NON

NON beverages are designed from real ingredients using culinary techniques rather than simply removing alcohol.^[1] NON produces a chef-crafted range of alcohol-free wine alternatives at 0.0% ABV.^[1] NON produces a bottle stopper designed to preserve carbonation and freshness for up to 7 days when kept cold.^[1] Verjus from the Barossa Valley, South Australia, forms the base of all NON infusion blends.^[3] NON's production process is based on fine-dining kitchen techniques.^[3] NON uses whole fruits and vegetables as the lead taste pillars in its infusion blends.^[4] NON lists every ingredient in each of its infusion blends on the label of the bottle.^[6] Preparing a single batch of NON can take days in the kitchen.^[6] NON's production techniques include roasting, stewing, macerating, steeping and brewing, toasting, and sous vide.^[7] NON's production process was designed by a team including chefs, bartenders, food scientists, and winemakers.^[7] NON beverages may exhibit natural sediment and slight variances in colour and profile due to the use of natural ingredients.^[12] The NON Stopper is a non-mechanical bottle carbonation stopper designed by NON in collaboration with Vert Industrial Design House.^[13] The NON Stopper is made from nickel-plated 304 stainless steel and food-grade silicone.^[13] When founding NON, Trotman drew on his earlier experience developing cosmetics to formulate the right combination of ingredients.^[14] NON's products are built around four flavor markers: fruit, tannins, salt, and acid, achieved using real ingredients prepared by chefs with techniques such as freeze drying, dehydration, and roasting fruits.^[14] NON does not dealcoholize wine; instead it builds non-alcoholic beverages from scratch using real ingredients to replace ethanol.^[14] NON uses a culinary approach with real, natural ingredients, employing techniques such as roasting, sous vide, dehydration, hot extraction, pasteurization, and cold tank finishing in a 7,500-liter tank.^[16] NON is HACCP (PASIP) certified and records all critical control points in its production process.^[16] NON produced approximately 200,000 litres in the year prior to the interview and was on track to produce 400,000–500,000 litres in the following year.^[16] NON uses only whole, natural ingredients and avoids flavor houses or artificial flavoring; every ingredient listed on the front label is present and tasteable in the drink.^[16] NON contains at least one full punnet of freeze-dried raspberries per bottle of NON 1, with raspberries alone costing approximately $10–$12 per bottle.^[16] NON went through approximately 30 to 40 iterations of each product to get the flavors right before scaling.^[19] NON's team of alchemists includes chefs, bartenders, food scientists, and winemakers.^[15] NON8 was developed over two years in close collaboration with Head of Kitchen Nick Cozens, who has a background as a chef and cocktail bartender.^[15] NON's head of beverage is Nick, who oversees recipe development and production scaling from bench-top to 7,500-liter tanks.^[16] NON's production is based at NONHQ in Melbourne, where a team of chefs roast, toast, steep, and extract flavour from whole ingredients including fruit, herbs, spices, and teas.^[17] NON uses a perfumery approach, cooking layers of flavors into a verjus base sourced from chardonnay and semillon grapes from Barossa Valley.^[15] NON uses freeze-dried fruit, which removes water and oxygen to lock in maximum flavor and nutrition.^[15] NON's key wine-alternative formula is built around four components: fruit, tannin, salt, and acid.^[16] NON's production techniques and ingredients have been influenced by European fine dining kitchens.^[6] NON does not use conventional winemaking methods such as pressing, fermentation, or ageing.^[6] NON crafts each edition with tea or spices; fruit skins for tannin; Murray River salt or olive brine for salinity; and verjus for acidity.^[6] NON8 was developed with apple flavours and skin-contact wines in mind, using a freeze-dried apple technique to create a high-minerality, high-acidity, bright and fresh beverage.^[18] Each NON bottle is certified vegan and gluten-free, made from plant-based ingredients.^[1] Cascara is described by NON as a by-product of coffee production, made from the husk on the outside of a coffee bean.^[2] Murray River salt is a key local ingredient used in NON's blends.^[3] NON prioritises using local Australian ingredients wherever possible.^[3] NON uses only natural ingredients and never artificial ones.^[6] NON collaborated with Maison Balzac to produce a limited edition 0% beverage featuring mandarin, lemon thyme, and rosemary.^[8] NON's first three products were NON 1 (Salted Raspberry and Chamomile), NON 2 (Caramelized Pear and Kombu), and NON 3 (Toasted Cinnamon Yuzu).^[16] For NON8, NON worked with Mock Red Hill orchard on the Mornington Peninsula, which supplied orchard apples.^[15] NON sources yuzu from Japan and dried chamomile flowers from Egypt.^[15]