Toronto gets serious about mocktails

Pregnant women, alcohol abstainers and under-aged diners rejoice! No longer shall you be slated into the same, lackluster beverage categories when you go out to eat: fresh, tasty non-alcoholic options that don’t contain alarmingly high levels of sugar or aspartame are sprouting up citywide in the form of mocktails, The Globe reports.

Recent studies show that Canadians are already guzzling wine like there’s no tomorrow, so what better time to introduce particularly enticing non-boozy blends to cocktail lists? High-profile institutions like the financial district’s Ki and the Ritz-Carlton’s long-awaited TOCA offer mocktails crafted with the same passionate consideration as their spirituous creations.

Apparently, the popularity gap between cocktails and mocktails is narrowing. Ki’s General Manager Kelly Higginson has observed a spike in non-alcoholic cocktails at lunchtime, and a steady decline in the liquid lunches of yore. “Times have changed a lot. [The demand for] productivity being what it is, it’s more reasonable to have a fresh, non-alcoholic cocktail at lunch, or even at dinner,” Higginson told The Globe.

Ki features thirst-quenching, booze-free options like the Ginger Peach ($6), a blend of fresh peach and ginger juice amped up with aromatic sage syrup, and the Winter Citrus ($6), a medley of popular Japanese soft drink Calpico and stunning yuzu citrus. Over at TOCA, a selection of “temperance cocktails” includes the Tandoori Tangerine ($8), made with Tandoori-spiced orange, lime leaf, Elderflower water and green tea syrup.

With increasingly lavish concoctions flaring up behind bars citywide and an intensified attention on gastronomical endeavours in general, it makes perfect sense for mixology to enter non-alcoholic terrain. Now all that’s needed is a new excuse for raucous late night behaviour.

[The Globe and Mail]

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