F&W Game Changers: Julia Bainbridge

As the unofficial hype woman for non-alcoholic cocktails, Julia Bainbridge, a New York City-based writer and host of The Lonely Hour podcast, is also somehow the polar opposite of a stickler for sobriety. "In the end, my taste buds should drive my decisions about what to drink," she says. Her preeminence in the booming booze-free movement isn't focused on doing without-in fact, many of the cocktails in her book,Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You're Not Drinking for Whatever Reason,are extra in the best way possible, encouraging readers to whip up syrups and source special ingredients, from umeboshi vinegar to dried butterfly pea flowers, for maximum payoff.

READ MORE:Food & Wine Game Changers: 25 People and Companies Changing the Way We Eat and Drink

She is, however, a self-declared stickler for semantics. "I have mixed feelings about calling the alcohol-free concoctions we're increasingly seeing for sale 'spirits,'" she says. "They're packaged in bottles beautiful enough to be given real estate on any bar cart, but spirits, by definition, contain alcohol-more alcohol, in fact, than bitters, amaros, aperitifs, or other things you'd find in a liquor store."

不过，时间是变化。当贝恩布里奇（Bainbridge）于2019年为她的书提交手稿时，seedlip（右边的jardínverde中的关键要素）是同类产品的唯一产品，是一种通过专有的浸泡，蒸馏，蒸馏和过滤过程制成的“非酒精蒸馏精神”。从那以后，该类别爆炸了，我们会说这部分是贝恩布里奇（Bainbridge）倡导的酒吧和品牌，这些酒吧和品牌在创造性，复杂性和美味性方面创造了非酒精成分，这些成分可与他们的狂热对应物相媲美。（有关她最喜欢的一些瓶子，请参见下文。）

"Ghia's French founder, Mélanie Masarin, stopped drinking alcohol a few years ago, but she didn't want to miss out on a cultural ritual in France:apéro,or theapéritifhour. 'Most mocktails I found were too sweet,' she told me. 'I wanted a drink that had a kick to it but that wasn't overly sugary.' So she created her own. I prefer Ghia with seltzer and a hit of lime juice-in a chic piece of stemware."

Buy It:$33 atdrinkghia.com

"Amass just launched Riverine this year. Crisp and evergreen, it will transport you to the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Unlike many alcohol-free spirits, Riverine can be drunk on its own over ice, but I think it's best with a splash of good tonic water. Its light sweetness balances Riverine's angelica root, cardamom, and sumac, and the bubbles breathe life into the juniper, apple, mint, sorrel, and thyme."

Buy It:$35 atamass.com

"One of three products from London-based 'botanical alchemy' brand Three Spirit, Livener contains a mixture of guayusa, guava leaf, and schisandra berries that's meant to be energizing. I just like it because it tastes like berries and tea up front, with some fiery heat on the back end. Try it with a little bit of grapefruit juice and soda water or even mixed with kombucha, if you like."

Buy It:$ 39 ATthreespiritdrinks.com