in third, is an example of the latter. The Australian brand has a diverse portfolio of non-alcoholic facsimiles that range from amaro to American whiskey to London Dry Gin. It was a top-two bestselling non-alc in a quarter of our polled bars.  

Martini Vibrante and Botivo performed similarly – the latter recently joined Mangrove and hosted Jeff Goldblum on its travelling yellow piano, maybe a sign it has the wind in its sails. Three Spirit follows, then Feragaia, Pentire, Ritual Zero Proof and Aecorn, all accounting for a total 13% of the category volume share.