I was never a fan of Oct-sober. It seems a random month to decide not to drink, unlike Dry January.

That was until I realised that Stoptober is for smoking and ‘go sober for October’ is a way of raising money for Macmillan Cancer. Guess who feels guilty now…?

There have been countless studies linking excessive imbibing with chronic health conditions. I’m one for a more sustainable approach of ‘drink less, but better’, or finding drinks that naturally deliver lower alcohol without having it removed.

Going flat-out cold turkey for a month often makes you more likely to overcorrect later, like a crash diet. I’m not a doctor, but if you’re going to do it, it’s probably better to have two alcohol-free days a week than a whole month off.

Either way, knowing where to look for low-to-no dupes is a must, so here are three drier drinks that deliver like Dominos.

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Longbottom & Co Virgin Mary

For non-drinkers, tomato juice could be seen as a cliché. Not on Longbottom & Co’s watch, they make some of the tastiest iterations on the market. Made with ‘the world’s best tomatoes’, a statement almost as punchy as the cayenne pepper in the blend. There’s also Worcester sauce, lemon juice, red peppers and celery. My only gripe is that it’s a mini can for the price, but it’s worth it for the flavour pay-off.

Buy it from Ocado for £1.80.

The Doctors Rosé, Marlborough

I’m still recommending rosé because I can’t let go of summer, and this bottle is 9.5 per cent abv. Why not a zero- alcohol wine? Simple, many still taste like grape juice, at the price of a wine. This is a dry, strawberry-stashed bottle from a winery set up by two doctors, hence the name. It’s all down to the process of slowing the vine’s ability to make sugar, therefore alcohol, while maintaining the intensity of flavours.

Buy it for £8.99 (save £2) from Waitrose.

Cotswolds Dry Gin Essence

At 46 per cent alcohol, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d lost my mind. This super-concentrated elixir comes with a teat pipette, the idea is to add five drops into 200ml of your favourite tonic water for a 0.23 unit, 14 calorie G&T. It also has ten times the botanical content as their award-winning dry gin. There’s enough to make 20 G&T’s, so bottom’s up.

Buy it from Master of Malt for £17.95.

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