“I’ll have a mocktail, please.”
Say it loud, and say it proud. Mocktails are cool and as delightful to the eye and delicious to the tongue as their hard-spirited cousins.
They are also conversation starters. “What the heck is that?” “Does it taste like the real thing?”
Become the expert with this glossary of mocktail talk and tastes.
Origin story
A perfect storm of trends brought mocktails out of the shadows. Dry January convinced people that they really can skip the booze. Our health and wellness consciousness has us looking for healthier options. Inclusivity and diversity mean giving abstainers a seat at the bar. And finally, social media spotlights the visual appeal of beautifully crafted, colorful mocktails.
Zero proof
Artisans are crafting nonalcoholic spirits that give mocktails a spirited zing. Some distill their spirits and remove the alcohol. Others artfully blend natural essences with water. No matter the method, Ritual, Seedlip, Spiritless and other names are joining a $10 billion global market. Reviews remain mixed, but zero-proof spirits are improving, and they’re muscling their way onto high-end bar shelves. “With recognized brands, we’re better able to imitate some of the flavors of gin and whiskey,” Adam Brunson, bartender at Rubicon in Harrisburg, says (rubiconhbg.com).
Give it the juice
If you’re still not sold on spirits alternatives, skip them. “All of our bartenders are certainly well-seasoned enough that we can make up a mocktail for you on the spot with the litany of juices and fruits that we have in front of us,” Brunson says. At Decades, the retro-fun restaurant and bar/arcade/bowling alley in downtown Lancaster (decadeslancaster.com), “no alcohol” choices include the meticulously crafted Lavender Elixir—made with lavender and honey Earl Grey tea, fresh lemon and seltzer, topped in sassy fashion with butterfly pea flower gelatin and garnished with button flowers.
Food pairings
At Rubicon, your friends will be suitably impressed when you mention that the refreshing, spirit-free Alchemist pairs beautifully with the $1 oysters at the bar. The Alchemist is like a classic Aperol Spritz or Campari Spritz, made with nonalcoholic Figlia aperitivo, New Orleans and orange bitters, tonic and lemon.
Mocktails don’t curtail
Say yes to happy hour and clinking glasses with friends. The robust zero-proof menu at Tutoni’s in York (tutonis.com) includes the Me, Myself, and Chai, made with Ritual whiskey alternative, smoked chai, cinnamon, salt and honey. Cocktail hour, with $2 off zero-proof selections, makes Tutoni’s bar the perfect place for taste-testing.
Eye candy
What makes a cocktail look enticing and sophisticated, anyway? It’s not the alcohol. It’s the mixers and embellishments. Mocktails rimmed in pomegranate sugar or mixed with bright berries are pretty enough to be featured on the websites of the best restaurants. The Blue Spirulina Lemonade at Per Diem in Lititz (perdiemlititz.com) is a vivid, bedazzling treat.
What’s in a name?
In the old days, your only choice in mocktail was whispering that you’d like a Shirley Temple. Might as well have ordered the Sugary Sweet Teetotaler. Today’s beverage artists are bestowing their mocktails with fun and quirky names. In downtown Lancaster, Josephine’s Hollywoodinspired cocktails include the Betty Ford mocktail, consisting of pineapple and rosemary apple cider vinegar shrub, Luxardo cherry juice and club soda (josephinesdowntown.com).
Wine a little
Wine drinkers, the mocktail parade isn’t passing you by. Pennsylvania Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores carry the Fre line of alcohol-removed wines. Red blend. White Zin. Brut. Chardonnay. They’re born in traditional winemaking methods but “dealcoholized” to remove the wine. Other makers concoct wine alternatives, mixing juices, teas and spices to mimic the flavor and feel of wine.
