Colorado Springs gets tips for making non-alcoholic cocktails for Dry January
Wednesday is smack dab in the middle of National Mocktail Week. And fittingly, it’s Dry January, which is an opportunity for those who imbibe alcohol to take a challenge not to drink for 31 days.
“It makes sense,” said Brother Luck, chef and owner of Four by Brother Luck and a partner with owners of Tipperary Cocktail Palor. “January is a time when people make resolutions for the year. And not drinking for the month would be a good choice.”
As a matter of fact, Luck challenged himself to stop drinking long before Dry January. After a checkup with his doctor, he decided to take a break from alcohol for health concerns.
“I had high blood pressure and needed to lose some weight,” Luck said. “Honestly, I couldn’t remember a day when I didn’t have a cocktail or glass of wine. I wasn’t out of control (drinking), but I wanted to be in control. So, I challenged myself to stop drinking. I have more than 100 days being sober, I’ve lost a ton of weight — almost 50 pounds — and I’m feeling great.”
He’s keeping up the challenge, but he still enjoys socializing with friends. However, now instead of cocktails and wine he turns to nonalcoholic options.
“There are many good-tasting, nonalcoholic craft beers, wines and spirits,” Luck said. “We always have a menu of classic mocktails for customers. Our bartenders are very creative with nonalcoholic drinks, making sure they have a balanced flavor.”
Reasons for no-buzz trend
We turned to Alex Jump, former bar manager at Death & Co in Denver and currently director of operations for Focus on Health, which provides health and wellness resources, programming and outreach for workers in the hospitality industry, to get her perspective about the factors at play for the increase in the trend of sobriety, the sober curious and nonalcoholic drinks.
“Health in general is becoming a hotter trend on social media with the rise of health and fitness influencers,” Jump said in an email. “There have also been some studies that have come out with data showing that the younger generation that is just now turning 21 is choosing less and less to consume alcohol. Again, I think this has to do a little bit with social media.”
Jump, like Luck, also pointed out there has been a growth in options for the nonalcoholic category.
“There are such great nonalcoholic or low- alcoholic options available that people feeling more confident in having a nonalcoholic drink instead of a full-proof beverage, because they feel the drink they’ll get will be sophisticated and delicious,” she concluded. “Only a few years ago that was simply not the case.”
Making mocktails
We got some tips for perfecting homemade mocktails from Victor Matthews, dean of Paragon Culinary School and owner of Black Bear Distillery in Green Mountain Falls.
“For making mocktails, there are several directions to go,” Matthews said. “It is difficult not to make them just sweet. This is because regular cocktails balance that sweetness with the acid of the alcohol. Keep in mind that we are currently in a boom for mocktails and so there are many, many examples of nonalcoholic liquor substitutes on the market.”
A few nonalcoholic brands to look for are Fre Spirits (sparkling brut-like), Kentucky 74 (bourbon-like) and Seedlip (gin-like). There are several nonalcoholic beers, even a new Guinness. And Matthews recommended using rum flavoring to stand in for the spirit.
“We do a mock Caipirinha (Brazil’s national drink) with lime and sugar and a splash of rum flavor (not much) and club soda,” Matthews said. “We do a mock margarita with fresh lime and raw agave nectar for that faint tequila flavor, along with fresh orange juice, making it easy to balance the sweetness because of the lime.”
He’s especially excited about the mock Old Fashioned he mixes using his homemade “bourbon water.”
“Our ‘bourbon water’ is a nonalcoholic wine infused with charred wood,” Matthews said. “It tastes a lot like whiskey and provides that smokey charred oak background.”
Matthews gave us his method:
“To make this at home, get a bottle of nonalcoholic white wine and a little bag of charred oak chips from online or your favorite wine/beer-making store,” he said. “Soak them for a few weeks to make your own fake bourbon.”
Another go-to mocktail Matthews raved about is his nonalcoholic mock Manhattan.
“Use nonalcoholic sweet vermouth, plus tart cherry juice and cherry bitters to make a mock Manhattan to die for,” he said.
Possibly the easiest mocktail to serve is a bloody mary.
“If you really want no one to know or care that it is nonalcoholic, bloody marys are your best friend,” Matthews said. “You can make the whole thing and add a splash of limeade and olive juice and no one is going to care. Plus, garnish with a full garden of bloody mary love like pickle spear, pickled asparagus, pickled okra, pickled green beans, cherry peppers, celery stalk and my favorite, candied bacon. No one will miss the vodka.”
Bottom line
Mocktails offer the big benefit of consuming fewer calories. Nonalcoholic spirits have up to 90% fewer calories compared to full-proof liquor options. It’s a simple way to jump-start trimming the holiday calorie count and getting those extra pounds off. Another big plus is no more hangovers. You can now have more cocktails and still wake up feeling ready for your day.
Contact the writer: 636-0271.
Nonalcoholic French 75
Yield: 1 serving
2 ounces nonalcoholic gin-like spirit
4 ounces nonalcoholic sparkling brut
½ ounce lemon juice
Lemon for garnish
Ice
Procedure:
Fill a cocktail shaker full of ice cubes. Add non-alcoholic gin-like spirit and lemon juice. Shake well and strain mixture into a chilled champagne flute. Top with nonalcoholic sparkling brut. Garnish with lemon peel.
Source: sipyours.com
Spiritless Gold Rush
Yield: 1 serving
2 ounces nonalcoholic bourbon-like spirit
3/4-ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce of honey syrup (1 part honey to 1 part water)
1 egg white
Luxardo cherry, garnish
Procedure:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour first four ingredients into the shaker. Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Strain the mixture into a coupe glass. Garnish with one cherry.
Source: mybartender.com
Fizzy Cranberry Spritz
Yield: 1 serving
½ cup cranberry juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
2 cubes ice
¼ cup sparkling wine-like champagne
1 sprig fresh rosemary, garnish
Procedure:
In a glass, add cranberry juice, simple syrup and nonalcoholic wine and give it a few stirs. Add ice cubes and rosemary garnish.
Source: cookmorphosis.com
A selection of mocktails, from left to right, a Gold Rush, cranberry spritz and French 75 at the Tipperary Cocktail Parlor, along with two of its nonalcoholic liquors.
Tipperary Cocktail Parlor bartender Vyper Jade Medina pours the Gold Rush, a nonalcoholic version of a classic honey and bourbon cocktail with egg white.
Tipperary Cocktail Parlor features a variety of sophisticated mocktails, made with nonalcoholic or alcohol-removed wines and liquors.