Will mocktails replace cocktails? Restaurants and bars in London, New York and Hong Kong prepare for a dry January – which lasts all year
Bars and restaurants in major cities are changing their cocktail menus to include non-alcoholic drinks as people begin to avoid alcohol due to its affect on physical and mental health
Cutting down on alcohol consumption is a sweeping trend in many countries. As awareness grows about the negative impacts of drinking, including its effect on mental and physical health, more patrons are choosing to stay sober – whether permanently or just for a night. In response, restaurants, bars and nightclubs around the world are offering a fuller spectrum of non-alcoholic options than ever before.
London’s pioneering alcohol-free bar Redemption now has three branches, while other establishments in the city are giving more prominence to alcohol content on their menus, such as at respected Bar Three, where the menu is split into sections: “free”, “light”, “medium” or “full”. New York City has its own booze-free bars, which play host to everything from sober speed-dating to substance-free daytime raving.
Hong Kong may not yet have an alcohol-free bar, but cutting-edge bartenders are creating booze-free drinks – mocktails – that are a big step beyond the same old uninspiring juice mixes.
At The Old Man on Aberdeen Street in Central, which was just awarded Asia’s Best Bar, mixologists can make any cocktail on the menu in a teetotaller version. Antonio Lai, the supremely talented brains behind Quinary, The Envoy and VEA, is also known for taking great care in crafting spirit-free cocktails for his non-drinking patrons.
In Singapore, too, avant-garde bars are putting as much effort into making alcohol-free cocktails as they do for boozy versions. Luke Whearty, International Bartender of the Year at 2018’s Tales of the Cocktail, won global acclaim at trendsetting bar Operation Dagger. After years in Singapore, he is now opening Byrdi in Melbourne, Australia, along with his partner Aki Nishikura.
“I’ve always provided alcohol-free cocktails at my venues. I actually don’t see it as any different from making a drink that is alcohol-based. I approach both the same way in terms of flavour and balance,” he says. “You could probably argue that you have an ability to give someone an even greater experience as their senses won’t be as numbed by the effects of alcohol.”
Whearty creates a drink called Gomashio, a savoury Japanese-inspired twist on a daiquiri made from a home-made distillate of sesame seeds with cucumber juice, lime juice, fresh young ginger juice, agave nectar, salt and pepper. It comes in an alcoholic version, and a booze-free option in which the sesame distillate is made with water rather than alcohol. This changes the taste only slightly, he says, lending the cocktail a more toasted flavour.
Not entirely convinced, I put two versions of a cocktail to the test at the new Nolita Social at the Bulgari Hotel in London. Giacomo Ellena, brought in to head the bar from Milan where he was talk of the town last year for his Christmastime panettone liqueur, has Stairway to Heaven (Bombay Sapphire gin, Po’ di Poli Morbida grappa, passion fruit, vanilla syrup and lager) and Passion (Seedlip citrus, passion fruit purée, lemon, rosemary, vanilla, non-alcoholic beer) on the menu. On the nose, I could identify the alcoholic version, but taking a sip I changed my mind