Drink or Treat? What Are The Best Non-Alcoholic Drinks To Gift During Spooky Season?
Halloween gives us the perfect excuse to throw a party. You might spend a lot of time decorating your house for the spooky holiday, preparing costumes, sweet treats, and the Halloween feast. But then comes the question of drinks. If you’re a sober/sober-curious individual or just hosting a kid-friendly event, it’s difficult to think of unique drink options that will keep your party lively and happening. With non-alcoholic drinks though, you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. These drinks give the same taste, depth, and flavor as alcoholic drinks, without any of the intoxicating effects.
If you’re looking for non-alcoholic beverages to drink or gift your friends this spooky season, this guide is for you. In the following sections, we’ll tell you everything there is to know about Halloween-friendly NA drinks. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Celebrating The Spooky Season With Drinks: Some Traditional Rituals
Halloween is the official start of the season of holidays. Since the culture of drinking is closely tied to holidays, having some drink options for your celebrations is a must. For instance, you can’t think of Christmas without your eggnog or your Thanksgiving dinner without some wine. Besides the start of the holiday season, Halloween also signifies the changing of seasons. With the dipping temperatures around this time of the year, most of us are huddled inside our homes with a glass of wine or any other adult beverage. If you look at the Google search data for terms like ‘liquor’ and ‘wine’, there’s a marked increase in the search volumes for these terms sometime around October.
It’s evident that drinking is closely tied to traditional holiday rituals. But what about people who don’t drink or those who have given up drinking because of personal reasons? With a wide variety of options for alcohol-free drinks available in the market today, you can still participate in traditional drinking rituals without having to partake in alcohol consumption. You can still create non-alcoholic eggnog by switching the regular rum and bourbon with The Spirit of Bourbon and Ritual Non-Alcoholic Rum. The same goes for your Halloween drinks too.
What Are Non-Alcoholic Drink Choices And Why Consider Them
Non-alcoholic drinks are widely popular these days, and this popularity is largely driven by Millennials and Gen Zers. These drinks are called non-alcoholic drinks because there is little to no alcohol content in them (between 0.0-0.5% ABV). Non-alcoholic drinks look and taste just like alcoholic drinks, but do not come with any of the side effects of alcohol. Besides providing a wide range of health benefits, the lesser alcohol content also means lesser calories. If you look at the NA drinks available on the Better Rhodes marketplace, you’ll find most of them contain less than half the calories as compared to their alcoholic counterparts. This is what makes NA drinks preferable for those who’re looking for healthier drink options. And what’s better is that there is no dearth of NA drink options, from wines, and beers to whiskeys, rums, and vodkas, like –
- The Free Spirits Trio - which contains a non-alcoholic gin, tequila, and bourbon.
- Big Drop Brewing Coba Maya - light beer that is the perfect accompaniment for summers.
- Wander + Found Rosé - a delightful rosé that is perfect for any celebration.
Benefits Of Drinking Non-Alcoholic Drinks
The benefits of choosing non-alcoholic drinks are many –
- No issues of brain fog or productivity loss: One of the biggest upsides of choosing non-alcoholic drinks is that it doesn’t affect your productivity. It doesn’t impair your focus as alcohol does, and you’ll experience lesser brain fog too. Even after drinking a couple of non-alcoholic drinks on Halloween, you’ll be able to resume work as usual, without any debilitating effects of a hangover.
- Good sleep: Non-alcoholic drinks are also good for those who want to enjoy a restful and deep sleep every night. Alcohol might make you feel sleepy sometimes, but consistent consumption of alcohol is known to affect sleep negatively.
- Better physical and mental health: Alcohol consumption is bound to take a toll on your physical and mental health over time. This is because alcohol acts as a depressant, which can increase the chances of anxiety and depression in people. Switching to non-alcoholic alternatives will not only help you improve your physical health but your mental health too.
Meals And Pairing Non-Alcoholic Drinks
So, you’ve decided to include non-alcoholic drinks in your Halloween party. But which ones? And if you’ve picked out some drinks, how do you know which meals to pair with them?
Here are some of our food pairing recommendations with popular non-alcoholic drinks –
1. Big Drop Brewing Beers: Big Drop Brewing provides an excellent range of beers, which are possibly the easiest to pair with food. The Big Drop Brewing Paradiso is an excellent light beer with a citrusy flavor, that pairs really well with a chicken burger or a spicy Thai curry. Then there is the Coba Maya, a straw-colored lager that goes really well with any food you put out. To pair with your desserts, there is the Galactic Extra Dark, which comes with a strong chocolaty and coffee aroma and flavor.
2. Wander + Found Wines: Not in the mood for beers? If you’ve decided to go with wines, Wander + Found has a brilliant variety. The Cuvee Blanc, with notes of citrus and lime, is a great wine to pair with your salads, seafood, and fish. For hearty meals like steak or pork ribs, the Pinot Noir gives the perfect pairing. There is also a Rosé, that can be easily paired with your desserts.
3. You can also choose to keep some ready-to-drink non-alcoholic cocktails, like Sir James 101 Bitter Aperitif Spritz or Gin Tonic. These cocktail alternatives can be paired with almost everything, from Asian cuisine to seafood.
Other Things To Keep In Mind
It’s clear that the choices for non-alcoholic drinks are many. These non-alcoholic beverages have all the layers and flavor elements of the alcoholic counterparts you might be familiar with. The only difference is that these drinks come without the booze. To choose the best non-alcoholic drink for your occasion, you need to judge how a drink balances sweetness, salinity, acid, and water in the recipe. You’ll be able to see which flavors play off against one another, and this will help you with your food pairing too.
Some Parting Thoughts
By now, your mind must be brimming with ideas for fun ways to mix up your non-alcoholic Halloween drinks. Whether you’re planning to make spiked cider, mulled wine, or a punch for your Halloween party, it is all possible with the wide range of non-alcoholic drinks available on the Better Rhodes marketplace.