ISO Recipes for Non-Alcoholic Drinks for Adults

[shelly59]

Last week I sat in on discussions about our firm's Christmas party. The bar will be well stocked with top-shelf alcohol, mixers, liquers, etc., and a nice whiskey punch is planned. So far, so good.

However, when I mentioned that about 1/4 of our people do not drink alcohol for various and sundry reasons and that we should look into some tasty, adult drinks for THEM, the reaction was basically, "Well, tough sh*t on them, They can drink 7-Up."

WELL!! The rules of hospitality I was raised on don't allow me to not be gracious to a whole sub-set of guests. SO I kicked-up a fuss...and got reseach duty, lol!!

SO, I am asking - ARE there sophisticated drinks that are NOT alcoholic? ARE there better N/A punches that do not include cans of shredded pineapple, lime sherbet and 7-UP? ( Don't ask, you REALLY don't want to know ) I know it may seem funny to come to the Spirits and Cocktails threads for N/A drinks, but I lurk here a lot and noticed that there are some crazy-creative people out there who deal with drinks on a regular basis. SO I thought I might get good feedback here.

Much thanks.

[Danne]

Well making good non-alcoholic cocktails is harder than making the usual.. But sooo much funnier.

I usually work allot with Salt, Sour and Suggar (This it usually the thing i use least). When it comes to sour I actually use sourmix when it's without alcohol.

I usually don't like to use the Premix but here I find it better. If you can fint "team bartender sourmix" you should buy it. It's a really good sourmix and it doesn't contain any lactose.

Try making sugarsyrup with "Strong" flawours. Eg; Ginger-syrup Juniper-syrup Aniseed-syrup. Make them with alot of herbs so that you don't need to use so much syrup, then It's easyer to balance the sweetness of the drink.

[Daniel Rogov]

Shelly, Hello.....

From a piece I wrote several years ago:

One has to be neither a member of the anti-alcohol movement nor a teetotaler to acknowledge that there is a time and a place to enjoy cocktails that have no alcohol in them. Happily, regardless of whether one is a physician on call, the designated driver among a group of friends or one who simply does not care for alcohol, there are a host of such drinks readily available, many of which are great fun to drink. Following are recipes for eight of the best known of these. Many of the recipes have been adapted from the very reliable handbook, The Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide (Warner Books, New York, ISBN 0-446-38763-0).

Virgin Mary

4 oz. high quality tomato juice

dash of lemon juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 drops Tabasco Sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large wine glass with ice, add the tomato juice and then the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and garnish with a wedge of lime.

Innocent Passion

4 oz. passion fruit juice

dash of cranberry juice

dash of lemon juice

club soda

Fill a highball glass with ice and over the ice pour the passion fruit juice, cranberry juice and lemon juice. Fill the glass to its brim with club soda, stir gently and garnish with a cherry. Serve with a straw.

Lime Cooler

juice of 3 limes

3 tsp. confectioners' sugar

Pour the juice and sugar into a collins glass, stir, fill with ice and water. Stir again and add a wedge of lime and a cherry. Serve with a straw.

Orange Smile

1 whole egg

juice of 1 large orange

1 tsp. Grenadine syrup

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake well with ice and then strain into a wine glass to serve.

Pac Man

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. Grenadine syrup

dash of Bitters

ginger ale

Fill a collins glass with ice and over this pour the grenadine, lemon juice and bitters. Fill the glass to its brim with ginger ale and garnish with an orange slice.

Punchless Pina Colada

1 oz. cream of coconut

1 oz. pineapple juice

1 cup ice

1 tsp. lime juice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and then pour into a collins glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.

Unfuzzy Navel

3 oz. peach nectar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 oz. orange juice

dash of Grenadine

Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a wine glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

[shelly59]

Hurrah!! Those recipes are EXACTLY what I am talking about. These, plus a very nice punch recipe sent to me off-line have me in a very good place. And not a Shirley Temple/Roy Rogers in the bunch

[jackal10]

Elderflower cordial

Apple juice

Mulled red grape juice

[JAZ]

Here are a couple of my recipes (from RecipeGullet):

The Faux Margarita

1-1/4 oz chipotle orange syrup (recipe below)

2 oz lime juice

1/4 oz grapefruit juice

1 oz water

Shake over ice and strain into chilled, salt-rimmed glass. Or pour over ice if desired.

Chipotle orange syrup

Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add 1 dried chipotle pepper and 2 strips orange peel. Cover and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (liquid should be slightly spicy but not overtly hot). Strain out the pepper and orange and add ¾ cup sugar. Bring back to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

Twisted Mojito

1-1/2 oz jalapeno mint syrup (recipe below)

2 oz lime juice

3 oz club soda or seltzer

Shake the syrup and lime juice over ice. Pour into an ice-filled hurricane or tall glass and top with club soda.

Jalapeno Mint Syrup

Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add 2-3 sliced jalapeno peppers and leaves from one small bunch mint. Cover and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (liquid should be slightly spicy but not overtly hot). Strain out the peppers and mint and add 1 cup sugar. Bring back to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

[lemon_twist]

This month's Imbibe has a recipe for a punch with rosewater, grapefruit, ... and some other things - that looks really tasty. I don't have the recipe on hand and I haven't tried it yet - but I really think I must. There's no reason why a non-alcoholic drink can't have a complex and interesting flavor.

[Mayur]

The Gin-Gin Mule is a reasonably fine drink without the gin (muddled mint, lime juice, simple syrup, and house-made ginger beer, all shaken). Good bitters can really make a number of drinks pop. Some apple cider, lemon juice, a splash of soda, and a dash each of Angostura and Peychaud's is a tasty and refreshing drink. One I really like is a teaspoon of white balsamic vinegar over three ice cubes in a collins glass, topped with tonic and a dash of Regan's orange bitters.

IMHO, the biggest problem with making non-alcoholic drinks is keeping the same ratio of sweet to sour to bitter; it's all too easy to make them into sugar bombs, which IMO defeats the purpose of making "adult" drinks rather than just giving people juice or soft drinks. A decent bitters selection, a heavy hand with soda and other unsweetened mixers, and judicious use of fresh citrus all help.

[plattetude]

I'll second the idea that a dash or two of bitters (Angostura, Peychaud's, Regan's Orange, any of the Fee's line) to something as simple as fruit juice and soda can really make an interesting drink. Juice and tonic can also have a good bit of interest and complexity (especially with bitters).

Of course, strictly speaking, bitters *are* alcoholic, but in such small quantities as to be negligable.

Christopher

[Alchemist]

True, but I would let people know if there is even a drop of alcohol in something. There are some people who cant have ANY booze at all. Bitters at an AA meeting would be a bad thing.

If you can get ginger juice, ginger like you get at jamba juice, and add equal parts sugar, it makes for lovely mocktails both hot or cold.

[mbanu]

Fresh-made Italian sodas (flavored syrups & soda water) are always enjoyable. Your local coffee shop or gourmet store should have a decent selection of syrups available. Throw in some lemons and limes, and you can make a variety of sparkling lemonades. Orgeat lemonade is pretty good, as are non-alcoholic Mojitos.

IMHO, the biggest problem with making non-alcoholic drinks is keeping the same ratio of sweet to sour to bitter; it's all too easy to make them into sugar bombs, which IMO defeats the purpose of making "adult" drinks rather than just giving people juice or soft drinks.

Something helpful here might be keeping a bottle of plain water to use as a "nonalcoholic vodka" to thin out your drinks.

Edited November 19, 2007 by mbanu (log)

[shelly59]

Wow! This is GREAT!! So many good ideas. I knew I could count on people here.

Jaz & Daniel, your drink recipes sound delicious, thanks. Can't wait to try them myself.

I know we will be utilizing the Italian soda idea as well as stocking some of the more exotic juices, purees and fresh citrus as suggested here. The bitters SHOULD be on the bar list already, but I will double check that and make sure. I had quite forgotten about mulled cider, everyone I know likes that, so that's on the list.

I think it will be really nice for people to have a variety of options, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Especially as we are going all-out for the food and the decorations and the music. Now everyone is included in all the fun.

And that's what really matters, yes?

[cramper]

I'm writing about this for the SF Chronicle but the story won't come out until mid-December. One recent discovery is non-alcoholic grape juices from specific varietals made by Navarro Vineyards.

But the most creative non-alcoholic drinks I've seen come from the vegetarian restaurant Millennium in San Francisco. Here's the full drink list and here are the non-alcoholic recipes listed:

Hibiscus Zinger

Hibiscus Tea & Apple Juice

Himalayan Raw-Volution

Kombucha Tonic, Ginger Infused Agave Syrup, Garnished with Goji Berries

Liquid Sunshine

Fresh O.J., Organic Cranberry Juice, Agave

Chamomile Lemonade

House-Made Chamomile Syrup shaken with Organic Lemonade

Love Potion #9

Pomegranate Juice and Organic Lemonade served up

Sparkling Lemonade

Fresh Squeezed Meyer Lemon Juice, Agave, San Pellegrino

Health Tonic

Cranberry-Apple Cider, Allspice, Echinacea Immune Booster