Damrak Virgin 0.0 Review with Recipes Tested

damrak non alcoholic gin

Damrak Virgin 0.0 is an alcohol free Amsterdam gin, and a delightfully fresh citrus bomb on the rocks. Think botanical orangey lemonade.

Made in the spirit of their award winning alcoholic gin, it carries a citrus-forward flavor as opposed to a juniper forward Dry London gin. 

Bottom line: Damrak Virgin is nice on the rocks and in their Breakfast Martini, but it didn’t stand out in some classic mixers. 

Unlike other citrus-forward non-alcoholic spirits tasted (Seedlip Grove, Lyre’s Dry London Spirit), Damrak Virgin has a more concentrated flavor with a slight bite, like putting a lemon to the tip of your tongue.

That stronger flavor makes it better to drink on its own than the other spirits mentioned. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t strong enough to stand out in mocktails made with classic mixers like tonic water and ginger beer. 

Best enjoyed in: Breakfast Martini

Ingredients, Nutrition, and Storage

In order to thoughtfully review a product, it must be tested. Here’s the method taken for taste testing all non-alcoholic drinks.  

What does Damrak Virgin 0.0 taste like…

  1. Neat
  2. On ice
  3. On ice with tonic or appropriate single mixer
  4. Brand recommended mocktails
  5. Get creative

#1: Neat

Damrak Virgin smells delicate, like sweet orange essence.  However, it has much different flavor.  It has a strong lemon flavor, but with a slight bitterness of citrus peel. 

The sweetness of the orange lifts it a little, and it tastes a bit like lemonade. 

Damrak Virgin doesn’t really taste like a London Dry gin. It does not have much of a bite as alcohol would. However, with a solid swig, there is a little bite on the tip of your tongue, as if you touched a lemon to it.  

#2 On Ice

After adding some ice, Damrak Virgin is quite refreshing, like an orange lemonade. Throw a rosemary garnish in and sip away!   

Damrak Virgin is the only non-alcoholic gin I have tasted that I recommend enjoying on its own. Though, for the price, I would not likely buy a bottle to drink it this way.  

#3 On Ice with Tonic

Damrak Virgin is completely free of sugar, carbohydrates and calories.  That makes it a great option for anyone looking for keto cocktails or any festive drinks with less sugar. 

For the first mixer, I tried splashing some sparkling water in Damrak Virgin over ice.  This was light and refreshing, but fell flat. It seemed to water down the Damrak, which was already a little delicate. 

Next, I mixed Damrak Virgin with Fever Tree Refreshingly Light Tonic Water over ice and garnished with a slice of orange, using Damrak’s recommended ratio (1 part damrak gin: 3 parts tonic).

The flavor got a little lost in the tonic. There were some slight citrus notes and it was a decent mix, but the quinine seems to be a bit strong for the delicate orange flavors in Damrak.

#4 Brand Recommended Mocktails featuring Damrak Virgin

When taste-testing a product, brand recommended drinks are a great place to start.  It helps to understand how the product was designed to be enjoyed, and what types of flavors best mix with the product.

So, here are a few Damrak Virgin cocktail recipes featured on their website and what they actually taste like: 

BREAKFAST MARTINI

breakfast martini with non alcoholic gin

Ingredients:

  • 2oz Damrak Virgin
  • .5oz lemon juice
  • 2.5tsp orange jam

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain over cubed ice into a martini glass. Garnish with an orange zest. 

Verdict: The Damrak Virgin Breakfast Martini was delicious and a perfect alternative to a mimosa.  

The ingredients blended well with the citrus flavors in Damrak’s non-alcoholic spirit, and it was balanced enough to enjoy as a non-alcoholic brunch drink. It has been added to the list of best brunch mocktails: 

Skip the Mimosa with These Non Alcoholic Brunch Drinks

NO GINLET

damrak non alcoholic gimlet

Ingredients:

  • 2oz Damrak Virgin
  • .5oz lime juice
  • .25oz simple syrup

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and fine strain the cocktail into a pre-chilled coupe glass. 

Verdict: Damrak’s No Ginlet tastes like a non-alcoholic gimlet. The added nip of orange flavor from damrak is detectible, but not more prominent than the lime juice. Just as good as the other non-alcoholic gimlets I’ve tried.

#5 Get Creative

Since Damrak Virgin has prominent citrus flavors, I thought I would test it in a non-alcoholic Collins and a mule.  

DAM FINE COLLINS

virgin collins mocktail with damrak

Ingredients:

  • 2oz Damrak Virgin
  • 1oz lemon juice
  • .5oz simple syrup
  • Club soda

Directions:

Add first three ingredients to a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon wheel. 

Verdict: Tasty lemonade! The flavors blended so well I couldn’t really taste the Damrak in this Collins mocktail. 

This has been a pretty consistent result for a lot of non-alcoholic Collins cocktails, with the exception of the Caleño Collins, which has a very unique, tropical flavor.

Next, a mule mocktail…

AMSTERDAM MULE

mule mocktail with damrak

Ingredients:

  • 2oz Damrak Virgin
  • 2oz Fever Tree Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer
  • .25oz lime juice

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with blueberries and zested lime.   

Verdict: Again, I had a hard time tasting the Damrak in this mocktail. The delicate orange flavor just can’t stand up to the ginger beer. In my opinion, you will be better off not wasting your Damrak in a mule mocktail. 

Where to Buy Damrak Virgin 0.0

Click here for the best available price for Damrak Virgin 0.0 on Amazon. 

CONCLUSION

Damrak smells like sweet orange, and tastes a lot like lemonade. Even though Damrak has more bite than Lyre’s Dry London Spirit, it still seemed too delicate for most of the mocktails taste-tested. 

My two favorite mocktails with Damrak Virgin were the Breakfast Martini and simply drinking Damrak on the rocks with a rosemary garnish. 

While the basic non-alcoholic gin and tonic was not my favorite, if you like a citrus-forward gin, you might enjoy it.

Damrak 0.0 Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Ingredients: Filter Water, Natural Botanical Non-alcoholic Distillates and Extracts (Juniper, Valencia Orange, Lemon, Curacao Orange, Ginger, Angelica Root, Cinnamon, Lavender, Coriander, Star Aniseed); Preservatives: Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate

Nutrition: Serving size 50ml | 0 calories, Fat 0g, Sodium 0mg,  Carbohydrates 0g,  Total Sugars 0g, Protein 0g*

*Nutrition information was found on the bottle and might be subject to change. 

Storage

Refrigerate and consume within 3 months after opening for best flavor. Enjoy by “best before” date.

Picture of Angela T.
Hi, I’m Angela! Ever since alternative beverages made their debut, I’ve been on a mission to find the best. As someone who loves wine and making craft cocktails, I approach each new beverage with curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism. I hope these honest reviews will help you learn which non-alcoholic drinks are best for you.