It’s January and for the second year we are doing the “dry January” thing. Basically not drinking any alcoholic beverages for the month. My wife and I do this for a couple of reasons. It’s a good challenge that helps us to develop healthier habits and like most challenges it encourages creativity – in this case in what we imbibe.
Impatient? Skip to the Recipes
Sure, we can spend the month drinking sparkling water with lemon, sparkling water with lime, sparkling water with a few drops of bitters, sparkling…well you get the idea. Instead I take this challenge as a way to try non alcoholic cocktails and beers. A quick note on beers, NA (Non-Alcoholic) brews have come a long way! Some are very tasty, my favorites are from Athletic Brewing, especially the Hazy IPA and the Upside Dawn Golden. After last year’s dry January, I made it a regular habit to buy NA beers and alternate them with the regular ones I have in the fridge. They are lower calorie and can satisfy the craving for a hoppy, bitter and bubbly cold one.
Back to cocktails and the main crux of this post. No other bar as far as I can tell has gone to the great lengths that The Aviary has in building their zero alcohol menu. A few years they published the book Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks. It has tons of creative NA cocktail recipes of course and gorgeous photos like all their other books but the Aviary folks just do not use off-the-shelf NA mixers. Instead the first section of the book is about creating a back bar by making your own “gin”, “rum”, “tequila” and other components that they label “In the style of gin, or rum,…”
I tried several of these and they make fun projects. Some taste much closer to the real thing while others are not particularly close. In any case these are not to be mistaken for actual booze and that is certainly not the intention. Making a zero alcohol negroni with three components that you made, taking the time to measure and stir, then pouring it over a nice ice cube with the peel of an orange is the point. It’s like nothing you can just buy, tastes delicious and allows you to still have the ritual of putting together a nice cocktail at home. It was great sharing some of these with my brother, Ramy, who worked for a long time as a bartender and now runs the successful marketing company Fatcow Digital. He is helping me tweak and improve my blog here as well. Cheers!
I am planning on dedicating a few posts to these preparations and drinks this month, starting off with this one and a couple of initial recipes. Some high level opinions of the various beverages that I made from the book:
These two are my favorites and -especially the bitter “campari”- are the closest to the real thing. They are actually mixers that I make off an on throughout the year and add them to seltzer or to regular cocktails. I’m thinking this year I might try making my version of alcoholic Campari using this NA recipe as a base.
- NA Bitter liqueur (aka NA campari)
- NA Orange liqueur
These four are delicious and emulate some of the characteristics of the beverages they are made in the style of but certainly are not terribly close to actual rum or gin or bourbon. These spirits are usually pretty high in alcohol (40% or so) and that burn is not there for the NA version. In a drink like the Margarita [[lnk]] the high level of lime juice helps, but if going for a Manhattan, well that is a tough one. You get a tasty beverage in any case but it’s missing the heat and burn.
- NA In the Style of Gin
- NA In the Style of Spanish Rum
- NA In the Style of Tequila
- NA In the Style of Bourbon
Zero Alcohol Back Bar
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 Gin
Adapted from Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Notes and flavor profile:
juniper, mild bitter, very lightly sweet, anise, spice.
Glycerin is here to provide some body to the “gin”, a very mild sweetness and is great at extracting flavor from ingredients like juniper.
Yield: About 1 Liter
Juniper Tincture
- 300 gr Vegetable glycerin
- 150 gr Juniper berries
- 150 gr Water
Gin
- 750 gr Water
- 17 gr Coriander seeds
- 17 gr Lemon peel, fresh, removed with a peeler
- 5 gr Fennel seeds
- 4 gr Cinnamon sticks, cracked into pieces
- 4 gr Ginger, fresh, peeled and sliced thin across the fibers
- 2 gr Star anise, broken into pieces
- 1 gr Angelica root
- 1 gr Green cardamom seeds
- 1 gr Salt
- Make the juniper tincture by combining the ingredients for it in a blender and pulsing several times. You want to break down the juniper berries, but do NOT puree everything. The berries should remain in very coarse pieces. Place in a container in the fridge and let steep for at least 12 – 24 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. The glycerin is thick and, ideally, to get the most out of the berries place them in a cheesecloth and squeeze very well. You should end up with at least 250 gr of strong juniper flavored tincture.
- Heat a pot of water with your immersion circulator to 90 C (190 F).
- Combine all ingredients for the “gin” 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.
- Mix in 250 gr of the tincture and stir well.
- Store in a bottle in the refrigerator for as long as a few weeks, or freeze.
NA Bitter Liqueur (In the style of Campari)
Adapted from Zero: A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Notes and flavor profile:
strong bitter, citrus, sweet finish, some spice.
Hibiscus can usually be found in the tea isle of the grocery store and is very popular in Latin American markets as well. If you want a really red color, use red food coloring, but I do not bother. Choose the grapefruit with the most deep red color skin for this.
Yield: About 1 Liter
- 700 gr Water
- 400 gr Sugar
- 200 gr Grapefruit (ideally Ruby Red), chopped, including peels
- 100 gr Orange, chopped, including peels
- 12 gr Gentian root
- 10 gr Cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
- 10 gr Pink peppercorns, cracked
- 6 gr Star anise, broken into pieces
- 4 gr Angelica root pieces
- 1.5 gr Cloves
- a few hibiscus (aka Jamaica) flowers, about a 3 gr or less, for coloring (optional)
- 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 1 hour.
- 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.