Rethinking the way we drink: the growth of functional drinks
Diving deep into the exciting world of functional drinks to find out what they are, why they’re good and who they’re for
At Purple, 2026 has started with a torrent of ads and messages from no and low alcohol brands tapping into Dry January. It’s been fascinating to see the different marketing messages being used to try and capture our attention. We’ve been studying the brand world designs, the reasons to try them, the stories behind their inception – and of course we’ve even tasted a few! But this isn’t just about a break for a few weeks, this is about how we are all rethinking the way we drink.
Alongside the usual 0.0% suspects, we’re seeing a lot of new brands sitting in a category called ‘functional drinks’. They’re non-alcoholic – but crucially also offer us extra benefits. On some retail sites like DryDrinker, they’ve got a ‘Functional Spirits’ shopping section now. Where and how they should be marketed, is a key question we will come back to.
What is a functional drink?
A functional drink is a drink that has a positive function beyond simple hydration. There are a few subtly different definitions circulating, with varying degrees of detail. Tom Surgey, drinks expert on ITV’s Love your Weekend, said:
“One category of drinks that is going to be huge this year is functional non-alcoholic drinks. These are drinks that are non-alcoholic but have botanicals and other ingredients that emulate parts of the sensation alcohol gives you. Like energy, or a gentle sensation of calmness or euphoria.”
In their report ‘Functional Drinks – Drinking with Meaning 2025’ Club Soda, the non-alcohol bar and shop say:
“Forget the clinical language of “wellness” and “performance”. These drinks have real cultural potential: they give people something to hold, something to talk about, and something that actually changes how they feel, without the after-effects. With adaptogens, nootropics, and botanicals doing the heavy lifting, they offer a new kind of sociability that fits modern life.”
The next non-alcoholic alternative
In this blog, we’re specifically focused on functional non-alcoholic drinks that are an alternative to beers and spirits, delivering added wellness or mood-enhancing benefits beyond just flavour and refreshment.
From the brands we’ve been looking each one envisions a new way for people to enjoy the rituals and social aspects of drinking, offering extra mood-based experiences like relaxation or sociability minus any downsides. They are targeting mindful drinkers who want to relax, socialise or unwind without alcohol, hangovers, sugar or high calories.
But not all non-alcohol brands are functional
So everyone’s clear, we’re not talking about brands like Pentire or Botivo or a zero beer like Asahi 0.0% or Days. Yes, those sit in the non-alc category, but don’t make it into our functional drinks list because they focus on taste and refreshment without the functional ‘extras’. Brands like Trip or Purdeys, are generally sold as soft drinks, so they sit on a different shopper shelf, but if we were to shop by need-state or occasion, the functional drinks we are looking at today could easily sit in two different sections in supermarkets.
In the UK, we’re seeing functional spirit brands like Sentia Spirits, ThreeSpirit, Smiling Wolf, NoCrudo, Nazcal, and the brilliantly named Karmaceuticals. From further afield Aplós, Kin Euphorics, Little Saints, Highr Spirits, G-Spot and Noot have also caught our eye.
Our studio fridge is also stocked with functional beers too – Impossibrew, Collider, Gabyr, TipsyAF and BrewTropic. Some of these are 0.5% but still classed as non-alc in the UK.
Who’s creating these functional brands?
One of the fascinating things about these new players is that while they all sit within the new functional category, each one has a unique motivation, purpose and area of expertise.
Some are founded by ex-drinks industry experts who have spotted a new opportunity. Some are scientists with a new vision about the way the world should drink. Some are entrepreneurs from the wellness space applying that mindset to drinks. Some are ordinary people whose own journeys have led them to create what they previously were unable to find.
Another observation from a design perspective is how brands such as Smiling Wolf and Little Saints look like they belong next to the alc. spirts shelf, where Three Sprits and Kin could sit comfortably in the wellness aisles or even in Boots!
While the big alcohol brands are all fully into non-alc versions of their best-sellers, we haven’t seen them enter the functional space yet – but you can bet they’re coming!
How will a functional drink affect me?
As you’d expect from each unique brand, the lead claims and tone of voice are different, but the new category language is about the benefits the functional drink provides and the effect it has.
Here’s a selection of soundbites:
“Buzz without alcohol”, “mood enhancing”, “feel everything and regret nothing”, “confidence, connection and clarity”, “enhance relaxation and sociability by boosting your brain's natural GABA system”, “natural euphoria”, “designed to revitalise and ignite conversation” and “rethink the way you drink”.
Yep, you noticed we stole that last one as our headline because it’s a common thread across a few of the brands.
What ingredients are in functional drinks?
According to the Club Soda report, “Nearly 8 in 10 adults in their research group say they’d try functional drinks - but only 16% understand the ingredients. The desire is there from the customer, but they will need their hand held through the immediate journey to discovery”.
We’d second that. What we read is a little different depending on where we read it. The use of natural botanicals and herbs are prevalent. But the new language in this emerging category is often around active plants, nootropics and adaptogens. Let us know if you think we’ve got any of these wrong, or in the wrong columns :)
Take a look at the back labels and you’ll see mushrooms such as lion’s mane, reishi, ashwagandha, as well as natural nootropics and active herbs such as passionflower, schisandra, guayusa, damiana and wormwood, While some brands like Aplós and Edi have cannabinoids, CBD and hemp oil, most seem to be using other ingredients and ‘plant chemistry’ to achieve each brand’s desired result, such as activating the brain's natural GABA system or creating the social buzz.
It’s going to be interesting to see how legals and advertising standards evolve in this space – how much of an ingredient goes into each blend and what exactly can be claimed. And whether the brands are grouped with the alcohol or wellness products in the future may also have a big impact on messages, design codes and consumer understanding about where these products sit in our lives and why we should buy them.
So how big will this sector grow? And how fast?
According to Google AI, the total alcohol drinks market is worth around £65 billion in the UK. Low and no-alcohol drinks make up around 3% of that, with sales being accelerated in the category driven by health and wellness trends.
In Club Soda’s report summary, they say: “Wellbeing could well become the key driver for consumer decision making in the non-alcohol space. With 34% of consumers currently agreeing that functional drinks offer more benefits than standard non-alcoholic drinks, 30% agreeing that they are healthier than standard non-alcoholic drinks, and a further 21% believing them to offer better value for money than standard non-alcoholic drinks.”
So, let’s see what 2026 brings. If these new functional non-alcoholic drinks can give us what we want from alcohol, without the things we don’t. That’s got to be worth a try.
At Purple, lots of us will still be enjoying our favourite alcohol brands responsibly of course, but if our gang is representative, these new alternatives will lead to more ‘zebra striping’, as people swap between the alc and non-alc options with some maybe ditching the booze altogether.
But as well as having more choice, the best news is we’ve all got more fascinating brands to go out and taste and more compelling stories to discover. Cheers to that!
Recommended reading:
https://joinclubsoda.com/product/functional-drinks-research/
https://www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/retail/what-are-the-types-of-functional-