Low- or no-alcohol alternatives to get you through to February.

If you’re trying to abstain from alcohol this month, we feel your pain. Dry January was either invented by the devil himself as some sort of preparatory template for purgatory, or concocted by drinks companies safe in the knowledge that everyone consumes three times as much alcohol in February to make up for it. Whatever the genesis of this pernicious health trend, it need not be a slog.

If you’re determined to cut your consumption this month, there are ways of doing it without locking yourself in a dark room or resorting to lurid soft drinks or, God forbid, “mocktails”. Here are a few sophisticated (very) low-alcohol options for the man who knows how to treat himself while being virtuous.

Mikkeller Drink’in Barely Berliner

Danish brewer Mikkeller is known for its boundary-pushing beer, and here’s a fine example: all the sour, fruity, acidic flavours of Berliner Weisse, with the merest whisper of alcohol (0.1 per cent). It questions the very nature of what beer is, but, more importantly, it tastes delicious and will keep your head completely clear the next morning.

Seedlip Spice 94 and Fever-Tree Soda Water

Seedlip is the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit, and is distilled with botanicals that give it a flavour reminiscent of gin but without the booze (or sweetener, or artificial flavourings). It’s best mixed with a premium soda water such as Fever-Tree to allow the complex notes of cardamon, all spice and citrus to make themselves known. A strip of grapefruit peel will add an extra layer of finesse.

Fentimans 19:05 Herbal Tonic Water and Dr Adam Elmegirab’s Spanish Bitter

The cure-all crispness of a well-made gin and tonic is hard to resist, we know. For a low-alcohol alternative, leave the spirit in the cabinet, and pep up a quality tonic with a healthy splash of artisan bitters (usually bottled at 40 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV), but you don’t need much). The intense citrus and floral notes of Dr Adam Elmegirab’s Spanish Bitters combine alchemically with the gentle sweetness and herbs of the Fentimans, creating a drink to keep you interested till the last sip.

Stone Go To IPA and Fever-Tree Lemonade

Once exclusively enjoyed by the wives of 1970s pub-goers and deluded drink-drivers, shandy is now edging towards acceptability, providing that both its constituents are tip-top. The intense fruitiness of the hops in a can of Stone’s easygoing IPA team up well with the powerful lemoniness of the Fever-Tree. Neither is too sweet, resulting in a sub-3 per cent ABV tipple to tide you over into February.

Big Drop Chocolate Milk Stout

Milk stout – made with sweet lactose – is about the most cheering beer there is, and when cocoa nibs are added it becomes nothing short of a bear hug in a bottle. Big Drop is the UK’s first exclusively low-alcohol brewery, and this, its first beer, has an ABV of 0.5 per cent, which is just enough to elevate it from a soft drink to something a little more special.