The brand is known for its wide range of flavoured rums, but this is its first foray into the alcohol-free sector. And a welcome one it is too. GABA is a neurotransmitter naturally present in your brain and your gut, which promotes relaxation and harmony, reducing stress. Produced via a unique, proprietary process, requiring cutting edge equipment and advanced skills, SENTIA is made for its effects and not just for flavour. There are other botanical drinks on the market – such as Three Spirit Drinks, which uses ingredients including cacao and lion’s mane for mood-boosting, energising effects. Not to mention the slew of non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits already flooding the market. Upon opening the bottle of Mahala I got the unmistakeable fragrance of cloves, which I love, so I knew I was going to like this.

Sentia Red Gaba Spirit, 20cl | Non-Alcoholic | Vegan | Gluten Sentia Red Gaba Spirit, 20cl | Non-Alcoholic | Vegan | Gluten

GABA, which is present in, well, all living things, isn’t an active ingredient in and of itself. GABA in—say—a drink, a fruit, a grain of rice, or a blade of grass, can’t get from there into your brain, because GABA can’t pass through the BBB. The Social Drinks claims to have made just that: Sentia, a botanical drink made entirely from plants. I poured myself a shot and tried it over ice. Floral, fruity aromas exploded from the glass.It tasted just like it smelt: fresh, full of spice — a bit like a mulled wine but cold and berry-like — with a sweet, creamy aftertaste.SENTIA's proprietary ingredient blend is optimised through combination, proportioning and production to maximise bioavailability, flavour and effect. Dash Lilley, one of the co-founders, talks up the functional potency of the company’s drinks cabinet. Like the team at GABA Labs, Lilley’s colleagues looked to plants that could provide a similar effect as alcohol’s perceived positive effects.

spirit Senita actually make you tipsy? - Stylist Can alcohol-free spirit Senita actually make you tipsy? - Stylist

The flavour is fruity, but there’s a bitterness that lasts once the initial flavour has dissipated – it’s sort of like grapefruit, but nicer. The colour is rich and deep, and even when diluted with tonic it has a pleasing, deep-red hue. This fizz is light on the palate, crisp and perfect for parties so have a few bottles of this on hand for non-drinkers this Dry January. Nutt said that Sentia was not directed at "the drinking population", but people who don't want to drink alcohol i.e. 25-40-year-old "health-conscious" people. He said he didn't know whether it would provoke a desire to relapse for those with previous alcohol addictions.

The colour is bright and the bubbles are big. It’s also extra dry, so avoids the too sweet flavour of some zero alcohol wines.

Fake Alcohol Could Make Drinking Safer. But Experts Are Wary

Flavoured ciders have become really popular in recent years and this pineapple and raspberry variety opens up the sector to non-drinkers. If you’re a fan of the alcoholic version the chances are you’re going to love this – it’s sweet, slightly fizzy and definitely tastes of pineapples.Sentia doesn’t try to look like anything other than itself. It’s not an alcohol-free version of something else so it doesn’t come in a lookalike bottle, it is an original. I’m fascinated by neuroscience and how the brain works, and to think certain ingredients can recreate the relaxing effects of alcohol is pretty mind-blowing.

GABA Drink – Sentia Spirits The True GABA Drink – Sentia Spirits

Fans of Whitley Neill’s Raspberry Gin are in for a treat with this alcohol-free version. I tried it for the first time over Christmas and it is quite delicious. The bottom line: Sentia has not been tested in the same rigorous way as a new drug, even though it can change behaviour and acts on the brain.But what if you could get the buzz of a good drink without the buzz-killing side effects? That’s the marketing hype bubbling up from startups around the world making beverages that promise to make you feel tipsy using the magic of plant extracts, not alcohol. These companies claim that after a botanical beverage, you’ll feel more sociable and relaxed without getting drunk, eliminating the hangover (and bad decisions) that sometimes follow a boozy night.