Recipes: Derek Brown’s Go-To non-alcoholic cocktails

Photo by Nole Garey.

Are you skipping splashes in January? You can still get a pretty good drink. Just ask Derek Brown – one of the country’s best bartenders and the mastermind behind Shaw cocktail destination Columbia room. Brown’s second book, Mindful Mixology: A comprehensive guide to cocktails without and low alcohol with 60 recipes, will be published on 18 January.

Here are two of his favorite zero-safe drinks this winter:

The Pinch Hitter

A sour cocktail – like a margarita or daiquiri – that repeats the intensity, texture and piquancy of flavors that you get from alcohol.

Serves 1

2 ounces fresh lemon juice

1 ounce ginger syrup * or fresh ginger juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

½ ounce aquafaba

6 drops of salt tincture **

Mix the ingredients with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon wheel.

* To make ginger syrup (1 cup): Boil 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water together until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add 2 tbsp grated, peeled ginger root. Allow to cool. Add 1 splash of lemon juice and strain.

** To make a salt tincture, combine 1 cup of boiling water with 1/4 cup of salt. Stir until the crystals are dissolved. Allow to cool before use.

Campfire old-fashioned

This smoky riff on the classic whiskey cocktail has a bite and a rich texture.

Serves 1

2 ounces heavily brewed Lapsang Souchong tea

½ ounce ginger syrup (see recipe above)

1 egg white

3 drops of non-alcoholic vanilla extract

3 lines non-alcoholic bitter

2 teaspoons fresh ginger juice

Orange peel, for garnish

Beat the egg whites until lightly frothy and place in the mixing glass. Add all other ingredients plus ice, and stir until combined and cooled. Sift into stone glass and add fresh ice. Garnish with orange peel.