The Cocktail That Tastes Like a Negroni, But Is Minus the Hangover

The Seedlip NOgroni is the non-alcoholic answer to the boozy Negroni. One sip of this complex, bitter cocktail and you might never go Ne again!

The Negroni is one of the most famous cocktails in the world, and famously simple: equal parts of three spirits, stirred, done. Its alcohol-free cousin follows the exact same logic. Swap in Seedlip Spice 94, Lyre’s Italian Orange, and Lyre’s Aperitif Rosso in equal measure and you get something close enough to the original that, poured over ice with an orange twist, most people won’t clock the difference until you tell them.

Seedlip: The Brand Behind the NOgroni

Seedlip was invented by Ben Branson in 2015 as the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, and it’s the reason the entire modern no/low category exists in anything like its current form. Diageo took a majority stake in the brand in 2019, which tells you how quickly “alcohol-free spirit” went from novelty to serious business. There are three core Seedlip varieties: Spice 94, Garden 108, and Grove 42, and picking the right one matters more than people expect.

Why Spice 94 Goes Into This Recipe

Spice 94 is built on allspice, cardamom, oak, and citrus with a bitter finish, closer in character to a whiskey or aged spirit. That warmth and bitterness is what lets it stand in for gin’s backbone in a Negroni-style build without the drink falling flat. If you want to try Garden 108 elsewhere, save it for a non-alcoholic Tom Collins or Gin Rickey instead.

What goes into a Seedlip NOgroni?

Seedlip Nogroni gets its inspiration from a classic drink.

• Seedlip Spice 94: Warm, spiced, and citrus-bright, with a bitter finish from allspice and cardamom that gives the drink its backbone.
• Lyre’s Italian Orange: A Campari-style non-alcoholic aperitif built on blood orange and red citrus with a persistent, pithy bitterness. This is what makes the drink taste unmistakably like a Negroni rather than a vague bitter soda.
• Lyre’s Aperitif Rosso: A sweet vermouth-style aperitif with blood orange, vanilla, and dried fruit that rounds off the bitterness, playing the role sweet vermouth plays in the original.
• Orange twist: Non-negotiable, just like the real Negroni.

What tools you need to make Seedlip NOgroni

Making Seedlip Nogroni is super easy. You won’t be needing a cocktail shaker for this one! Grab a jigger, a barspoon, and a rocks glass for this NOgroni. Just pour all the ingredients into a glass and mix well. Add the orange twist and serve.

Tips for a Better NOgroni

• Use a large ice cube. A single big cube melts slower than several small ones, so you get the dilution a stirred drink needs without watering it down too fast.
• Taste before you finish stirring. Italian Orange’s bitterness varies slightly by palate; if it’s reading too sharp for you, lean the ratio slightly toward the Aperitif Rosso.
• Express the orange twist properly. Squeeze the peel, skin-side down, over the glass to release the oils before dropping it in. That’s most of the aroma right there.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Reaching for Garden 108 instead of Spice 94. It won’t ruin the drink, but it will taste noticeably thinner and more vegetal than the version this recipe is built around.
• Skipping the stir. Building it straight in the glass without stirring leaves the ingredients layered and unbalanced instead of integrated.
• Forgetting the twist. Without it, the drink loses the citrus aromatics that tie the whole thing together.

NOgroni vs. Negroni: What’s the Difference?

Beyond the obvious (one has alcohol, one doesn’t), the two drinks land differently on the palate. A classic Negroni gets its weight from gin’s alcohol content as much as its botanicals, which is part of why it feels so strong.

The NOgroni leans harder on bitterness and spice from the Lyre’s pair to create that same sense of complexity, so it can read slightly more bitter and slightly less “warming” than the original. If you’re serving both at the same gathering, the NOgroni works well as the drink people reach for on their second or third round, when they want the ritual without the buzz.

Substitutions If You Want to Experiment

Lyre’s isn’t the only non-alcoholic aperitif brand worth having on hand. Ghia’s non-alcoholic aperitif has a similar bitter, herbal profile that works reasonably well in place of Italian Orange. Everleaf Forest is another well-regarded Campari-style substitute with gentian and cascarilla bark, popular specifically for low- and no-alcohol Negronis.

Batching and Storage

For a crowd: Multiply the three ingredients equally by your guest count and stir a large batch over ice in a pitcher right before serving, then pour into individual rocks glasses over fresh ice each. Don’t pre-mix hours ahead, the drink is best stirred to order.

For the bottles: Unopened Seedlip and Lyre’s both keep well for months in a cool, dark cupboard. Once opened, refrigerate both to preserve their sharper top notes, and aim to use an opened bottle within a few months for the best flavor.

Where to find more Alcohol-Free recipes

• How to Make a Virgin Mai Tai
• How to Make a Lime Rickey
• How to Make the Everleaf Cosmopolitan
• How to Make Wilfred’s Wine-less Mulled Wine
• How to Make the Three Spirit Social Spritz

 Plus more Seedlip recipes here

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Seedlip Garden 108 instead of Spice 94? You can, but it’ll taste noticeably thinner and more herbaceous rather than warm and spiced. Spice 94’s bitterness and depth are doing the heavy lifting a classic Negroni gets from gin.

Is Lyre’s actually alcohol-free? Yes. Lyre’s products are crafted to under 0.5% ABV and marketed as non-alcoholic.

How many calories is a NOgroni? Expect somewhere in the range of the original recipe’s 157 calories per serving, most of it from the natural sugars in the aperitif components, noticeably less than a traditional Negroni once you factor in the alcohol content of gin, Campari, and vermouth.

Can I make it with a different non-alcoholic bitter if I can’t find Lyre’s? Yes, Ghia or Everleaf Forest will get you close, though the flavor profile will shift slightly since each brand’s base ingredients differ.

Here is the recipe!

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