The growing appeal of non-alcoholic cocktails
Love cocktailing but don’t like the after-effects?
Doing Dry January? Cutting back after the hols?
There are many good reasons to cut back on alcohol anytime of the year. Yet the idea of the usual suspects to drink is just not that appealing. But, making the switch to a non-alcoholic version of your favourite cocktail, or something brand new is possible. Here’s how.
The trouble with most non-alcoholic cocktails is the lack of complexity and the high calories—sometimes they just seem like fruit juice with soda—which is fine if you desire fruit juice and soda. But what if you are looking for something more? Alcohol brings complexity, flavour and depth to the mix. How to achieve that without it?
One way many bartenders are building complexity and flavour is to incorporate unusual ingredients such as herbs, bitters, tinctures, concentrated syrups or vinegars. Take the non-alcoholic cocktails at Uccellino for example. Balsamic vinegar, an amarena cherry syrup they make in house and fresh basil is used to create tasty drinks with depth and length.
The other way is Seedlip*, the liquor alternatives created by Ben Branson. Herbs, vegetables and other botanicals are macerated in neutral spirits, then the alcohol is boiled off to produce a soft distillation. The process takes six weeks and the result is something like gin, minus the alcohol. Branson is fascinated by distillation. “To take real ingredients from the field or garden and capture it in a liquid that smells and tastes of the raw material; that enraptures me,” he says.
There are now three concoctions; the original Garden 108—leafy and herbaceous—tastes like spring; Spice 94 with its darker flavours of bark and spice and Grove 42 which sings of warm orange. All have plenty of pungent grown-up flavours, along with no sugar, no calories and no alcohol.
“I like Seedlip because their sole focus is non-alcoholic beverages, and they are the first major company to bring a high level of detail to the drinks market,” says Camilo Torres, Bar Bricco bartender and Color de Vino staffer. “You can go about building a non-alcoholic cocktail the same way you would a drink with a spirit. It’s useful because it adds length to the drink without sugar. People can expect a non-alcoholic drink that is more than just juice and syrup.”
* Find Seedlip at the Italian Centre Shops, Sherbrooke Liquor (in the gin section) and Maven and Grace.
Earl Grey Fizz (Early Riser)
“This non-alcoholic drink would make a delicious punch for entertaining.”
– Camilo Torres
| 3 oz | Seedlip Spice 94 |
| 4 oz | Earl Grey tea (brewed double strength, lasts a week in the fridge before it turns bitter) |
| 2 oz | fresh lemon juice |
| 2 oz | vanilla syrup* |
| 1 dash | Scrappy’s Lavender Bitters |
Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass and top with soda. Garnish with a lemon peel.
Makes 2 cocktails.
Seedlip & Tonic
“The Seedlip Garden 108 works really well with tonic water, and it’s delicious as a Spanish-style gin and tonic, minus the gin. What’s a Spanish-style gin and tonic? One served in a big wine glass with lots of garnish, as many aromatics as you like: lime peel, grapefruit wedge, a stick of cinnamon, sprig of rosemary or thyme, bay or sage leaves. These are all things you might have in the kitchen and they add another layer of flavour.”
– Camilo Torres
| 3 oz | Seedlip Garden 108 |
| Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic, less bitter, with more Provencal herb notes than their classic tonic water or Q Indian tonic, sweetened with agave and carbonated at a higher pressure. /td> |
Build over ice with all those garnishes.
Makes 2 cocktails.
Hibiscus Daisy (Daisy’s Fool)
A non-alcoholic version of a margarita, the world’s most popular daisy cocktail, made with a hibiscus agua fresca.”
– Camilo Torres
| 4 oz | hibiscus agua fresca (recipe follows) |
| 1.5 oz | fresh lime juice |
| 1 5 oz | grenadine (recipe follows) |
| teaspoon honey |
Combine ingredients and shake with ice, strain into a salt-rimmed rocks glass with ice.
Hibiscus Agua Fresca
Combine 2 litres water and 2 tablespoon hibiscus petals over low heat for 15 minutes. Add ¾ cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Chill before serving.
Homemade Grenadine Syrup
Combine 500mL pomegranate juice and 2 cups sugar, with 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses over low heat until dissolved. Don’t let it boil, then add ⅛ teaspoon of orange blossom water at the end. Chill before serving.
The Junior
Recipe courtesy Bar Clementine.
| 4 oz | Seedlip Garden 108 |
| ½ oz | lime juice |
| ½ oz | buckwheat honey |
| dash | Scarborough Bitters |
| dash | absinthe (optional) |
Build in a tall glass over ice. Garnish with olives and Italian parsley.
Makes 2 cocktails.
Panoma
A new version of a Paloma, sans tequila.
Recipe courtesy Seedlip.
| 4 oz | Seedlip Spice 94 |
| 2 oz | fresh grapefruit juice |
| 1 oz | fresh lime juice |
| 1 oz | simple syrup |
| sparkling water (or soda) to taste | |
| grapefruit peel for garnish |
Combine all ingredients (except soda) in shaker. Shake and strain over ice in a highball. Top with sparkling water. Stir.
Makes 2 cocktails.
Rosemary, Honey and Grapefruit Spritzer
A refreshing drink for brunch, best made with the juicy ruby grapefruit that we find in the markets in late winter.
| 1/3 c | honey |
| 6 sprigs | rosemary |
| 1¼ c | freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (about 5 grapefruit) |
| 4 pieces | grapefruit peel (garnish) |
| sparkling water |
Combine the honey and 2 sprigs rosemary over medium-low heat until the honey begins to bubble around the edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for 5-10 minutes.
Once the honey has cooled slightly, remove the sprigs of rosemary and transfer the infused honey to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add the grapefruit juice and shake vigorously until combined and frothy. (Or put in a blender and pulse).
Divide the mixture between 4 glasses filled with crushed ice and top with sparkling water. Garnish with rosemary sprigs and grapefruit peel.
Serves 4.
Garden Sour
Crisp and refreshing. Recipe courtesy Seedlip.
| 4 oz | Seedlip Garden 108 |
| 3 oz | fresh, cloudy apple juice or good quality cider |
| 2 oz | fresh lemon juice |
| 2 t | apple cider vinegar |
| 1 | egg white |
| sprig | fresh rosemary |
| sprig | fresh thyme |
Add all ingredients, including the herbs, to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake to chill and dilute until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with fresh rosemary needles.
Makes 2 cocktails.
Mulled Wine
| 500 ml | pomegranate juice |
| 25 g | light brown sugar |
| handful | frozen blackberries |
| 250 ml | apple juice |
| 1 stick | cinnamon |
| 1 | star anise |
| 4 | cloves |
| 3 | black peppercorns |
| 1 | orange, quartered |
| 1 T | balsamic vinegar, or to taste (optional) |
Put all ingredients but the vinegar into a saucepan. Heat gently until simmering. Add balsamic if using, taste for sweetness, then strain into heatproof glasses.
Serves 3-4.
Shrubs
A shrub is essentially a drink made by macerating fruit with sugar and adding vinegar. Because shrubs are generally high in acidity (if you use a vinegar of at least five per cent) shrubs can be an excellent way to enjoy summer’s bounty of rhubarb, berries and other fruit. Distilled white vinegar, champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar even balsamic vinegar (though these are not for keeping long) add different flavours and layers of pucker. The sugar could be white, brown, or honey. The process builds complexity which is vital to a successful non-alcoholic drink.
Cranberry Apple Shrub
Recipe via Food 52
| 3 med | apples, quartered (no need to seed or core) |
| 1 c | cranberries |
| 1 c | apple cider vinegar |
| ½ c | brown sugar |
Shred the apples using a box grater or a food processor.
Add cranberries and vinegar to a blender and blend until puréed.
Add the shredded apples, cranberry-vinegar mixture and the sugar to a nonreactive container. Cover and leave in a cool place on the countertop for up to 2 days. After 2 days, strain apple-cranberry mixture using fine-mesh strainer. Squeeze or press to remove any remaining liquid. Discard solids. Pour liquid into clean mason jar or glass bottle. Cap, then shake well to combine. Keeps, refrigerated, for about 6 months.
Raspberry Shrub
| 300 g | raspberries |
| 50 g | honey |
| 75 ml | raw apple cider vinegar |
| mint leaves |
Put half the raspberries in a large bowl and lightly crush some of them with a muddler or a potato masher. Pour over the honey, stir well, cover and leave in the fridge overnight. The next day stir in the vinegar, then sieve the mixture over a bowl or jug. To serve: Add remaining raspberries, mint leaves, sparkling water and ice. Stir gently to combine.
Makes 6-8 drinks.
Strawberry Balsamic Shrub
Recipe via Food 52
| 2 c | chopped strawberries |
| 1 c | sugar |
| 1 c | balsamic vinegar |
| dash salt |
In a medium non-reactive bowl or container, macerate strawberries with the sugar. Cover and refrigerate for about a day, or until the sugar draws out the juice and makes a syrup. Strain the fruit solids, pressing firmly to extract as much syrup as possible. You can use the fruit solids as a dessert topping or discard it. Add the vinegar to the syrup. Transfer to a bottle or jar. Store, covered, in the fridge for up to two weeks.
To make a drink
Fill a tall glass halfway with ice, add 1-2 T shrub syrup, or to taste and top off with sparkling water or soda. Makes about 2 cups shrub.
* Vanilla syrup. “You can make your own or the Coffee Bureau stocks some great small-batch syrups” – Camilo Torres.