Dry January is over! The drought is done and free-flowing-February commences, but that doesn't mean you can't take it easy from time to time.
I got started on mocktails while giving an Eat and Drink Newcastle Afoot Tour and realising very early on in the night that if I wanted to stick to Dry January, I would have to have something alcohol-esque in my hand, for colour and confidence. I'm a social person. The need to feel like I'm part of the mainstream, even if I'm not, is very real.
Here are the top five mocktails I tried last month.
The Rum Diary
The best mocktail I tried was at The Rum Diary on Hunter Street. I was impressed because it was incredibly sweet, creamy and filling. I found it under the "Boneless Cocktails" Section. Really, the quantity impressed me most. It was in a proper tall glass that took me a good half hour to nurse. If it had been in frozen form it would have easily passed as gelato. The Toasted Pi(na) Colada was $15 and damn good.
Koutetsu
The next mocktail that really moved me was at Koutetsu. I'm still trying to decide if the mocktail was great or if it was the charming young bartender, George, who made it for me. Nevertheless both were full of zing and pizzazz. My drink was called the Rhule Breaker, made with sugar around the rim, and while not as generous a serve as The Rum Diary's, every mouthful was so full of flavour it took me plenty of time to sip. Mine had Lyre's non-alcoholic cane spirit and Lyre's non-alcoholic London Dry with citrus juice and TK Rhubarb and Vanilla Shrub. Their mocktails are all $13.
Coal and Cedar
Next on the line-up is Coal and Cedar which, I learnt, had a specific code on their menu for cocktails that are available either without alcohol, or with less alcohol - how considerate. I had the non-alcoholic Saturn dubbed as the "tropical tiki thirst quencher". It was tart and tasty and garnished with fresh flowers, how lovely! One of the three owners, Ethan Ortlipp, told me it was made with Lyre's non-alcoholic gin. Twenty two with the booze, I paid $15 for the mocktail version. My friend had the mocktail of their Apple Hooch and it was quite refreshing and $9.50.
"Distilleries are stepping it up," Ortlipp says of non-alcoholic spirits. "Whether there's a rise in mocktails, I don't know."
He said that they've found customers like having the option to have less alcohol.
"I don't think it's because people don't want to drink alcohol; it means people can stay a bit longer. It means you can have two cocktails in an hour rather than wait an hour and a half or two with just one drink."
Maryville Tavern
I hadn't made it out to Maryville Tavern in quite some time, but much to my surprise in the last year or so they've done some renovations, and they now have a swanky new cocktail bar right by the beer garden. I love that every cocktail on their menu can be made virgin, and I had a standard margarita which was tangy and salty (they've got two other versions of margaritas as well). I am keen to go back and try the virgin amaretto sour.
Their mocktails are $9 without the non-alcoholic spirits and $12 with the virgin spirits.
Wickham Park Hotel
If the above sounds a bit pricey, not to worry, there's always the Wicko! I actually didn't even know that The Wickham Park Hotel served cocktails at all, but low and behold, they have an entire menu of them. The bar staff can make several into mocktails, and I opted for "Sex in the Driveway", mainly because of the name. The kind barman made me a bright blue fizzy concoction which was very sweet and kept me hydrated on a very muggy Tuesday evening where salsa dancing was also taking place. It did the job and it was just $5!
According to my social media and news subscriptions, the new trend is booze taking a backseat to sobriety. People at least are opting for a healthy buzz rather than going over the edge. The younger generations appear to like less alcohol on a night out.
I'm not ready to give up on spirits entirely, but after seeing the appetising alternatives, I am happy to be like the cool kids occasionally.
Why not enjoy the mocktail movement between stiff drinks?
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