I’ve always had a fascination with mocktails. My parents don’t drink and never did growing up. So going out to restaurants in the suburbs we would see the huge list of drinks placed on the table with the little section on the back for iced tea, lemonade, and sodas. I don’t know about you, but there’s only so many variations of lemonade that I can enjoy before it gets boring. The only other mocktail known to me while underage were shirley temples (obviously delicious and the prime selection at any event).
After high school I went off to culinary school, and after a few months stumbling around in unfamiliar territory I decided I didn’t like cooking. I decided continuing to pursue my education was the right choice anyway, but I went to work part time as well. I found myself in Newport. I fell in love with it. The atmosphere, the delicious food, the friends I made, the education I received, and most importantly: the patience. I had zero experience with working in a restaurant before then, I kind of jumped feet first into the deep end of the pool without floaties. Luckily, everyone I met was willing to listen to my questions and answer them no matter how stupid they were. My constant pestering and curiosity brought me to the wine list, something I had never seen beyond 10 bottles of strange names I couldn’t pronounce or understand. I saw on the list of house cocktails “sans spirit.” Looking back, context clues should’ve suggested to me:
Sans means without
Spirits is another word for liquor
This would’ve led me to the obvious conclusion that this drink was “without liquor.” Nonetheless I asked about it. And I was led into the rabbit hole of true mocktails. Drinks that would not only suffice as a sipper during a meal, but would actually hit the satisfying souring sweetness or the strange earthy bitterness that is so hard to get right.
A mocktail has to follow the same rules as a cocktail.
There has to be a base that you are using as the star of the drink.
You must balance it out with salt, sugar, acidity, fat, textures, and bitterness.
It has to look pretty.
We can’t make a cocktail that tastes delicious that looks gross, murky, or appetizing. And we have to make sure it tastes good, Shirley Temples are popular because they are balls of sugar. Balance is the key to a strong mocktail.
This creative process starts one of two ways. You can either have the ingredients inspire you and then figure how you want to showcase it and how to balance and elevate it. Or you can use a dessert or food that you enjoy and try your best to imitate it in drink format. An example of the first is using a surplus of fennel to make some sort of spritzer. Balance it with sugar and citrus, anise-like flavors tend to do well with other herbs (so maybe add thyme or mint), and then bring it out with soda water. And for the process on a dessert inspiring a mocktail check out my link [here].
Remember, drinks take time. You will have multiple iterations to get proportions down correctly. They will not be perfect the first time you create it and you might need to add an extra touch of flair or get someone else’s input along the way.
I believe in you! Happy drinking!
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