Rachel Marwedel
Website Manager
Each Monday, I gather my roommates and taste-test two mocktails. Here’s how this week’s went:
Eggless-Nog
Is it really eggnog if you remove the eggs?
6 cups non-dairy milk
1 ½ cups coconut milk
1 ½ tsp non-alcoholic vanilla extract
¼ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp cinnamon
6 pitted dates
(optional) ground nutmeg or cinnamon for garnish
Soak dates for 10 minutes. Blend the dates well, then add the rest of the ingredients and blend again. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon.
This recipe comes from Drinking for Two by Diana Licalzi Maldonado and Kerry Benson. Before you start, do know – I did absolutely zero measuring in this, and totally guesstimated. I began with soaking my dates. This was my first time using dates, so after the initial thought of “Soak??? Like a bath??? Am I… bathing fruit now?” I let them rest in some water for 20 minutes and then blended. After blending, I added the spices, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and a special blend of non-dairy milks. Why a blend? Well, one summer, I worked at a coffee shop where I had too much time and not enough supervision. As a result, I tried, tried again, and tested every possible combination of non-dairy milks. My conclusions? Half soy and half oat is the optimal mix. I strained the end result, and sprinkled a bit of nutmeg on top.
I’m actually allergic to large quantities of eggs, so I can’t have regular eggnog. Upon first taste, I thought: “This is it! Ambrosia from heaven, finally mine!” But my very kind, not-allergic-to-eggs roommates told me it just tasted like oat milk with some nutmeg. Oh well.
Rating: 1.5/3
Soft Lemonade
Isn’t soft lemonade just…lemonade…?
¾ cup lemon juice
3 cups coconut water
3 tbsp light agave nectar
3 cups seltzer
(optional) lemon slices for garnish
Mix the lemon juice, coconut water, and agave nectar in a pitcher. Stir well. Top with seltzer; stir. Serve over ice in highball glasses. Garnish with lemon slices.
This recipe also comes from Drinking for Two, and I ended up cutting this recipe by a third. It was a pretty simple process: mix, add the seltzer, mix again, then add some ice. I found my agave nectar by the bulk honey in Winco, and my highball glasses nowhere, because I didn’t use highball glasses.
Look. I’ve had Chick-fil-a lemonade, I’ve had side-of-the-road some kid’s summer business lemonade. I’ve had strawberry lemonade, blueberry lemonade, even lavender lemonade. And I’ve never liked a single one – until this drink came along. It’s soft, subtle, sweet, and all-around a delight compared to the sickening sugary tones of the $1 cup of lemonade you just purchased from a gap-toothed child’s stand on a sweltering August day. So for any kids reading this with dreams of running their very own lemonade stand… take notes!
Rating: 2/3 (but on the lemonade scale, it’s a 3/3)
Photos by Rachel Marwedel.
