CAN A GIN-FREE COCKTAIL REALLY RAISE OUR SPIRITS?

Despite what you might think (or practise) more and more people are turning to no-and-low alcohol drinks

- JAMIE WALKER

THE WORLD IS AN ever-changing place. Face masks are the normal for half the globe, while there are music festivals in Taiwan, nearly all my Indian friends are in Goa! A part from my jealousy being the little red dot that is Singapore with no travel, I can’t complain as my friends and family in Scotland have not been in the pub for a drink in around 4 months. One thing that I see changing with people drinking at home and in the venues I get to see first-hand, is an increasing number of lower alcohol drinks on menu’s and in the hands of people I used to associate with high strength beers or drams of whisky. So my question this month is, is the world changing, and would you now rather pay for a well-balanced cocktail or Aperol spritz over a long island ice tea or large measure pour?

There has been a huge rise over the past 5 years in drinking more responsibly, lower alcohol cocktails, non-alcohol spirits and on top of this, dry January and sober October. I am all for living a balanced lifestyle. Covid has definitely had a positive impact on my life with time to cycle or play tennis between tastings, zoom calls and writing the occasional article, but do people take this on board all year round? Is not drinking for a month good for you, to then just go absolutely ballistic on the first of the next month and go on a bender for a week?