Drink of the Week: Three Spirit

On an average night in my apartment, there’s an equal chance my mixing glass will be filled with something boozy as it will be booze-free. A Kingston Negroni one night, a splash of drinking vinegar perked up with soda water the next. The shift was not quite intentional, more so one inspired by the imaginative growth of the spirit-free realm. Recently, that equilibrium has been broken, with no-alcohol winning out more often than not, thanks to Three Spirit. 

Introduced to the U.S. earlier this year, U.K.-based Three Spirit makes a trio of drinks whose names conjure the different moods one might cycle through over the course of a dinner party. There’s Livener, Social Elixir, and Nightcap. While the brand boosts the functionality of the lineup’s active botanicals, I’m instead drawn to the complexity housed in each bottle. All three are among some of the best alcohol-free products I’ve tried thus far, but Livener and Nightcap are the highlights. The garnet-colored Livener—made with watermelon concentrate and pomegranate molasses, and enhanced with caffeine from green tea—captures the refreshing, crisp flavor of watermelon with a complementary heat. It’s one of the rare spirit-free concoctions I’ve encountered that tastes just as good solo over ice as it does mixed with soda water. Made with Melon Hüll hops and lemon balm extract, the maple syrup-sweetened Livener brings the botanical qualities of an herbal tea to life balanced by the gentle flavor of the hops. Concentrated, but not overly so, Three Spirit marks a new alcohol-free standard. $39/16.9 fl. oz. each, us.threespiritdrinks.com