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ON THIS WEEK’S episode of Dinner SOS, test kitchen director and host Chris Morocco is joined by senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic, senior director of creative development Dan Siegel, and staff writer Sam Stone to talk about drinks—both with and without alcohol.
This year’s May issue of Bon Appétit highlights drinks in a bunch of different ways. First, there’s our story “Alla Vodka,” featuring recipes that incorporate the clear spirit in unexpected ways (like helping to create the creamiest no-churn ice cream) as well as the most tender pecan sandies.
Then there’s our cover story, “Brighten Up Your Bar,” featuring 15 summer-ready cocktail recipes that need only five bottles of booze to put together. Shilpa joins Chris to chat about those five essential bottles for warm weather—gin, mezcal, Campari, vermouth, and sherry.
Shilpa points out that making cocktails can be intimidating, especially if you try to recreate the fanfare on display at fancy bars. But Shilpa, along with our contributing editor Maggie Hoffman, leaned into developing drinks that were as simple as they were delicious and fun. Chris and Shilpa talk about the Garden Wedding, a peach yogurt fizz built on a base of gin, and the Sherry Colada, which uses sherry instead of rum for a lower alcohol drink.
Lastly, Dan and Sam then join Chris and Shilpa to taste some of the many nonalcoholic options on the market these days. They try Athletic Brewing Company’s Upside Dawn, which Sam compliments for its fizziness and Dan claims you could drink and not even miss the alcohol. They also try Oddbird’s dealcoholized red wine and NA spirits that would work as a substitute in cocktails—from Almave, an NA blue agave spirit, to Lyre’s American Malt, a bourbon alternative. They finish with a tasting of nonalcoholic canned drinks, like a take on a pomegranate Negroni sbagliato from Curious Exilirs and functional beverages like the feel good tonics from bonbuz.
Listen now to hear even more tips and tricks spanning the gamut of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks.