“Well–if you want to behave better and feel better, the only absolutely certain method is drinking less. But to find out how to do that, you will have to find a more expert expert than I shall ever be.”*
by chuckofish
Greetings from DN!
Non-alcoholic cocktails (“don’t call them mocktails”) are very trendy right now, and I have been trying my hand at different recipes. Success is varied. An orange shrub served to recent dinner party guests was not a hit. Everyone was nice about it, but you couldn’t avoid the acrid nose of vinegar no matter how the drinks were mixed. On the other hand, there are also real triumphs! For example, a worthy bourbon substitute for a non-alcoholic old fashioned. Daughter #2 calls them faux-ld fashioneds.
The most difficult flavors to replicate in a faux-ld fashioned are the bourbon’s smoky and malty flavors (the sweet part I can handle!). However, since I lack the time to barrel-age anything, what can replace these qualities? The answer, it turns out, is barley.
Specifically, barley tea. And not wanting to pay through the nose on Amazon, I decided to make my own.
Recipe blogs make all kinds of claims for barley tea. Antioxidants? Barley tea! Inflammation? Barley tea! Hot and cold! Hey, everyone in Korea is drinking barley tea year round. And now you can too! The recipe blogs would also have you believe that making barley tea is quick and easy. This is partially true. Easy, yes. Quick, not so much.
Toast at a low temp
Keep toasting
Almost there
When your kitchen begins to smell of burnt popcorn, you’re about halfway done. Ultimately, simmer this for about half an hour and you’ve made the roastiest “tea” you’ve ever tasted.
It also turns out that our faux-ld fashioneds need a vanilla note. But because Daughter #2 had made vanilla ice cream for our dinner guests, I had an empty bean pod ready for repurposing in a syrup!
Fresh vanilla beans cost about five bucks-a-pop and are to be cherished. After this, the pod will retire to the extract bottle, where it will happily live out the rest of its days in darkness.
Et voila! It’s a non-alcoholic cocktail that I’m quite proud of! Now to hold my nose and return once more to the shrub grind.
*Kingsley Amis, from Everyday Drinking
dual personalities 