8 Non-Alcoholic Tequila Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Tequila is an integral part of our summertime drink line-up. There's nothing like sipping a cool, crisp margarita by the pool as the sun beats down, or taking a spicy shot — complete with a lick of salt and lime — to get the beach party going. Nowadays, tequila isn't just for carefree college kids or retirees who spend all day on the beach. And it isn't just for people who drink alcohol, either.

As the booze-free lifestyle becomes more popular, plenty of companies are aiming to meet demands with zero-proof drinks — including tequila. Alcohol-free tequila may seem a little too good to be true, but some companies hit the nail on the head by getting the flavor and burn down pat. Others miss the mark completely, and create a weird, watery drink that tastes more like a vague, hazy memory of tequila.

I've been booze-free for years, and I always dabble in NA concoctions, especially in the summer. So, I got my hands on a few bottles of zero-proof tequila from various brands just in time for the season. I tried them as-is and in alcohol-free margaritas (all crafted with NA triple sec, courtesy of Dhōs) to rank them from worst to best based on their flavor, versatility, and — of course — how they compare to the real deal. So, grab your salt, shot glasses, and mini umbrellas, because we're getting tipsy — on flavor, that is.

Tequila is an incredibly complex spirit — that's why it's the favored liquor for bold, citrusy cocktails, where its spiciness and subtle nuance can be enhanced with tart, sweet fruit. Trejo's Spirits Tequila Alternative completely disregards the famed nuances of the spirit in favor of a zero-proof liquor that's sweet and nothing more, landing it in the last-place spot in this ranking.

Trejo's Spirits is the brainchild of actor Danny Trejo (in case you couldn't tell by his face plastered on the packaging) as part of his brand's complete merch collection, which includes food, apparel, and Trejo's own cookbook. When I first opened up the brand's tequila alternative, the first thing that hit me was that it smelled nothing like tequila. It had a sweet, tart aroma, similar to that of sour candy, and its aroma proved to be indicative of its flavor. It reminded me of warm, flat Sprite — too sweet, disappointing, and eerily nostalgic. There was slight pepperiness to the finish, but it could hardly be compared to the potent, warming burn of real booze.

In an authentic NA margarita (a "nargarita," if you will), Trejo's non-alcoholic tequila got completely lost, creating a sugary drink that tasted like just triple sec and lime juice. The drink was so thin and watery that it even muddled the zesty orange taste of the triple sec, whereas tequila should highlight triple sec's features, and vice versa. And so, it appears that Danny Trejo's extreme likability doesn't translate into his alcohol-free spirits line.

Cut Above's zero-proof blanco tequila was easily one of the most disappointing on this list; it started off promising but wound up throwing a completely nefarious curveball. This tequila alternative is meant to mimic a silver, unaged version of the Mexican spirit. It's made with unique ingredients, including cubeb peppercorns, Mexican lime oil, Italian chinotto, and quassia, so I was anticipating a bold, complex drink.

Cut Above's spirit had a uniquely lime-forward and peppery aroma and flavor, which was deliciously unique, albeit not very tequila-like; it was missing the warmth and spiciness that tequila is known for. But that's not what landed this spirit in the second-to-last spot — its most egregious feature was its aftertaste. Its initial pleasantly fruity flavor is completely ruined by a chemical-like finish that lingered on my tongue for a disturbingly long time. I felt like I had taken a swig from one of the cleaning products under my sink. It was sour, acrid, and not flavored like anything that one should be encouraged to ingest, to put it delicately.

Its intensely bitter finish is subdued slightly in a margarita made with just lime and triple sec, although the lime flavor of the NA tequila created an overly sour drink. It gave the mocktail a strangely thick, slimy quality that made it feel heavy on my palate. Based on flavor alone, Cut Above's non-alcoholic tequila probably could have fared in fourth or fifth place in this ranking, if not for its acrid finish and too-thick, syrupy body.

Nkd comes to us from Kentucky — a state famous for its boozy drinks, now getting the NA treatment thanks to Nkd. Its zero-proof tequila is made from real Mexican tequila, per the distillery's website, but whether this means it's made from dealcoholized tequila or not isn't completely clear. My first sip was smooth and mellow, without the smokiness that tequila is known for. It carried a prominent citrus flavor toward the back of my throat, accentuated by a slight creaminess (which the brand calls custard notes). Nkd also claims its NA tequila contains notes of earthiness, pumpkin, and caramel. However, I didn't detect any of these funky flavors after knocking back a few shots. Ultimately, the drink is vividly sweet and tasty, albeit missing a few flavors to bring to mind real tequila.

What Nkd's alcohol-free tequila does get right in its imitation is the boozy burn. It crept up slowly, but I felt it way in the back of my throat, much like a real shot of alcohol. It isn't as intense as real booze, but the slight burn worked with the sweet, tart, creamy flavors of the drink. 

In a margarita, the non-alcoholic tequila gets lost among the creaminess and zestiness of the other ingredients. The salt from the rim helped to accentuate the burn, but I would have liked to see this Nkd offering achieve a saltier, smokier profile to land higher on this list.

ISH is a Danish company specializing in NA wine, pre-made cocktails, and liquors. Its alcohol-free tequila is crafted with genuine agave, American oakwood, toasty brown sugar, and natural botanicals and herbs to give it its faux-aged tequila character. This non-alcoholic tequila was full of nuanced flavors that made it stand out among the other options on this list. Smokiness accented subtle sweetness, very much like that of reposado tequila — a unique type of tequila that's been aged for at least two months, giving it a trademark smoky flavor and mellow complexity. It gets the natural sweetness and smokiness of tequila down; however, it lacks the rich warming qualities that create the pleasant burn of tequila.

ISH's NA tequila fares much better in a mocktail than it does on its own, where its smokiness is a little too prominent. In a margarita, the smokiness stands front and center, but sweet and tart triple sec and lime juice ensure it isn't overpowering. Some salty and spicy flavors in the liquor would have done wonders to make it even more complex and similar to a genuine margarita. 

So, it was easy to detect as being booze-free, despite it making a tasty drink. But I was on the hunt for an alcohol-free tequila that was as close to the real deal as possible, and so the search continued.

For my taste test of Almave's non-alcoholic tequilas, I had the opportunity to try two different versions made with real blue agave: blanco and ámbar, meant to mimic silver and gold tequila, respectively. I tried the blanco first, which was shockingly crisp and sweet. It had a much lighter body than real tequila, which aided in ruining the illusion that I was actually taking a shot of booze, but the light, crisp mouthfeel paired well with its sweetness and subtle tart flavor. The ámbar version was warmer and more complex, but just as light-bodied, sweet, and smooth as the blanco. It had a slight peppery finish that vaguely translated like the burn of alcohol on my palate — more so than the blanco, which had almost no spiciness to it.

Almave's NA blanco tequila made an extra-sweet margarita that went down a little too easily — luckily, I wasn't driving (wink wink). I preferred the flavor of the ámbar in an NA cocktail, where the spirit's toasty notes danced around sweet and bitter orange and zesty lime flavors for a complex drink that was like a fiesta for my taste buds. 

While I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of both Almave's alcohol-free tequilas, they weren't close enough to the real deal to land higher on the list. Their sugariness and minimal burn gave them away as NA, but they might make a great mocktail addition for those who don't appreciate the fiery bite of real tequila and are after a smoother, more mellow drink.

Dhōs' take on an NA version of blanco tequila was probably the most uniquely flavored spirit on this list. It's made with real agave and tamarind — whereas most of the other NA tequilas I tried are made with lime for their tart characteristics — giving it a deeper, more nuanced sour-sweetness. I could feel the drink's peppery warmth less on my taste buds and more in my chest — just like the warmth of alcohol. For this reason alone, Dhōs' tequila alternative was one of my favorites, and it made a delicious booze-like mocktail. But the flavor was just a little too far away from genuine tequila for it to land in the top spot.

The tamarind flavor in this alcohol-free tequila worked beautifully in an authentic margarita. Triple sec and lime didn't drown out its unique notes or its warming ability — if anything, they enhanced them, like they should in a well-balanced margarita. It was still fairly apparent that the drink was non-alcoholic, since the flavor wasn't particularly close to real tequila, but it checked all the boxes for a delicious summertime mocktail. Dhōs' zero-proof tequila would also fare well in an NA bloody maria (a tequila-centric cousin to the bloody mary), where tamarind and tomato can join forces in a distinctive savory drink.

Free Spirits' tequila alternative is (zero) proof that alcohol-free liquors have come a long way in recent years. Its flavor and mouthfeel are meant to mimic aged tequila, and it comes pretty close to being a tequila twin, but its distinct notes blow its cover. However, they also make it uniquely delicious.

Its aroma was vivid and complex, with a warm spiciness being the most prominent scent, just like genuine tequila. I noticed a potent pepper flavor when I took my first neat sip. But not a spicy, earthy pepper flavor like that in most of the other spirits on this list — this was more of a sweet-and-savory vegetable taste, like bell peppers. It caught me by surprise, and I wasn't sure how to feel at first, but it quickly grew on me. This unique vegetable-like flavor was complemented by subtle sweetness and a nice burn in the finish that made this NA tequila incredibly well-rounded. Its smokiness was a little too prominent, distracting slightly from its other notes. But for those who appreciate a bold, smoky, aged tequila, this might be a strength rather than a weakness. 

In a margarita, all of these vivid flavor notes were enhanced. The liquor's mild amount of sugar made the alcohol-free cocktail not overly sweet, just like a drink made with a high-quality reposado tequila. The drink's mouthfeel was a little heavy and syrupy, but since it wasn't excessively sweet, it wasn't unpleasant.

And finally, we come to the most margarita-worthy, paloma-ready, non-alcoholic tequila on this list. Ritual specializes in just five different NA versions of classic boozy bevvies, so you know it's an expert at its craft. Its Tequila Alternative (soon to be rebranded as "Agave Spirit Alternative") earned the top spot on this list by being the most complex — just like the liquor that it's designed to mimic. Its toasty brown color gives away that it's meant to resemble gold tequila, which is famous for its complex smokiness and vivid layers of flavors that hit your palate in delicious, spicy waves.

The first flavor that hit me when I tossed back a shot of Ritual's Non-Alcoholic Tequila Alternative was its saltiness. It woke up my taste buds with a bright tang that was immediately followed by subtle spice — but not like that of cayenne pepper. The spice traveled down and settled in my chest, just like real alcohol, warming me up and giving me an invigorating placebo effect-like rush. I detected hints of bell pepper (but not as prominent as those in Free Spirits' NA tequila) complemented by a slight smokiness that wasn't overpowering like that in the ISH zero-proof tequila.

Ritual's mild sweetness and prominent salty flavor created the best margarita on this list by far. It wasn't exceptionally sugary — the salt balanced out the sweet triple sec and tamed the tart flavor of the lime juice so that it was prominent, but didn't take over the drink with the fruit's famous mouth-puckering flavor. Those who prefer a sweeter marg might want to add a touch of simple syrup or agave nectar, but I found it perfectly balanced.

To rank these non-alcoholic tequilas, I tried each on its own in order to get a clear idea of its flavors and nuances. Then, I made an NA margarita with each to see how the spirits fared in the most popular tequila-based drink out there. I used non-alcoholic triple sec (courtesy of Dhōs, which tasted just like the real thing), lime juice, and ice. I didn't add any additional sweeteners to the drinks in an effort to keep the NA tequilas' flavors as prominent as possible.

Tastes and flavors are always subjective, but I chose to rank these NA tequilas based primarily on their resemblance to the real thing. Tequila is an incredibly complex liquor full of intricate flavors, so I also ranked these zero-alcohol alternatives based on their complexity, including the presence of sweet, smoky, spicy, and salty flavors. The zero-proof tequilas at the top of the list were able to mimic genuine tequila's complexity and vibrancy, while those towards the bottom tasted flat and muted, or didn't taste close enough to the real deal to be able to act as a worthy substitute.