You’re headed to a Bengaluru gastropub with your friends. While you’re looking forward to the unhinged conversations that kick in once the pitchers of beer begin to empty, you don’t consume alcohol yourself and so you must find something non-alcoholic to drink. You scan the menu for the mocktail sections and find something that sounds fancy, and moments later the waiter brings it to you, and now you too have a glass you can clink in the cheers with. As your friends take a lavish sip of their clear golden ales, you put your lips around the straw and suck in this incredibly sugary mix of a bunch of colored syrups. The first few sips are pleasant, a palate cleanser even, but anything after that is work, and is especially so for your pancreas.
Why do so many places in Bangalore have such mediocre mocktails? It’s almost like they’re there just to tame the occasional teetotaler folks that might be embedded within a hefty group of corporate workers. In a way, it is understandable, because businesses are optimized to do the least for the most profit. But mocktails can be more than just sugary colored syrup solutions - they can be interesting enough to pass around the table and have people pick out highlights, both in terms of flavor and texture.
Alongside this, it was also a recent taste of Yuzu Orange, a soft drink made by Paper Boat that triggered me to write about the potential of good mocktails. I was curious to try it when it first came out because it stood out - it was not colored the typical red-leaning Fanta orange, but was somewhat tamed, closer to a mellow yellow. Opened the cap and a floral, citrusy burst of freshness, just like the one you get from a fresh orange peel lingered on my face. The taste was surprisingly close to a Mosambi (sweet lime) and it almost made me forget that it is a soda with some sweeteners and nature identical flavoring substances, not real juice. Chemists these days, man.
So can we make mocktails less mediocre - at least at home? I think I have a few ideas to add more excitement to virgin drinks.
Nose is how you experience flavor
The complexity of flavors that food and drink have are perceived by your nose, and the right spices or aromatics can take your mocktail to the next level. I am most fond of this tip in particular because I really enjoy fragrances, like when oranges spray that lovely perfume as I peel them, the smell of crushed guava leaves, and the sweet rounded notes of vanilla. Fresh fruit juice has its own delicious scent, especially citrus juices, and adding herbs like mint or basil can elevate freshness in the drink. Garnishing with peels or rubbing them around the rim of the glass are also great ideas to prominently highlight scents.
If the mocktail calls for a more warm, winter vibe, then spices like cinnamon, clove and vanilla can bring those warm elements to the drink. After all, while cocktails are crafted for both flavor and the buzz, mocktails must rely solely on the strength of their flavor to make an impression, so don’t hold back.
Astringency
I love iced tea for two reasons, one is that it is delicious and refreshing af, and the second is that it has this characteristic tannin dryness of tea. This mouthfeel is called astringency. You must have experienced it if you’ve had black jamun, or raw mango, or black tea, etc you get the point. That dry, friction feeling between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. In a way, astringency (and even bitterness to a certain extent) can make a drink feel more ‘adult’ and cocktaily.
Adding a splash of freshly brewed tea (stronger in character than the powdered mixes) to a drink can add a little bit of astringency. Also, in some restaurants, when they make lime juice or lime soda, they blend with the peel in, and it adds that slight bit of nice astringent and bitter-y freshness to the juice. So perhaps getting a bit of help from fruit peels might be useful here? Ginger is another excellent source of astringency, but use it when its prominent note of spice would work well. Ganne ka juice, bada gilas 20 Rs ka: Add adrak and I’m sold.
Texture Texture Texture
a.k.a How does it feel on your tongue? Unless you’re drinking something with solid chunks in it, like a virgin sangria, there is no texture as such that your teeth will experience. However the drink is still primarily going to linger around your tongue and the roof of your mouth, and that grants us a few options to introduce prominent details.
A common, classic drink that most restaurants serve is Spicy Guava, and this is a great example of a drink that tries to be different in both its flavor and texture. It’s mildly spicy, and it’s a bit more viscous than the clear drinks. There can also be some pleasant coarse grit of the crushed guava seeds depending on how the juice is prepared.
Taking inspiration, perhaps we can do this to other fruit juice based drinks? Crushed ice is a quick way to add a slight bit of temporary texture, and it might suspend well in fruit juices or thick liquids. The vesicles of oranges and other citrus fruits, and grape seeds can not only have a mild texture in an interesting drink but also a very slight boost to fiber.
Maybe even experimenting with some salt crystals can lead to interesting results. With every sip, your tongue feels an exfoliating flake of salt that melts away in a burst of flavor.
Subtle with the sweetness
Just put enough sugar that the drink is pleasantly sweet, and then practice self-control. This is often the case with drinks that are made with commercial fruit juices and sodas: they are insanely sugary that even the chilled temperature of the drink and the ice can’t help mask the syrupiness. This is not a completely unfixable problem - you can always ask the staff to dilute it for you whenever it makes sense, and for making drinks at home you can just make it to your tastes.
But maybe, deliberately making it less sweeter than you usually prefer it, might be worth trying out. Does it make the star ingredients more noticeable? Do those subtle things like astringency or texture stand out more now that your taste buds aren’t hyperactive on the sugar? Does it make you appreciate the mild flavors? Does it make you feel more superior to others? Jokes apart, it’s worth the try and if it works for you, then it’ll be a useful amendment to your usual recipes.
Do you really have to be sweet?
One lime soda please. Sweet or salt? is a ubiquitous slice of conversation at any juice stall. That freshness of lime and that touch of salt that gives your salivary glands a little jolt, is a peak summertime experience. Extrapolate that idea a little bit more, and let other tastes dominate and sweetness take a backseat. Buttermilk and kombucha are excellent examples of well-loved sour drinks.
Okay, so hear me out - crushed raw mango, chilled buttermilk, topped with chilled pepper rasam. Is that a mocktail? It may sound like a prank, but serve it with a soul-nourishing Indian meal and it will pair beautifully. Culturally, people are more likely to call it just a more articulated spiced buttermilk - but if the definition of mocktail is a mix of drinks then it’s a mocktail in my eyes. The starchy water of leftover rice with a slight umami taste can also be a nice base, on which you can add a spicy layer.
If you want to try something less Indian, then perhaps just omit the sugar and keep the standard aromatics. Keep the herbs, the peels and the fruit juices, and top with plain soda.
When you want to go wild
Heston Blumenthal, an elite, experimental chef and a real-life Willy Wonka serves a cup of tea in one of his dining courses which is both hot and cold at the same time. The science that goes behind it is fascinating, the hot and cold don’t mix and it is a clever use of fluid gels that makes it happen. One part of it is more acidic so you don’t notice it’s gel. Now that is a result of many years of experience and would require special equipment, so that is a little bit more than what we can make at home, but there’s always possibilities, and hearing about cool things like that encourages my urge to experiment and learn further.
Some flavors work together, some flavors don’t, and maybe there are no true fixed lists, just things shaped by culture. Pilk is a real thing - it’s Pepsi and Milk, and people drink it, also in India. Now making ice cream out of maggi does push the limits of my kindness, but the underlying idea is convincing enough - to try and discover what you like. A core part of food preferences come from memory, and are dictated by the catalog of things your mind has built as being delicious and comforting while growing up (so get your kids started on veggies while they’re young), and stop making mediocre mocktails.