In 2024 it will be ten years since ‘Dry January’, which encourages you to behave well during the first month of the year and give up alcohol. The initiative, created by the organization Alcohol Change UK, has grown in popularity in recent years: many seem willing to give their bodies a break after Christmas excesses.
For mixologists this does not mean having to close the bar as if it were those old ice cream makers who, when autumn appeared, changed businesses to survive. To adapt to the month without alcohol, many multiply the non-alcoholic options in their menus. It is also appreciated by those who have to drive, teetotalers or, simply, those who prefer to drink without liquors or distillates involved.
It must be said that this thing about non-alcoholic mixtures is nothing new. If we leaf through the book ‘Cocktails’ by Pedro Chicote (1928), one of the most classic drink recipe books, we have already come across some of them. An example is the Loreto, which contained, according to Chicote’s version, three teaspoons of sugar syrup, the juice of an orange, seltzer water and seasonal fruits, cherries and mint leaves. To drink without fear.
Versions of classics and ‘ad hoc’ creations
Alberto Fernández, from Momus (Madrid), who received the award for the best cocktail menu in 2024 at FIBAR, the Valladolid fair that is a benchmark in the sector, explains that sThere is a lot of talk about non-alcoholic cocktails, but they are not ordered as much. “It is a very small percentage of those that are sold. Of course, now there is much better preparation on the part of the ‘bartender’ (or ‘barwoman’) to make them and the establishments have more resources: Flavor extraction techniques are much more advanced than in recent years. “We have gone from a simple San Francisco, a mixture of three juices with grenadine, to producing non-alcoholic distillates, cordials or molasses,” explains Alberto Fernández.
In the case of Momus, non-alcoholic options appear on the menu that are, in many cases, versions of classic combinations. Examples are the Pierthat cordial blend of elderflower, lime, flax seed syrup and hibiscus or the Piscopolitanbased on Seedlip Garden 108 -a non-alcoholic distillate- macerated with fresh oregano.
In it Flame Bar (Madrid) also offers non-alcoholic cocktails. “We have noticed that the demand for good non-alcoholic cocktails is increasingly booming.. We estimate that, among the drinks we sell monthly, 0.0 cocktails represent between 10 and 15%,” they explain. In the case of this establishment, they have developed three cocktails – “as complex as the rest” -, they clarify. Examples are your Sporty Spicebased green apple, ginger and cardamom wave Purple Chichawith aromas of corn (purple, clear), pineapple, apple and cinnamon.
Madrid Angelita It is another of the cocktail bars in which the non-alcoholic options do not deviate at all from the DNA of the house. In your line of bottled cocktailswhich remain carbonated while waiting for the order, there are several 0.0, such as Match Floral, with ‘açaí’, jasmine and apple or the Match Spicy, with chili and pink grapefruit. They also make non-alcoholic cocktails off the menu. Two examples are La Tomatera, with green tomato water cordial and piparras added a non-alcoholic distillate of tomato solids or El Limonero, based on a cold cordial of lemon peels, with clarified citrus juice, lemongrass soda and sweet and sour citrus foam. “It’s perfect for the ‘gin and tonic’ lover but it doesn’t have any alcohol,” explains Mario Villalón, ‘alma mater’ of Angelita Madrid’s cocktail section.
Non-alcoholic options also appear in newly opened establishments, such as Fat Cats Cocktail House, a ‘semi-clandestine’ bar opened in Madrid’s Las Letras neighborhood. There is not a drop of distillate in Sunset Getaway, which mixes raspberry cordial, passion fruit, pineapple juice and lime, or in Plan B, based on spiced apple and lemon juices and ginger ale.
Adults also know how to drink (without alcohol)
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Among the most established names in the world of cocktails, non-alcoholic cocktails have also made a fortune. An example is that of Diego Cabrerain front of Salmon Guru (Madrid). In the menu of its space, reopened in mid-2023 after a reset, there is a section “for drivers” where combinations like the Salmon battermade from sweet and sour carrot and yuzu juice, fresh lime and condensed milk with chipotle chili.
And there are also 0.0 options in paradisethe temple of Giacomo Giannotti in Barcelona that reached first place on the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2022 (and is currently in fourth place). In his letter, there is the V Gang, is inspired by sustainability and created from the non-alcoholic distillate Seedlip Spice, which goes hand in hand with mushrooms, raspberries, blueberries and sage. A risky mix that they relate on their website to one word: future… Is it possible that there is no alcohol in the bars that come?