Terps & Co is a zero alcohol terpene spirit which co-founder James Crow says still gives you "the feels" without the alcohol. Photo / Warren Buckland
Terps & Co is a zero alcohol terpene spirit which co-founder James Crow says still gives you "the feels" without the alcohol. Photo / Warren Buckland
A new alcohol-free spirit made with the aromatic compounds found in plants can still give drinkers a "buzz" without the negative effects of alcohol.
Napier-based company Terps & Co is making alcohol free spirits made with terpenes that means drinkers can "lose the booze but not the feels".
Co-founder JamesCrow says terpenes are concentrated oils which are found in all fruits, herbs and plants – essentially the flavouring that makes plants and produce smell or taste nice.
"It's what triggers things in our brain and our bodies that make us want to eat something or not eat something."
Terpenes have been isolated to flavour and scent products such as essential oils, perfume and body products.
For example, at a mild level, smelling lavender can have a calming effect for some people or going for a walk in a pine forest may have a refreshing effect.
The Napier-based business produces three products with similar flavours to gin, whisky and rum. Photo / Warren Buckland
This product concentrates and combines about 40 terpenes extracted through distillation from various plants, vegetables, herbs and seeds.
"If we concentrate that a thousand-fold, what was a just say an invigorating scent in a body wash, becomes actually a really stimulating effect in your body.
"That's where terpenes have always been in our lives but they haven't been connected in the same way that we've connected ethanol, alcohol, in products as being a really functional thing we can use in our lives."
Launched this month to coincide with Dry July, the drinks are similar to popular spirits, a product that people already understand, and can be easily swapped out for.
Gin-like, Rum-esque and Whisky-ish take inspiration from the traditional spirits and can be drunk the same way one would drink alcohol, but they won't have the negative effects alcohol can have.
"You can have a whole night on the terps with us and wake up the next morning and feel fantastic.
"And that's how you solve some of the issues around drinking.
"People want to go out and have a great time, they want to feel uplifted throughout the evening and ideally, they don't want to feel a huge drop at the end of the night and terrible the next day, this gives that space to happen."
All three products contain the same terpenes blend and then have added extracts to make them taste similar to the alcoholic spirits they are named after.
The Gin-like product has peppercorn, clove, bitters and juniper; the Rum-esque cassia bark, clove and citrus peel; and Whisky-ish has clove, nutmeg, coffee and American oak.
