Non-Alcoholic Old Fashioned Alternatives
Classic: bourbon + sugar + bitters
Stir an NA whiskey alternative with a barspoon of demerara syrup, a few dashes of NA bitters, and a fat orange peel. Slow, rocks-glass sipping with all the ceremony.
Brands we recommend
Pick one of these as your base and you're halfway there.
Award-winning NA range that mirrors classics: American Malt (whiskey), Italian Orange (Aperol), Dry London Spirit (gin). The widest classic-cocktail toolkit on the market.
Chicago-based, restaurant-favorite NA spirit line. Their Tequila and Whiskey alternatives are built to disappear into Margaritas and Old Fashioneds.
How to make a non-alcoholic Old Fashioned at home
1 cocktail · about 5 minutes · ~40 calories
Want the full build — bartender’s notes, variations, and where to order one out? See the complete Non-Alcoholic Old Fashioned recipe →
Ingredients
- 2 oz non-alcoholic whiskey alternative
- 1 barspoon (¼ oz) demerara syrup
- 2–3 dashes non-alcoholic aromatic bitters
- Wide orange peel, for garnish
Steps
- Combine the ingredients. Add the whiskey alternative, syrup, and bitters to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir until chilled. Stir for about 30 seconds until well chilled.
- Strain over a big cube. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass.
- Express the orange peel. Express the orange peel over the surface and rest it on the cube.
Order a non-alcoholic Old Fashioned at these venues
Bars that already pour the brands you need.
Soft Bar
Greenpoint
An all-day, fully alcohol-free cafe and cocktail bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, from "Summer House" star Carl Radke. Premium coffee and espresso by day; a full menu of zero-proof "soft cocktails" built on non-alcoholic spirits and functional ingredients by night.
Beyond the Bar Bottle Shop
Core District, Downtown Richardson
DFW's first and only alcohol-free bottle shop and dry bar, Beyond the Bar offers Richardson's largest curated selection of zero-proof spirits, wines, beers, and adaptogenic beverages, alongside a tasting lounge packed with regular events.
Taano House
East 6th Street
Taano House is a non-alcoholic trailer bar parked at 1109 E. 6th Street in Austin's East Sixth entertainment district, open daily from 5pm to 2am. Opened August 15, 2024 by University of Texas professor Geoff Smith and Joe Wes — co-founders of Austin-based Taano Elevated Beverages — the bar offers an unusual take on non-alcoholic drinking. Rather than focusing on traditional mocktails, Taano builds drinks around legal psychoactive plants like kava, kanna, blue lotus, and Amanita muscaria, aiming to deliver the relaxation and euphoria of social drinking through botanicals rather than alcohol. The cocktail menu was developed with Shaun Meglen, a mixologist and product education director for beverage distributor Southern Glazer's. Standout drinks include the Egyptian Mule (built on blue lotus and Amethyst's cucumber-ginger-serrano NA spirit), the Molly Martini (kanna with Lyre's NA coffee liqueur), and a 'mushroom wine' pairing Amanita muscaria with Oddbird NA wine. Visitors in recovery or anyone with substance sensitivities should note that the menu emphasizes psychoactive botanicals — this is a non-alcoholic experience, not necessarily a fully sober one.
Dray
South End
Boston's first dedicated non-alcoholic bottle shop, a 100% alcohol-free South End store stocking premium NA spirits, wine, beer, and ready-to-drink cocktails.
Dray
Central Square, Cambridge
A 100% non-alcoholic bottle shop in Central Square, Cambridge, styled like a high-end liquor store, carrying NA spirits, wine, beer, RTD cocktails, and mixers. Dray's second location, opened January 2025 inside the Market Central complex.
The Zero Co.
Poncey-Highland
The Zero Co. is Atlanta's first dedicated non-alcoholic bottle shop, opened in December 2022 in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood by Cory and Malory Atkinson, the husband-and-wife team behind nearby Elemental Spirits Co. The shop grew out of the rapidly growing zero-proof section at Elemental and stocks more than 500 non-alcoholic products — spirit alternatives, de-alcoholized wines, NA beers, and ready-to-drink cans — alongside locally made shrubs, vinegars, bitters, and elixirs. A bar-cart sample station lets customers taste before buying, and the space hosts tastings and events. Carried brands include Ghia, Seedlip, Lyre's, Wilderton, Ritual Zero Proof, De Soi, Three Spirit, Free Spirits, Athletic Brewing, and more. As co-owner Malory Atkinson put it, the goal was a "warm and welcoming" space for all kinds of drinkers and non-drinkers.
About the non-alcoholic Old Fashioned
A well-built NA Old Fashioned mirrors the original's profile (classic: bourbon + sugar + bitters). Stir an NA whiskey alternative with a barspoon of demerara syrup, a few dashes of NA bitters, and a fat orange peel. Slow, rocks-glass sipping with all the ceremony.
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