For Ethan Coonce, bar manager of Decade in Louisville, Kentucky, nonalcoholic cocktails are the next wave of beverage culture. “NA and low-ABV stuff is where my mind is,” he says. “I actually don’t drink except for work. When I go out, I’m ordering NA cocktails.”
Coonce prefers to work with ingre- dients that are naturally nonalcoholic rather than use an alcohol substitute. “I want to make sure that the NA cocktail is being looked at with the same kind of care that an alcoholic cocktail would be,” he says. The qualities he typically needs to account for are bitterness and astringency, which he achieves in a number of ways— infusing sugar with various flavors, for example, like candied citrus peel or even spruce buds.
For The Mauve, he was inspired by a number of things: First of all, the color, which he achieves by combining blue- berries and hibiscus tea. Then he pulls flavor inspiration from a milky, fruity Korean soda called Milkis. “I tried to re-create that idea, but trying to think about adding depth of flavor,” he says, “so I decided to use yogurt because it has that tang and gives it a richer fla- vor.” He tops it with a high-quality soda water like Topo Chico or Mountain Valley for a final touch.
The Mauve 
yields
Makes 18 cocktails
3⁄4 cup (7 ounces) lemon juice
1 1⁄4 cups (10 ounces) hibiscus tea syrup (recipe follows)
3 cups (24 ounces) citrus simple syrup (recipe follows) or simple syrup
2 pints blueberries
2 scant cups Greek yogurt Sparkling water for topping
Makes about 3 cups
3⁄4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
2 1⁄2 cups sugar
Makes 4 to 5 cups
10 lemons
3 1⁄2 cups sugar
Channel Peeler
ingredients
hibiscus tea syrup
citrus simple syrup
special equipment
steps
- Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until well incorporated.
- Strain through a mesh filter.
- To a cocktail tin filled with ice, add 3 1⁄2 ounces and shake, then strain over rocks and top with a splash of sparkling water.
make the hibiscus tea syrup:
Bring 2 1⁄2 cups water to a boil and add flowers. Let steep for 5 minutes, then strain. Add sugar and heat until dissolved.
make the citrus simple syrup:
Use a channel peeler to completely peel lemons, reserving peels and saving lemons for juice. Add sugar and 3 1⁄2 cups water to pot and heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Add lemon peels and bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minute or until peels are translucent. Strain out peels and discard or reserve to coat with sugar as a garnish. Syrup will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 months.
keep reading
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Emily Havener
Emily Havener enjoys writing about food almost as much as she enjoys eating it. She has been food blogging and developing recipes since 2008, and her particular areas of expertise are finding creative ways to use leftovers and never making a recipe the same way twice. She’s always up for raw fish of any kind and a good gin cocktail or a glass of orange wine.
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