Evening
These drinks are meant to be paired with food, so they use certain fruits and vinegars for their acidic qualities and tea for tannic ones. If you are (or were!) more of a beer person, there is finally an array of good nonalcoholic beers to choose from (see this page).
Squash & Sorghum
Brad Langdon — The Dabney, Washington, D.C.
The main cooking method at the Dabney? Live fire. (The hearth was constructed by chef-owner Jeremiah Langhorne’s father and brother.) Inevitably, roasted fruits and vegetables find their ways into beverage director Brad Langdon’s cocktails, but in the case of this butternut squash shrub, it’s the squash juice that gets cooked. This step takes a raw, almost potato-y liquid and turns it into something rich and toasty with a beautifully rusty color. Paired with a watercress salad or roasted pork, this makes for a great fall meal.
Commitment LEVEL 
Serves 1
1½ ounces Squash and Sorghum Shrub (recipe follows)
4 ounces soda water
Place one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Pour in the shrub, then top with the soda water.
Squash and Sorghum Shrub
Makes 1½ cups, enough for 8 drinks
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into large cubes
8 whole black peppercorns, lightly crushed
Pinch of kosher salt
2 ounces apple cider vinegar
2½ ounces sorghum molasses
Juice the butternut squash, then fine-strain into an airtight container and discard the solids. Let the juice sit in the fridge overnight, so that the starch settles to the bottom of the container. The next day, pour the juice into a fresh container, leaving behind the starch. You should have just over 1½ cups of squash juice.
In a small saucepan combine the juice and the black peppercorns. Simmer over low heat, then cook until the juice has reduced by half, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, vinegar, molasses, and 1½ ounces water. Let cool, then strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer and discard the solids.
Store the shrub in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Note Removing or at least reducing the starch is VERY important; if you don’t, the juice becomes yogurt-like in consistency as soon as you add even the slightest amount of heat. If you can’t find sorghum molasses, maple syrup is a fine alternative.
Cham-pine
Atera — New York, New York
This was, four years ago, the first sophisticated nonalcoholic drink that stayed on my mind for weeks (months? years, apparently). It’s effervescent, brightly acidic, and pine-y (yes, pine-y), and is delicious with caviar. The recipe may seem intimidating, but really, the hard part is gathering the ingredients. After that, it’s just steeping and stirring. Atera’s beverage director, Evan Manka, tells me he gets regular shipments of white pine from a special source, but if you live in a more rural area, you can just walk outside; the stuff grows everywhere. Some conifers, such as those in the Yew family, aren’t safe to consume, so consult a foraging book before you go gathering. Buy the acids at modernistpantry.com.
Commitment Level 
Serves 8
4 cups tightly packed fresh white pine needles
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
¾ teaspoon tartaric acid
¾ teaspoon lactic acid
¼ teaspoon malic acid
Rinse the pine needles in cold water.
In a large stockpot, combine the pine needles and 6¼ cups water. Over the lowest heat your stovetop will allow, gently cook the mixture for 2½ hours. (The liquid won’t even show signs of simmering; you’re just looking to infuse the flavor.) Strain and discard the solids. Then strain the liquid a second time, using a tea strainer, to remove any bits of sediment.
While it’s still hot, measure out ¼ cup of the pine tea and, in a separate bowl, mix it with the sugar and honey. (They should dissolve in the liquid at this temperature if you stir vigorously, but, if not, you can gently reheat the mixture in a saucepan.) Set aside the syrup and let it cool. Meanwhile, again while the remainder of the pine tea is warm, stir in the acids. Let the tea cool to room temperature, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Carbonate the pine infusion, then gently stir in the syrup. (If using an iSi, see this page.) Divide among 8 flutes.
Cucumber Doogh
Hillary Neuman-Ratiu — Sarma, Somerville, Massachusetts
When I was in Nashville, I stayed with the food writer Louisa Shafia. “DOOGH!” she exclaimed, as I walked in the door. Louisa is Persian, and she wanted to introduce me to the fizzy, salty, yogurt-y Middle Eastern drink. When I brought it up to my friend Andy Baraghani, who is also Persian, he said, “On hot summer days. With kebabs and grilled meats. The best.” That was it; I had to find a recipe for doogh. This one is not traditional—it’s flavored with cucumber instead of mint, it contains lime juice, and the salt is incorporated into the yogurt instead of sprinkled right into the glass—but I like it. And so did Andy when I made it for him. (Phew!)
Commitment LEVEL 
Serves 1
4 ounces soda water
2 ounces Cucumber-Rose Yogurt (recipe follows)
½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
Dried rose petals, for garnish (optional)
Pour the soda water into a collins glass. Add the yogurt and lime juice and give it a quick stir, then fill with crushed ice. Top with more soda water, if you wish. Garnish with dried rose petals, if using.
Note Feel free to bump up the lime juice if you like things extra tart. (I do.)
Cucumber-Rose Yogurt
Makes 1¼ cups, enough for 5 drinks
1 cup plain, full-fat Greek yogurt
½ cup chopped English or Persian cucumber
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon rose water (optional)
Combine the yogurt, cucumber, salt, rose water (if using), and 1¾ ounces water in a blender. Blend until smooth, then fine-strain and discard the solids. Store the yogurt in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Batch for 4 Combine 2 cups soda water, 1 cup yogurt, and ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice in a pitcher and gently stir. Divide among 4 collins glasses, then fill each with crushed ice. Garnish each with dried rose petals, if using.
Change of Address
Eric Nelson — Eem, Portland, Oregon
Eric Nelson doesn’t take cocktails—or life, really—too seriously. Seriously! His drinks are well crafted, but they also have a sense of humor, and I love the way he doctors everyday Coca-Cola with savory soy sauce in this recipe. The drink is a killer pairing for a burger.
Commitment LEVEL
Serves 1
¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ ounce maple syrup
1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 ounces Coca-Cola
Freshly grated cinnamon, for garnish
Combine the lemon juice, maple syrup, and soy sauce in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, seal the shaker, and shake just to combine, about 3 seconds. Add the Coca-Cola, then double-strain into a collins glass filled with crushed ice. To serve, grate cinnamon over the top.
I’ve Been Drinking
Bitters and Soda Water
Some people’s go-to order is a gin and tonic. For New York Times food correspondent Kim Severson, it’s soda with bitters and lemon.
That’s my drink!
The bitters stimulate the appetite; the drink contains the right amount of bitters when it turns pale pink. Sometimes the house-made versions can be too heavy on the alcohol, though. I think of bitters like charcuterie: For a while, every chef thought they could make it, and there was a lot of terrible charcuterie out there. You can’t just hang a ham in your walk-in and it’s going to turn out well! In the same way, now that everyone and their mother and father are making bitters, the results vary. I usually go for the tried-and-true Angostura brand.
Then there’s the effervescence of the soda water: The bubbles almost clean your tongue. And, finally, lemon’s acidity is sharp—lime’s tropical notes are too much, in my opinion—so it’s a good supporting character.
I like it in a big, sturdy rocks glass. It feels more cocktail-y, plus, people are less apt to put a straw in a rocks glass. (Politics aside, I just don’t like drinking out of a straw.) At home, when I take a minute to prepare it at the end of the day, it’s a nice transition moment for me. It says, ‘Now is the time to settle down, have a little treat, and move into the next occasion.’
How to Make Bitters and Soda
Fill a glass with ice (or don’t; up to you). Add chilled soda water, then add a couple dashes of bitters, whatever kind you like. Squeeze a lemon or lime wedge over it and drop it in the glass (or don’t; up to you). That’s it!
Or You Could Buy It
In the past couple of years, four canned bitters and soda products have come onto the scene: Angostura’s Lemon, Lime, and Bitters; Dram’s “herbal sparkling waters,” which co-owner Shae Whitney flavors with her cardamom and black tea, lavender and lemon balm, or citrus bitters; Hella Cocktail Co.’s Bitters & Soda, which comes in two flavors, Aromatic Dry and Aromatic Spritz, both made with gentian root tinctures; and the Bitter Housewife’s Bitters & Soda, flavored with dried cherries, sarsaparilla, and allspice, among other spices and barks. Note that some of them taste sweeter than the homemade version: Angostura’s, for example, is akin to 7UP; and Dram’s doesn’t have any sugar, but the glycerin in the bitters registers as slightly sweet on the palate.
Up-Beet
Brandyn Tepper — Angler, San Francisco, California
Full body and robust tannins are what you get with this drink, which Angler’s former beverage director, Brandyn Tepper, pairs with truffle-topped pasta or, in the summer, hanger steak with salsa verde. Like with wine, temperature is important here. I note to remove the drink from the refrigerator thirty-five minutes before serving, but on a hot day, it may warm more quickly. (If you want to get nerdy and take its temperature, it should be 55ºF.)
Commitment LEVEL 
Serves 4
1 teaspoon loose-leaf oolong tea
½ cup just-boiled water
½ cup fresh beet juice
1½ cups pomegranate juice, preferably POM
In a heatproof bowl, combine the tea and the water and let it sit for 6 minutes. You may want to taste at the 3-minute mark to determine what level of bitterness you prefer, keeping in mind that it will ultimately be mixed with some pretty earthy, weighty ingredients. (I like it strong.) Strain the tea and let it cool completely.
In a large container, combine the tea, beet juice, and pomegranate juice and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours or up to 2 days.
Remove the drink from the refrigerator at least 35 minutes before serving and let it stand at room temperature. To serve, divide among 4 red wine glasses.
Note If you’re making your own fresh beet juice, be sure to trim, wash, and cut the beets into chunks before running them through the juicer, then fine-strain the liquid. (Three-quarters of a pound of loose red beets should get you 4 to 5 ounces of liquid.) Otherwise, R. W. Knudsen makes good, organic beet juice.
Saffron Sharbat
Ky Belk — El Five, Denver, Colorado
Sharbat, a sweet drink made from fruit or flower petals, can be found in various forms from northern Africa through the Middle East, Central Asia, and India. At El Five, which serves Spanish/Turkish/Moroccan-ish/Israeli-ish tapas, bar director Ky Belk pairs this saffron version with classic paella, which—and I don’t use this word lightly—is PERFECT. The verjus brings a soft acidity that tempers the sweetness, and soda water opens it all up without diluting the floral notes.
Commitment LEVEL
Serves 1
2 ounces white verjus
½ ounce Saffron Sharbat Syrup (recipe follows)
4 ounces soda water
1 lemon twist, for garnish
In a tumbler filled with ice, combine the verjus and syrup. Top with the soda water and gently stir. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Saffron Sharbat Syrup
Makes about 1 cup, enough for 16 drinks
¼ teaspoon saffron threads
2 teaspoons just-boiled water
⅔ cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon orange flower water
Put the saffron in a small heatproof bowl, then pour the water over top. Let it steep for 15 minutes.
Combine the sugar and ½ cup water in a small saucepan, then add the saffron mixture and orange flower water. Simmer over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, fine-strain and discard the solids, and let cool to room temperature. Store the syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Batch for 6 Combine 1½ cups white verjus and 3 ounces syrup in a pitcher halfway filled with ice and stir well to combine. Add 3 cups soda water and gently stir again. To serve, pour into 6 tumblers and garnish each with a lemon twist.
I’ve Been Drinking
Vinegar
Michael Harlan Turkell wrote the book on vinegar. (Seriously! It’s called Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar.) Here, he shares why it’s worth drinking.
Citrus degrades so quickly over time, but vinegar is this contiguous substance: from drink to drink and mixer to mixer, there’s consistency. That helps my OCD.
I’m not an acid elitist, though. Lemons are what works in a whiskey sour. Every acid has its place.
Vinegar is a great flavor extractor and enhancer, and I like one with a bit of residual sugar to it. You’ll get that in some rice vinegars and fruit vinegars, and sometimes in white wine vinegars. One producer, Katz, in Sonoma, makes such a nice late-harvest red wine vinegar, I just sip it straight. Or you could put a few dashes of any of these vinegars into seltzer, like you would with bitters. CO2, the gas that makes seltzer effervescent, has some acid in it, too, so it’s this great double-punch: sharpness from CO2, and brightness from the vinegar.
Overall, vinegar is a good palate cleanser: You can start off a meal with it or drink it mid-course, as a refresher—and I’ve even used it as a digestive. That was really balsamico’s first purpose!
Oregon Berry Drinking Vinegar
Chef Andy Ricker’s drinking vinegars are so popular, he bottled them. You can buy any one of a range of Som flavors at somcordial.com, or try this recipe, which Ricker slipped me when I toured his factory in Portland. If you can’t find coconut vinegar, any white, cane-based vinegar with a clean acidity will work; just avoid white balsamic, apple cider vinegar, or anything that has a strong flavor.
MAKES 2 CUPS
½ cup blueberries
½ cup blackberries
1 cup strawberries, tops removed
1½ cups coconut vinegar
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup sugar
Soda water
In a nonreactive container such as a quart-size glass Ball jar, combine the blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Smash the berries with the back of a wooden spoon, then add the vinegar and stir. Cover and let the mixture sit at room temperature for 48 hours.
Fine-strain the liquid into a saucepan and discard the solids. Warm the liquid over medium heat, bringing it just to a simmer. Add the salt and sugar, stirring to combine, then remove the pan from the heat and let the vinegar cool to room temperature. The drinking vinegar can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 year.
To drink, mix ½ ounce berry vinegar with 4 ounces soda water. Serve with or without ice.
Earth & Leaf
Julia Momose — Kumiko, Chicago, Illinois
“Have you talked to Julia Momose?” Almost every bartender I spoke with for this book pointed me her way, and I quickly learned that she’s one of the best when it comes to nonalcoholic cocktails, which she calls “Spiritfrees” (see this page). The Spiritfrees at her restaurant, Kumiko, are meant to be paired with food; this one, she says, works with robust dishes like steak or roasted beets, and the sesame oil lends itself to Chinese and Japanese dishes such as mapo tofu or sukiyaki.
Commitment LEVEL
Serves 1
1 ounce Seedlip Garden 108 (see this page)
1 ounce chilled hōjicha tea
¾ ounce red verjus
¼ ounce Simple Syrup (this page)
1 lemon twist for garnish
Toasted sesame oil
Combine the Seedlip, tea, verjus, and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir for 15 seconds, until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe. Squeeze the lemon twist over the drink to express its oil, then discard. Finish with a drop of sesame oil.
Batch for 6 In a pitcher, combine ¾ cup Seedlip Garden 108, ¾ cup hōjicha, ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon red verjus, 3 tablespoons simple syrup, and ¼ cup filtered water. Stir to combine, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. (The mixture will stay good stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.) Divide among 6 chilled coupes, squeeze a lemon twist over each and discard, and finish each with a drop of sesame oil.
Note You can find hōjicha, Japanese roasted green tea, at Harney & Sons (harney.com) or kettl.co. You’ll also use it to make the Fuyu (this page). Seedlip is available at some specialty stores and at seedlipdrinks.com/us.
El Curandero
Lane Harlan — Clavel, Baltimore, Maryland
Lane Harlan is not so quietly reshaping Baltimore’s drinking scene with her speakeasy-style bar, W.C. Harlan (see the recipe for Lorca on this page), and, down the street, her more minimalist mezcaleria and Sinaloan restaurant, Clavel. (As I had so very badly hoped, John Waters is a regular.) Drink this earthy, spicy shrub with—duh!—tacos.
Commitment Level
Serves 1
Tajín Clásico or other chile-lime seasoning powder
1 lime wedge
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
½ ounce Tres Chiles Shrub (recipe follows)
5 ounces soda water, preferably Topo Chico
1 lime twist for garnish
Pour the Tajín into a small, shallow bowl. Rub the lime wedge around the rim of a collins glass, then dip the glass into the Tajín. Fill the spice-rimmed glass with ice, then add the lime juice and shrub. Top with soda water and garnish with a lime twist.
Tres Chiles Shrub
Makes 1 quart, enough for 64 drinks
2 large ancho chiles
2 large guajillo chiles
2 large pasilla chiles
½ small serrano pepper
¼ habanero pepper
1 cinnamon stick
¼ cup cacao nibs
1 quart unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, such as Bragg’s
2½ cups packed light brown sugar
In a saucepan, combine the ancho, guajillo, and pasilla chiles with the serrano and habanero peppers, cinnamon, and cacao. Cover with the vinegar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chiles have swelled, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, immediately add the sugar, and stir to combine.
Let the mixture cool completely, then fine-strain into a bowl or other container and discard the solids. Store the shrub in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Batch for 6 You’ve got enough of the shrub to serve six people and then some! Instead of rimming the glasses with Tajín, it might be easier to garnish with it. So, fill 6 collins glasses with ice, then add 1 ounce lime juice and ½ ounce shrub to each, top each with soda water, and stir gently to mix. Sprinkle some Tajín on top of each drink. There’s less fuss and it still hits the lips with some heat. Garnish each with a lime twist.
Pea Flower Lemonade
Nick Wiseman — Little Sesame, Washington, D.C.
There is performance art involved, here! Dried butterfly pea flowers naturally dye water blue, but when you add citric acid, the liquid turns purple. That’s why the lemon juice comes at the end of the process. If you’re serving a crowd, you could even bring out shot glasses of lemon juice (or a bunch of lemon halves in a bowl) and let your guests add their own. It really is fun to watch the drink change color. This pairs well with hummus, harissa-rubbed meats—anything Middle Eastern, really.
Commitment LEVEL
Serves 6
2¼ teaspoons coriander seeds
2½ tablespoons dried butterfly pea flowers
½ cup turbinado sugar
6 cups just-boiled water
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Toast the coriander seeds in a small sauté pan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning, about 3 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a plate and let cool completely. Crack in a mortar and pestle (or nestle the seeds in a kitchen towel and crush them with the bottom of a heavy pan).
Combine the dried flowers, sugar, and coriander seeds in a large heatproof bowl or pitcher. Pour the water over the ingredients and stir, then allow them to steep for 30 minutes. Fine-strain, discard the solids, and let the tea cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
To serve, divide the tea among 6 collins glasses filled with ice. Add 1½ teaspoons of the lemon juice to each glass. (You could add all 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the tea base at once, for ease, but, like I said, it’s fun to let your guests watch the transformation!)
Note The chefs at Little Sesame order Doi Thai–brand butterfly pea flowers through Amazon. Wherever you buy them, they’re likely coming from Thailand, where they’re grown, so it might take them some time to arrive at your doorstep. Plan accordingly!
Sparkling Tarragon Cider
Piper Kristensen — Oxalis, Brooklyn, New York
Oxalis goes through a lot of chervil, and the stems are what beverage director Piper Kristensen uses to infuse classic Martinelli’s apple juice with a delicate herbal flavor. I prefer the punchiness of tarragon, which is more readily available, and I use the stems and the leaves so that the anise flavor really comes through. The proverbial cherry on top—the final note to this drink that makes it sing—is the Champagne Acid. It makes the sides of your tongue water in the best way. Piper pairs this drink with a white asparagus appetizer, but steamed artichokes would be good, too.
Commitment LEVEL
Serves 8
25 sprigs of tarragon
1 cup just-boiled water
3 cups apple juice, such as Martinelli’s
3 ounces Champagne Acid (recipe follows)
Put the tarragon into a medium heatproof bowl and pour the water over it, pressing the herbs to submerge them. Let it sit until the tea cools to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then strain. Discard the solids.
Combine the tarragon tea with the apple juice and acid. Refrigerate to chill thoroughly. (The mixture will keep, un-carbonated, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.) Carbonate the cider and serve in white wine glasses.
Champagne Acid
¼ teaspoon lactic acid
¼ teaspoon tartaric acid
In a small bowl, whisk 3 ounces water with the acids until they’re dissolved.
Note You’ll notice that the Cham-pine, from Atera restaurant (this page), contains malic, lactic, and tartaric acids, and this recipe calls for just the latter two. Sometimes champagne goes through malolactic fermentation, during which tart malic acid converts into softer lactic acid, and sometimes it doesn’t. The bartenders at Atera like how round the flavors are when all three acids are present; Piper prefers the leanness of just the two. (Plus, apple juice naturally contains malic acid.)