Good Drinks by Julia Bainbridge | 2020 | Ten Speed Press | Hardcover $ 22.99
Writer Julia Bainbridge spent a summer driving across the U.S. going to bars, restaurants, and everything in between in pursuit of the question: Can you make an outstanding nonalcoholic drink? The answer came back emphatically: “Yes.”
With an extensive pantry section, tips for sourcing ingredients, and recipes curated from stellar bartenders around the country, Good Drinks shows that decadent brunch cocktails, afternoon refreshers, and evening digestifs can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.
I opted to add this one to my cookbook cook-thru project because I just really enjoy nice drinks — but I’ve also been trying to cut back on alcohol and super-sweet sodas for my health.
The book includes over 50 recipes, each rated with a commitment level ranging from no-brainer, “just give me something tasty to sip immediately” type drinks to intense, “commit a whole day to pretending to be a mad scientist” type drinks. The recipes are all based on creations by beverage pros, so they all start with an intro origin story.
To be clear, most of these are not really mocktails in the usual sense. We’re not talking about a bunch of recipes for virgin martinis or even typical non-alcoholic bar options like your classic Shirley Temple. These are drinks that were conceived of as non-alcoholic from the start and are meant to appeal to adventurous palates.
I’ll freely admit that almost all the drinks I tried were in lower commitment categories. I mention this because even though there are some wild-looking options, the book is still incredibly fun and useful even for those of us who don’t have a lot of time to devote to highly fancy drinks.
Of the recipes I tried, my favorites were the “Saffron Sharbat” from Ky Belk, the “Golden Hour” from from Jon Palmer, and the “Nectar of the Gods” from Minetta Gould. I think the most complicated one I experimented with was the Up-Beet from Brandyn Tepper, which was rated only 2 out of 4 on the commitment scale; it wasn’t exactly difficult, it just took a bit of extra time and effort to cook + juice + strain the required veg.
If you would like to see a few photos from my adventure through this book, or if you want to follow along in my continued culinary experiments, please feel free to visit my foodie Instagram:
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Publication information: Bainbridge, Julia. Good drinks: Alcohol-free recipes for when you’re not drinking for whatever reason. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2020. Print.
Source: Personal library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.