‘Fermentation has been around since ancient times and households used to make all manner of things, but today we take it for granted’, says Greek native Maria Boumpa, sommelier of Bethnal Green’s two-Michelin-starred Da Terra. For Rafael Cagali’s team, creating an extensive in-house non-alcoholic offering was a no-brainer when they noticed that their guests were drinking less alcohol and were enquiring into other options to pair with Da Terra’s tasting menu.

A 2022 UK consumer report tracking the attitudes towards the low-and-no-alcohol drinks market reported that a third of adults had reduced their alcohol intake in the prior twelve months. A quarter of adults, meanwhile, noted that their consumption of low-and-no-alcohol options have helped their ambition to drink less.

Maria, in charge of the non-alcoholic pairing at Da Terra, says that constructing their offering around in-house ferments allows Da Terra to utilise seasonal ingredients and create drinks that are versatile and well suited to the dishes being served on any given evening. Maria and Rafael take inspiration from fermentation practices far afield in places like Mexico and China, and then adapt them to South American flavour profiles to suit Rafael’s cuisine, with drinks like tepache, marigold kombucha and a kefir water all making appearances. Their tepache, a drink traditionally from Mexico and made from pineapple rind, sees the addition of fermented honey and caju, and is paired with their coconut parfait with barbecued pineapple.

Managing active ferments is no easy task when variables such as weather changes can throw a typical fermentation cycle off course. Constant tasting and monitoring of the acidity and sugar levels with PH strips and refractometers are required to make sure the pairings are up to scratch before being served. At the end of each cycle, Maria leaves some behind to kickstart their future batches. Just like with wine, acidity is critical when thinking of what to serve with a particular course and for Maria, the ability to precisely control the levels of acidity is the key reason why ferments play such an active role in their non-alcoholic pairing.

Nearby, cornering Shoreditch’s Chance and Redchurch Street, Cycene’s executive chef Theo Clench and senior chef de partie Caitlin Jones’ passion for fermentation sees a non-alcoholic drinks pairing that they feel supports the creativity of their menu by utilising waste products from current dishes as well as preserved and fermented ingredients from seasons past. What began as an early interest in the health benefits of ferments, sprouted into a desire to learn as much as possible about how fermentation can bring out new and delicious qualities of ingredients.

Fermentation, for them, ‘opens up more options for the flavours and combinations you can create, which is always going to be more interesting. It also gives you way more flexibility to properly develop and match the drinks to the actual dishes and menu.’ At Cycene, the aim is for the story behind each drink to actively add to the experience; the team don’t want the non-alcoholic drinks to be seen only as an option for those who don’t or can’t drink, but rather as an authentic and genuine addition to each dish.

Offering a full non-alcoholic pairing, half and half, as well as different options by the glass, you are actively encouraged to delve into their laboratory of brews with influences similarly seen in Clench’s cooking. A double fermented pear & celeriac kombucha kicks off the meal alongside snacks, made using pear and celeriac waste from the tasting menu. Rounding out the menu is an intensely savoury honey fermented milk and kombu infusion, served alongside their dark chocolate sabayon tart. As the months tick by, Cycene’s ever-growing larder of vinegars, syrups, preserves and ferments will continue to push forward the team’s desire to keep their non-alcoholic offering as one of the key components of their dining experience.

Up north, Stacey Sherwood and Luke French of Sheffield’s Jӧro are demonstrating that this demand for non-alcoholic options, and the creativity that restaurants are meeting it with, is not exclusive to the nation’s capital. For Stacey, their soft drinks flight is the perfect way of combining flavours and produce that are already being used for their menu. When thinking about how to go about a non-alcoholic offering, the eclectic nature of the menu at Jöro forced her to realise that if they relied on pre-made products, they would struggle to find an exact match for the dishes on the menu.

Fermentation makes an appearance in a few ways on Jöro’s current offering, often rooted in what is in its seasonal prime and how those ingredients can be preserved and used well after the season has passed. Recent iterations of a rhubarb and rose kombucha and a blackcurrant sour made with fermented blackcurrant cordial are a prime example of such execution, developed by their restaurant manager Oliver Kaviani. A big focus for Jöro currently is what can be done with rice, with amazake, a Japanese fermented rice drink, also making an appearance on the menu.

Like Cycene, Jöro has also maintained a supply of its own cordials, syrups and preserves ever since opening, utilising ingredients that they have preserved from last year or even earlier, which can kickstart future pairing ideas. For Luke and Stacey, the health benefits of such fermentations are also a key consideration when thinking about their drinks offering, as both Stacey and Luke are sensitive to certain foods and believe that having fermented drinks throughout the tasting menu helps with digestion and gut health.

The flourishing, meanwhile, of companies like REAL Drinks, the Buckinghamshire based non-alcoholic fermented sparkling tea company, reflects the significance of the trend across the broader industry as well as at home. ‘Five years ago, if you walked into a pub, there would be maybe one non-alcoholic beer and soft drink,’ says Robyn Bunting, REAL’s marketing executive, ‘but today we are being approached by restaurants that say their guests want more options.’ Not every restaurant has the capacity to run an extensive in-house non-alcoholic pairing and since their founding in 2017, REAL has worked with chefs and restaurants to figure out what suits them best, hosting chefs at their production facility for tastings. To date, REAL products have been stocked in lauded restaurants such as The Fat Duck, Le Gavroche, and The Clove Club.

Their two flagship products, Royal Flush and Dry Dragon, are made via a process inspired by natural wine production. Fairtrade tea is fermented using wild yeast strains, bottled and shipped, all in-house to ensure the level of consistency required by their top restaurant clients. Wine alternatives, like REAL, compared to de-alkalised wines, are a more thoughtful solution to the changing needs of the non-drinker.

What’s next on the fermentation agenda? Maria is looking to put Kvass, a savoury Russian ferment made with stale bread, on the menu to potentially pair with their bread course, Jöro’s rice obsession and in-house koji production has some exciting treats in store in the near future and Theo Clench’s pantry is preparing to bulk preserve and ferment the incoming spring bounty. And that’s only at these three restaurants. The fact of the matter is that you can expect to see fermentation playing an increasingly important role on drink menus all over the UK in the coming years as the low-alcohol trend continues to skyrocket, and that’s something to be very excited about indeed.