Paris has always taken drinking seriously: the ritual of the apéritif, the precision of a well-balanced cocktail, the pleasure of lingering over a beautiful glass. However, according to recent reports, consumers are drinking less wine (The Economist, January 2026) and less alcohol in general among Gen Zers and millennials (Time Magazine, January 2025). For many, teetotaling is now a way of life, not just a post-Christmas dry January pause.
In response to this change in drinking habits, bartenders in Paris are applying the same technical skills, culinary thinking and ingredient-led creativity to mixing nonalcoholic drinks as they do to their signature cocktails, transforming what was once an afterthought into a category of its own. Here are some of our favorite cocktail bars in Paris for a great atmosphere and excellent alcohol-free drinks, along with easy recipes from the bartenders to try at home.
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Mixology duo Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane at Bar De Vie in Paris. ©Millie Tang
1. Haute Cuisine and Mixology at Bar De Vie (Sentier, 2nd arrondissement)
When ex-Little Red Door bar alumni Barney O’Kane and Alex Francis set out to open their own bar, they didn’t just stop there. In addition to serving underground cocktails at Bar De Vie, the duo also enlisted the help of Chef Adam Purcell to open fine dining restaurant Comptoir De Vie above, while Cave De Vie, selling French spirits, natural wines and more, sits next door.
Sustainable practices underpins both the bar and kitchen menus: The team notably don’t use any ice to chill their drinks (other methods, such as specially designed glassware, keep cocktails cool) and ingredients are hyperseasonal, meaning they can change from one week to the next.
What stays, however, is the consistently good choice of nonalcoholic drinks: At Bar De Vie around 40% of the menu comes with a nonalcoholic counterpart, sometimes more depending on what the season offers up as inspiration. At Comptoir De Vie the traditional wine pairing is replaced by an inventive cocktail experience available either with or without alcohol — and guests are free to switch between the two. One highlight is the Sgroppino, bright with refreshing citrus notes, for which you can find the full recipe below.
De Vie, 22-24 Rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002 Paris
Recipe for De Vie’s Sgroppino Nonalcoholic Cocktail
For 1 person
Resting time for the mixture: at least 1 hour
1 scoop of lemon (or other citrus) sorbet
3 ounces (90 ml) non-alcoholic hydromel or mead (Bar De Vie uses Bulles de Roche brand)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) oleo saccharum, lemon syrup made with oil-rich rinds (see recipe below)
Oleo saccharum
4 lemons1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
How to make the cocktail:
Peel lemons and trim away any excess white pith. Muddle the rinds with a mortar and pestle along with sugar until the lemon oils are released.
Let the mixture stand for at least 1 hour and for up to 1 day, stirring occasionally until a syrup forms. The mixture should produce around 1/2 cup (120 ml) of syrup, which can be refrigerated until ready to use.
To make the Sgroppino, add one scoop of citrus sorbet into a pre-chilled coupe glass. Pour over the hydromel and oleo saccharum.
Serve as a cocktail or palette cleanser before a meal (as they do at Bar De Vie) or between courses.
Little Red Door’s Aquaponie nonalcoholic cocktail. ©Aron Farkas
2. New York Prohibition-Era Vibes at Little Red Door (Marais, 3rd arrondissement)
You don’t actually enter this spot through its little red door, but the presence of an unassuming residential doorway is one of the bar’s nods to the New York scene that inspired its speakeasy style and good-time vibes. Drinks are just as fun — Little Red Door’s motto is “playfully pushing boundaries” — although the team also use their creativity as a force of good to highlight the more serious issues behind the menu, such as agriculture and sustainability.
What visitors will also find is a consistent nonalcoholic offering — the idea being that everyone can come into the bar and enjoy a well-crafted drink. That ethos also extends to the carefully sourced beer and wine selection. Look out for monthly cocktail creations popping up on the menu, both with and without alcohol. A favorite is the tangy Aquaponie with Thai basil notes — you can find the full recipe below.
Little Red Door, 60 Rue Charlot, 75003 Paris
Little Red Door’s Aquaponie Nonalcoholic CocktailServes 2
The cocktail is prepared in three stages, the first two of which can be done in advance.
Resting time for the mixture: at least 24 hours
The basil cordial
4 ounces (115 ml) filtered water
3 tablespoons (40 g) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) powdered citric acid
2 1/2 tablespoons (10 g) fresh basil, including stems
2 1/2 tablespoons (10 g) fresh Thai basil, including stems
Combine the water, sugar and powdered citric acid in a bowl and whisk until everything is dissolved.
Add the basil. Stir and cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and leave to infuse for 24-48 hours in the fridge.
Strain and pour into a clean glass bottle. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
The foam
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
4 ounces (120 ml) filtered water
3/4 teaspoon (2 g) lightly crushed green tea (not powdered)
1/3 cup (20 g) fresh basil, including stems
1/3 cup (20 g) fresh Thai basil, including stems
Combine the water and sugar in a bowl and whisk until dissolved.
Add the rest of the ingredients, cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and leave to infuse for 24-48 hours in the fridge.
Strain and pour into a clean glass bottle. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
The cocktail
1 3/4 ounce (50 ml) VRMH n°1, an alcohol-free aperitif
1 ounce (30 ml) JNPR n°1, an alcohol-free spirit
1 ounce (30 ml) non-alcoholic Giffard elderflower liqueur 1 ounce (30 ml) verjuice, a highly acidic juice made from unripe grapes or crab apples
2 ounces (60 ml) prepared basil cordial
2 ounces (50 ml) prepared foam liquid
1 teaspoon (3 g) powdered soy lecithin
Ice
How to make the cocktail:
Combine the homemade foam liquid with the powdered soy lecithin and whisk with an electric mixer until you have a light and airy foam.
Combine the VRMH n1, JNPR n1, Giffard elderflower, verjuice and homemade basil cordial in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds.
Strain and serve in two cocktail glasses. Use a spoon to place a little foam on top of the cocktail to finish.
Bar Sister Midnight’s I Wanna Be Your (Sober) Dog in Pigalle, Paris. ©Jen Riley
3. A Touch of Drag Disco at Sister Midnight (Pigalle, 9th arrondissement)After cutting her teeth in Paris at spots like Candelaria, Red House and the now-shuttered Glass, British bartender Jen Riley decided to launch her own bar in Pigalle to celebrate the neighborhood’s “glam grass roots” with a regular program of cabaret and drag nights that can be enjoyed with an excellent drink in hand.
The idea behind Sister Midnight’s original cocktail menu was to update classic disco cocktails for a modern palate. Over time, though, the offering has become more reactive and often changes according to client demand — the iconic espresso martini is one of the drinks currently being revived with a Sister Midnight twist — while keeping the fun touches of retro disco drinks.
It’s also the customers’ requests that have led Riley to expand the nonalcoholic cocktail menu, which aims not to recreate the kick of alcohol but rather the balance, structure and complexity of a cocktail to hit all parts of the palate.
Hibiscus tea concentrate, for example, brings tannins, while an ingredient such as kaffir lime leaf adds an aromatic dimension to the drink. Riley’s most recent nonalcoholic creation was converting signature cocktail I Wanna Be Your Salty Dog to a Sober Dog after some experiments to hit the right level of bitterness, which was finally achieved by swapping out the original Aperol with Lyre’s Italian Spritz. Riley shares the recipe below for those who want to give the drink a go themselves.
Sister Midnight, 4 Rue Viollet-le-Duc, 75009 Paris
Sister Midnight’s I Wanna Be Your (Sober) Dog Nonalcoholic Cocktail
Serves 1
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (25 ml) grapefruit cordial (see recipe below)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) Lyre’s Italian Spritz
1 1/4 ounces (35 ml) non-alcoholic gin, such as Tanqueray 0.0
Grapefruit cordial
10 ounces (300 ml) water
10 ounces (300 ml) fresh grapefruit juice
1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
How to make the cocktail:
Add the water, fresh grapefruit juice and sugar to a pan and cook on low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Pour into a clean glass bottle and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
To make the cocktail, shake all ingredients together with ice and strain into a salt-rimmed coupette or martini glass.
The backlit bar at Candelaria. ©Emma Lucia Sanz
4. A Speakeasy Behind a Taqueria: Candelaria (Marais, 3rd arrondissement)
Hidden behind a white door at the back of a tiny taqueria, Candelaria is one of Paris’ best known and most respected cocktail bars, which since opening back in 2011 has been feted as a major driving force behind the city’s now thriving creative cocktail scene.
The menu changes seasonally and around a quarter of the drinks can be served sans alcool. Keeping them in line with the bar’s Latin American concept, the tequila might be missing but you’ll still get a kick from ingredients such as arbol chile, offering a similar experience to the original drink rather than a completely different creation.
What the team does like to play around with on the nonalcoholic menu, however, is texture — something they say can often be missing from non-alcoholic drinks. While they might add a fat wash or a milk punch to give a little oomph to the structure, you don’t need to get that technical at home. Here below, the team shares its recipe for the Flora, a delicious and easy at-home version of the classic gimlet.
Candelaria, 52 Rue de Saintonge, 75003 Paris
Candelaria’s Flora Nonalcoholic Cocktail
Serves 1
Resting time for the mixture: at least three days
3 tablespoons (40 ml) fig leaf Beefeater 0.0 (see recipe below)
2 1/2 tablespoons (35 ml) guava and lime cordial (see recipe below)
Pinch (1 g) Maldon sea salt
Fig Leaf Beefeater 0.0
34 ounces (1 liter) Beefeater 0.0
1 ounce (25 g) dried fig leaves
Add dried fig leaves to Beefeater 0.0 and leave to infuse for 3-5 days.
Use a coffee filter to strain and store in the fridge.
Guava and Lime Cordial
3 1/2 ounces (100 ml) guava juice
8 ounces (250 ml) water
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (8 g) citric acid
1 tablespoon (10 g) chopped lime peel
How to make the cocktail:
To make the cocktail, combine everything in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Serve in a Nick and Nora glass and garnish with a slice of lime zest.
You can also add the juice of the lime if you like it a bit more acidic.
Store in the fridge.
Copperbay is a lively spot locals love. ©I.Mathie
5. A Courtyard With a Southern Vibe at CopperBay (Grands Boulevards, 10th arrondissement)CopperBay brought some fresh Mediterranean air to Paris’ cocktail scene when it opened in 2014: Founders Julien, Elfi and Aurélie were among the first to really put pastis on a menu, and now they even make their own with La Distellerie de Paris.
The bar has since become just as noted for its food-focused drinks menu — Aurélie’s original diploma was in cooking — and the team’s travels to shake and stir around the world have offered up a constant stream of new ingredients. Past cocktails have been created with anchovies or fresh hay that was cooked in a vacuum, as well as flavors from the dozens of spice boxes the team has stashed downstairs.
These spices and botanicals also feature heavily in the nonalcoholic cocktails, which have always had pride of place on the menu, giving the same structure and punch as a spirits-laden drink and the same interesting depth of seasonal flavors, textures and aromatic profiles.
Below, the team shares a recipe for Roots Iced Tea, an easy nonalcoholic drink that combines hibiscus for freshness and acidity, ginger juice or fresh ginger for body, grapefruit juice to bring bitter notes and honey if you’d like to add a touch of sweetness.
CopperBay, 5 Rue Bouchardon, 75010 Paris
CopperBay’s Roots Iced Ted Nonalcoholic CocktailServes 12 ounces (60 ml) cold hibiscus (bissap) tea or another fruity infusion. If you want to add a little Mediterranean note, you also can add some star anise to the infusion.
1 1/2 ounce (40 ml) grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon (10 ml) ginger juice, or alternatively crush two slices of fresh ginger into the glass before adding the other ingredients
1/4 cup (50 ml) runny honey, or make honey syrup with 80% honey and 20% hot water
Mix the ingredients together and serve in the glass of your choice.
One of the salons at cocktail bar Cravan, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris. ©Cravan
6. An Elevated Cocktail Bar Ambience at Cravan (Saint-Germain, 6th arrondissement)After 10 years working in contemporary art galleries and then co-founding restaurants Le Chateaubriand and Le Dauphin, Franck Audoux turned his focus to cocktails, opening a first offshoot of Cravan in a quietly spectacular 1911 building by Art Nouveau master Hector Guimard in the 16th district of Paris, followed by a second spot in the heart of Saint-Germain.
The bar’s historic setting feels apt given the menu, which revives a few forgotten ’20s and ’30s classics, but Audoux is far from nostalgic: His recipes are meticulously reworked to bring them up to date for the modern drinker through a perfect balance of bitterness and flavor. The alcohol-free offerings also nod to historical classics, think a Virgin rather than Bloody Mary and a version of a Royal with Champagne swapped out in favor of nonalcoholic sparkling wine.
The rest of the nonalcoholic drinks are original Cravan creations, often based around botanicals such as cascara, lemon balm and nettles — usually in the form of infusions — and teas from Maison Ogata. Audoux blends these elements together as per the Cravan concept to create aromatic complexity for a contemporary palate. You can find the recipe for his infused Tuileries cocktail here.
Cravan, 165 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris
Cravan’s Tuileries Nonalcoholic Cocktail
Resting time for the mixture: at least 10 minutes
2 1/2 ounces (75 ml) nettle cordial (see recipe below)
3 1/2 ounces (100 ml) lemon balm soda (see recipe below)
Nettle Cordial
1 1/2 tablespoons (10 g) dried nettles
1 cup minus 2 teaspoons (175 g) granulated sugar
20 ounces (600 ml) filtered water
1/2 teaspoon (3 g) tartaric acid
Boil the water, then pour it over the sugar and dried nettles.
Add the tartaric acid and stir until the sugar and acid dissolve.
Infuse for 10 minutes.
Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.
Lemon Balm Soda
3 tablespoons (25 g) dry lemon balm leaves
34 ounces (1 liter) filtered water
Boil the water, then pour it over the lemon balm leaves.
Stir and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.
Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.
When ready to use, pour into a siphon and charge with one gas cartridge.
How to make the cocktail:
Pour the cordial into a highball glass over ice. Stir for 10 seconds. Add the soda and stir gently again.
Written by
Nicola Leigh Stewart
Nicola is a MICHELIN Guide hotel writer. Originally from Leeds, she lived in London and Madrid before moving to Paris a decade ago, where she writes about travel, food and drinks for titles like Condé Nast Traveller, Wallpaper*, Robb Report, PUNCH, Club Oenologique and others. She has also co-authored Lonely Planet guidebooks on Paris and France and taught travel writing at the American University of Paris.
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