PHOTO BY JOSHUA COATES
IN THE WORLD OF COCKTAILS, something’s happening. People are looking for drinks without alcohol, but want more than the super sweet, one-note experiences that typically pass as “mocktails”—a term that sounds apologetic more than anything. People want to go out and be social; that hasn’t changed. But habits have. For all kinds of reasons, they might not want alcohol to serve as the focal point of the experience.
Enter the rise of the zero-proof cocktail, which seeks to be “as much like a cocktail as possible, and still taste like a cocktail,” says Jackie Rueda. She and her husband, Wilson, own the popular organic juice café Green Vida Co. in Easton. They’ve just launched Tønic, a space that seeks to “elevate the ritual” by providing zero-proof cocktails made from the juices at their café, plus nonalcoholic spirits and functional ingredients (think ashwaganda, lion’s mane, kava).
The concept will undergo a few phases before it’s completely realized. It begins, however, with a bottle shop offering pop-up tastings. You pay an entrance fee to enjoy a few different types of cocktails made with nonalcoholic spirits and juices. (You can even buy the ingredients for them onsite, if you want!). Ultimately, they plan to begin serving tapas and traditional cocktails. “Green Vida is where you come to energize and start your day with us, and Tønic is where you come at night,” she explains.
The Ruedas approach everything with clear intention and attention to detail. If this recipe for Dragon’s Blush is any indication, Tønic will seamlessly follow suit. It incorporates their Gratitude juice, comprising juices from pears, green apples, lemons, and dragon fruit, along with a nonalcoholic tequila and an apéritif. The drink is sweet without being cloying, with the subtle notes of tequila and slight bitterness from the apéritif. This aroma is all the more impressive considering the drink lacks the telltale sting of alcohol. (But take a whiff! It might fool you!) Try it for yourself. You’ll want to sip and savor this, as you would any traditional cocktail.
Dragon’s Blush
Ingredients
Yield: 1 drink
- 4 ounces Gratitude juice
- 3 ounces Spiritless Jalisco 55 nonalcoholic tequila
- 1½ ounces Ghia Apéritif
- Ice, for shaking
- Dragon fruit, for garnish
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain, pouring into a coupe glass or martini glass. Garnish with fresh dragon fruit.
