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Here are a few non-alcoholic recipes for the holidays in Victoria
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The holidays are synonymous with unwinding with a few drinks—or being gifted a beautiful bottle of whiskey, wine, or scotch.But not everyone likes the taste or enjoys alcohol as others do.While alcohol is a big component of a great cocktail, it takes more than that to tango; and nowadays, there are a ton of non-alcoholic spirits and tasty mocktails that can keep your hands busy at the holiday dinner table.
Here are a few local options to satisfy the tastebuds, sans hangover.
Sooke’s Sheringham Distillery produces Lumette—its non-alcoholic brand of alt-gins. It’s a fantastic replacement for any vodka, gin, or rum, and if you have a cocktail you used to love, this is a great non-alcoholic replacement. From its London Dry, Bright Light, to Lumrum, each alt-spirit is distilled from a bounty of fresh botanicals.Bright Light in particular is slightly sweet, and has a juicy citrus orange and grapefruit bitterness, with notes of rose, red fruits, and cucumber.
Here’s a recipe Lumette recommends:
The Zero Proof Clover Club
2oz mL Bright Light0.75oz lemon juice1 tablespoon raspberry jam 1oz egg white
METHOD: Add all ingredients into a shaker tin without ice, dry shake, wet shake, and double strain. Served up in a coupe glass.
BONUS: Lumrum & Eggnog
2oz of Lumette’s Lumrum8oz eggnog
METHOD: Pour two ounces of Lumette’s Lumrum into a rocks glass full of ice, and fill the rest with your favourite Eggnog.
Kombucha is known as a great replacement for fizzy drinks in general, but it especially works with non-alcoholic drinks. In its most basic form, kombucha is fermented green and/or black tea. Bacteria and yeast must first grow together to form a culture, which is then added to the sugar and tea. Then the mix ferments. Companies such as Victoria’s Cultured Kombucha Co. use natural ingredients like dried hibiscus flowers, lemongrass, or blueberries to create bold flavours.Kombucha is a great foray into weening yourself off alcohol (and even coffee) and it’s an asset to making great mocktails.Here’s a recent recipe featured by Cultured Kombucha Co.:
Elderberry Pear Kombucha Mocktail:
3oz Cultured Kombucha Co. Spiced Pear1.5oz elderberry syrup3oz lemon ginger tea1 tablespoon honey0.25 lemonGarnish: Candied ginger
METHOD: Steep and cool lemon ginger tea. Shake cooled tea, elderberry syrup, lemon juice, and honey in a shaker with ice. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top with Cultured Kombucha Co. Spiced Pear. Garnish with candied ginger.
The Sparkling Bee Line is a refreshing fermented drink like kombucha but made by adding a culture of yeast and bacteria to a sweet tea and letting it ferment for up to a couple of weeks. It’s different in flavour, due to the difference in raw ingredients and microbes in the culture. Like kombucha, Babe’s said a Bee Line contains trace amounts of alcohol but doesn’t contain any cane sugar—only raw honey.
These drinks are topped with fresh juices and herbs and spices, and come in a variety of flavours such as ginger, cranberry and kiwi, citrus and lavender, and Earl Grey, among others.
Here’s a simple cocktail-inspired mocktail:
Dark ‘n’ Stormy Mocktail
6oz Babe’s Ginger Splash1oz lime juice1oz simple syrup8 fresh mint leaves1 fresh lime
METHOD: Muddle mint leaves and a lime wedge into a cocktail shaker. Add lime juice and simple syrup, and shake on ice. Pour into a rocks glass and add Babe’s Ginger Splash.
Saanichton’s Sea Cider has a full line of non-alcoholic ciders, all of which are free of added sugar, sulphites, and preservatives, and packed with fresh cider apples from its family-owned orchard.. According to Sea Cider, a portion of proceeds from the Temperance Series supports wellness programs in Canada that nurture physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
The Temperance Series features four ciders. The Chérie has ripe cherry notes mingling with BC apples and hints of orchard blossoms; Roxie is a blend of apples, ripe raspberries, and lemon; Bonnie is a cider created in homage to Dr. Bonnie Henry made from BC blackberries and apples; and Eden is a classic sparkling apple juice.Here’s a mocktail recipe from Sea Cider featuring the Temperance Bonnie and Lumette’s Bright Light alt-gin:
Bramble on Bonnie Mocktail:
3oz Sea Cider’s Temperance Bonnie 0.75oz fresh lemon juice 0.5oz Lumette Bright Light Fresh blackberries Fresh mint Fresh lemon
METHOD: Place 3-4 blackberries into a shaker and muddle mint leaves. Add fresh lemon juice, Temperance Bonnie, and Lumette Bright Light. Shake and then pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon slice, mint sprig, and blackberry.
It’s not technically a mocktail, but it’s a great non-alcoholic drink that gives you the satisfaction of a beer without a hangover. The non-alcoholic craft beer line was released last January with the mission of bringing non-alcoholic beer without sacrificing great craft-brewed flavour.
So far, Phillips offers two types:
iOTA Pilsner: A light and malt-driven beer smooth on the German hop notes.
iOTA Hazy IPA: Low on bitterness and full of citrus and juicy fruit notes with a tropical hazy hop profile.