7 nonalcoholic beverages everyone can enjoy at Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving might be the most “anything goes” holiday on the calendar. You can lean into tradition or throw the whole rule book out and start over. Turkey or lasagna, folding tables or your nicest china, nobody’s going to stop you.

But if there’s one rule I’d actually enforce, it’s this: Have nonalcoholic options on the bar. Not as an afterthought, and not just a cooler full of supermarket seltzer and a few Diet Cokes. Real options, with real flavor. It not only matters for the people who aren’t drinking (whatever their reason), but also for everyone who needs to brave I-95 or the Schuylkill after the party’s over.

The good news is the category has gotten so good that “nonalcoholic” no longer means “boring.” You put more effort into impressing your friends than your family anyway, so treat the people who show up for you all year, and yourself, to something worth sipping.

Set a few of these out next to the usual suspects, and no one will have to settle at your Friendsgiving. Everyone will be drinking the good stuff.

The best nonalcoholic whiskey I’ve tried, and one of the best-selling brands in the category for good reason. It’s made by a team of women with real roots in Kentucky bourbon country, and it shows: heavy on the wood, with enough bite to pass as the real thing.

Build it into an old-fashioned using the mocktail kit from Cork, which comes with standout glycerin bitters from All the Bitter.

For a fun group activity, Friendsgiving can double as a nonalcoholic beer tasting. GO Brewing’s lineup of alcohol-free craft beers actually tastes like the styles they’re named for: a coffee stout with real roast, a West Coast-style IPA that doesn’t skimp on hops, a seasonal pumpkin beer that leans into spice instead of just slapping the word on the label.

Line up a few and let the table argue about a winner. Get an assortment from Wallace Dry Goods.

If turkey and tryptophan alone won’t get you there, this botanical spirit will help finish the job. It’s built for winding down, with ashwagandha and valerian root doing quiet work underneath dark maple, hops, anise, and black pepper, a strange and specific combination that somehow reads as one seamless flavor instead of a list of exotic ingredients.

This isn’t a shot to knock back between dishes. It’s the kind of thing you pour into an actual glass, carry to the coziest chair in the house, and sip slowly while the rest of the party winds down. Available at Gem Boutique.

Ginger already lives in your pumpkin pie spice, so it makes sense it works this well in a glass on its own. Tenneyson leads with a serious, warming ginger punch and rounds it out with citrusy bergamot, earthy dandelion, and a handful of other botanicals working underneath.

Drink it as an aperitif over ice before the meal starts, or stir it into a mug of warm apple cider with dessert. Find it at Herman’s Coffee.

Made right here in Pennsylvania, Blind Tiger uses real juice and real extracts to make canned cocktails that taste like a bartender actually made them, not like they came out of a lab. That matters most on a day when you’re already juggling a turkey, a full table, and a dozen conversations at once.

Grab the variety pack, which covers a Bee’s Knees, a French 75, a Mojito, and a Sidecar Mimosa. Pop a tab and skip the shaking, stirring, and doing dishes entirely.

Nonalcoholic wine became a serious business in Europe long before it made a dent here, which means brands like Sweden’s Oddbird have had years to perfect the process while American drinkers were still stuck with syrupy, one-note substitutes.

Oddbird blends de-alcoholized varietals until the result stops feeling like an apology and starts tasting like an actual bottle of wine you’d choose on its own merits. Track it down at Moon and Arrow.

This one earns its name; it does the job of about four bottles at once. Made from real fruit juice and agave, it works mixed with spirits, hard or nonalcoholic, for a margarita or martini, poured into sparkling wine for a Royale, or topped with sparkling or still water for a fully alcohol-free drink that still feels like something.

It’s a bright, tart burst that plays nicely with turkey and greens, and it keeps your whole beverage station from tipping into pumpkin spice overload. Available at badauntiesmultimix.com.