Beyond Imitation: The Identity Shift in No/Lo

Last May saw the staging of the 2026 World Alcohol-Free Awards, the global pinnacle of competitions dedicated entirely to the non-alcoholic sector. Nearly 600 products hailing from 31 countries went head-to-head in a series of strictly blind tasting sessions.

Among the various category winners, the Best Organic Drink Trophy was claimed by Jukes 1 – The Sparkling White, an organic proposition structured on an apple cider vinegar base with notes of elderflower. The Best Ethical Drink Trophy (which also doubled as Best Beer) was awarded to Playground IPA by the Dutch brewery Van de Streek, a brand that funds clean drinking water access in developing countries. Other major highlights included Torres Vin Soula 0.0 White, which scooped the Best Vegan Drink Trophy thanks to its floral and citrus aromas, and Studio Italiano Spritz by Colona Null, crowned Best Value Drink for its ability to deliver a bitter, complex profile at an accessible price point. On the packaging front, the newly minted Best Pack Design trophy went to Fourth Wave Wines’ Plus and Minus Pinot Noir, praised for its visual clarity and sharp graphic language.

Evaluating this rich and varied landscape was an international panel of experts. The sole Italian judge was Riccardo Astolfi (pictured), a No/Lo brand strategist, consultant, and author (creator of No/Lo Italy and writer of the No/Lo Bolo newsletter), who penned his firsthand reflections on the experience exclusively for Basso Volume.

Riccardo, as the only Italian judge at the World Alcohol-Free Awards, can you describe the types of products entered and the trends you observed?

It was an honour, but above all, it was a beautiful experience to sit at a table and taste an almost indecent amount of non-alcoholic products. In my case, around eighty tastings a day, all completely blind. No brands, no labels, no storytelling, no “we were born to change the way the world drinks.” Just the liquid. I tasted kombucha, wine proxies, de-alcoholised wines, bitters, alcohol-free aperitifs, botanical beverages, and some rather hybrid things that defy precise categorization.

The average quality struck me as remarkably high. I found very few things that were bad or genuinely out of focus. Many products were technically clean, well-crafted, and pleasant. The most interesting thing, in my view, is that the best of no/lo is finally moving past the phase of “I want to be a gin,” “I want to be a wine,” or “I want to be a spritz.” The most vibrant products aren’t just mimicking; they are trying to build their own grammar—made of acidity, bitterness, fermentations, tea, botanicals, tannins, bubbles, well-utilised fruit, and salinity. That is where no/lo gets interesting: not when it simply strips away the alcohol, but when it understands what to put in its place.

Then, of course, I was there as a judge. Yet, I still believe that judgment should be handled with care. Awards matter, medals matter, competitions help producers and consumers navigate the landscape. But taste is not a verdict. A drink doesn’t become real because it wins a medal, and it doesn’t become useless because it doesn’t. Judgment makes sense when it opens conversations, not when it closes them.

In that context, however, you were asked to pass judgment.

The World Alcohol-Free Awards features many categories, medals, mentions, and products rewarded in different ways. And rightly so, because no/lo today is not a single category: it’s an archipelago. Within it, you find alcohol-free beers, de-alcoholised wines, wine proxies, sparkling teas, kombuchas, aperitifs, bitters, non-alcoholic spirits, RTDs, shrubs, complex sodas, functional drinks, and things that haven’t quite been named yet. It’s a sector still under construction, and that is its beauty. The fact that so many accolades were handed out speaks volumes about the moment: it really is a golden age for no/lo. A cheap pun, but a true one.

We are no longer in the phase where the only question was “is it drinkable?” In the best products, the conversation has already moved on: When do I drink it? What do I pair it with? What role does it play at the dinner table or during aperitivo? What desire does it tap into? What kind of world does it bring with it?

I was pleased to see a few Italians participating, but we are still few and far inside the room. And it’s a bit of a shame, because Italy has so much to say: aperitivo, amari, bitters, botanicals, citrus fruits, bars, dining tables, ritual, small producers. We have an enormous drinking culture, but on no/lo we are still scattered, shy, and largely invisible.

Among my tastings, I found very few things that were truly wrong. Then again, taste is taste, thank goodness. But the average technical standard was high. Now, the risk is no longer just making mediocre products. The risk is making a mass of correct, premium, well-dressed products that have no real reason to exist. Being alcohol-free is no longer enough. You need to have a voice.

Regarding consumer tastes in mass-market beverages, do these new no/lo offerings capture trends like sugar reduction, no added sugar, low calories, or functional attributes?

Yes, those trends are there. Low sugar, zero added sugar, low calories, functional ingredients—these are words the market looks at, and in some cases, they make sense. Especially in beverages, where sugar easily risks becoming just empty sugar, a sweetness tossed in to mask the emptiness of the product. However, I would be careful not to put this theme at the core. Mainly because there is something that does far more harm than sugar, and that is alcohol. Every now and then, we are brilliant at worrying about a slightly sugary soft drink, yet far less capable of looking at the utter normalcy with which we treat alcohol consumption. This doesn’t mean sugar doesn’t matter. It matters immensely. It just means putting our priorities back in order.

The no/lo that interests me wasn’t born to be the dietary aisle of the beverage industry. It was born to offer pleasant, adult, complex, convivial drinks. Things to drink at the table, during an aperitivo, in a social moment—without feeling like you’re being punished, and without having to explain every single time why you aren’t drinking alcohol.

The real challenge isn’t making a zero-calorie drink. The real challenge is making an alcohol-free drink that has presence. Body, acidity, bitterness, aroma, rhythm, persistence—perhaps even a little eccentricity. Because if you take away the alcohol, and then you take away the sugar, structure, texture, acidity, and complexity, what you’re left with is rarely purity. You’re left with water.

No/lo will truly come of age when it stops selling itself solely as a health choice and starts being perceived as a gastronomic, cultural, and social choice. I don’t drink this thing just because “it won’t hurt me.” I drink it because it tastes good, because it works with what I’m eating, because it keeps me company, because it entertains me, and because it makes me want a second glass.

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