8 minute read
TAKE A SOBER HOLIDAY
“Anything But Basic” is made with Spice tea, pumpkin, maple, and half and half. PHOTO BY KAREN DAY
By M.M. Sigler
All I want for Christmas, and all holidays, actually, is a decent nonalcoholic cocktail.
I want my glass filled with something sophisticated, beautiful, delicious, and, heaven forbid, good for me.
Hey, Santa, is that too much to ask?
Not anymore. Today, the no alcohol cocktail market is keeping pace with the number of people who are putting alcohol aside, placing their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing in the forefront, and leaving the booze behind.
And just in time, here are four thriving Idaho companies that make delightfully satisfying concoctions you can enjoy at your home holiday party or anytime.
Kava Culture
South Pacific Islanders have used Kava to reduce anxiety and promote clarity for thousands of years. Now, you can do the same in Garden City.
Karuna Kava’s owner, Ben McQueen, serves kava in traditional short round bowls called shells, with fresh pineapple wedges as a chaser to balance the thick liquid’s earthy taste.
It’s a complex nonalcoholic drink because of its power to make your mouth tingle and shift your mood.
“For sure, it changes your state of mind,” he said.
McQueen uses different noble kavas imported from the South Pacific Islands. Each produces its own effect, from calming to uplifting, making it the perfect holiday beverage, he said.
“It fosters peace, calm, and togetherness,” McQueen said.
There are plenty of options for serving and enjoying Kava because it blends well with other beverages, McQueen said. He has kava drinks on tap mixed with Idaho Kombucha and Erth Bev. switchels that are lighter and zingier “...for the Idahoan who’s not familiar with it.”
Sweetened with organic honey and natural ingredients, he brews flavors like Autumn Apple, Bananas Foster, and Kava Lava Fire Cider, a kava tonic punctuated by habanero pepper.
“People love the Cacao Vanilla Kelai to make hot chocolate,” he said. “It also tastes good in coffee.”
The Autumn Apple can be served like hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick and cloves. If you’re feeling indulgent, top it with whipped coconut cream. And the Kava Lava gives a kick to Bloody Mary mix, he said.
McQueen discovered kava when his recovery journey landed him in a Colorado kava bar. He worked there for a few years before moving to Idaho to start his own kava enterprise.
Karuna opened in 2022, and the brand is now growing. In October, he opened inside Primal Coffee on the Boise Bench, transforming the popular coffee shop into a kava bar at night.
“I think the need for nonalcoholic beverages is growing,” McQueen said. “It’s been gratifying and truly satisfying to have people have a similarly positive experience with this beverage that I love.”
Switch It Up
Each year, Erth Bev. Co’s owners, Eric and Sam Herrera, brew up a seasonal beverage worthy of a holiday toast. This year’s Celebration Switchel is an oak-barrel aged blackberry, with apple, fir tips, orange, cinnamon, rosemary, and, of course, apple cider vinegar, sold in an elegant wax-dipped bottle.
If you’re not familiar with switchels yet, it is an apple cider vinegar-enhanced drink that harkens back a few centuries.
“It was the Gatorade of the 18th century,” Eric said. “It’s what farmhands would drink out in the field on hot summer days.”
He stumbled on the recipe in a 1973 Farmer’s Almanac. Then he and Sam used their skills in plant medicine, culinary arts, and biology to update the formula to feed the body and the spirit, Sam said. All ingredients are locally sourced when possible.
With flavors like Spiced Pineapple and Tumeric Lemon Ginger, switchels put Erth on the map. They also make seasonal flavors, botanical sodas, and Elderflower Ginger Beer.
Poured over ice with a fruity or herbaceous garnish, or just straight out of the can they satisfy.
Now, they have a new line of artisan vinegars made from their leftover juice.
Soulfully Sour vinegar reflects the company’s mission of sustainability and the couple’s personal ethic “… to regenerate the Earth and help heal people,” Sam said.
It hits the market mid-November. Find them at ErthBevCo.com as well as at specialty and farmer’s markets.
The OG
This year, pour a little Idaho Kombucha in your stocking—not literally, please. The locally made healthy probiotic beverage is more than good for you, it’s delicious.
Idaho Kombucha is the OG of Boise’s nonalcoholic beverage community. Mike and Terri Landa founded it in 2015 after tinkering with the recipe in their kitchen for a few years.
Today, IK cans are a staple in area grocery stores and farmer’s markets, and their signature truck can be found at most Boise events.
They started the company after leaving their first careers, Mike as a graphic artist and Terri as the wellness manager of St. Luke's Health System for 22 years. They distinguished their brand with a clean, refreshing drink that has an effervescence that’s not overpowering, and sophisticated flavors that eschew sugary sweetness.
“There’s a lot going on in each,” Terri said. She leans into some surprising culinary touches that add nuance and depth. One of their most popular flavors, Blackberry Fig, is punctuated by anise and fennel.
It’s delicious by itself poured into a wine glass or other fun barware. Try adding a few drops of IOnE Petals & Stems bitters for a dash more complexity. Or amp it up with our featured recipe that blends fresh blackberries, fig jam (Terri finds hers at Trader Joe’s), and lemon juice.
This holiday season, they are brewing up Pear Party, a blend of pear, ginger, star anise, and exotic helichrysum flowers. It will be available by mid to late November, just in time for your holiday fun.
Free Spirits Abound
For a most cocktail-like experience, fill your holiday glass with some Free Spirits. These powerful nonalcoholic libations are definite sippers, best served in a vintage martini class.
The flavors are complex and come with a strong hit of umami that warms you to your toes.
The company is owned by Melissa Nodzu-Wilson and Briana Kimball, the pair who made a mark on the beverage scene with IoNE artisan bitters, a healthful concoction that was once part of everyday life, Kimball said.
“They’re what people used for health,” she said, but now they’re reduced to a bar staple. The pair wanted to remind people how to use bitters for good, rather than “mixing something that is medicinal with something that’s not.”
So, they decided to literally shake things up by creating a line of grab-and-go, nonalcoholic cocktails you can shake and serve at home.
Kimball is the plant medicine mixologist and Nodzu-Wilson is the packaging and marketing wizard.
They started mixing alcohol-free cocktails at the farmer’s markets and at events and found that people were thirsty for their type of beverage experience.
Now, they make their own shrubs, a mix of fruit, vinegar and fruit or vegetable, and oxamyls, the same idea but with honey. They brew spiced teas, rosewater, syrups and other ingredients that add layers.
Kimball’s creations hit on flavor notes that satisfy, without the alcohol. Free Spirits’s campari is made of grapefruit, rhubarb, pink peppercorn, and other spices that hit the spot, then mixed with soda. She’s now working on a Mezcal, digging out the plant components that create its taste.
“Plants are magic,” she said. “They do your body good.”
So when you raise a glass at the holidays, you also can toast to your health.
BRAND RECIPES
Anything But Basic
2oz Spiced Tea
1 tsp pumpkin
1/2 oz half and half (use coconut milk if you want it to be vegan)
1/2 oz maple syrup
Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice and pour into a rimmed martini glass.
RIMMING SUGAR
1/2 c organic sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
SPICED TEA
2 oz cocoa nibs
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
4 cloves
Put ingredients in a jar and pour 32oz of boiling water, allow to sit overnight, and sieve off ingredients and store tea in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Leftover Martini
(Cranberry Sauce Martini)
2 oz rose cardamom tea
1 oz cranberry simple syrup
1 oz fresh lime juice
Put ingredients in a shaker with ice and pour into a martini glass, serve with a lime wheel or float some fresh cranberries.
CRANBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP
2 tbsp Free Spirits Shrubbed Cranberry Sauce
1/4 c water
Boil water and cranberry sauce together to make a simple syrup, sieve off cranberries and spices and discard.
ROSE CARDAMOM TEA
You can buy teas at the store or use
2 tbsp rose petals
4 cardamom pods
