Swap cocktails for mocktails with our pick of New York City’s best bars serving non-alcoholic drinks
22 December, 2022
Feeling
sober-curious? You’re not alone. A growing number of New
Yorkers are cutting back on the booze. Be it for health, wealth or
otherwise, we’ve started seeing (and sipping) non-alcoholic options
on bar menus all over the city. Being stone-cold sober? It’s
in.
Forget flat Diet Cokes and watery lime and sodas, though. New
York’s new-breed alcohol-free cocktails are as creative as their
spirit-infused sisters. “The sober movement” – which has already
revolutionised London’s non-alcoholic offering – is forcing
bartenders to innovate as they flex the traditions of their craft
to the extremes, switching hangover-inducing ABVs for
health-enhancing ingredients, and seeking out zero-per-cent bottles
with tasting notes that match those of classic cocktails.
There are now enough “no- and low-” sippers in the city for a
handful of non-alcoholic liquor stores to have set up shop, too.
Minus
Moonshine arrived in Brooklyn earlier this year, promising “dry
drinks and potions” to go; Boisson just opened its third shop on the Upper East
Side; while pastel-pretty Sèchey, in the West Village, stocks over 70 brands of
alcohol-free wines, beers and spirits for furnishing booze-free
drinks cabinets.
And while dry bars are still a rarity, many of the city’s new
kids on the block are taking the trend seriously, making mocktails
a key part of their offering. It’s time to can the hangover – here
are seven NYC bars and pop-ups we think you’re going to like.
Park the word mocktails at the door of this Flatiron District
restaurant and bar; at abcV, you’ll be drinking “vibrations”.
Ignore the Goop-iness of it all – chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s
veggie, non-GMO and organic menu is an intelligent attempt to
inspire a cultural shift towards plant-based eating and drinking.
There’s alcohol on the menu, but there are also locally made
kombuchas, cold-press juices, house-made soda and three vibration
concoctions of medical-sounding herbs, teas and plants designed to
elevate your mood, boost immunity and inspire mindfulness,
respectively.
Though first and foremost a bottle shop for booze-free brands,
Sèchey – French for dry-ish – runs weekly tastings and events under
the striped awning of its West Village branch, offering
sober-curious New Yorkers a chance to taste the artisanal
non-alcoholic spirits, wines and beers stocked on its art
deco-inspired shelves. Founder Emily Heintz launched the brand in
Charleston, South Carolina; the West Village location is the second
branch and its female founder has plans to soon hire a bartender
for the space. Take a seat at the counter today and you’ll be able
to try a flight of three dry drinks, before picking up a bottle of
Vera Spirits’ Aperitivo Herbal or Ritual Zero Proof Rum Alternative
to add to your drinks cabinet.
Conversations over cocktails at a Listen Bar
pop-up.
When Listen Bar founder Lorelei Bandrovschi quit drinking for a
month, she wasn’t expecting to love it so much. But she did – and
her newfound sobriety provided the inspiration for Listen Bar, a
no-booze pop-up that’s been making the (sober) rounds of the New
York party circuit. Past events have included a bar takeover and a
rooftop rave. Keep an eye on the bar’s Instagram account to catch
the next ABV-free night, where sophisticated cocktails might
include a frozen colada-like coco-matcha concoction, a
tongue-tingling lime, coriander, jalapeño, grapefruit and Jarritos
pour, and the floral-infused she pretty, which sees rosewater
paired with egg white, then garnished with edible flowers and fresh
strawberries.
It doesn’t matter what you order at this Greenpoint bar; the
entire menu is on-the-wagon, cocktails, beer and wine included.
Skip the hangover by order a blushing Dottie’s crush – a refreshing
mix of Fiore non-alcoholic aperitivo, ginger vinegar cordial, fresh
lemon juice and ginger juice and mint – or the tangy one night
stand, featuring Seedlip Grove 42 with lime juice and honey syrup.
At the moment, the team is collaborating with friends at pop-up The
Blue Light Speak Cheesy on a breakfast offering, but they’ve
assured us that the bar menu will be back for 2023.
Absence of Proof founder, Elizabeth Gascoigne at a
no-alcohol night. | Photo credit: AJ Portrait
Billing her pop-up dry nights as “a night off of drinking”,
founder Elizabeth Gascoigne’s non-alcoholic nightlife concept is
putting the fun back into being stone-cold sober. Taking over city
venues with a menu of eight swish mocktails, plus canned no-alcohol
options, each Absence of Proof event aims to bring New York’s
typical late-night energy to the party, sans alcohol. There’s
nothing AA about it, though. While some guests will be firmly on
the wagon, others might just be trying to drink more intentionally
– and the set-up is firmly NYC-suave in style (think, guests in
Cult Gaia dresses, plus vintage glassware picks). In January, the
brand’s sober speakeasy will be running every Friday.
Perched some 150m (or 50 floors) above Manhattan’s streets on
the Ritz-Carlton’s rooftop, José Andrés’ swanky Nubeluz is a recent
addition to the NYC cocktail scene that’s well aware of keeping in
lane with the sober movement. A spirit-free selection of drinks is
given the same TLC as the bar’s top-notch alcohol offering.
Floor-to-ceiling windows provide 270-degree views of the city’s
canopy of skyscrapers, while jewel-toned seating and dim lighting
adds a seductive air. Drinks pioneer Miguel Lancha (the brains
behind Washington DC’s Barmini) formulated the menu, crafting four
fabulous alcohol-free offerings. Our order? The firefly – a dry,
smoky drink that uses zero-ABV Gnista Barreled Oak as a base,
before adding layers of saffron, Thai basil and chilli tincture to
finish.
Take a seat at the walnut-wood bar of this Williamsburg
restaurant and you’ll be able to sip alcohol-free cocktails
morning, noon and night. The all-day spot transitions from daytime
brunches to after-dark dining, and puts just as much care into its
“zero proof” concoctions as it does the full-blown boozy affairs.
Sink a strawberry buck at brunch (non-alcoholic whiskey, with
strawberry, ginger, lemon and soy), then switch to the red pepper
and pineapple-infused jungle bird for dinner, made using
prohibition-proof rum.
