Thy Parra: Hi, I'm Thy.
Nicole Hassoun: And I'm Nicole.
Thy: We're gonna show you how to make three
zero-proof beverages.
Nicole: First, we're making a botanical water
Collins.
Second, we're making a basil fennel tonic
water.
The third drink that we're making
is a kombucha-based cocktail.
First, let's talk about what makes a drink
pleasurable.
Thy: When you're thinking about drinking,
whether or not it's alcoholic or nonalcoholic,
you want the complexity.
So you want to hit all your senses, you want
the sweet, you want the salty,
you want the bitter, you want the acidity.
Nicole: So let's get started.
We are making our botanical water Collins.
So, Collins, simple cocktail.
Lemon juice, sparkling water, usually a spirit
of your choice, oftentimes gin or vodka.
Instead of gin or vodka, we are using
botanical water.
Botanical water is water that is distilled
with herbs and botanicals
that are very similar to a gin recipe.
If you don't have the ability to make this,
it is so easy
to just steep fruits, vegetables, botanicals
into filtered water,
keep it in your fridge, strain it out and
you'll have a very similar product.
So, in here, we're going to put, I'm going
to make two.
Thy: Yeah.
Nicole: But I'm going to put an ounce and
a half of the botanical water for each one.
One ounce of fresh lemon juice, per cocktail.
Last little secret ingredient, don't tell
anybody,
is flaky, beautiful sea salt.
So I'm going to shake this cold before I put
the simple syrup in.
[Shaking sound.]
Nicole: Woo!
Alright.
Thy: Nice and cold.
Nicole: So, just put our lemon botanical water
and salt mixture into a glass.
Thy: Now top it off with the simple syrups
that we made.
Which basically is equal parts sugar with
water.
We then choose our different type of ingredients
that we want for our simple syrups.
Nicole: So we're going to add one ounce each
of our simple syrup.
[pouring sound]
Thy: Stir it up a little bit.
And we're also going to top it.
Nicole: So one of the important ingredients
into a Collins is sparkling water.
It adds that pleasing bubble on your tongue
that really makes you feel like you're drinking
something a little bit more complex.
Nicole: And then again, make it look pretty.
Because the time you took to make this, all
the other ingredients, you want to actually
like really love it with your eyes.
So, here we have our grapefruit rose and our
dehydrated pear.
It just makes me want to drink it.
Thy: Cheers.
Nicole: Cheers.
[Glasses clink.]
Nicole: One quart of boiling water,
to which we're going to add
one teaspoon of citric acid,
two teaspoons of cinchona bark.
Now, this is what makes tonic water,
tonic water.
And this is actually medicinal.
So, do be careful the amount that you're adding
it can interact with some drugs.
It is an anti-malarial.
But it also adds that bitter component that
we really want when we are drinking.
So let's get that sweet in there.
This is just white sugar.
It is about a half a cup.
And then we're gonna always put a pinch of salt.
Salt is really important, it ties everything
together, it boosts flavors.
And once we get up to a nice boil, we are
going to add about four cups of fresh basil,
leaves only.
And some fresh fennel.
And that's all gonna sing together.
And we're gonna take it off the heat, and
we're gonna get it cooling.
We have some of our basil fennel tonic water
that's been strained and in our fridge.
And I'm ready to drink it.
Thy: Yes.
Nicole: Even more exciting, is when we can
smoke the glass.
I have some applewood smoking chips and a
little bit of orange zest.
I'm going to burn it all together with a torch
until it starts smoking.
So you gotta really catch it.
Cause what we're gonna do is, take all of
that beautiful smoke
and wash the glass with it.
Because when you drink, obviously, you start
with the smell first.
And this is gonna hit your nose and really,
really shine.
Thy: You want to be able to really give it
that complexity.
And that's what's gonna make you enjoy these beverages.
You want to have that flavor build.
Nicole: So yeah, just halfway on top of that
beautiful smoke that you just washed it with.
And we're just gonna top it with a little
bit of sparkling water.
Thy: Would you like some fennel on yours?
Nicole: Absolutely.
Thy: So we basically brushed it
with a little bit of simple syrup.
And then we baked it in the oven at 150 degrees F.
Nicole: Gosh, this looks good.
Cheers.
Thy: Cheers.
Nicole: Alright, so for our third and final
nonalcoholic cocktail,
we are going with kombucha.
And just so if anyone is completely avoiding
alcohol for religious reasons or other,
kombucha is a fermented product, there are trace amounts of alcohol in it most times.
So it is just as easy to make this cocktail
with ginger beer or something like that.
This just adds acidity and funk and a little
bit of effervescence.
So into our mixing glasses.
Thy: I did two ounces.
Nicole: We did two ounces of ginger kombucha.
Thy: Alright.
And then here we have an ounce of pineapple juice.
Nicole: And then I'm gonna go really different.
This is beet, apple, ginger.
That beet adds a lot of vegetal kind of base.
Whereas your pineapple like perks it up and
brightens it up, mine brings it down to a
little bit more earthy vibes.
So we're gonna put, again, an ounce of our
beet, apple, ginger.
Alright, now we're just gonna stir it and
make it cold.
[Stirring.]
Nicole: So that cooling creates a little bit
more viscous cocktail.
So the colder it is, the thicker it feels
on your tongue.
And that's important for pleasure of drinking
as well.
[Pouring.]
Nicole: We're gonna drink it chilled, but
not on the rocks.
Thy: So here I'm gonna use a dragonfruit that
we have dehydrated, once again.
And it's gonna add a beautiful contrast in
color.
Nicole: And this is dehydrated pineapple.
Same idea, little bit of simple syrup in a
dehydrator or oven at the lowest setting.
And it gets crisp and delicious and looks
like a flower.
It is like, it's a showstopper often.
This is a simple drink, but you're gonna love it.
Thy: Cheers.
[Background chatter: Start in and then go
out. Ready one ...
Boomerang. Sorry I didn't warn you.
One, two, three, go.]
