There’s never been a better time to plug the case for more ‘drink free days’

With one in five admitting to having been drinking more since lockdown begun, there’s never been a better time to plug the case for embracing more ‘drink free days’.

Up until now, the balance has been a tricky one to get right, particularly with the days all seeming to merge into one, with no discernible social markers to differentiate them, and with the overwhelming pressure, stress and loss of structure that came with this period.

It’s a situation that wasn’t helped, it must be said, by the validation that all those Quarantinis and Zoom happy hours gave to this habit. However, with many more of us attuning to those aspects of our everyday that are no longer serving us, alcohol is often right up there on the 'to go' list (closely followed by that sweatpant-wearing habit of old!)

As for how to go about scaling back on alcohol, without feeling empty handed in the evenings, so to speak, there is much to be said for experimenting with some of the better known next best things... starting, first and foremost, with Seedlip.

Seedlip is touted as ‘What to drink when you’re not drinking’ and it can be used to create some fairly sophisticated non-alcoholic cocktails... including this one we created especially for National Cherry Day.

Made using fresh cherries, maple syrup, No.1 Botanicals Rosemary water and Seedlip, it's a deliciously fruity take on the 'quarantini' concept, which draws on some fairly health-giving ingredients, to create something that feels, in essence, far from it.

For anyone requiring extra motivation to get on board with Drink Free Days, the NHS have an app designed to help. Equally, more advice can be found at Drink Aware.