There I was, perusing the drink options at the various establishments at V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa, when I came across a product that caught my eye. Bottled cocktails? Pre-made to perfection? My American mind couldn’t comprehend, but sure enough, there they were––pre-mixed cocktails in bright, colorful packaging, just waiting for me to…
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The pomegranate pink tonic mocktail looks cool. Let’s show it off! Tonics and aperitifs get a bad rap for their awful flavor and association with medicine. If you’re a drink, you stay away from medicine. Dr. Pepper still has it rough even now, with only medium-sized niches praising its perfect combination of 23 flavors. But…
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What’s that drink called? It might be “nothing,” or “I don’t know”––and that’s a beautiful thing. As a food journalist, I occasionally meet a bartender who has an unnamed cocktail recipe. They’ve been perfecting it for a while. Many of them prefer to remain anonymous. That could be justified if it’s still a work in…
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The wind blew, and I found myself cast a thousand miles east, having been lifted from the Salt Lake Valley and its sprawling mountain roots beneath the earth, landing among Omaha, Nebraska’s rolling hills. Culture is seeded here in clumps of arbitrary districts where like-minded individuals have gathered, evolving over decades into sects that have…
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What’s a St. Patrick’s Day cocktail without the green dye? That’s the Eye of the Hurricane––an Irish-themed cocktail from South Africa. That’s not a place Americans would associate with Irish traditions like St. Patrick’s Day. But this little-known drink is gaining in fame. Eye of the Hurricane is a bitter lemon and passion fruit flavor…
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Life in the city is tough. So what’s the best way to relax amid all the chaos? The answer is staring you down on your screen as we speak––an ice-cold pomegranate margarita mocktail. I’ll show you how to make your very own chill time juice for the 2020s––all the style, minus the alcohol. Oh, and…
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Mojitos, sangrias, punches––the most popular summer mocktails in Dubai. I tried each of these at SOL Sky Bar, a fun summer-themed rooftop bar with one of the friendliest bartending staff in Dubai. Wait, but it’s January, the depth of winter! Dubai can provide a summer experience in the middle of winter. That’s why you’ll find…
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These may be the best mocktail images I’ve taken in Abu Dhabi. Nay! The Beach House, the most lavish local seaside mocktail paradise I’ve found, may be host to the most beautiful zero-proof cocktails ever. Park Hyatt’s The Beach House spotlights the traditional Mediterranean flavors near Abu Dhabi’s seaside. Sweet mango with vibrant blackberry purée. A…
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Mocktails are the new cocktails––and that’s especially true in San Diego. San Diego is a town whose bar scene deeply understands the mocktails trend. It’s not about having any mixed beverage or replacing a buzz with a sugar high. Who doesn’t want a cocktail’s elegance without its unpleasant side effects? Zero-proof cocktails are a delicate…
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The Century Plaza Hotel is the centerpiece of Century City, which in turn is the center of Los Angeles. It’s the city’s on-call backdrop. You know the building Bruce Willis swung off in Die Hard? That’s here, in perfect view. And the Plaza staff is proud of it. But from hidden in this labyrinth of…
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