Non-alcoholic cocktail menus
With millennials drinking significantly less than their parents, it is no longer uncool or unusual to be teetotal – one in five Brits now doesn’t drink. While many of us only just manage Dry January, 2017 saw the launch of Club Soda, a ‘mindful drinking movement’ that aims to remove the stigma associated with not drinking in social situations.
The success of non-alcoholic spirit Seedlip, created to solve the dilemma of what to drink when you’re not drinking, proved that people no longer mock mocktails. Bartenders are taking their non-alcoholic cocktails increasingly seriously, rather than treating them as an afterthought.
Before it closed, Ryan Chetiyawardana offered a rotating selection of four non-alcoholic cocktails on his list at Dandelyan on the South Bank, including the Apple Sourz-Less, made with Seedlip, peas, apples and pine syrup.
Across town, The American Bar at The Savoy serves a quintet of non-alcoholic cocktails, including the Art Deco, made with Seedlip Spice, eucalyptus, peppermint syrup, citric acid and soda water.
In 2016, mixologist Rich Woods launched a non-alcoholic cocktail menu at Duck & Waffle for Dry January filled with drinks that were shown as much attention to detail as his boozy sips, made with virtuous ingredients like butternut squash and clementines.
This year, over 40 London bars, including Nightjar and The Coral Room, will be showcasing Seedlip cocktails throughout Dry January. Meanwhile, restaurants like The Clover Club in Shoredich, Angler in Moorgate, Mark Hix’s Tramshed in Shoreditch and Kym’s in the Bloomberg Arcade will be showing off Seedlip’s food matching capabilities with tasting menus designed to pair with non-alcoholic cocktails. Throughout January, Seedlip wll also be running a pop-up store and bar on Duke Street in Mayfair, where people can pop in for a ‘Nogroni’ after work.
