What makes a good drink?
In my book, Mindful Mixology: A Comprehensive Guide to No- and Low-Alcohol Cocktails, I suggest four sensory characteristics that define a classic cocktail with or without alcohol: Intensity of Flavor, Piquancy, Volume or Length, and Texture. Each one of these play a role in creating adult sophisticated cocktails.
Intensity of Flavor means using the best ingredients in a quantity that cuts through the many layers in a cocktail. Piquancy is the bite you get from alcohol or alternative, bitterness, sourness, or spice (sometimes all of those things). Volume is the space not taken up by juice or sugar. Juice or sugar are common in cocktails but that can't be the whole drink for it to match my definition of a cocktail. And Texture refers to the mouthfeel or weight of the drink. It should be richer than ice tea or water.
I talk about this in more detail on the latest episode of The Mindful Drinking Podcast on the NASM Podcast Network. Should be out the week after next!
Are there any fundamental differences between making an alcoholic cocktail vs a nonalcoholic cocktail?
Yes, in that alcohol helps achieve all of the characteristics mentioned above. The difference between a lemonade and a Tom Collins is just gin. Bourbon and Coke, Bourbon, etc. Without alcohol, you may need multiple ingredients to achieve the same thing. In my Pinch Hitter cocktail, for instance, I add ginger, apple cider vinegar, salt, and aquafaba (chickpea water) to add intensity of flavor, piquancy, volume, and texture to what is otherwise a lemonade. Recipe below. Obviously, analog NA spirit can help but they aren't always one to one.
Another consideration is: Do you need your non-alcoholic drink to be cocktail-like? If not, there are many more options.
What are the most important nuances someone should consider when making a nonalc cocktail?
I think the hardest thing to achieve is texture. If you want to match the cocktail texture you have to use a thickener like sugar, salt, aquafaba, eggs, starches, glycerine, or hydrocolloids like xanthan gum. You can also use less dilution, shaking or stirring with less ice and for a shorter period of time.
Nonalcoholic spirits - let’s talk about them. Why should anyone use them?
They're much easier in many ways. For instance, in an Old Fashioned you can just use 2.25 oz. Spiritless Kentucky 74 Bourbon Alternative in place of 2 oz Bourbon. Easy swap. However, you can't really drink them by themselves. That's one thing I miss since changing the way I drink, a Scotch neat. But then I use really delicious teas like aged pu-erh tea. That helps.
What’s your favorite unconventional mixology trick?
Stir with Sushi rice. Adds starch, works wonderfully well. This will be the subject of an upcoming article on my Subtack, not to push it too hard.
What’s the one bar tool everyone should have?
Really boring, but I say it again and again––a bar spoon. You can stir, measure, and muddle with a good cocktail spoon. My favorites come from Bull in China. Plus, when I started bartending we didn't have them and you'd have to use tea spoons or sort of "swish-le" the drink around. They sometimes feel like a luxury to me.
