The making of

When looking for mocktails, you will often see very sweet drinks full of juices and sodas. While that might be what you’re looking for sometimes, it can be tiring if it’s the only option. Part of the fun of cocktail-making is experimenting with bold and complex flavours, an aspect that is often neglected in the world of mocktails. So, for this month, we’ve challenged ourselves to make interesting, tasty mocktails; because everyone deserves a fancy drink.

While developing recipes for mocktails, we knew that we wanted to adapt some classic cocktails. On the top of that list was the Old Fashioned, which typically consists of spirit, sugar, and bitters. Of course, making a spirit-heavy cocktail into a mocktail presented a unique challenge. Obviously, we could have used alcohol-free spirits from brands like Lyre’s or Ritual, but we wanted to push ourselves to use ingredients that many people would already have at home.

One ingredient we love to use when making mocktails in tea. There are so many types and flavours, and the natural tannins found in tea can mimic the astringency of spirits. To mimic the flavours found in whiskey, we wanted to include lots of warm spices, so an apple cinnamon tea seemed like a natural choice. We intensified this spiciness with a brown sugar syrup flavoured with spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and vanilla. We also included the classic Angostura bitters to bring more spice and bitterness to the mocktail. However, it is worth noting that bitters typically will contain alcohol. If you are looking for a drink absolutely with no alcohol, there are alcohol-free bitters available. Alternatively, an alcohol-free vanilla or cinnamon extract would also be a great substitute. The finishing touch of this mocktail was smoking the glass, which is a great way to impart the smokiness that can sometimes be found in whiskey, and also adds to the complexity of the flavour profile.

Smoking the glass

Smoking a glass is a cocktail-making technique that imparts a smoky flavour and aroma to a drink. While there are smokers on the market designed specifically for smoking cocktails, all you really need is a glass, a plate, and a lighter to achieve this at home. When smoking a glass, we like to chill the glass in the freezer beforehand. The condensation created will make it easier for the smoke to adhere to the sides of the glass, resulting in a stronger flavour. On a plate, place a small amount of whatever spice, herb, or wood you want to use. We would recommend using whole spices as opposed to powdered in order to make the flame easier to control. Using a lighter or a culinary butane torch, begin burning your chosen material; you are looking for more of a smoulder as opposed to a full flame. Once it begins smoking, place your chilled glass over it upside down. Set this aside as you mix your cocktail, then use the glass as normal. And just like that, you can elevate any cocktail, making this simple technique an easy way to impress your guests. Feel free to try this with any cocktail or mocktail and a variety of materials- the possibilities are endless.

Other ingredients you can use to smoke a cocktail are:

• Lavender
• Cloves
• Woodchips
• Rose petals
• Star anise
• Rosemary

How to make it

Syrup and Smoking

Get your measured water boiling in a sauce pan, then add your sugar, vanilla, extract, and spices. Reduce the heat, then allow to simmer for 10 minutes. After that, set aside to cool, and strain out the solids and bits with a strainer.

While you are waiting for the syrup to cool, boil some more water and make some apple cinnamon tea. Let the bag steep for awhile so as to get as many tannins as you can. Tannins allow for beverage complexity while still keeping the drink alcohol free.

While that's steeping, grab a plate, a lighter, and another stick of cinnamon. Set the stick on the plate, ignite it, let it burn for a few seconds, then blow it out. While the cinnamon is still smoking, cover it with a chilled old fashioned glass. The difference in temperature will create condensation, effectively creating a mist of liquid smoke on the glass that will flavor your drink.

Mix and Serve

Add all your components together in a mixing glass, and stir with ice until the glass is chilled and maybe a bit frosty. Strain the mixture into your smoked glass.

Garnish with the charred cinnamon stick, and enjoy!