Rachel Marwedel
Website Manager
Each Monday, I gather my roommates and taste-test two mocktails. Here’s how this week’s went:
Milk or Cookies Mock-tini
A waste of gingerbread cookies.
1 tbsp finely ground nuts, gingerbread cookies, or graham cookies
1 tsp maple syrup
1 ½ cups non-dairy milk
½ tsp non-alcoholic vanilla extract
¼ cup coconut milk (canned)
1 ½ tbsp blackstrap molasses
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt
Crumbled gingerbread cookies or nuts for garnish
Rim two glasses with maple syrup and then dip into ground cookies or nuts. Add all ingredients to the blender. Blend well until the ingredients look smooth and creamy. If desired, strain any remaining bits of ginger. Pour into martini glasses and garnish with crumbled gingerbread cookies or nuts.
This recipe comes from Drinking For Two by Diana Licalzi Maldonado and Kerry Benson. I started by rimming the glass with maple syrup and then covering it with gingerbread crumbs. I added the soy milk, vanilla extract, coconut milk, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. I didn’t have any cloves on me, so I skipped them. After tasting, I added at least two more tablespoons of molasses. Molasses (or any sugar component) and garlic are similar: you add whatever your heart desires.
Look. This isn’t anything spectacular. I liked the rim, it’s cute. Nothing more to say. As Ariana Grande would say, “Thank you, next.”
Rating: 2/3
Chocolate Cream Mock-tini
Mmmmm! Watery Pudding!
2 cups non-dairy milk
2 ½-oz dark chocolate, melted
¼ cup avocado
1 tsp non-alcoholic vanilla extract
3 pitted dates
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
Soak dates in water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, rim glasses by dipping them in melted chocolate. Allow the chocolate to harden by placing the glasses in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend on high for a longer period of time to break up the dates for evenly distributed sweetness.
This recipe also comes from Drinking For Two by Diana Licalzi Maldonado and Kerry Benson. Pro tip: Chocolate is finicky, much like my mental state. Melting it requires constant maintenance, also much like my mental state. And in both, I failed to take care of them properly. Also, don’t use dried dates. Either use date syrup or fresh dates, or perhaps… a date with me? (Email me!)
Boy oh boy, I sure do love watered-down pudding. And now you can have watered-down pudding too! In all honesty, this tastes very deluxe. It just, uh… tastes like ooze. This might do better as a pudding than a drink.
Rating: 2/3
