Serving Up South Africa’s Sober Curious Movement
Lyre’s non-alcoholic spirits brand has launched in South Africa, servicing an unmet need for South Africans looking for an easy solution to more mindful drinking.
The world’s most awarded, impossibly crafted – premium quality spirits brand hits South African launches in August with five variants. Carefully crafted to pay homage to the flavours of the world’s most classic, time-tested spirits, that give you the freedom to drink your drink, your way.
Lyre’s was created by entrepreneurs Mark Livings and Carl Hartmann in 2019 to replicate the world’s most popular spirits in a non-alcoholic format, each as close to the original premium volume spirit as possible, with the aim of changing the way the world drinks.
“The non-alcoholic spirits market in South Africa is growing slowly and has been, until now, only serviced by a small number of local brands catering only to white spirits, mainly gin, leaving a significant majority of consumption preferences for dark spirits completely untended until now,” says Mark Livings, Lyre’s Co-Founder and CEO. “We recognised that there is a broad trend in and around the lack of no or low alcohol drink options and asked ourselves, how can we stay social without compromising taste?”
He says that Lyre’s is a premium range of unique non-alcoholic variants, crafted to pay homage to the flavours of the world’s most classic, time-tested spirits in true-to-taste formats. “Lyre’s will become the first brand in South Africa which is able to meet the needs of consumers looking for a non or low alcoholic alternative spirits with a full range of non-alcoholic spirits,” he says.
The brand was developed over three years, working with one of the world’s leading food houses, utilising a library of over 6,000 extracts, essences, and distillates. Step-by-step advised by restaurateur, one of Australia’s most respected sommeliers and decade long wine specialist, David Murphy the flavour architect for Lyre’s. “By way of example, our flavour architect, David Murphy, drew on no less than 25 different natural essences and extracts in his quest to produce our Dry London Spirit,” says Livings.
“Lyre’s is created not by distillation, but the meticulous blending of natural essences and extracts by our flavour architect,” he explains. “Lyre’s spirits don’t just mimic; they have their own distinction as a premium non-alcoholic beverage.”
He says that the spirits are crafted as you would blend wine, by experimenting with combining each flavour component in different percentages. “We used cutting edge food science, to ensure the spirits pay homage to the traditional spirits people have come to love,” he adds.
“This has resulted in recreating the closest possible texture and palate weight, that delivers the tell-tale burn of alcohol in the beverages finishes,” Livings says. “Lyre’s is a mix of natural flavours, extracts and distillates derived from fruits, botanicals, spices, nuts, seeds, and other natural sources.”
“Lyre’s has been coveted in 220 awards globally, most recently at the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation where Lyre’s non-alcoholic spirits won best new spirit or cocktail ingredient for the Lyre’s Italian Orange – a vibrantly red Italian bitter aperitif alternative,” he adds. “This marks the first time a non-alcoholic spirit has been recognised.”
Notably he adds, apart from the benefits of being non-alcoholic, the Lyre’s range is substantially lower in calories, in some cases by more than 90 percent, than the original spirit and all products are vegan, with packaging that is 100 percent recyclable.
Five variants will be made available in South Africa at launch phase: Dry London Spirit (Gin alternative), Italian Spritz (an Amalfi Spritz), American Malt (Bourbon alternative), Coffee Originale (for an Espresso Martini) and White Cane Spirit (White Rum).
With 18 premium non-alcoholic spirits, Lyre’s currently sells one bottle every 30 seconds in over 60 countries across multiple channels, including direct-to-consumer, and in leading restaurants, bars, hotels, retailers, and airlines – and now in South Africa directly from the brands website.
“Our unparalleled spectrum of drinks means that under a consistent banner of ‘Make it a Lyre’s, any venue (or home bartender) can make almost any drink using simple swaps with the Lyre’s line-up,” Livings says.
For more information visit: www.lyres.co.za
