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It’s a great time to be a nondrinker.
Many restaurants now offer mocktails made with as much creativity as cocktails. And nonalcoholic spirits and bitters continue to enter the market.
Lila Volkas, an Oakland resident and certified nutrition consultant, was following the mocktail craze long before it became trendy several years back. And with the alcohol-friendly holiday of Purim coming up on the evening of March 23, Volkas was more than happy to whip up a Purim-themed mocktail that she has dubbed the Hamantaschen Spritz.
Inspired by two traditional hamantaschen fillings, she uses apricot jam as a sweet element. And just as salt adorns the rim of a margarita, she blitzes poppy seeds and sugar in a blender for this mocktail’s equivalent.
“I love getting inspiration to make a custom mocktail,” she said. “This one is tasty.”
Some drinkers have a Pavlovian response to the sound of a cocktail shaker and their brain starts craving alcohol. For those who are used to making their own cocktails, Volkas said, the ritual aspect of muddling or shaking is sometimes just as much part of the process as the drinking.
Purim tradition actually encourages alcohol consumption. You should drink until you can’t tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai, according to the Talmud. However, if you abstain from alcohol or want to drink less at Purim — or any other time — Volkas believes a mocktail can satisfy that need.
“One can embrace that ritual just by making it with nonalcoholic ingredients,” she said. “You still get to make something fancy. You can even make a cocktail but use less alcohol by swapping out part of the spirit with a nonalcoholic one.”
She has taught mocktail workshops for corporations, and last fall she did the same at family camp for Camp Tawonga, near Yosemite.
Volkas, 31, grew up in Berkeley. She attended Tawonga as a camper and later on staff. She offers both online and in-person workshops, mostly related to nutrition and food, but her mocktail workshops are consistently the most popular. She estimates she’s taught more than 1,000 people how to make them.
“Especially in a work environment,” she said, “socializing without alcohol makes for a lot more inclusive environment.”
Volkas’ journey with mocktails began because of her own food sensitivities. When her peers began experimenting with alcohol, she quickly realized that she didn’t like the way it made her feel. She also studied nutrition at Berkeley’s Bauman College. Figuring out which foods she needed to eliminate to feel her best led her to forgo alcohol too.
But she wasn’t content with a lime wedge in soda water. She felt that nondrinkers should be able to enjoy a festive beverage when out at a restaurant or bar.
Years ago, she began offering kombucha workshops, teaching others how to make their own batches of the fermented drink. That led to her interest in elixirs, which can offer a calming effect if made with ingredients such as kava — or an energy boost if made with caffeine. While Volkas doesn’t make cannabis drinks, they fall into this category too, she said.
Having mastered those types of drinks, she moved on to mocktails. She noted that there’s some negative association with the word “mocktail,” as to mock is to make a mockery of. But there’s nothing to scoff at about these beverages.
A good mocktail should “have the aesthetics and complexity of a cocktail, just without the alcohol,” Volkas said. “My strength is my culinary background, so I know how to make things taste complex and balanced.”
One can’t cut corners or skip steps when making mocktails. Because most alcoholic spirits provide a lot of flavor, “you need more layering of flavors for a mocktail,” she said.
For the Hamantaschen Spritz, she muddled a strip of lemon peel, smashing it in the glass with a few other ingredients, because the essential oils from the peel give a different flavor from the lemon juice, which is also used.
She also relies on apple cider vinegar — she calls it “one of my all-star ingredients” — which adds bitter notes along with nonalcoholic bitters.
Most of all, Volkas loves empowering people to come up with their own recipes.
“To make them really tasty, you need to layer flavors, and the rim and garnish are great ways to add extra flavor, especially when you don’t have the intensity of alcohol,” she said. “You have to be more creative.”
Hamantaschen Spritz
Makes 1 mocktail
For rim:
- 1 Tbs. sugar
- 1 Tbs. poppy seeds
For mocktail:
- Lemon for rim, peel, juice and garnish
- 1 oz. lemon juice
- ½ oz. apricot jam
- 3 dashes nonalcoholic orange bitters (such as All the Bitter)
- 1 oz. nonalcoholic orange aperitif (such as Wilfred’s Bittersweet Aperitif)
- ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
- Ice
- ½ cup sparkling water
Prepare rim:
In a high-speed blender, blend the poppy seeds and sugar for 30-60 seconds until well combined.
For mocktail:
Spread 1 Tbs. of the poppy seed and sugar mixture onto small plate. Moisten rim of glass by rubbing cut lemon along rim, then dip glass into poppy seed and sugar mixture to coat.
Use a peeler or sharp paring knife to cut a 2-inch piece of lemon peel. In a glass, add lemon peel, lemon juice and jam. Muddle ingredients together to mix. Pour in bitters, aperitif and apple cider vinegar. Add enough ice to fill the glass.
Gently add sparkling water. Stir with bar spoon to combine. Garnish with lemon slice.
Save remaining poppy seed and sugar mixture in airtight jar for a second drink.
