De Soi has earned its place in the non-alcoholic aperitivo category with floral, adaptogen-supported sparkling aperitifs built around a wellness positioning. Co-founded by Katy Perry, the brand has helped bring the category mainstream attention. For drinkers who want a lighter, functional non-alcoholic cocktail, De Soi is a legitimate option with its own devoted audience.
The Phony Negroni takes a different path. It is a straight non-alcoholic Negroni, built on gentian root and bitter orange peel, structured to replicate the bitter-sweet-aromatic architecture of the 1919 Florentine original, carbonated for mouthfeel, served in a rocks glass over a large ice cube with an expressed orange peel. The design target is a drinker who knows what a real Negroni tastes like and wants that experience without the alcohol.
Which One Fits You
Choose De Soi if: you want a floral, adaptogen-enhanced non-alcoholic aperitif. The wellness positioning appeals to you. You prefer a lighter, more approachable flavor profile with functional ingredients layered in.
Choose the Phony Negroni if: you want a cocktail in the strict structural sense. Bitter, Italian-inspired, carbonated for texture, designed to pace itself over 15 to 20 minutes. You have poured a real Negroni, and you want a non-alcoholic version that reads the same way on the palate.
Both categories have room to exist. The question is which bottle belongs on your bar cart for your specific drinking occasions.
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The Phony Negroni lineup.
Brooklyn-made. Whole-botanical. Shop the range.
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Phony Bundle
Pick your own mix across the full non-alcoholic range: Phony Negroni, White, Mezcal, Espresso, and Amaro Falso. Bottles or cans, 6 / 12 / 24.
$39.99
★★★★★ 1,500+ reviews
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Phony White Negroni
Near-clear, Champagne-hue Negroni. Amplified citrus and gentian, clarified for a celebration pour.
$64.99
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Phony Negroni
The flagship. Bitter-sweet, juniper-forward, red, and poured over one large ice cube.
$64.99
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Phony Mezcal Negroni
Smoke, citrus, herbal depth. A mezcal-inspired Negroni, non-alcoholic.
$64.99
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Phony Espresso Negroni
Coffee, cacao, bitter orange. The after-dinner bottle.
$64.99
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Built to Replicate a Real Negroni
The Negroni is a tight architecture. Equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice, garnished with orange peel. The bitterness from Campari is the central feature. Without it, the drink is something else.
The Phony Negroni was built with that constraint in mind. Gentian root carries the bitter load, the same way it carries Campari’s. The bitterness is real rather than softened to broaden the market. The color is deep red because the botanical stack that produces the bitterness also produces the color. The carbonation runs heavier than the category average, which supplies the mouthfeel that ethanol would otherwise provide.
The result is a non-alcoholic cocktail that holds its own at a dinner table, on a bar program, and in the hand of a drinker who came from real Negroni culture. Over 1,500 five-star reviews and a 2.5x retail velocity advantage over the next closest competitor in Spins syndicated data point to the Phony Negroni as the default pick for drinkers who know what a Negroni should be.
What the Awards Say
The Phony White Negroni and the Phony Mezcal Negroni both earned SFWSC Double Gold with 98 points at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The flagship Phony Negroni holds SFWSC Platinum 2024, the first-ever Platinum awarded to a non-alcoholic product by the competition. The competition is judged by a panel of spirits professionals against a field of traditional alcoholic spirits.
External validation from a competition like SFWSC is one of the cleaner signals available to a drinker new to the category. Marketing copy is subjective. Reviews can be gamed. A SFWSC Double Gold judged blind by industry professionals is as honest a signal as the category produces.
The Production Story
St. Agrestis is a Greenpoint, Brooklyn, amaro and aperitivo house that started in 2014. The 2022 launch of the Phony Negroni shifted the center of gravity to non-alcoholic cocktails, and the drink has since become the best-selling non-alcoholic Negroni in the United States. Production has remained in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, throughout.
The process combines maceration (botanicals soaked for weeks to extract bitter compounds and body) with vacuum distillation (low-temperature, reduced-pressure distillation that captures volatile aromatics) and careful blending. The ingredient list leaves off flavor concentrates and assembly-line shortcuts. The finished product is carbonated, bottled or canned, and every serving comes in below 0.05% ABV. A production cycle takes weeks rather than hours, which is part of why a serious non-alcoholic negroni costs what it does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Phony Negroni similar to De Soi?
Both are non-alcoholic aperitivi, although the flavor philosophy differs. De Soi leans into floral, adaptogen-supported profiles with a wellness positioning. The Phony Negroni is built as a straight non-alcoholic Negroni, with bitter gentian root as the backbone and a design goal of replicating the original Florentine cocktail rather than offering a functional wellness beverage. Drinkers who want a bitter, cocktail-forward aperitivo tend to prefer the Phony. Drinkers who want a lighter, floral, adaptogen-supported profile often prefer De Soi.
Does the Phony Negroni contain adaptogens or functional botanicals?
No. The Phony Negroni is built from traditional cocktail botanicals without adaptogenic ingredients. The design goal is cocktail architecture rather than functional benefit.
Is it bitter?
Yes, deliberately. Bitterness is the defining structural element of the Negroni. Drinkers familiar with Campari or traditional Italian aperitivi recognize the profile immediately. First-time drinkers who find the bitterness assertive typically settle in by the third sip.
Where can I buy it?
Direct from stagrestis.com with free shipping on orders over $100, at Target (600+ stores nationwide), Wegmans, Harris Teeter, Erewhon, and at over 8,000 bars and restaurants nationally.
Has the Phony Negroni won awards?
The Phony Negroni holds SFWSC Platinum 2024, the first-ever Platinum awarded to a non-alcoholic product by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The Phony White Negroni and Phony Mezcal Negroni both earned SFWSC Double Gold with 98 points in 2025. The competition is judged by a panel of spirits professionals against a field that includes traditional alcoholic spirits.
