New brand uses plants to ‘replicate’ alcohol effects

Fluid Movement founders Tristan Stephenson and Tom Aske have teamed up with bar and botanical experts to create a zero-abv spirit alternative that “replicates the positive effects of alcohol” using plants.

Three Spirit is made with plants that are said to interact with our nervous system in the same way as alcohol

Three Spirit is a plant-based zero-alcohol drink that “responds to the growing number of people abstaining from alcohol”. It is described as offering a “third way between booze and sugary drinks”.

It has been created by a team of bar experts including Stephenson and Aske, as well as bartender Matt Hastings and Rebecca Lazarou, who has a Masters degree in medicinal natural products and phytochemistry.

Bar Chick co-founder Tatiana Mercer created the brand along with Dash Lilley, who has founded a number of wellness-focused beverage labels, and Meeta Gournay.

The team sought to understand alcohol’s “positive effects” and “how it interacts with the receptors in our nervous system”. They then discovered plants with active compounds that interact with these same receptors.

The 11 plant-based ingredients used to create Three Spirit, include: lion’s mane, yerba mate, cacao and damiana.

“Pretty soon it won’t be enough for a bar to simply offer a non-alcoholic drink that looks and tastes similar to its alcoholic counterpart,” said Stephenson.

“With Three Spirit we are leveraging the opportunities that sit in the grey area between alcohol and no-­alcohol. Using functional ingredients that can subtly affect an individual’s state of mind, without the impacts of excessive alcohol consumption.”

“The flavour of Three Spirit sits somewhere between amaro, Benedictine, Coca-Cola, and extra-aged spirits; bittersweet, earthy and spiced. It’s great on the rocks and excellent mixed with soda.”

Three Spirit will launch in bars from January 2019. It is now available to pre-order.