Asia’s irresistible rise of no and low cocktail menus

Jesse Vida, co-founder of Singapore’s Cat Bite Club, argues that no and low options must be “represented in any modern cocktail bar now”. Rebecca Lo speaks to those pioneering the category in Asia’s cocktail capitals.

Decorated bartender Jesse Vida of Singapore’s Cat Bite Club — ranked 44 at Asia’s 50 Best Bar in 2025 — is well-versed in no and low cocktails.

Roughly 10% of cocktails offered at the rice and agave-focused bar are non-alcoholic. For those which do contain alcohol, every cocktail’s ABV percentage is listed to help inform customer decisions.

No and low options have become an essential part of business for the San Francisco native.

“Every time we make a new menu now, we select about four cocktails that we will sub in the non-alcoholic spirit. People scrolling our menus don’t have to order something just made for no-ABV — but of course we need to pick drinks that make sense for certain styles of cocktails.”

Vida has called Singapore his home for six years. In that time he has seen higher demand for no and low drinks compared to the States.

“Singapore is not a very drink-heavy culture,” he said, “while drinking culture is really big in South Korea, Japan and China. No-ABV has always been a big part of what we do. Some want the bar atmosphere but they don’t always want to drink.”

Vida hasn’t noticed a dramatic increase in the number of no and low sales, but argues that alcohol-free options are still becoming a more important option to offer.

“Those are two areas that definitely have to be represented in any modern cocktail bar now, which I think is a good thing,” he said.

Ezra Star, owner of Mostly Harmless bar in Hong Kong, agreed.

Born in Venezuela, she was part of chef Max Levy’s team at Okra in Hong Kong and took over the space in 2022 which became Mostly Harmless. As a neighbourhood bar, it boasts a good mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Star is a boxer who prefers not to drink alcohol—“I taste to know what the flavours are like but I always spit,” she said. “For me personally, because I don’t drink, I have wanted to experiment with non-alcoholics for some time.”

She created her first non-alcoholic cocktail tasting menu to cater to pregnant women. “We made sure that we had as few ferments as possible, with low microbe impact,” Star recalled. “That really opened my eyes to the world of non-alcoholics for experimentation. We have always been a very experimental bar, always trying to break everything down to the basics to see how we can build and innovate around that.”

Then, Mostly Harmless ran into issues renewing its liquor licence.

“During the process of reacquiring it, we had to really evaluate what we can do,” she said.

“Because we are about serving people, we used it as an opportunity to explore the no-ABV sphere. We were the first in Hong Kong to do so.”

Indeed, in March 2025 the bar announced it was going completely alcohol-free.

“One of the things missing was serving no-ABV with intention,” she said. “We wanted to create drinks for people to feel like they were not missing out on anything — that they can participate, share and experience. That everyone has something just for them in our bar.”

The transition has been rough; for every positive comment, Star has received negative feedback in equal measure.

“Some said it is not a bar if we don’t serve alcohol; others said we shouldn’t be allowed on 50 Best because we don’t serve everyone — we only serve non-alcoholics.”

Star added with a grin that she “was so surprised that my bar was important enough to make people that upset. It is, after all, just a bar.”

Yet love from other customers fed Star’s feeling that she was onto something. “There was a non-drinking gentleman who found it a safe place to go. I developed a nice following of Muslim and Indian descents that don’t drink; they were happy to find a welcoming and inviting space. For me, whatever somebody’s reason for not drinking, I want to make them feel hosted.”

With its licence finally renewed, Mostly Harmless now serves two no-ABV cocktails, two with alcohol, and two drinks which can be served either way.

Mostly Harmless’s move to foreground non-alcoholic cocktails has made ripples across the industry in Hong Kong and beyond.

“When we first launched, we did Zero Sundays and invited our bartender and bar owning friends for guest shifts to show off their version of no-ABVs,” Star said.

“We had Coa, we had The Pontiac, we had Bar Leone — pretty much everybody. Almost all of those drinks created are now on menus across the city. Everyone’s non-alcoholic game went up. We will probably bring Zero Sundays back next year.”

Related news

Delamain Cognac is 'optimistic about the future in China'

Carlsberg Hong Kong expands no and low alcohol portfolio

Diageo sells East African Breweries stake to Asahi for US$2.3bn