Optimist Botanicals Cali Non-Alcoholic Amaro

It's bitter-forward with bright citrus and herbal layers — think grapefruit, orange and mandarin alongside dandelion root, yerba mate, sage, bay laurel, wormwood and gentian. It captures the bitter character of a classic amaro with a contemporary California twist.

Pour one part over ice and sip straight, or top with a splash of club soda for a longer drink. Garnish with a citrus peel, or shake it with fresh-squeezed orange juice for a West Coast take on a Garibaldi.

Each 500 ml bottle is built on water with dandelion root, linden, gentian, yerba mate and black tea, plus glycerin, agave nectar, fruit and vegetable juice for color, botanical distillates and extracts (orange, pink grapefruit, mandarin, sage, bay laurel, thyme, angelica, wormwood, neroli, vetiver), citric acid and potassium sorbate as a preservative.

Optimist is made by OPTIMIST Drinks, a non-alcoholic spirits brand based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by husband-and-wife team Lisa Farr Johnstone and Tommy Johnstone, two Brits who moved to LA and built the line as a tribute to the city's coastlines, canyons and deserts. The original recipes were developed with a master distiller in downtown Los Angeles, and the Bright, Fresh and Cali Amaro bottles we carry all come from that same LA-inspired range.

For a drink to be legally non-alcoholic, it has to be 0.5% alcohol by volume or less. While this doesn't make it totally alcohol-free, it does mean it is impossible to experience any intoxication or other psychoactive effects from alcohol. For context, a slice of sourdough bread or a ripe banana has more alcohol by volume than any of our drinks!

We carry a few hundred different products on our website with all different ingredients. We suggest you consult with your doctor regarding specific ingredients. Everything we carry is non-alcoholic-- less than 0.5% ABV-- and very popular with our customers who are pregnant (and those who aren't, too)!

Some of our products contain adaptogens, nootropics, and other herbs that are not recommended for people who are pregnant, but we're not doctors and do not give medical advice. Every body and pregnancy is different, so we suggest talking to a healthcare professional if you're unsure.

Not all of our non-alcoholic beverages are 100% alcohol-free. Some contain trace amounts of alcohol at less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.  This is consistent with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s labeling policy, which permits the use of the term, “non-alcoholic” to describe a product that contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

If you are looking for products that are 0.0% alcohol by volume, look for the "Alcohol-Free" badge on the product page.

Non-alcoholic spirits are specifically developed for mixing in non-alcoholic cocktails. These spirits taste great when mixed with soda water, tonic water, sodas, juices, and even other non-alcoholic spirits, but they might taste a little weird on their own. You're welcome to try them neat (we can't stop you!), but we don't recommend assessing whether or not you like a non-alcoholic spirit without mixing it, first.