Curious Elixirs Makes Booze-Free Cocktails That Actually Taste Good

From Esquire

Non-alcoholic cocktails! They’re a Whole Thing now, and the best part of something becoming a Whole Thing is that we get a bevy of new and different options to try. My experiences with non-alcoholic drinks have been to... mixed results (think: sugar-packed virgin daiquiris). That is, until I recently came across Hudson Valley cocktailier Curious Elixirs, which bills its stuff as “craft cocktails without the booze.”

It’s easy to be skeptical. The concept might as well pose the question: What if you took the “fun” part out of cocktails, and just kept the craft part, where some self-described mixologist talks your ear off about herbs and fermentation? Yikes.

But Curious makes up for those concerns in the most important way: taste. These drinks are good as hell. And there’s more going on here than just whipping up a drink and holding the booze. Each beverage in the lineup riffs on a different style of familiar cocktail-like the Negroni, or Bee’s Knees, or Cucumber Collins-with twists like organic juices, roots, and botanicals.

Take the Curious No. 2, my personal favorite, which is described as a pineapple margarita meets a Dark and Stormy. A little sour, a little spicy, it’s a mix of citrus, pepper, ginger, and herbs that’s unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before. All without the hangover I’d have after seven or eight of these poured the usual way.

Anyone who’s ever tried going sober for a night out, let alone attempted a “Dry January” or a total lifestyle change, knows how tough it can be. The pressure to drink in social settings, usually to a dangerous extent, is high. There's plenty of evidence that shows we should just cut alcohol altogether. Curious, with its cool bottle design and delicious tasting elixirs, makes it a little bit easier to pass up that next round at the party.

So if you’re looking to start the new year off on the right foot and don’t know what else to do with your hands, give Curious a shot.

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