Your Guide to Dry January

Night Inn Experience explores why the sober curious life has gained so much popularity.

After a holiday season filled with parties and meet ups, by January many are ready for a booze break. While “Dry January” isn’t a new trend–and more and more young people are abstaining from alcohol–the first month of the year is a great time to test out an alcohol-free lifestyle.

Enter Night Inn, the NYC-based hospitality experience that brings mixologists right to your door. We asked one of Night Inn’s master mixologists why mocktails have become so popular in recent years and got the recipe for her favorite mocktail! 

Why do you think mocktails are having a moment? 

“I think that non-alcoholic beverages in general have become so much more popular to the masses (certainly here in NYC) at all times of the year and January is, and has always been, a great time for sober curious folks to give it a try. There is so much support around making the decision to not drink or drink less, which I think is wonderful. In my opinion, the pandemic certainly affected many people's relationship with alcohol, and has changed the way in which people drink quite remarkably. Using January (the start of the New Year) as an attempt to embrace healthy lifestyle decisions is something that has always been around, and seems to be on an upward trend.”

If you’ve never mixed an alcohol-free beverage before, where do you start? 

“I love working with fresh ingredients and a great place to start is always fresh lemonade!  After you have those very easy specs (equal parts fresh lemon juice and simple syrup!), you can add whatever it is your heart desires that makes you happy! I always look to fresh fruits and herbs as a great combo. An easy example is to shake up fresh strawberries and mint with lemonade, or perhaps fresh blueberries and lavender. Once you have these basics nailed down, it's easy to find more difficult recipes and/ or play with more interesting flavor profiles.  Expounding upon simple syrups and turning them into shrubs is an exciting way to do this. To make a shrub, all you have to do is add vinegar.”

What’s your go-to mocktail recipe? 

Blueberry Lavender Shrub Mocktail:

1 oz Lavender Simple Syrup
.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.25 oz Champagne Vinegar

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain over fresh ice into a highball glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with fresh blueberries.  Add more or less syrup or vinegar/ acid to taste.

Lavender Simple Syrup

1 Cup Hot Water
1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
2 Tbsp Culinary Grade Lavender

Bring water to a simmer.  Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add lavender and allow to cool for one hour. Strain.

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