When I was served Sparkling Tea as an alcohol-free aperitif at Ocean in Portugal in 2024, one thing stood out in particular: it wasn’t presented as a substitute, but as a natural part of the drinks experience. That approach is becoming increasingly relevant for restaurants and hotels.
To me, this is one of the most interesting developments in alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinking culture. Not every drink needs to imitate wine to be taken seriously. Perhaps it only becomes truly interesting when it stops trying.
Sparkling Tea is no longer confined to specialist alcohol-free ranges. NZZ Bellevue has also explored the category this year, describing it as an ideal food pairing: delicate bubbles, expressive aromas and enough depth to make it interesting when a drink needs to offer more than an alcohol-free alternative to sparkling wine.
For restaurants, hotels and retailers, the question is no longer simply whether to offer alcohol-free alternatives. What matters is how they are selected, presented and integrated into the drinks list. Sparkling Tea is an interesting example because its appeal isn’t based on abstinence. It has its own aromatic profile, can be explained to guests at the table and offers something beyond water, juice or lemonade.
The category doesn’t fit neatly into any existing classification. It draws on the craft of tea-making and the culture of aperitifs, while also raising questions about what a modern drinks list should look like. Depending on the product, Sparkling Tea may be alcohol-free or low in alcohol. But it’s most convincing when it isn’t conceived as “wine without wine”.
A Sommelier Who Thinks Beyond Wine
One person who doesn’t see this development as a niche phenomenon is Alex Koblinger. The Master Sommelier is Head of Wine at Döllerer Stammhaus, Service and Quality Manager at Döllerer Weinhaus and a multiple recipient of the Sommelier of the Year award. He has been shaping high-level sommellerie for more than 25 years.
When Koblinger talks about Sparkling Tea, he isn’t discussing a short-lived drinks trend. He’s interested in how we should think about beverage pairings today.
Sparkling Tea convinced him “because it doesn’t try to imitate wine”, Koblinger says. That’s precisely where its strength lies: it stands as an independent drinks category with its own aromas, texture and character.
A small anecdote from the early days illustrates just how young the category still is. When Döllerer Weinhaus first imported Sparkling Tea, Austrian customs apparently didn’t even have a suitable classification code for it. It was simply a new category of beverage that didn’t quite fit into the existing system.
A look at its origins also reveals how recently the category emerged. According to Copenhagen Sparkling Tea, it began in 2010, when Jacob Kocemba, then a sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen, couldn’t find a suitable wine pairing for a dessert.
The solution didn’t come from the wine cellar, but from a teapot. He developed an extract from several high-quality teas that would later become the foundation of Sparkling Tea.
In 2017, Kocemba founded the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company together with Bo Sten Hansen. According to the company, its products are now sold in more than 50 countries and served in over 100 Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide.
Perhaps that’s exactly the point.
For a long time, alcohol-free drinks were primarily defined by what they lacked: no alcohol, no intoxication, no wine, no sparkling wine, no beer. On drinks lists, they were often relegated to the margins, somewhere between mineral water, fruit juice and homemade lemonade.
Guests who consciously chose not to drink alcohol were frequently offered something sweet, childish or rather one-dimensional in flavour.
Sparkling Tea reverses that perspective.
Instead of asking how closely it can resemble wine, it asks a different question: What can tea offer when it’s given the same care and attention as a premium drink designed to accompany food?
“Sparkling Tea convinced me because it doesn’t try to imitate wine.”
What Really Matters at the Table
According to Koblinger, guests respond accordingly. They rarely compare Sparkling Tea with wine, instead seeing it as a high-quality drink for occasions when they consciously choose not to consume alcohol. That’s why it now has a permanent place in the range.
When tasting Sparkling Tea, Koblinger initially applies the same sensory principles as he would to other drinks: balance, aromatics, length, texture and overall impression. Whether it’s wine, beer, sake or Sparkling Tea, the fundamental question remains the same: Does the drink work as a whole?
Only then do the particular characteristics of the category come into play.
The quality of the teas, extraction, sweetness, bitterness and carbonation play a more significant role than they do with wine. The methodology remains comparable, but the emphasis shifts.
For the hospitality industry, that’s precisely what matters. Sparkling Tea becomes interesting not because of lifestyle trends, but because of what it can contribute at the table.
It’s not simply about an attractive label or an alcohol-free option for guests who don’t want to drink. It’s about how carefully a beverage has been made and how it works in context.
How does it interact with a dish? Where does it support the flavours, and where does it provide contrast?
Koblinger’s assessment is particularly interesting because he doesn’t approach the category solely from the perspective of wine. Alongside his work as a Master Sommelier, he also holds the Japanese honorary title of Sake Samurai.
That fits the picture. Alex Koblinger doesn’t think about beverage pairings exclusively in terms of wine. He’s interested in what a drink can offer when its origin, production and sensory characteristics work differently.
In the restaurant, Koblinger deliberately uses Sparkling Tea as a food pairing. Not as a replacement for wine, but as a pairing in its own right.
There are dishes, he explains, for which it can be a fascinating alternative, opening up an entirely new dimension of enjoyment for guests.
With highly aromatic vegetables, herbs or distinctly spicy dishes, it can sometimes create a more harmonious pairing than wine.
That’s no minor observation. Precisely where wine isn’t necessarily the most straightforward answer, alcohol-free or low-alcohol beverages can demonstrate their strengths.
Tea brings different bitter compounds and tannins to the glass. Its aromatic profile and structure are different, too.
Sparkling Tea doesn’t need to take the place of Riesling, Champagne or pét-nat.
It can offer its own answer.
Craftsmanship Without the Alcohol
The way we drink is changing, and not only in the alcohol-free category.
Low-alcohol drinks are attracting growing interest as well. Many people don’t necessarily want to avoid alcohol altogether. They simply want to make more conscious decisions about when alcohol adds something to an occasion and when a lighter drink might be the better choice.
Not every aperitif needs to contain 12% alcohol. Not every food pairing needs to involve a traditional glass of wine.
For hospitality businesses, this distinction is essential.
Not every Sparkling Tea is alcohol-free. Some products fall into the low-alcohol category. ROD from Copenhagen Sparkling Tea, for example, contains 5% alcohol, and this should be clearly communicated.
It may nevertheless be an interesting lighter alternative to many wines. Particularly with no- and low-alcohol offerings, transparency is essential if guests are to trust the recommendations they receive.
At Döllerer, this category is described by the rather lovely German expression Handwerk ohne Prozente, meaning “craftsmanship without the alcohol”.
It captures the idea perfectly. This isn’t about deprivation or lecturing people. It’s about craftsmanship and hospitality.
“A sommelier is responsible for the entire range of beverages, not just wine.”
Koblinger says that a sommelier is responsible for the entire range of beverages, not just wine.
It’s a statement that stays with me.
If hospitality genuinely wants to put guests first, it needs to take people who prefer little or no alcohol just as seriously as everyone else. Not by offering a makeshift solution, but by applying the same care to alcohol-free drinks as it does to curating a wine list.
In the best restaurants, this approach has already become established. Alcohol-free pairings are no longer treated as special requests, but as part of the dining experience.
One trend that reflects this development is Zebra Striping, the conscious alternation between alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks.
The next step is for this attitude to become equally natural in traditional restaurants, hotels and everyday hospitality businesses.
Because a high-quality drinks pairing doesn’t begin with alcohol.
It begins with paying attention.
What suits this dish? What does this guest need? What supports the flavours without overwhelming them? What brings freshness or depth to the menu?
This is where the opportunity lies for restaurants, hotels and retailers: treating no- and low-alcohol drinks not as an obligatory addition, but as a craft that deserves careful consideration.
Businesses that give beverages beyond wine the same attention as their wine lists, from selection to recommendations at the table, do more than offer something contemporary.
They demonstrate that hospitality begins when different needs are genuinely taken seriously rather than simply accommodated.
Sparkling Tea can be one answer.
Not always, and not everywhere.
But when it’s included on a drinks list with care, and the service team understands why they’re recommending it, Sparkling Tea demonstrates that sophisticated drinking culture doesn’t necessarily require alcohol.
