Shaken or stirred? Expert tips for non-alcoholic and boozy cocktails

“Mocktail” has become a bit of a curse word. Indicative of overly sweet, calorie dense drinks made mostly using pre-mixes, for many people in search of good non-alcoholic alternatives they’re unappealing.

Luckily, with an increase in the sober-curious trend, decent alternatives are coming to the fore.

One brand driving tasty, curated non-alcoholic options is Lyre’s. Available in more than 60 countries, the non-alcoholic brand launched in South Africa last year.

The Lyre’s range is not intended to drink neat but rather to use as non-alcoholic equivalents to traditional boozy spirits to whip up your favourite cocktails. Their range includes bottles such as their dry London spirit (as an alternative to gin), American malt (as an alternative to bourbon), white cane spirit (as an alternative to white rum), Italian spritz (as an alternative to popular Italian aperitifs) and coffee originale (as an alternative to coffee-forward liqueurs).

“The entire non-alcoholic category has grown significantly,” said Karl Fielding, Lyre's VP for the Middle East and Africa.

“This is really driven by an increase in moderating alcohol consumption and a thirst for elevated drinking experiences for drinkers and non-drinkers. Globally nearly a third of people are not consuming alcohol when they are out.”

PERFECT THE NON-ALCOHOLIC COCKTAIL

To learn how to whip up non-alcoholic cocktails that offer tasty, enjoyable alternatives to their alcoholic counterparts, I recently joined Mbongeni Mthimkhulu, better known as Barman Joe, at Sin + Tax in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

According to Barman Joe, there are four pillars to any good cocktail — alcoholic and nonalcoholic.

“You need something sweet, something sour, a strong element and a weak element,” he said. The strong element is usually your spirit — or non-alcoholic alternative — while the weak element is something like ice or your mix. Sweet can come in the form of a sugar syrup and sour in the form of citrus — it all depends on what you're making.

Quality is important in every element — from the quality of garnish to the quality of tonic (if using).

The most important tool to have in your cocktail-making arsenal? A jigger.

“Measuring is important behind the bar because that helps in terms of balancing out your drink and consistency. Yes, you can free pour if you are trained but the jigger allows for consistency, especially if you’re doing a lot of drinks for everyone,” Mthimkhulu said.

As you up your game, you can add tools like a bar spoon for stirred cocktails and a shaker and a strainer for shaken cocktails.

But when do you shake and when do you stir, I wanted to know. This, I was told, depends on the drink you’re making and what your palate is craving. Do you want something more boozy or balanced out?

“You shake for two reasons: you shake to aerate your drink, for example an espresso martini to get that beautiful foam, or you shake to chill or dilute. A drink that’s spirit-forward, like negronis and boulevardiers, you don’t necessarily shake them because then you overly dilute them. Those drinks you want to be just chilled, you don’t want to water it down.

“With a drink like a martini, your stirred martini is a bit more spirit-forward whereas your shaken martini is a little more watered down.”

To put some of the Lyre’s nonalcoholic options to the test, Mthimkhulu showed us how to make a Lyre’s espresso martini using the shaken method to first aerate and then — briefly — chill. Vegan, nut and gluten-free, it can also be made as a low alcohol drink.

LYRE'S ESPRESSO MARTINI

Ingredients:

45ml Lyre’s Coffee Originale

15ml Lyre's White Cane Spirit

45ml premium cold drip or fresh espresso

10ml premium vanilla syrup (not vanilla essence)

Method:

1. Dry shake your ingredients in a shaker using quick, circular movements to aerate the liquid and create a luxurious foam.
2. 1/2 fill shaker with ice, shake hard briefly and fine strain into your glass.
3. Serve in a cocktail coupette and garnish with a coffee bean float.

For a lower alcohol option, replace 15ml of white cane spirit with 15ml white rum or vodka of your choice.

For more recipes or to find out more about the Lyre's range, visit their website. 

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