For Bitter For Worse - Smoky No. 56

It's a soulful, smoky sip built as a non-alcoholic take on a whiskey-based cocktail. Expect smoke, black fig, and maple syrup with a hint of balsamic vinegar, plus a bitter kick that complicates the palate.

Pour it over a large ice cube and garnish with an orange peel or slice, then top with a splash of still or sparkling water for a lighter drink. It's also perfectly good simply chilled or on the rocks.

Yes — one of our favorites is 2 oz Smoky No. 56, 1 oz almond syrup, 0.5 oz lime juice, and 0.5 oz orange juice. Shake hard over cracked ice, pour unstrained into a double old fashioned glass, and garnish with fresh mint and a lime wheel.

For Bitter For Worse is a family-run brand from Shelley and Jeff Elkovich — she develops the recipes, he built the production process behind them — and it's been making non-alcoholic cocktails since 2020. The company started in Portland, Oregon, drawing on farmed and foraged Pacific Northwest botanicals, and in 2025 it moved its operations to Rochester, New York, where it now runs out of a historic former distillery. You'll still see Pacific Northwest ingredients in bottles like Smoky No. 56 and Rose City Fizz.

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.