A.I.R. Distillations

From natural wine to distillation. A.I.R. Distillations grew out of the natural wine movement. Founders Ina Simone Averhals and Ruben Van Aken spent years in wine and developed what they describe as a love-hate relationship with alcohol, tracing their motivation to the natural wine scene of roughly 10 to 12 years before a February 2026 interview, when they were advocates of natural winemakers but sought a high-quality non-alcoholic alternative free from industrialized production. The founding motivation was inspired by that movement and a desire to create alternatives without industrial shortcuts.

The Botan predecessor. Before A.I.R., Averhals and Van Aken co-founded Botan, which they claim was the first non-alcoholic distillery to be field-to-bottle and completely free of additives and artificial flavors at the time of its founding. Botan involved three years of research followed by two years on the market, totaling five years of work, before the founders lost control of the company due to investor disputes. After leaving Botan, Averhals and Van Aken spent approximately one year regrouping before launching A.I.R. Distillations with Alexander Scott Jones, also cited as Alexander Scott Wingfield Jones; Jones had already created a successful non-alcoholic drink placed in many Michelin-starred restaurants. The new venture was built with a new distillation machine and an expanded team.

The name. A.I.R. carries two meanings: it is an acronym for the founding team's first names — Alexandre, Ina, and Ruben — and it refers to the volatile air component in which flavor molecules are extracted from botanicals during distillation.

Launch and location. A.I.R. Distillations is based in Antwerp, with its lab housed in the Wolkammerij in the Hoboken district. The company launched in November 2025, releasing its range under the brand name Alter at the end of 2025 with approximately three drinks marketed at launch. The founders describe seven years of development of their distillates, with Jones and Van Aken having begun exploring distillation techniques and botanicals together in 2018. The company operates a dedicated distillery and creation lab and can be contacted at [email protected].^[1],[2]

Commercial trajectory. The Alter range sold over 5,000 bottles shortly after launch, with an additional 5,000 bottles prepared for Tournée Minérale and 7,000 more planned for February. A.I.R. is currently bootstrapped, with Averhals working full-time at another company and Jones and Van Aken working part-time — a deliberate strategy to validate market reach before seeking investment. The company had direct market presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Lithuania at the time of the February 2026 interview, and plans to enter the US market in 2027, or 2028 if dependent on investment.^[1]

Ina Simone Averhals — economics, entrepreneurship, cultivation. Ina Simone Averhals is a co-founder who brings an economic and business background focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, handling the business side of A.I.R. Distillations. She studied commercial sciences (handelswetenschappen) at KU Leuven and holds a master's degree in international entrepreneurship. She had earlier co-founded Bôtan Distillery (originally Bôtan Drinks) with culinary herbalist Wim Maes, positioned as a field-to-table non-alcoholic distillery located at Domein Vordenstein in Schoten on 300-year-old pesticide-free fields. Averhals personally cultivates botanicals at the field in the mornings as part of her daily routine before transitioning to business work.

Ruben Van Aken — recipes, flavor, creative direction. Ruben Van Aken is responsible for all recipe creation, flavor development, and creative vision, including brand design assets. He is entirely self-taught in distillation and recipe development, with no formal training, having learned through experimentation, collaboration with a botanical farmer, and backing his work with data and laboratory testing; Averhals describes him as having a "crazy parallel mind" — an intuitive, experimental approach. He co-founded Bôtan Distillery with Averhals before A.I.R. Van Aken and Averhals are partners in both private life and business, together for 12 years at the time of the February 2026 interview.^[1],[3],[4]

Alexander Scott Jones — production and distillation. Alexander Scott Jones — also cited as Alexander Scott Wingfield Jones — is a bartender by background with a strong focus on taste rather than alcohol, and manages production and distillation at A.I.R. Distillations. Before joining, he had created a successful non-alcoholic drink placed in many Michelin-starred restaurants, establishing his credentials in the premium non-alcoholic space. He and Van Aken began exploring distillation techniques and botanicals together in 2018.

The founding team. A.I.R. Distillations was founded by three people: Alexander Scott Jones, Ina Simone Averhals, and Ruben Van Aken. Within the team, Van Aken handles creative direction, flavor, and vision; Jones manages production and distillation; and Averhals brings the economic and entrepreneurship background. Van Aken and Averhals both have extensive prior experience in distilling and making non-alcoholic beverages.^[2]

Not imitation, not dealcoholization. A.I.R. Distillations' stated philosophy is to create entirely new non-alcoholic beverages rather than imitate wine or other alcoholic drinks. The company explicitly rejects dealcoholization, arguing that no winemaker will ever dealcoholize their best wine and that heating during the process evaporates aromas and removes the soul of the drink; it describes dealcoholization as an industrial shortcut that strips aroma, and uses the tagline "Crafted, not removed" to distinguish its products. It distils its botanicals alcohol-free specifically to preserve their primary and secondary aromas. Rather than being imitations or de-alcoholized wines, the products are positioned as layered blends of distillates, grapes, spices, and bitters, framed as creating dignity rather than imitating existing alcoholic beverages.^[3],[5]

Building drinks like a winemaker. A.I.R. describes building drinks the way a winemaker builds wine: starting from grape juice before fermentation, analyzing which flavors and structures exist in wine, then deliberately creating them through distillation. Its cultivation philosophy is terroir-driven and closely related to winemaking principles, considering the origin, terroir, and harvest of botanicals essential. The company aims to offer alternatives with the same layering, structure, and finish as wine, designing each beverage to have characteristic structure, tension, and balance.^[3],[6]

Real ingredients as luxury. A.I.R. frames its core value proposition around "real ingredients" as the true luxury in beverages, arguing that authenticity of raw materials matters more than packaging or brand positioning. It opposes industrial food and beverage production, uses only naturally extracted botanicals while rejecting synthetic powders and masking agents, and does not use artificial laboratory extractions. Products are described as completely free of additives and artificial flavors, and the company positions the connection between nature and technology as central to its identity — nature as the source of flavor and distillation as the technology used to convert it into liquid form.^[6]

An underground activist brand. Averhals describes A.I.R. Distillations as an "underground underdog activist" brand, positioning the company as rebels within the beverage industry rather than a polished luxury label. A.I.R. positions its products for "the next generations of drinkers" — people who want sophisticated beverages without defaulting to alcohol — rather than targeting current non-drinkers or the sober-curious market specifically. It sees itself as creating an entirely new drinks culture, writing a story that does not yet exist, and classifies its category as "specialty beverages" rather than "wine alternatives," "proxies," or "non-alcoholic wine."^[2],[3]

Verjus and wine culture. A.I.R. sees verjus as a way to involve wine culture in the non-alcoholic revolution, addressing vineyard abandonment in regions like Bordeaux where grapes go unharvested and winemakers receive subsidies to uproot vines. It envisions repurposing wine fields to grow botanical ingredients for its distillates, seeing an opportunity as traditional viticulture faces climate and market pressures.^[3]

Scaling and long-term vision. A.I.R. is philosophically committed to scaling step-by-step by physically expanding its botanical fields rather than through industrial production techniques, maintaining an artisanal approach as it grows. Its long-term vision is to serve as the IP and distillation-technology foundation for next-generation non-alcoholic drinks, holding proprietary IP and distillation technology for creating natural, clean-label flavors with high complexity, which the founders intend to keep as the core foundation of the company. It plans to create additional consumer brands in cans, with new brand names, under the A.I.R. Distillations umbrella. A.I.R. also envisions a future where alcohol is no longer the standard, but ingredients, technique, and flavour define the drinking experience.^[7]

Craft, nature, culture. A.I.R. describes its philosophy as rooted in craft, nature, and culture, emphasizing craftsmanship through proximity to nature, attention, and hands-on work. It states that its flavour development is intentional and always serves a desired flavour profile rather than being random experimentation, and that it shares the craft and logic of high-end traditional drinks while maintaining a distinct identity.^[2]

Non-alcoholic specialty beverages. A.I.R. Distillations produces non-alcoholic beverages made from high-grade botanical distillates, positioned as alternatives for aperitif, wine, and cocktail moments. Its consumer beverages are marketed under the brand name Alter. The producer describes a product line as "Culinary-Grade Distillations."^[1],[7]

The ready-to-serve lineup. The current ready-to-serve lineup consists of four products: Awa Shiso, Cuvée Pétillant Geranium, Cuvée Blanc Cedro, and Cuvée Rouge Casca. The three cuvées form a collection called ALTER CUVÉE. On the producer's site, Awa Shiso is listed at $35.00 USD, Cuvée Pétillant Geranium at $23.00 USD, Cuvée Blanc Cedro at $22.00 USD, and Cuvée Rouge Casca at $22.00 USD; in the producer's European pricing, Awa Shiso is listed at EUR 28.50, Cuvée Blanc Cedro and Cuvée Rouge Casca at EUR 17.90, and Cuvée Pétillant Geranium at EUR 18.80. Each is a 750 ml bottle yielding six to seven servings of 110–125 ml.^[7],[8]

On-trade distillates and services. Alongside the bottled Alter range, A.I.R. sells separate individual distillates to the on-trade, and offers collections it calls "Tailored Distillations" and "Ready to Serve." It provides tailored blending and distillation services for custom needs, and co-creation services for non-alcoholic offerings including seasonal pairings and full signature cocktail menus tailored to a kitchen, bar, and guests.^[9]

A.I.R. builds its beverages by alcohol-free distillation of botanicals into single-ingredient distillates, which are then blended in-house with a verjus base, grapes, fruit juices, and further distillates into layered profiles. The production process is organized around three pillars — Cultivation, Distillation, and Creation — and is vertically integrated from field to distillery, with A.I.R. controlling every element from cultivation to label design. The distillates are engineered to deliver three sensory dimensions prized in fine wine: nose (aromatic lift), mouthfeel (texture and body), and length (lingering finish). More broadly, the producer evaluates its beverages across five sensory dimensions: texture (sense), visual (eye), aroma (nose), taste (mouth), and cultivation. Blending draws on a library of up to 120 different distillates, and the company holds proprietary IP for creating natural, clean-label flavors with high complexity.^[10]

Alcohol-free steam and pressurized distillation. A.I.R. uses steam distillation with purified water to extract flavor from ingredients, then cools and liquefies the steam to create separate distillates that are later blended; a single batch takes a few hours. It employs a custom-built, tailor-made distillation installation designed to capture the most volatile and delicate aromas, which it identifies as the hardest components to capture. In total the producer names four distinct distillation techniques: direct steam injection, vacuum distillation with dry steam, copper-glass-shotgun condensing, and hydro distillation. Pressurized distillation is used for certain botanicals — for example the pandan in Awa Shiso.^{[1],[11],[12]}

Per-botanical formulas and refined cuts. Each ingredient has its own tailor-made distillation formula with specific parameters for pressure, time, and temperature. Each session begins with an interpretation of the desired flavour palette, followed by analysis of those parameters. A.I.R. runs the complete distillation from head to tail, dividing it into multiple cuts captured separately, then blends only the most refined cuts while discarding the less refined ones.^[13]

Refrigerated resting and immediate composition. After distillation, distillates rest in refrigeration for weeks or months before blending. A.I.R. maintains a "library of flavors" — a cold room stocked with its distillates. It composes each distillate blend immediately after distillation to allow molecules to merge into a coherent structure.^[1]

Botanical ageing. A.I.R. developed a proprietary technique it calls "botanical ageing," which involves reconstructing single-botanical distillates into complex flavour profiles composed of primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas. Its beverages are structured around those layered aromas alongside fine acids and sweetness balance, and it operates an aroma-mapping system called A.I.R. Aroma Mapping.^[2],[10]

Verjus base. A.I.R. blends all its botanical distillates with verjus — the tart juice of unripe grapes — as a universal base ingredient, typically 15 to 20 percent of a beverage, calibrated for sweet-sour balance. Verjus provides body, sweetness, and a vinous quality comparable to wine's fullness of flavor and texture, which the producer says non-alcoholic drinks particularly need. Individual botanical distillates have intense aroma but surprisingly fleeting taste; combining them with verjus makes them longer and more complex. Verjus was widely used in medieval European kitchens before citrus became common. A.I.R. sources verjus from partner vineyards in France and Austria; Cuvée Blanc Cedro uses Grüner Veltliner verjus for apple-pear character and Ugni Blanc verjus for added sharpness, and Cuvée Rouge Casca uses verjus never from concentrate. Beverage profiles are further supported by juices from fruit varieties, heirloom cultivars, and grapes.^[1],[3]

Own-field and terroir-driven cultivation. A.I.R. grows most of its botanicals organically on its own field, cited both as Nijlen, Belgium and as Non (Nonnen), Belgium, as part of an end-to-end, field-to-bottle philosophy. All ingredients are organic. It treats seasonality as a core production method rather than a limitation, observing and anticipating how the natural cycle shapes botanical character: in spring botanicals are in full development with young leaves and explosive flavours; after summer they develop flowers and more floral notes; later in the cycle they evolve toward more vegetal and tertiary aromas. Shiso is harvested multiple times during summer and the growing season.^[1]

• Shiso (red Japanese shiso) — the founders' stated favorite; grown organically on their own field and used in Awa Shiso
• Basil, rosemary, thyme — grown and distilled on their own field; rosemary and thyme also appear in the Italian Highball
• Small citrus flowers (described as African flowers) — grown at their field
• Huacatay / wakatai — a Peruvian mint-relative with notes of mint, tarragon, and peppermint that looks like wheat, planned for spring cultivation

Foraged and sourced botanicals. For ingredients not grown on its own field, A.I.R. maintains a direct relationship with the cultivator; citrus fruits, for example, are sourced from a known farmer in Italy. Its flavor library spans a wide range of rare distillate ingredients.^[1]

• Citrus & aromatics: cedar lemon / citron (Citrus medica), Ruby Star grapefruit, kaffir lime, Buddha's hand, lemon verbena — used across Cuvée Blanc Cedro and the distillate library
• Ugandan vanilla — A.I.R. believes it is among the only producers in the world to distill it
• Piedmont hazelnuts, guava, pine, huacatay — in the flavor library
• Spices & savory: jalapeño, black pepper, tomato, mustard, cardamom, cinnamon — jalapeño and black pepper distillates are added to Awa Shiso to highlight red shiso's peppery character; jalapeño is also used to evoke the green, vegetal notes found in certain wines
• Kikaijima cane sugar (Japan) — unrefined, freshly pressed, in Awa Shiso
• Pandan — pressurized-distilled for Awa Shiso
• Colombian cascara, cacao shells, specialty-grade decaf coffee, French oak — in Cuvée Rouge Casca; South African lemon geranium (Pelargonium crispum) in Cuvée Pétillant Geranium

Fermentation R&D. A.I.R. is experimenting with fermentation as a new R&D direction, particularly tea fermentation, to develop complex flavors beyond distillation alone, as part of building a foundation for next-generation non-alcoholic drinks. Van Aken was exploring fermenting tea specifically.

Production standards and shelf life. All A.I.R. products contain no preservatives, additives, flavorings, natural aromas, or extracts, and heavy filtration is deliberately avoided — natural sediment may form at the bottom of Awa Shiso bottles as a result of a natural post-bottling process. Producing one bottle of Awa Shiso requires approximately 115 grams of fresh red shiso, and Awa Shiso is a seasonal product made with fresh-harvested shiso, making each cuvée unique.^[1],[14]

Character at the range level. A.I.R. describes its distillates as precise, clean, and deeply aromatic, designed to create nose, mouthfeel, and length through flavor layering — a quality the founders believe is often absent in kombuchas, and the products are described as having less flavor intensity in their distillates than kombucha. Each liquid is composed to reflect the character of the moment: fresh, clear, and structurally balanced, with primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas shaping nose, mouthfeel, and length. Sabato has described A.I.R. as "alcohol-free at top wine level."^[7]

Serving temperatures and glassware. Serving specifications follow wine-service conventions across the range. Awa Shiso is served ice cold at 3–6°C in a wide champagne glass, with coupe or flute shapes not recommended, and should be stored upright in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving to let sediment settle. Cuvée Blanc Cedro is served at 4–6°C in a white wine glass. Cuvée Rouge Casca is served at 16–18°C in a Burgundy bowl or universal red glass. The cuvées are stored in a dry, dark place.

Pairings. Course-by-course, A.I.R. offers a carefully tuned non-alcoholic pairing for each dish. Cuvée Blanc Cedro is recommended with white fish (sea bass, cod, halibut, hake), oily fish (trout, salmon), shellfish (scallops, prawns, lobster), and cephalopods (octopus, squid), as well as chicken, turkey, duck, veal, and pork tenderloin, and vegetables such as fennel, zucchini, white asparagus, peas, artichoke, Belgian endive, and spring onion; it pairs with light cooking methods — steaming, poaching, papillote, roasting — and is advised to avoid smoke, heavy reductions, and blue cheeses.^[15]

Events and pairings. A.I.R. Distillations designs fully tailored non-alcoholic pairings for private and corporate events, creating every event menu from scratch around the client's story, guests, and dishes, working with leading chefs or building full menus itself to create a coherent journey of flavour and aroma. It collaborated with the Secret Supper Club by Nala for private dining events focused on connection, discovering flavour, and meeting new people.^[15]

WECANDANCE and the Italian Highball. A.I.R. created recipes for the No and Low cocktail bar at the WECANDANCE electronic beach festival for two consecutive years, with a menu catering to preferences from alcohol-free enthusiasts to those who indulge. Among its creations is an Italian Highball made with fresh rhubarb juice and Mediterranean herb distillates — rosemary, myrtle, thyme, and juniper berries — topped with ginger ale, described as offering three textures, three layers, and three experiences of flavour.^[15]

A.I.R. Distillations is featured in a forthcoming book by Roman Sydorenko titled Beyond Wine, which defines the segment as "specialty beverages" rather than non-alcoholic wine alternatives.