Bars getting creative with new mocktails

Non-drinkers are pushing for more complex virgin drinks

For years, Carolyn Rebeyka has met friends at the same Regina bar every Friday afternoon for drinks. Sometimes they’d be celebrating a birthday or triumph at work, other times it was just to catch up.

Then, about three years ago, her doctor put her on medication and suggested she avoid drinking to better monitor her body’s reaction to the drug. Like many others who have decided to cut back on drinking, Rebeyka has found there are often few interesting drink options that don’t include booze.

It’s not completely commonplace yet, but there is a growing push from some establishments to offer more interesting and complex nonalcoholic drink options.

Kate Boushel, a bartender at Montreal’s Atwater Cocktail Club, said customers come in asking for nonalcoholic drinks “every night” and she enjoys making them since it allows for creativity on her part.

“I’ve had fun and made cocktails that look exactly like other cocktails on my menu, just instead of alcohol, I’ve replaced it with low-sugar fruit juice,” she said.

The team at Pretty Uglycocktail bar in Toronto have gone even further to accommodate patrons who don’t drink. They spent nearly a year developing “placebo” liquors: nonalcoholic concoctions intended to replace actual booze. Owner and bartender Robin Goodfellow has developed an alcohol-free amaro, a Campari and a plum wine.

“I don’t feel that a bar is a place that only should serve people who want to get drunk,” Goodfellow said, adding he likes drinking but hates being drunk, and that many of his friends abstain from alcohol. “You can enjoy the music, the decor, the conversations, the energy of a bar even if you’re not drinking.”