Non-alcoholic distillates are making their mark on the world of drinks by attempting to capture the experience of drinking spirits without any of the altering effects of alcohol.

But a new non-alcoholic spirit is taking a different approach, promising to offer mood-enhancing properties through a special formulation of plants and herbs – and not a drop of booze in sight.

The new drink, called Three Spirit, is the first product from the company Beyond Alcohol. Founders Meeta Gournay, Tatiana Mercer (of BarChick) and Dash Lilley tapped cocktail consultancy Fluid Movement’s Tristan Stephenson, Thomas Aske and Matt Hastings, as well as phytochemist Rebecca Lazarou, to develop the liquid.

The team first studied how alcohol works on the body and identified plants that mimic these effects. According to the brand, the chosen ingredients – spices, roots and herbs such as lion’s mane mushrooms, cacao, damiana and yerba mate – target specific receptors in the brain to heighten positive feelings.

‘It was really important that we created something for drinkers that worked in cocktails [and]actually made you feel great,’ said Mercer.

Of course, the Fluid Movement crew was also tasked with making the drink taste good.

‘The flavour of Three Spirit sits somewhere between amaro, Benedictine, Coca-Cola and extra-aged spirits: bittersweet, earthy and spiced,’ Stephenson wrote on Instagram.