Welcome to the second installment of the NA back bar. Please read (or at least skim) through the first post about this topic for more details and context.
Making these two bar components is almost identical to the gin and campari from the first post. Make these two and add some lime juice and you have a very tasty NA Margarita.
Non-Alcoholic Margarita
Adapted from Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Notes:
Use this formula as a template for other NA cocktails. Note how the base “spirit”, the tequila in this instance, is higher than the typical alcoholic cocktail at 3 fluid ounces as opposed to 2.
Yield: 1 drink
- 3 oz Tequila (recipe below)
- 1 oz Orange liqueur (recipe below)
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- A few drops of lime bitters (optional)
- Small pinch salt, plus extra for the glass rim if you like
- Lime wheel or peel for garnish
- Wet the edge of a cocktail glass with water or lime juice and roll it in salt. I salt about a third of the rim.
- Place all ingredients in a shaker except for the lime wheel. Shake with ice for 10-15 seconds.
- Fill the cocktail glass with ice and pour in the drink through a strainer. Garnish with lime wheel and enjoy.
Ok, now on to the back bar recipes, but first some reminders:
Note 1: Some of the ingredients below might not be available at your local supermarket. I bought stuff like vegetable glycerin, gentian, angelica and all other tougher to find items online (Amazon).
Note 2: I use the vacuum bag sous vide option to make these. These bags have a tendency to float. I used glass jar weights (for weighing down pickles in jars) to make sure they sink. It’s not always easy to seal bags with water in them unless you have a chamber vacuum machine, so I use ice instead of water. Just weigh the ice and put in the bag, vacuum and seal.
Note 3: All these recipes can be done in a pot over the stove. Simmer over very low heat, you are more steeping than cooking, like making a tea. Be careful and do not let stuff boil much or the flavor will be off and you will lose liquid to evaporation.
NA Tequila
Adapted from Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Notes and flavor profile:
very lightly sweet, spice, fruit, earthy.
You are not using the pineapple flesh here, instead you use the peel. I’m sure you can figure out many uses for the sweet pineapple flesh. I just wanted to confirm that the below is not a typo!
Yield: About 1 Liter
- 1/2 Pineapple
- 1000 gr Water
- 40 gr Apricots, fresh (or ripe peaches)
- 30 gr Agave syrup
- 20 gr Peanuts, roasted, unsalted
- 12 gr Black peppercorns, crushed very coarse
- 2 gr Kosher salt
- 1 Vanilla bean, split and cut into pieces
- 50 gr Parsley, fresh, leaves and stems
- 30 gr Ginger, fresh, sliced thin against the fibers
- 15 gr Mint, fresh, leaves and stems
- 10 gr Lime peels
- 7 gr Jalapeno, fresh, seeds removed and coarsely chopped
- 4 gr Bay leaves, fresh
- Peel the pineapple. Aim to have a little flesh with the peel. Dice the peel into small pieces. Use the flesh for whatever you want, we will not need it for this recipe.
- Heat a pot of water with your immersion circulator to 90 C (190 F).
- Combine the pineapple peel, apricots, agave syrup, peanuts, peppercorns, salt and vanilla with the water in a vacuum bag.
- Add something in there to help the bags sink. A few metal spoons would work for example.
- Cook in the water for 1 hour.
- Chill in an ice bath and strain.
- Muddle the remaining ingredients with the strained liquid and allow them all to steep for 2 hours.
- Strain again.
- Store in a bottle in the refrigerator for as long as a few weeks, or freeze.
NA Orange Liqueur (In the style of Gran Marnier or Cointreau)
Adapted from Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Notes and flavor profile:
citrus, citrus peel, bitter, vanilla, sweet finish, some spice.
Yield: About 1 Liter
- 700 gr Oranges, fresh, whole, cut into quarters (including the peels)
- 550 gr Water
- 450 gr Sugar
- 2 Cloves, whole
- 4 gr Cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
- 1/2 Vanilla bean, split and cut into pieces
- Heat a pot of water with your immersion circulator to 90 C (190 F).
- Combine all ingredients in a vacuum bag.
- Add something in there to help the bags sink. A few metal spoons would work for example.
- Cook in the water for 4 to 6 hours. The oranges should be pretty soft.
- Chill in an ice bath and strain. Do not squeeze the fruit too much.
- Store in a bottle in the refrigerator for as long as a few weeks, or freeze.