Review: Ghia Non-Alcoholic Aperitif (2023 Reformulation)

By Christopher Null | June 21, 2023 |

Ghia has been a leader in the non-alcoholic amari space, in part because it’s not a category that invites a lot of competition. Bitter liqueurs probably aren’t something the zero-abv set tend to demand a lot of. I’ve admired and enjoyed Ghia as an NA alternative since its 2020 launch — though I definitely consider it an after-dinner digestif, not an aperitif — and was surprised to hear, given its success to date, that for 2023 it’s been completely reformulated.

How? “More complex and concentrated,” with the servings per bottle jumping from 10 to 17 (meaning you don’t need to use as much to make a cocktail like a Spritz).

I tried both the original Ghia and the new Ghia 2.0 side by side. Thoughts follow.

To start with they are indeed very different products, starting with the color. While Ghia 1.0 was a muddy, and frankly somewhat unappealing muddy brown color, the new Ghia is a bright maroon, almost looking like beet juice. And while the old Ghia has a very bitter nose filled with cloves and ginger, the new Ghia leads with its fruitier notes of raspberry — perhaps driving that color shift — before showcasing ginger and a sweeter baking spice quality.

The palate here remains bittersweet, but shifted far to the sweet side of that sliding scale. Much more fruit than in the original Ghia hits first, then the cloves and ginger present in the original formulation come on strong. Bitterness builds with time in glass, though a bright berry quality persists. The conclusion finds classic amaro-like bitterness lingering, which again distracts you from the fact that you’re imbibing something with no alcohol in it.

0% abv.

B+ / $38 / drinkghia.com