AF Drinks are a new alternative to premixed gin and tonic created by Eat My Lunch founder Lisa King.
She tells Kathryn Ryan the AF (short for Alcohol Free) mission is to normalise the choice not to drink alcohol.
Photo: AF Drinks
New Zealand is quite far behind the rest of the world in taking up the 'sober curious' movement, King says.
She stopped drinking alcohol herself at the start of 2020 after friends told her how good they felt after giving up.
"I wanted to see what it was like to operate at that 100 percent rather than some mornings waking up and not feeling completely on form."
Lisa King of AF Drinks Photo: AF Drinks
King did miss drinking gin and tonic but non-alcoholic gins didn't taste great or were really expensive, she says.
This is because alcohol-free gin is usually distilled with ethanol (alcohol) which is removed later - an extra process which makes it more expensive to make and to buy than alcoholic gin.
King thought that sounded too complicated.
"There's lots of great developments in flavour technology - why don't we use flavours to make it taste like a G and T?
AF Drinks contain juniper, lemon, rosemary and grapefruit to match the flavours of gin, with "a little kick and a bit of a burn" from a naturally heating botanical extract called Afterglow.
King hopes AF can help normalise not-drinking and combat the "odd judgement" that it often triggers in New Zealand.
"I wouldn't be doing [this] if it was just about selling drinks… there is a social purpose behind this. The people I've brought on the team, we're really passionate about making a difference in the world."
