The holiday season is now behind us, so we can relax a bit from the hustle and bustle of it all. We also get a break from all the food and cocktail indulgences from the holidays – it might be wise for us to embrace the “Resolution Season” of the New Year. Dry January is a public health campaign in which people are encouraged to abstain from alcohol for the month. Maybe it won’t be a completely dry January for us, but there are advantages to cutting back a little, so, for Kyle and I, let us call it Damp or, maybe, Misty January.
Many bars and restaurants are adding “Mocktail Lists” to their drink menus, which is great. However, many of them consist mainly of juices and/or sodas, leaving a lot to be desired in terms of creativity and imagination.
Kyle wanted to go beyond the juice cocktail substitute, giving Dry January a more “craft cocktail” vibe. Mocktails should be intriguing and well-balanced – one that can hold its own as an alcohol-free worthy libation.
A quick Google search yielded a recipe from Serious Eats for a Black Tea Sour, a compelling combination of black tea, egg whites, lemon juice, and homemade grenadine. This fit the bill for everything he was seeking in a mocktail.
Kyle wanted to winterize the drink a bit by including more wintry flavors to reflect the Dry January inspiration for the mocktail. He added some fresh blood orange juice (a refreshing addition for the winter season), and swapped the homemade grenadine with some homemade honey syrup – topping it off with a sprig of rosemary in the shaker.
The resulting drink had a delicious balance of flavors – bitter notes from the tea, tartness from the lemon, sweetness from the blood orange and honey, some herbal notes from the rosemary, and a smooth, velvety texture from the frothy egg whites.
The dry shaking used with this drink is a process in which the ingredients are first shaken without ice. This gets the egg whites nice and frothy. The drink then goes through a second shaking with ice to really chill the beverage.
This fancy technique was used for making classic Sours and Fizz cocktails; it really elevates your home mixology game to the next level. The shaken egg whites really add such a rich, frothy texture that is difficult to replicate with any other ingredient.
Dry January Spoiler Alert! Now, once January has come and gone, feel free to add a shot of vodka or gin, or even whiskey to this beverage. It is easy schmeasy to turn this mocktail into a real-deal cocktail when the mood strikes.
So celebrate your Dry January, if that is the avenue you wish to explore. May you enjoy this delicious mocktail with family and friends this month and in the many months to come for the winter of 2020. Cheers!
Adapted from Serious Eats.
- For the honey syrup:
- ¼ cup hot water
- ¼ cup honey
- For the mocktail:
- 2 egg whites
- 3 ounces brewed black tea, chilled
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice, from ½ a lemon
- 3 ounces freshly squeezed blood orange juice, from 2 small blood oranges
- 2 ounces honey syrup
- 1 rosemary sprig, plus more for garnish
- To make honey syrup: Combine water and honey in a small microwave-safe container. Heat in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, stirring to combine. Let cool.
- To make the mocktail, combine egg whites, black tea, lemon juice, orange juice, and honey syrup in a shaker without ice. Dry shake vigorously, about 30 to 60 seconds, until the mixture is very frothy.
- Add rosemary and ice to the shaker, close and shake again.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve, garnished with a rosemary sprig or orange slice.
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