Here are several local mocktails to try during Dry January
Now that all the holiday hoopla has died down and we're a couple of weeks into 2023, many people are still raising a cup of kindness, as the song says, but they're doing it sans alcohol.
Welcome to Dry January.
Like its cousins Dry July and Sober October, Dry January is a time of abstinence from alcohol consumption that originated in the U.K. in 2014 as a health campaign. It caught fire a few years later in the United States.
The reasons people choose to embrace sobriety for a month are manifold: Perhaps it's a New Year's resolution, a personal challenge, or a simple, short break from imbibing.
Whatever the case, teetotalling doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the next best thing to cocktails: Mocktails. Here are five to try at Columbus-area bars.
Do some 'Soul' searching
"We get a lot of requests, asking what the non-alcoholic options are and about making cocktails into mocktails," said Kyle Strategier, director of food and beverage for Soul at the Joseph, located at 620 N. High St., in Le Méridien Columbus, The Joseph.
Strategier said Soul at the Joseph's signature cocktail, the Paris 72 (a play on the French 75 cocktail), comes in a mocktail version for those eschewing the usual wine and vodka ingredients. "It's made with soda water for people looking to do Dry January, pregnant mothers, or people just trying to stay away from alcohol," he said.
Booze-free doesn't equal bland, as the Paris 72 also includes house-made strawberry basil syrup and lemon juice, with a lemon peel garnish and mist of rose water. "It comes across dry rather than fruity," Strategier noted.
Another Soul at the Joseph concoction - the Butterfly Pea Tea Mule - combines ginger beer, lime juice and butterfly pea tea simple syrup. When the sapphire blue pea tea meets the lime juice, the drink turns bright pink. This visible chemical reaction adds to its allure, Strategier said.
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'Thai' one on at Mouton
A few blocks away at Mouton, three mocktails are enjoying a surge in popularity, including the Thai Me Down, which combines Thai tea, passionfruit, lavender syrup, lemon, soda and evaporated milk for a taste that's "a little bit floral and fruity," said Theo Lentz, who manages the bar at 954 N. High St.
"We offer (non-alcoholic drinks) year-round; they usually change with the menu, which changes seasonally," Lentz said. "They do become more popular during times like Dry January."
Another libation, the Pain Reducer, is a riff on the well-known Painkiller cocktail, and contains pineapple juice, fresh orange juice, coconut cream and nutmeg. The Hidden Temple blends house-made cinnamon-pomegranate grenadine, orange blossom water, lime and soda to round out the trio of Mouton's mocktails.
Puttin' on the 'Spritz'
At Lumin Sky Bar and Kitchen, 517 Park St., the Spritz Free has been featured as one of the main mocktail options for about a year, according to food and beverage manager Ethan Anderson.
"We definitely see an uptick in (Sober October, Dry January) as far as mocktail sales go, and we love providing an option for those wanting to go out without wanting to drink," he said.
Lumin Sky Bar uses Giffard apertif syrup, Q grapefruit soda, and soda water for a light, refreshing thirst quencher, and Anderson said they're more than happy to make a mocktail version of any cocktail.
"We have a variety of house-made simple syrups and fresh juices that any of our talented bartenders can use for those looking for a more specific taste profile," he said.
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Pleasantly punny potables
Clever names are a highlight of Goodale Station's drink menu, and the mocktails are no exception. The Don't Carrot All (fresh carrot juice, lime, ginger and a splash of seltzer water) and the Berry Manilow (house-made blueberry and rosemary syrup, lemon, fresh cranberry and seltzer) are Dry January bestsellers.
"We do a temperance cocktail list all year round; in January, we really promote it a little more," general manager Eric Jeffries said. "We 100% sell more (mocktails) in January than any other time of year."
As proof of the drinks' popularity, Jeffries said two groups totaling 22 people came to Goodale Station recently, and only four consumed alcohol. "The rest were doing Dry January, so we make a point of promoting it and being supportive."
Goodale Station's other non-alcoholic offering is a rotating shrub. Also called drinking vinegars, shrubs are often made from vinegar, fruit, herbs and sugar to create sweet and tart flavors. The bar's current shrub is strawberry.
Take it to the 'Bank'
Rob Gelley, general manager of High Bank Distillery, said the bar's locations in Grandview Heights (1051 Goodale Blvd.) and Gahanna (1379 E. Johnstown Road) feature mocktails throughout the year. "There might be a slight uptick in January," he said, adding that mocktail mania sometimes ebbs after the first couple of weeks of a new year as people's resolutions go out the window.
Nevertheless, High Bank will continue to offer its menu of "unleaded" beverages. There's the Seasonal N/A Mule (the current flavor is pomegranate); Berry Burlesque (blackberry puree, demerara simple syrup, mint and fresh lime); Wiiings Over Ohio (Red Bull, passionfruit, jalapeño and lime) and Cinnamon Apple (apple cider, cinnamon, lemon and soda).
"We get a younger crowd that comes in, as well as pregnant women. It's another option than just offering people sodas and juices," Gelley said. "Also, if one person doesn't drink in a crowd, this makes them feel included in the going-out experience."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus bars offering non-alcoholic mocktail drinks for Dry January
