Non-alcoholic party drinks on test

Pregnant? And dreading the endless rounds of lemonade drinking at the christmas party? Now there's no need to make your excuses as we've come up with a great list of non-alcoholic drinks, which allow you to celebrate without touching a drop of alcohol...

We put five drinks to the test, with four pregnant babyworld members offering their opinions on which they would be most likely to take to a party while those around them were drinking alcohol. We were looking for a special drink for a special occasion, rather than something you might put on the dinner table every day.

The name at the end of each comment is the tester’s babyworld username. All drinks for the test were kindly supplied by Safeway.

•   Aqua Libra
•   Safeway
•   Grapetise
•   Amé Rosé
•   Francère
•   What our testers said
•   Where to next?

Aqua Libra

Sparkling fruit drink with herbs (original). Costs around £1.88 for 750 ml.

"A lovely bottle but very disappointing contents, with a very strange melon smell and an extremely unpleasant strong melon flavour – really quite horrible and very disappointing since the bottle looks so lovely." fiona
"Lovely! Unusual but pleasant taste. Will definitely drink again." babymaynard
"Distinctive taste of honeydew melon. I didn’t like it." dturvey
"Sweet, fizzy and tastes a lot like honeydew melon – very nice." jennifertrotman

Sparkling white grape juice. Costs around £1.42.

"Quite nice. The bottle is masquerading as champagne and not succeeding. The drink itself has a very sweet grape and honey smell and a very sweet and strong flavour – quite nice." fiona
"Very grapey, not very fizzy, and very sweet – way too sweet for me." jennifertrotman
"Very sweet and could become sickly in large quantities." babymaynard
"Not bad, but quite like cider." dturvey

Grapetise 

Sparkling white grape juice drink. Costs around £ £1.88 per litre.

"A rather boring bottle, but a pleasant smell and fresh flavour, however, a rather average drink and not perhaps something I would buy particularly as a treat." fiona
"Very sweet and a bit sickly." babymaynard
"Tasted like the Safeway sparkling, but not as syrupy and fizzier, so a bit nicer." jennifertrotman
"Reminded me of cider rather than wine – not bad but couldn’t drink more than a glass." dturvey

*Amé Rosé* Our favourite

A lightly sparkling non-alcoholic drink containing fruit juices, spring water and a unique blend of eastern herbal extracts. Costs around £1.88 per 750 ml.

"Very refreshing with a pleasant taste." babymaynard
"Hard to describe – it’s sort of fragrant, but quite refreshing, and not too sweet." jennifertrotman
"Posh-looking bottle with an interesting fruity smell and flavour – a very nice drink." fiona
"Lovely and refreshing – I really felt like I was about to drink a cold glass of rosé." dturvey

Francère

Grape spritzer with lemon and elderflower. Costs around £1.52.

"Very 80s looking bottle, with an odd fruity smell and a strong lemon flavour – not unpleasant but surprising." fiona
"Didn’t really enjoy this one, it tasted quite artificial." dturvey
"Smells and tastes like cough medicine!" babymaynard
"Smells like apples, tastes of grape and elderflower, is light and quite sweet but quite nice." jennifertrotman

Top of the tests was Amé Rosé, but each of the testers had very different opinions of the drinks. One tester praised Aqua Libra for its melon flavour – two others hated it for the same reason!

What our testers said

Fiona’s favourite is the Amé: "I would personally buy the Amé as my drink of choice. The bottle looks very much like a wine bottle and the drink itself is very pleasant and interesting. I actually polished off the whole bottle in an evening. I only really drink non-alcoholic drinks when I'm pregnant, usually cola, although I think that treating yourself to something special over Christmas or New Year is a very good idea."

Babymaynard says she would plump for the Amé or the Aqua Libra as her drink of choice over festive periods: "I usually drink cola or sparkling mineral water when not drinking alcohol, although at the moment my favourite tipple is fresh milk! I would definitely consider the Amé or Aqua Libra as an alternative for celebrations. I have steered clear of alcohol so far through my pregnancy, but might have a glass of champagne for very special occasions, even if I don’t manage to drink it all."

Jennifertrotman says: "Normally I have to admit liking my drink, but obviously, being pregnant, that’s gone out of the window. I do have the odd glass of wine here and there, though. I wouldn’t normally drink a non-alcoholic drink to replace it, but when pregnant, you don’t have much choice! These days it tends to be an apple drink or tonic water for me. When I went off tea and coffee, diet cola went too! If I had to pick one to drink instead of wine, the Belvoir wins."

Dturvey likes Amé best. She says: "I haven’t missed alcohol in the slightest and tend to stick to water during the daytime and treat myself to a glass of fruit juice in the evenings. Amé's good for Christmas and New Year celebrations."

Where to next?

• For more great Christmas features, click here