Lounge
Zero-proof drinks for Dry January
Summary
A resolution to drink buzz-free beverages no longer means you’ll be out of spirits
Temperance in the world of cocktails implies drinking with restraint or in moderation. Bartender Pawan Rawat chanced upon the word while crafting the menu for the new bar Hitchens in Mumbai, and adopted it as the name for the zero-proof drinks section. Zero-proof drinks are buzz-free choices for guests with dietary restrictions, and can be either creative mocktails or drinks based on cocktail recipes minus the booze. While there are takers for zero-proof drinks through the year, Dry January, a month-long campaign when people resolve to avoid alcohol in an effort to make healthier choices in the new year, is the time when demand really spikes.
“I have noticed most Gen Z customers ordering booze-free drinks from our menus," notes Shaariq Akhtar, general manager, ITC Grand Chola in Chennai, which has seven restaurants. Chennai, he says, is a conservative city and about 55% of their drinks orders are without alcohol, which influences their menus. For instance, their drinks menu, Cholatails, has zero-proof options with regional accents such as coconut water, nannari and the grape cola, Bovonto, made by the Tamil Nadu-based soft drinks maker Kali Aerated Water Works.
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Flavour is the game changer in drinks without alcohol. “They have to be palate-forward and yummy," says Tarun Sibal, founder of the cocktail bar Khi Khi in Delhi and family-oriented restaurant Street Storyss in Bengaluru. Delhi enjoys its large pegs and at Khi Khi, regular cocktails also have non-alcoholic versions because guests don’t want to miss out on the flavour aspect. Therefore, there’s a buzz-free Picante and Paloma. Khi Khi’s winter beverage menu features cocktails called CTC made with tequila, cranberry tea and balsamic reduction; Rum & Raisin with lacto-fermented banana, pineapple, mint and bitters; and You are Hot, Toddy. Each can be recreated as zero-proof. The interesting twist is they don’t use alcohol-free rum or tequila.
A number of stand-alone bars with buzz-free drinks don’t use zero-alcohol spirits. One of the reasons is the limited demand for such spirits due to the high price. Rawat says their no-alcohol cocktails are priced no more than ₹450 a drink, while a bottle of zero-alcohol gin can cost up to ₹5,000 in Mumbai, depending on the brand. If it’s mixed into their booze-free drinks, the price of the drink would shoot up and end up hurting sales.
Premium dining spots such as Trèsind in Mumbai’s corporate hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and the restaurants at ITC Grand Chola do offer zero-alcohol spirits like Ginish and the no-alcohol wine Unvined by Jacob’s Creek. “Since we are in a corporate neighbourhood, we get a lot of lunch reservations. At that time, guests don’t want spirit-forward beverages, and prefer something elegant without alcohol," explains Trèsind’s mixologist Rahul Kamath. To give their patrons a buzz-free innovative drinks experience, his team attempts to make balanced, nuanced drinks. One such beverage is The Passion Fruit Lava Lamp, complete with mango, passion, blueberries and dry ice for a touch of drama.
Five years ago, when Lounge did a story on zero-proof drinks, the struggle to find drinks with taste, flavour and innovation was real. Now, most menus feature a list of zero-proof drinks as the trend picks up slowly and steadily. Dry January doesn’t have to be a dry January.
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