About a month ago, a cardiac situation sent me to the hospital emergency room. I’m fine now (I was discharged the same day), but my cardiologist has advised me to avoid alcohol (and caffeine) for the time being. Readers of this blog know my passion for cocktails; friends and acquaintances know that passing time talking to friends or reading a book at a quiet pub is one of my favorite ways to unwind. You can imagine that medical advice was a bit of a fly in the ointment of my life. I now find myself facing the challenge of retaining the worthwhile parts of those activities, but without the alcohol.
Fortunately, as we collectively become more aware of just how detrimental alcohol is to our physical health, the spirits and hospitality industries have started to respond. There are a number of craft brewers (and some major brands) that produce non-alcoholic beer. There are a handful of spirit “alternatives” (e.g., non-alcoholic gin). A number of bartenders offer “mocktails”1 in addition to alcohol-based cocktails.
I’d already tried a handful of these options. A non-alcoholic beer or cocktail is a great choice in situations where I have to drive after, or even when I’m enjoying the setting or conversation but don’t feel like being more buzzed. As I don’t plan on letting my new health situation deprive me of the things I enjoy, I’ll be embracing the non-alcoholic beverage options going forward (even if I’m eventually allowed the occasional drink).
To that end, I will be doing three things here. First, I will continue to share cocktail recipes. Second, I’ll try to offer some brief evaluations of non-alcoholic options that are more “off-the-shelf.” Third, I will start sharing my experiences at local restaurants and bars.
Cocktails
I’ve enjoyed sharing the drinks I make here. To me, a cocktail isn’t simply a tasty beverage—it’s a link to other people and times. Most spirits have a history of some kind; many cocktails do as well. It’s fun to keep those in mind when choosing a drink to mix.
None of that has to change if I focus on non-alcoholic ingredients. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to branch out. A few years ago, I read an article about the climate impact many classic cocktails have (mostly with respect to the volume of ice and citrus that’s discarded in the process of making them). Since then, I’ve been wondering about what cocktails would look like if they were more focused on local ingredients. This could be an opportunity to forge ahead in that direction.
So plan on seeing non-alcoholic cocktails here for a few months. I haven’t actually attempted one yet, but I’m looking forward to trying.
Off-the-shelf NA options
Over the past month, I think I’ve tried well over a dozen different non-alcoholic beers, and a handful of other beverages pitched as non-alcoholic substitutes. I’ll define that latter category as beverages that don’t inherently have any alcohol but are marketed as something you would drink when you would otherwise have a beer. They’re generally variations on flavored seltzers. Then there are some sparkling ciders or more sophisticated sodas.
I’ll generally focus on beer, but if I come across other things that I particularly enjoy, I’ll try to give them a nod here.
Local NA scene
As I mentioned above, I enjoy spending time at local pubs, bars, and restaurants, both with others and alone. I’ve discovered over the past month that there’s a large disparity between establishments that have good NA options and those that do not. While that’s not a surprise, I’ve also found it difficult to search for places that have good options.
With that in mind, I plan to begin rating local establishments with respect to the variety and quality of their non-alcoholic offerings. I hope to build a list as I go. I’d love to help others in similar situations2, and I also hope it can be a nudge to local businesses to be cognizant of (the growing number of) their non-alcohol-drinking customers.
- I’ve never really liked this term. I raised the question of alternatives in a social media post. Someone pointed out that a non-alcoholic cocktail doesn’t need a special name. The word “cocktail” is just a “cocktail of ingredients.” With a non-alcoholic drink, it’s still that—it’s just that none of those ingredients are alcoholic.
↩︎ - I’ll clarify that the ratings I provide and the list I hope to produce will be targeted at others like me: people looking to reduce the amount of alcohol they consume, for whatever reason. Non-alcoholic beer isn’t entirely free of alcohol. In New York at least, it generally can have up to 0.5% alcohol by volume—less than 10% of a typical beer, but not none. For that reason, it might not be helpful for alcoholics, or those trying to abstain completely for religious reasons. ↩︎