Trend: alcohol-free cocktails
Drinking is the new smoking. Suddenly, alcohol drinkers are under heavy fire. So what are we supposed to do? Cheerfully switch to Fristi en masse? No, fortunately there are plenty of tasty alternatives, such as alcohol-free cocktails. Trend forecaster Vincent van Dijk tells you what to expect.
Dry January
Dry January is looming again, and true overachievers now also effortlessly tack the month of February onto it. A few years ago, it was still cool to show up at work with a hangover and brag about the bacchanal of the night before. These days, it’s cooler to say that you’re laying off alcohol for a while. NOLO was therefore the drink trend of the past year.
Alcohol-free gin&tonic
It’s not only demand for non-alcoholic drinks that’s rising, but the supply as well: the alternatives are advancing. In the past, you could choose only between a sad Spa Rood and a cola. These days, trendy NOLO drinks (NO or LOW-alcohol) are flooding bar menus. From adult soft drinks with a spicy ginger or pepper flavor to alcohol-free bubbly and even alcohol-free gin&tonics and cocktails.
Murder on the Orient
Yes, even in the alcohol-soaked cocktail world, non-alcoholic cocktails are hugely popular. For now, they’re listed under a special heading on the menu, but increasingly they’re hidden among the ‘regular’ cocktails. For example, Pulitzer’s Bar, recently named Amsterdam’s best hotel bar and cocktail bar by hospitality trade magazine Entree Magazine , presented a new cocktail menu inspired by the novel Murder on the Orient Express, featuring no fewer than three alcohol-free cocktails that also taste bizarrely good. The great advantage of this type of drink: you can order many more of them than you can of a real alcohol-heavy hitter.
One less measure
LOW-alcohol is a thing too. To prove that low-ABV cocktails don’t fall short of cocktails with more alcohol in terms of flavor and complexity, the Oneunit competition was created. Here, the best bartenders prepared the best cocktail creations with just 1 unit of alcohol (12.5 ml). Mads Voorhoeve shook the winning cocktail, Rocket Fizz, out of his sleeve: a surprising cocktail of mezcal, egg white, 0.0 beer and arugula. And that’s quite a feat. Alcohol gives a drink a distinctive bite, but a good bartender can imitate it perfectly by mixing the right ingredients. Just as alcohol-free beer is now quite drinkable because brewing techniques are better than they were in the Buckler era.
Cheers to your health!
Is this non-alcohol trend a short-lived craze? No, no, no! NOLO is here to stay! Just as we can no longer imagine going back to smoking in restaurants, we’re also becoming increasingly aware of excessive alcohol consumption. In the coming years, you’ll see the range of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks improve considerably. Will alcohol disappear completely, then? No, people have been drinking this stuff for 8,000 years, and it will remain as long as humanity exists. But we will drink more consciously and enjoy quality more, so that soon we can genuinely cry out: ‘To your health!’
How to make the Rocket Fizz
This cocktail, with the perfect balance of spice, citrus and smokiness, will be available on the cocktail menus at Bar Oldenhof, Bar Mokum from mid-December and at Bar Feijoa from January 2020. Prefer to discover your inner bartender? You’ll find the recipe here.
What you need
- 27.5 ml Bruzo No1 Mezcal
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice
- 15 ml sugar syrup (2:1)
- Plenty of arugula
- Lowlander 0.00% Wit
- Optional: egg white
Combine the fresh lemon juice, sugar syrup, mezcal, egg white and arugula, and shake everything together. Double-strain the cocktail and pour it into a highball glass. Top with Lowlander 0.00% Wit. That’s how you enjoy one less measure!
Read also:
