The non-alcoholic Old Fashioned

The classic recipe is two ounces of bourbon or rye, a sugar cube or a teaspoon of syrup, two or three dashes of Angostura bitters and a strip of orange peel, stirred with ice and served on a large cube. Every part is small, so every part shows:

• Whiskey is the drink. Bourbon brings vanilla, caramel and oak; rye brings spice. The alcohol brings heat and a heavy, mouth-coating texture.
• Sugar rounds off the edges of the spirit. It should be barely noticeable.
• Bitters season it, the way salt seasons food. A few dashes of aromatic bitters add clove, cinnamon and a bitter backbone.
• Orange oil from the peel brightens the nose.
• Dilution from stirring softens the spirit. With whiskey, you want about a quarter of the finished drink to be melted ice.

A zero-proof Old Fashioned turns several of those rules upside down:

• Less sugar. Most whiskey alternatives are already sweeter than bourbon. Start with half a teaspoon of syrup and add more only if needed.
• Less dilution. There's no alcohol to tame, so stir for 10 to 15 seconds, not 30. Over-stirred, a non-alcoholic Old Fashioned tastes like cold tea.
• More bitterness and spice. These stand in for the burn. An extra dash of bitters or a small measure of a spiced spirit helps.
• A pinch of salt. It thickens the texture and makes the oak and caramel taste fuller.
• One large cube. It melts slowly and keeps the drink from going thin.

There are now a few ready-made non-alcoholic Old Fashioneds, and they're a good answer when you want the drink without the stirring.

• Spiritless Old Fashioned is Kentucky 74 zero-proof bourbon with cane sugar, chai spice and orange zest, canned to pour over a big ice cube. It's light on sugar at 45 calories a can. Add a strip of orange peel.
• Curious Elixirs No. 5 is a smoky Old Fashioned: dark cherry and chocolate, American oak and a lingering bit of burn, with elderberry, ginger and shatavari. Each bottle makes two drinks; pour over a big cube with an orange peel.
• Free Spirits Espresso Old Fashioned is a coffee riff on The Spirit of Bourbon: sweet oak and roast coffee, with about 64 mg of caffeine a can. Pour it over ice with an orange twist, and keep it for earlier in the evening.

The other ready-to-pour relatives are bottled non-alcoholic amari, which you sip slowly over ice the way you would an Old Fashioned. St. Agrestis Amaro Falso is minty and gentian-bitter, sold in single-serve bottles. Lapo's Amaro is darker: licorice, cinnamon, pine and bitter orange on a date-syrup base. Neither tastes like whiskey, but both scratch the slow, bitter, after-dinner itch.

The whiskey

This is the whole drink. The question we see most is which non-alcoholic whiskey is best for an Old Fashioned, and the answer depends on whether you want bourbon sweetness, rye spice or smoke. There are now enough to choose by style.

Bourbon-style: caramel, vanilla and oak. The classic Old Fashioned.

• Spiritless Kentucky 74 is our first pick for the best non-alcoholic bourbon for an Old Fashioned. It's real Kentucky bourbon with the alcohol taken out, so the caramel, vanilla and oak are the genuine article. It's already sweet, so go light on the syrup.
• Monday Zero Alcohol Whiskey was made with a bourbon maker to hit the classic notes: caramel, molasses and roasted coffee, with a little orange and heat. It has more body than most, which matters in a drink this bare. It's a close second, and the pick if you like a darker, richer Old Fashioned.
• Lyre's American Malt is built for Old Fashioneds and Boulevardiers: vanilla, caramel, oak and a nutty note. It's among the sweetest on our list and makes a rounder, softer drink. Our house recipe uses it with just a teaspoon of demerara.
• BARE Zero Proof Bourbon Whiskey sticks close to a classic bourbon profile, with oak, vanilla and caramel and a botanical edge. Trejo's American Whiskey Alternative is rich and warming, with oak, caramel and warm spice. Both are good, straightforward mixing whiskeys.

Bold, spicy and smoky. For people who drink rye or Scotch.

• Ritual Whiskey Alternative is smoke, caramel and a strong peppery bite. It's the least sweet and most bitter of the bourbon-leaning group, and its heat is the closest thing to alcohol's burn. In an Old Fashioned, stirred with sugar and bitters, the pepper settles into warmth.
• Gnista Barreled Oak doesn't try to imitate bourbon. It lands somewhere warm and woody: smoke, spice, chocolatey rye and oak, with good body. It's the most interesting sipping option here, and it makes an Old Fashioned that tastes like a grown-up drink rather than a copy.
• Abstinence Cape Malt sits between bourbon and Scotch: vanilla, caramel and toffee with a wisp of peat smoke and rooibos. Use it for a smoky Old Fashioned.

Spiced.

• Spiritless Kentucky 74 Spiced is the Kentucky 74 base with an extra hit of cinnamon and baking spice. Think apple pie. It makes a spiced Old Fashioned for autumn and winter; cut the syrup right back.

If you're buying one bottle, Spiritless Kentucky 74 or Monday for a classic bourbon Old Fashioned, Gnista for something with more character. For more bite, split any bourbon-style alternative half and half with Ritual.

The bitters

Angostura and most aromatic bitters are made with alcohol, at around 45% for Angostura. A few dashes adds only a trace to a drink, but it isn't zero. If you avoid alcohol entirely, these are the non-alcoholic Old Fashioned bitters to use:

• All The Bitter Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters is our pick: a glycerin-based, 0.0% stand-in for Angostura, with cinnamon, clove, allspice and ginger over gentian and cinchona. Use a full dropper where a recipe says a dash.
• Seasn Dark Cocktail Bitters is savory and spicy: kola nut, smoked cherrywood, star anise and cinnamon over black pepper and mushroom. Three dashes deepen the drink and add a hint of smoke. It's especially good with a smoky whiskey alternative like Gnista or Abstinence Cape Malt.
• All The Bitter Orange Cardamom Bitters is three kinds of orange peel with cardamom, coriander and gentian. A few drops alongside the aromatic bitters stand in for the classic orange-and-Angostura combination.

If you don't have bitters, these do a similar job:

• Hella Classic Dry Aromatic Bitters & Soda. Soda water with gentian, clove, allspice and star anise, bone dry and properly bitter. Half an ounce stirred into an Old Fashioned adds bitterness and spice, plus a hint of fizz. It also adds some dilution, so stir a little less.
• A bitter amaro. A bar spoon of Lapo's Amaro or Curious Elixirs No. 8 in place of bitters gives you the bitter backbone, with some extra fruit and spice.

Can you make an Old Fashioned without bitters? You can, but it will taste flat and sweet. If you have nothing else, a strip of orange peel and a thin slice of fresh ginger stirred with the drink give you aroma and a little bite.

The warmth

Alcohol's slow burn is the thing most non-alcoholic Old Fashioneds miss. Three ways to put some back:

• Tenneyson Black Ginger is concentrated, unsweetened and spicy: ginger first, then dandelion, gentian, bergamot and yerba mate. A quarter-ounce alongside the whiskey alternative adds heat and bitterness at once, and it doubles as a bitters substitute.
• Seedlip Spice 94 is allspice, cardamom and oak, unsweetened. A quarter to half an ounce adds spice and dryness without more sugar.
• Fresh ginger or a slice of chili, stirred briefly and removed, adds heat you feel at the back of the throat.

The sugar and garnish

Demerara syrup (two parts demerara sugar to one part water) gives more body and a toffee note than white sugar. Maple syrup works too and suits Lyre's American Malt. Plain simple syrup, such as Rose's Simple Syrup, is fine if it's all you have; use a little less, since it's thinner and cleaner-tasting. A sugar cube muddled with bitters is traditional but adds grit if it doesn't dissolve; syrup is easier. Garnish with a wide strip of orange peel, squeezed over the glass to release the oil. A cocktail cherry is optional.

This is our house version: simple, balanced and quick. Lyre's American Malt brings the body; the demerara and bitters do the seasoning.

For a drier, more bourbon-like drink, swap in Spiritless Kentucky 74 and cut the syrup to half a teaspoon.

The Old Fashioned mocktail with tea

If you'd rather not buy a whiskey alternative, strong black tea is the best stand-in we know. Its tannins give the drink grip and dryness, and a smoky tea like lapsang souchong adds a whiskey-barrel note. Seedlip Spice 94 adds oak and warmth.

The main Old Fashioned ingredients, compared. Ratings are a rough average of reviews from around the web; see each bottle's page for the sources.

With a whiskey alternative and a bottle of bitters, you're a step away from a handful of classics.

• Whiskey Sour: the same spirit, shaken with lemon and sugar, often with egg white. It's more forgiving than an Old Fashioned, so a lighter whiskey alternative works.
• Boulevardier: whiskey alternative, a bitter aperitivo and a sweet vermouth alternative, stirred. It's the Negroni's wintry cousin.
• Manhattan: whiskey alternative stirred with a sweet vermouth alternative such as Roots Divino Rosso and a dash of bitters, served up.
• Maple Old Fashioned: swap the demerara for maple syrup and add a pinch of salt. It suits Lyre's American Malt.
• Oaxaca Old Fashioned: a smoky agave spirit in place of the whiskey, sweetened with agave syrup. Monday Zero Alcohol Mezcal is made for it; Almave Ámbar, with caramel, toasted wood and cacao, makes a rounder, reposado-style version.

The Old Fashioned is a common zero-proof order at cocktail bars, and alcohol-free bars usually stock more than one whiskey alternative. Ask which one they use. A few worth the trip: