Cocktails — and Their Unleaded Cousins, Mocktails — Are Having a Moment

Step aside, Shirley Temple. Today’s mocktails are as sophisticated and sultry as cocktails, if not more so. Take note of the Aperitivo Fizz at Folk by bar manager Jordan Spaulding. To make this classic egg white frothed recipe, he simmers a generous pile of grapefruit peel to extract the oils, then adds pink peppercorns, juniper berries, cloves and lavender flowers.

Next step is to seal the peels, herbs and spices in a pouch to cook in a sous vide bath for six hours. Strain the liquid off the peels and add sugar to the concentrate. Add food-grade vegetable glycerin to lend texture and frothiness to the cocktail when it’s shaken. Blend the grapefruit cordial with an equal amount of Dhōs Bittersweet, then add lemon juice, fresh ginger syrup and Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. tonic syrup. Shake and pour over ice in a collins glass and top with soda and a grapefruit peel.

Simple, right? We'll leave this complex chemistry to Folk, and to the rest of the mocktail geniuses at these fine establishments: Two Ten Jack, Miel, Husk, Blue Aster, 404 Kitchen.

Also notable is Audrey in East Nashville where Chef Sean Brock collaborates with nonalcoholic wine brand Proxies to create a red blend recalling the elderberry wine his grandmother made. Other zero-proof offerings include nonalcoholic aperitifs and beer, hop water and thoughtful juices and teas, such as iced milky oolong tea with grapefruit and honey.
@audreynashville

There are also now more cocktail bars than Fever-Tree has tonic, each one upping the ante with house-made bitters, syrups and other concoctions. Here are some notables: Le Loup, Jar Cocktail Club, The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club, Attaboy, Bay 6, Four Walls in The Joseph Hotel, Denim, Tiger Bar, Urban Cowboy Public House, Gertie’s Bar at 404 Kitchen, Patterson House