Forum

Darcie's recent blog post about dry January got me wondering about cookbooks that have good alcohol-free drink recipes. Does anyone have book recommendations, either cookbooks or cocktail books, that include interesting drinks? David Lebovitz's Drinking French has some nice recipes that work either added to cocktails or with sparkling water. I love his Blackberry Shrub and Rich fresh ginger syrup with selzer. 

• Gazoz: The Art of Making Magical, Seasonal Sparkling Drinks | Eat Your Books This is wonderful but not necessarily practical unless you're into fermenting your own ingredients


• Mocktails: Nonalcoholic Cocktails with Taste and Style | Eat Your Books This is a typical, practical set of recipes.


• Dry: Non-Alcoholic Cocktails, Cordials and Clever Concoctions | Eat Your Books A similar book

I have this book: How to Drink Without Drinking by Fiona Beckett I've made a few recipes from it so far and they have been good. 

I have two books that I love.

Zero Proof is the far more accessible of the two. 

Zero is really expensive and complicated, but for me it's worth it. Most of the recipes have 10-20 ingredients and involve making 3-4 different components, all of which sounds insane, but the drinks are delicious and really interesting and for me fun to make.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I've order Mocktails and am going to try to get some of the others from the library to take a look. (It's too bad none of these are indexed yet in EYB!) 

Zero by Grant Achatz looks beautiful and interesting. I'm contemplating splurging and getting it. @cmaidhof, does Zero have a lot of unusual ingredients you have to track down, or is it just that there are a lot of ingredients and a lot of labor involved? 

I know you are looking for a book but Ritual Zero Proof's website has lots of ideas for non-alcoholic drinks. www.ritualzeroproof.com

I am going to chime in with a not-a-book suggestion as well. Seedlip nonalcholic spirits has an epamphlet that uses their products.  My son is particularly enamored of the Spice version and enjoys playing around with it.  They aren't cheap, but he thinks the Spice is worth it.

Zephy

I just wanted to post an update that I did get Zero and I agree that it's complicated but worth it. The drinks do take some effort and tracking down of ingredients, but they're not hard, they just require some planning ahead and willingness to invest some time. The drinks I've made so far are much more complex and interesting that those in the other books I've tried. I just tried the Green Herb Shrub this past weekend, and it was a lovely, cool, hot-weather drink.

I've also tried a couple of things from Mocktails. The recipes are good if you're in the mood for fruitier/sweeter drinks.