Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You're Not Drinking for Whatever Reason

by Julia Bainbridge

A serious and stylish look at sophisticated nonalcoholic beverages by a former Bon Appétit editor and James Beard Award nominee.

Blackberry-infused cold brew with almond milk and coconut cream. Smoky tea paired with tart cherry juice. A bittersweet, herbal take on the Pimm's Cup. 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 elevated libations to satisfy the most discerning drinkers, like Verjus Spritz, Chicha Morada Agua Fresca, Salted Rosemary Paloma, and Tarragon Cider.

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, whether they are drinking alcohol or not.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink, Health

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really appreciate what the author was trying to do with this book. A collection of non-alcoholic drinks!? Awesome!

BUT

I counted only one recipe in this entire book that didn't call for some kind of cooking (brewing/steeping/syrup-making). I really expected to find at least a few recipes that were "pour these three things together and shake," but they just weren't to be found in this book.

Some of the drinks sound really delicious or fascinating, and I have absolutely nothing against having some or even several of your drinks taking a lot of work, but I don't expect the entire book to be like that. Maybe I'm alone in my assessment, but I just feel a little duped and am really not inclined to go and make dozens of syrups that will each only survive in my fridge for 2 days before they need to be thrown out.

[Alexander Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to blending the culture of US alcohol bars with nonalcoholic drinks, this is absolutely the most thorough book there is, however it leaves me wanting things that I feel like could have been added as an appendix.

Firstly let me review the book for what it actually is:

This book is, hands-down, the best book there is for nonalcoholic drinks that I've come across. No other book I've seen is as thorough or up to date.

The drinks here range from the difficulty of "Oh! I can do that right now!" to "If the stars are aligned, and there's no spilled milk, I'll need a weekend to get this together." There's something here for a novice and for the best trained mixologist. You're going to find something you like out of this book. I strongly suggest you start with the "Change of Address" or the "Bicycle Gang". These are really simple drinks with huge pay off in justifying the value of this book and don't require you to go out of your way to put them together. A family kitchen would likely be prepped with everything needed right now.

Also, this book, as promised offers you the "mocktail" philosophy AND the "from another drink world entirely" philosophy. This book is motivator for a mixologist more so than a substitute cocktail book. Here you're offered some standards for good substitutes, and then things that are entirely different from cocktail tradition. In a sense, I feel like this could have been delineated a little better within the abstracted narratives that it offers for where each drink came from (bartenders, the bar, the noted story of it, etc). But no foul is made without it.

Also it offers a series of syrups and miscellaneous ingredients that are often great to try just by themselves. That said, you're asked to make these in small batches, but even in these small batches, you'll have a lot left over. It would have been nice to be given variation on uses for these time inefficient ingredients or offered suggestions for what else to do with them. (Occasionally this is done, but not usually.)

Finally, the book design is magnificently balanced between serious cocktail illustration and arrangement and playful. It is ready for some serious fun. This would equally be great on at a top NYC bar shelf, on the counter of a ice cream parlor, or on your messy coffee table. It's arrangement of drinks seconds this. It's meant to be flirty but doesn't tease you. It means for you to get to know it well, but you're going to get as much out of it as you put in. You can simply pick the easy stuff and enjoy it, but there's a lot to learn if you want. This isn't just haphazard arrangement of what a drink lover likes. But, if you don't look carefully, you might think that's what it is.

For what the book doesn't have:

It would be nice to have an appendix (or two). The main outline of the book I think is perfect. However, it would be nice to have an outline of a more general theory of making and dealing with syrups, more detailed theorizing of mixology of non-alcoholic beverages, and the stuff that the the nonalcoholic world is good at and not.

There are quite a lot of prep items here that don't have more than one place of use, but for the time it takes in making it, I feel as though offering it as a substitute for other drinks, or suggesting the possibility of a second option to put it in would make this book feel more dense with potential without actually being more dense.

This book also hints at its philosophies while not really investigating them beyond saying some drinks are substitutes for alcohol while others aren't. Solidifying this as adjacent to existing cocktail culture rather than within it would solidify and validate what it means to be an excellent nonalcoholic mixologist or add that to the existing craft or repertoire. It would give the craft a culture to itself.

Lastly I would like to point out something that I feel is deeply saddening about what this book doesn't tell me. I am a lover of dark liquor. As best as I can tell, this book offers nothing in the way of substituting for the mouthfeel of whiskey, brandy, or rum. The biggest letdown of this curation of the most complete structure of nonalcoholic drinks, the closest any of these drinks get to the mouthfeel and olfactory of a cocktail are in relation to gin and vodka. The closest we get to dark liquor is in using soy sauce and caramel notes which is a stretch to even say they are alike.

While this book makes absolutely clear that there is a world of nonalcoholic mixology here forever, and that it is remarkably worth while as more than a substitute for alcohol, there's yet to be an "old fashioned" of the nonalcoholic world in any of the senses, and in a way, that's what hurts the most about this book. You can't take a Seedlip spirit and make a cocktail with it that can substitute for an Old Fashioned, a Sazerac, or a Manhattan. It's just not happening. Certainly this isn't the fault of the book though so much as it's the state of mixology at the moment. Maybe one day we will get there though...

Until that happens, cheers to this! It's worth it!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great Idea If You Have Time

I was looking for good non-alcoholic drinks,and these sound amazing, but the time and money involved to find or make the ingredients is very daunting. This doesn’t really fit my quick and easy desire. I’m sure many are amazing, but plan ahead! You will probably have to make syrups ahead or search for ingredients like edible oils. I also didn’t like that every recipe didn’t include a picture.

[Puck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome recipes that really push forward what non-alcoholic drinks can be besides being saccharine and bland. My friends and I have really enjoyed trying many drinks in here and will come back to them. As a person that makes drinks, its a great way to be inclusive to people that don't drink. The only caveat of this book is that many recipes require hard to get ingredients or a lot of prepwork. Most recipes in this book won't be easy to make, and seem to be more manageable in a restaurant/bar setting.

[Allana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed many of the recipes in this book. Like with vegetarian/vegan food, I find the best "mocktails" are not trying to imitate an alcoholic counterpart but just being its own delicious self, and this book certainly delivered on interesting/unique recipes. I also appreciated the organization of the book overall. One star off because some of the prep, ingredients are really too much lol but I do appreciate that they include sections on where to get the trickier ingredients.

[lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book cover to cover & am REALLY excited to try a lot of these recipes. I got the ingredients for one of the recipes already.

A lot of delicious recipes & excited to make spirit free drinks :) Will update once I make recipes.

[Justus · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the right person, this book will be 5-stars. But I think most readers are looking for something far less involved, meaning this will be something they will flip through but never use, making it essentially a coffee table book.

This is a fantastic catalogue of what is possible with modern non-alcoholic cocktails. If you're both a non-drinker but also go to alcoholic settings a lot, this might be something for you to check out. But the level of effort and prep involved means it isn't very useful if you're just at home and someone asks for a non-alcoholic drink.

Are you going to offer them a Billows & Thieves? Too bad, you didn't make the black-cardamom-cinnamon syrup and cold brew coffee concentrate. Offer the Shiso Spritz? You need at least 15-20 minutes to make (and cool to room temperature) the Shiso tea.

Plus, this book suffers the curse of most cocktail books: tons of obscure ingredients. That Shiso tea? It requires red shiso leaves, green shiso leaves, fresh basil, and fresh mint. It makes enough for 4 cocktails and lasts in the refrigerator 3 days.

There are some simpler recipes but even the "Commitment Level 1" recipes feel like more work than the average person is going to do at home when a single non-drinker asks for a cocktail. Commitment Level 1 recipes include: Yu the Great (make a Basil-Matcha syrup first), Grapefruit Radler (freshly squeeze both grapefruit juice and lemon juice), Get Well Soon (boil a coffee syrup for 5 minutes), Blackberry Cold Brew Colada (make or buy cold brew coffee concentrate in advance, then steep blackberries for at least 30 minutes).

Don't get me wrong, there are some recipes that I think are actually on the simple(r) side. And these definitely intrigue me!

The Verjus Spritz is just verjus, soda water, and tonic water. The Bicycle Gang is orange juice, whipping cream, simple syrup, and soda water. The Jardín Verde is Seedlip Garden 108 and Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic.

And that shows us both the best and worst part of the book: I had never heard of Seedlip, a non-alcoholic "spirit". It is brilliant! Learning about it is by far the best thing to come out of this book.

But I think that 98% of people, unless they are deep into experimenting with involved non-alcoholic cocktails and have several others to join them (since many of the recipes make enough syrup for 4-8 drinks and only last a few days), will be far, far better off simply buying one (or more) bottles of Seedlip and then looking at recipes on Seedlip's website. Seedlip Ranch Water (Seedlip + lime juice + soda water), Seedlip Cosmo (Seedlip + cranberry juice + lime juice), Seedlip Spice Spritz (Seedlip + aromatic tonic or ginger beer), Seedlip Margarita (Seedlip + agave syrup + lime juice). Things like that.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome concept. Many of the drinks are elaborate and require specialty ingredients, so it isn’t things I could whip up on the spot but several look like fun with advance planning.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Drinks is a neatly organized book about Non-alcoholic drinks. While I read this to get inspiration about cocktail recipes, the flavor combinations and syrups gave me a lot of different templates to try out. I look forward to replicating the easier drinks for non-alcoholic times (which are few these days).

[Lily Peabody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read to learn about new techniques and how to blend flavors. However, not too many of these recipes feel very approachable. Pretty pictures and inspiration

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas and flavors, but requires a ton of prep work and added recipes for infusions and syrups required for every recipe. Too tedious unless you have the time.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first took an interest in finding offbeat nonalcoholic drinks when I became pregnant with my daughter. So often nonalcoholic options are limited to plain sodas and juices: uninspired, simplistic, and too sweet. I didn’t miss the alcohol, but I missed the flavorful complexity of wines and crafted cocktails. And, as a lifelong cook, I don’t mind a little extra legwork to get to something special.

Many of the recipes in this book take planning—sourcing ingredients and taking the time to prepare special syrups, teas, juices, and shrubs—but I bookmarked almost all of them as future kitchen projects, so clearly this book was well suited to my tastes and abilities.

I don’t always think of cookbooks as fun reading (many are too utilitarian to read like other books, begging for indexing and a good table of contents better suited to flipping through pages), but I read this cover fo cover as the combinations sparked my imagination.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy birthday Julia Bainbridge! What a lovely cookbook this is. A ton of recipes I would have never thought of and might not try, but SO pretty to look at and a ton of information to learn from. Good info about how to purchase rare ingredients, certain general categories of drinks to check out, and a clear separation between cozy bedtime drinks and wake-up caffeinated bevs. And the PHOTOGRAPHY. Much like Carnal Education, I'm finding this neon, crisp, well-styled reference photography style to be a gorgeous work of art in its own right, and it brings so much to this book. I'll keep you updated with how I use the recipes, I have a fun plan . . .

I got an ARC of this book for a review that fell through! Thank you Ten Speed Press for sending it my way.

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's titled Good Drinks because author Julia Bainbridge feels the label "mocktails" implies that spirit-free beverages are somehow less than those containing alcohol. Not so for this collection of 50-some odd recipes. For anyone who enjoys making their own syrups, infusions, and tasty concoctions that are highly enjoyable feasts for both palate and the eyes (vs., say, a watered down approximation of some other drink) then this is likely the book for you. In addition, it's from 10 Speed Press, well-known for their high-quality cookbooks and other product lines. We're committing to one a week so we can make elegant beverages for adult and tweenage family members alike. What fun!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the introduction and the detailed explanations of various aspects of “spirit-free” cocktails. That being said, most of these require obscure (and expensive) ingredients plus a lot of prep work. Almost none of these involve simply pouring and mixing, which is the skill level of the average person like me.

This book seems great for amateur or even expert mixologists - readers looking for casual drink recipes, not so much.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't drink, but there are often times when I wish for something a little fancier than sparkling water. This book has some great ideas. Admittedly, many of them are more involved than anything I would attempt, but Julia has thoughtfully provided a scale of difficulty for the prep of the different drinks. If nothing else, the recipes will give you inspiration for flavor combinations you can experiment with.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

Full review at Lone Star on a Lark

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy all of the recipes in this book! I’ve been pulling back from drinking Alcohol and wanted options that aren’t just fancy juices with a bit of sparkling water/soda. Fortunately, this collection did not disappoint! I found that the vast majority were very approachable (and if they took a bit of extra work, it’s right at the top in the description of each recipe!)

I really appreciated each of the stories about the drinks creators and the list of bars to visit in person.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas and translations of techniques for non alcoholic drinks. With some creativity and care, non alcoholic drinks can be its own art form. Even though I’ll mostly stick with its 3 ingredients drinks like (soda water + citrus + bitters/salt/brine) for everyday consumption, it’s nice to know there’s something I can try when I’m feeling fancy and aspirational!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through her explanations and recipes, the author took what we often think of as the cliché, super sweet mocktail and opens us to the idea that zero-proof drinks can be varied and complex. She additionally features recipes from actual bars and bartenders across the country, and notes where you can find them out in the wild.

[Beka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having never been a drinker, I was hoping to find some good recipes here for special occasions. Unfortunately, EVERY drink has you making at least one syrup if not several and sourcing what I'm sure are difficult to find and probably not cheap ingredients. (Is this what real drinkers do, because that seems like too much work.) An interesting concept, but nothing here for me.

[Quinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking for a good book to help me with drink recipes that were non-alcoholic which this book has. However, the specialty ingredients needed were beyond me - umeboshi vinegar, matcha powder, rooibos tea, dried juniper berries, gentian root, shiso tea, fresh red shiso leaves to name just a few.

[Marijalas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was interesting reading. The drinks are too involved for someone other than a bartender.
I do wish that the Zero drinks around here were less sweet, and I see that a good bartender can do a really good drink.
I have had fun mixing honey and seltzer, etc into my Zeroes and it is fun. But non of my friends will try them!

[Teawench · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but there are too many I'll never make - there are a lot based on coffee, tomato, or cucumber and I don't like those by themselves let alone in a mixed drink. Most you have to order things online. I don't mind making the different components but I'm not ordering things like pandan leaf extract to make one drink recipe.

[Meghan O’Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed the anecdotes and been inspired by the recipes in this book for years now. While I agree with some other reviewers that many of these are high-commitment recipes with some obscure ingredients, the concepts and flavors presented have been really fun to learn about and seek out in the wild.

[Seth M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really have enjoyed every single one of the various drink recipes Bainbridge offers up here. Granted, some are ridiculously laborious to produce, but I've no argument with spending a lot of time one a recipe if the result is a pitcher I get to consume solo over the following days...or minutes.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and tasteful cocktails without the alcohol. Beautifully presented. Great instruction for those who are no longer imbibing. Make all your guests comfortable at any celebration or gathering. Thoughtful combination of ingredients.

[Rachel Sulik · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THIS! It is so nice to have a book of nonalcoholic books that don't all require a juicer. I love Julia's "commitment level" system as well. So far I've made the Smoked Cherry drink but I have flagged a lot of them that I can't wait to try.

[Rebalioness · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure the drinks in the book are good. However, ALL of them are either peach-flavored, melon-flavored, or require ingredients that are not available. Wasn't an appealing one in the bunch. .

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved these recopies!