As flexible drinking shows its staying power, bartenders are developing drinks that go both ways. These recipes each share one core concept, but are thoughtfully designed to shine with or without alcohol.
When Piper Kristensen opened the acclaimed Brooklyn restaurant Oxalis in 2018, the first guests arrived before the liquor license did. The unexpected spirit-free start to service required Kristensen and the beverage team to think on their feet. “Initially, the plan was to have a very traditional bar program, and we had to just totally scrap it,” he explains. “It forced me to approach drink-making in a different way, and really break down texture, sensation, and ways to carry flavor — what people are actually looking for when they want something to drink.”
The liquor license eventually came through, of course. But Kristensen held onto the lessons from those early days as beverage director, observing and iterating on what brings a non-alcoholic (NA) cocktail from good to great. He also saw that, even when full-proof drinks were back on the menu, guests were happy to have options — provided they were interesting, that is.
Kristensen’s latest project presents another similar mixological challenge, this time self-imposed. Golden Ratio, a new bar from Brooklyn’s Redwood Hospitality (of which Kristensen is a partner), takes the idea of NA options and runs with it: Every drink on the diverse menu can be prepared with or without alcohol. Few bars have attempted this kind of “split personality,” as Kristensen describes it, but it seems to have come at just the right time. These kinds of convertible cocktails have been popping up on menus around the country. And in all likelihood, we’ll only see more of them.
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In some ways, developing new cocktails that go both ways is an intuitive next step in the bar business. “No-proof and low-proof cocktails are here to stay,” observes David Yee, bar manager at Cobra, in Columbus, Ohio. It’s not uncommon, he says, for guests to order two or three NA drinks over the course of a night. The data backs up his observation: A Gallup poll from mid-2025 found that just 54 percent of adults in the U.S. reported consuming alcohol, the lowest level since the first such survey in 1939. Those who do drink alcohol told Gallup they are drinking less — and less frequently. “The no-proof section of our menu is always a section we are seeking to expand,” Yee adds. “The demand is there.”
At Cobra, many of the NA options were developed hand-in-hand with corresponding spirited versions, all drawing on the same core inventory of Asian American flavors: tropical fruits, fragrant citrus, florals, teas, and spices. “We put a lot of time and care into our unique pantry, so using those ingredients in different constructions of a cocktail was an easy choice,” Yee says. The “two drinks, one concept” approach” lends itself particularly well to the growing trend of zebra striping, or alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages during a
drinking session.
Yee, like others, credits the rise in high-quality non-alcoholic beer and spirit options for expanding the possibilities for these kinds of flexible cocktails. But it’s not always so simple as swapping out a spirit for an NA analogue, or working backwards from a popular classic cocktail to come up with a dupe. Often, for the best convertible drinks, bartenders develop the spirited and spirit-free versions in tandem — understanding what’s required for each to stand up on its own without compromising the existential bond between them.
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“There is definitely a nuance to developing a drink that will work well as both a non-alcoholic or alcoholic drink,” explains Alex Jump, director of operations at Denver’s new Peach Crease Club and co-founder of Focus on Health. “It’s not always a one-for-one swap, which is the most important thing to recognize.”
For the two convertible cocktails on the opening menu, the Peach Crease team developed bases that the spirited and spirit-free versions share, with subtle tweaks as the recipes branch in different directions. For the Calabaza en Tacha, a carbonated cocktail with pumpkin, orange, marigold, and maple, the version with mezcal stays on draft, while the spirit-free drink is made to order using Almave Humo (a non-alcoholic agave-based spirit) that the team pre-carbonates in the bottle for optimal integration into the carbonated base. Another convertible cocktail, the Borscht, starts with a clarified milk punch base made with beet juice, yogurt, and dill; for the most consistent flavor between the two versions, both the vodka and NA spirit additions are infused with
a smack of fresh horseradish.
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Convertible drinks can require more careful attention to elements you might take for granted in a more standard cocktail: texture, viscosity, duration of flavor, presence on the palate, and sensation in your mouth (or even up your nose). In developing the menu for Golden Ratio, Kristensen got granular. “We looked at the experience of drinking a cocktail, thinking about how a drink moves. What’s the experience like, from when you put it to your lips to after you’re done swallowing?” The NA side of the experience at Golden Ratio is heightened with a few strategic secrets: a touch of glycerin, maybe, to evoke the weight of alcohol and help the drink last on the tongue. Subtle amounts of spice or tannin, for structure and sensation. “Different kinds of acids hit your palate differently and at different times,” Kristensen explains; combining them makes for a more shapely sip. And there’s always carbonation: “It really blows flavor
in your face.”
Still, Kristensen’s initial approach is a little more freeform — built on a core flavor or seasonal ingredient before anything else. “I start with just thinking about the product that we’re excited about, and how I want to process it,” he says. “It could be a syrup, an extraction, a distillate, and then the subsequent decisions kind of fall into place after that.” He often uses different preparations or parts of the plant between the two drinks, without pressuring them to look too much alike. With the Nasturtium, for example, the NA drink uses zesty nasturtium leaves, and the spiritous version, the more delicate, peppery flowers.
Ant McCain, a bartender at Hayward in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, took a similar approach for the Quince Charming, a cocktail built around an ingredient that was too good to pass up. It’s based on the pink peppercorn-infused syrup left over from poaching 100 pounds of quince, which is mixed with lemon and either vodka or an NA alternative.
Jules Bandy, Hayward’s general manager and beverage director, adds another consideration for convertible cocktails that can make both versions equally special: presentation. “I find most NA drinks end up in short glasses full of ice and seltzer, like they’re trying to fill up excess space,” she says. “If you serve one up in a delicate glass, suddenly it feels like you’re in on the good stuff.” Both versions of the Quince Charming arrive in a Nick & Nora with a slice of persimmon. “You can tell when a bar has done the work,” Bandy says. “It’s important to us that our NA drinks don’t feel like an afterthought or an ‘alternative.’”
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One way to integrate convertible drinks without it feeling forced: Remember that, outside of the restaurant context, this kind of flexible drinking isn’t so new. Consider the simple spike — adding a tipple to the punch or sweet tea, for example, is a time-honored drinking tradition. At Jersey City’s San Patricios, a Mexican-Irish pub from the team behind the Dead Rabbit, the offerings reflect part of the drinking culture in bar manager Diego Livera’s native Mexico. “I always loved the big jars of colored agua frescas at the local taquerias, so we wanted to nod to that,” Livera explains. At family gatherings, he remembers, “everyone would share an agua fresca, and then the adults could add a ‘piquete,’ or a small pour of alcohol, to their glass.”
Livera wanted to replicate that communal feeling, but with a little more finesse — not only getting the agua fresca exactly right, but also finding a spirit that would lift it rather than fade into the background. The Agua de Horchata, for example, is paired with Jameson Black Barrel, providing a rich complement to the horchata’s spiced rice and Irish oats. At San Patricios, he’s seen families come in and order the same agua fresca, with the adults adding a piquete just like
one might at home.
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No matter how a convertible drink develops, many bartenders say the key is seeing the format as an opportunity rather than an assignment. “I think you lose the point if you’re chasing something,” Kristensen says — conceptualizing every drink through a full-proof lens, while tempting, can be limiting. Instead, accept that the two versions will inevitably be different, and think expansively in bridging the space between them.
“Plus,” Kristensen adds, “it’s cool to be able to have two opportunities to make a good drink, instead of just one.”
Ingredients
Nasturtium: Full Proof
1 ounce Nasturtium Flower Syrup
1 ounce Empirical Ayuuk
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce Pepper Acid
1/2 ounce mandarin vodka
2 drops 20% saline solution
Garnish: Nasturtium leaf
Directions
Combine in a shaking tin with ice and shake until well chilled.
Double strain into a chilled coupe.
Garnish with a Nasturtium leaf.
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Ingredients
Nasturtium: ZERO PROOF
340 grams Tomatillo and Nasturtium Mixture
1 1/3 ounces water
3/5 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce Seedlip Garden
6 to 8 drops of a 20% saline solution
Directions
Combine ingredients in a container to make a full 17-ounce batch.
Add 2 1/2 ounces of the batch to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled.
Strain into a chilled Martini glass.
Ingredients
2 cups water
400 grams sugar
40 grams Nasturtium flowers (green stems removed)
1.5 grams citric acid
1 gram lactic acid
1/2 gram ascorbic acid
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high. Blend until the sugar is dissolved and the nasturtium flowers have been thoroughly pulverized.
Strain the mixture through a Superbag.
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At Golden Ratio, the new cocktail bar from the team behind Place des Fêtes and other Brooklyn restaurants, every drink — built on local, seasonal produce — is available in both full-proof and spirit-free form. “In our company, we've always worked so seasonally, and in such proximity to the market, that there's always this influx of super exciting, delicious things passing through,” says beverage director and managing partner Piper Kristensen. “There's never a shortage of different flavor opportunities.”
Given the room to create two interpretations from one starting point, Kristensen likes to let the recipes follow different paths — processing the core ingredient in different ways or using different parts. With the Nasturtium, for example, the non-alcoholic version uses the plant’s “mustard-y and volatile” leaves, which have a savory side that’s reinforced in the drink with fresh tomatillo. The full-proof version, on the other hand, uses nasturtium flowers, “which have a delicate pepperiness that we layer with other pepper-based spirits.”
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Developed by Piper Kristensen, beverage director and managing partner at Golden Ratio
Ingredients
500 grams tomatillo
15 grams Nasturtium leaves
Directions
Add ingredients to a blender and blend until you have a salsa verde texture.
Strain the mixture through a coffee filter.
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Ingredients
POOL FLOAT
1 1/2 ounces lime juice
1 ounce Mango Cordial
1/2 ounce Cilantro-Serrano Syrup
Garnish: lime wedge
Directions
Add all ingredients to a shake and shake until well chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass over ice.
Top with a splash of soda water.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Ingredients
Above ground pool
1 1/2 ounces Patron Blanco Tequila
3/4 ounce Mango Cordial
1/4 ounce Cilantro-Serrano Syrup
3/4 ounce lime juice
Garnish: Szechuan Salt
Directions
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake until well chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
Garnish with Szechuan Salt rim.
Ingredients
100 grams mango puree
100 grams sugar
Directions
Add mango and sugar to a blender and blend until well incorporated.
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“Balance in a cocktail is always our goal,” says David Yee, bar manager at Columbus’ celebrated Cobra, a self-described Asian-American neighborhood bar. Spirits “provide body and mouthfeel,” he explains, “so when making NA cocktails using similar ingredients to a spirited cocktail, the consideration is how to replicate those features another way.” For this mango-based Margarita riff, the zero-proof version uses soda water to drive up the flavor and “capture the fun of the serrano and cilantro brightness... without the tequila.”
Unlike some other convertible-style cocktails, the spirited and spirit-free versions of Cobra’s drinks bear different names. It’s simply a matter of clarity. “Cobra is a high-volume bar,” Yee explains — this way, everyone can be confident they’re getting the right drink for where they’re
at that night.
Developed by Alex Chien, co-founder of Cobra
Ingredients
Borscht: ZERO PROOF
1 1/2 ounces Horseradish-infused Dhos Vodka Free
4 ounces NA Beet and Dill Milk Punch
Garnish: Horseradish Cream
Directions
Add Horseradish-infused Dhos Vodka Free directly to a double Old Fashioned glass.
Top with the pre-batched Beet and Dill Milk Punch.
Add a large cube of ice.
Top with a layer of Horseradish Cream.
Ingredients
71 grams peeled, chopped horseradish
6 1/4 cups Dhos Vodka Free
Directions
Combine horseradish and Dhos Vodka Free in a container.
Cover, label, and date.
Store refrigerated for 2 days.
After 2 days, strain off horseradish.
Label, date, and store in the fridge.
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Ingredients
borscht: Full Proof
Directions
Add Horseradish-infused Vodka directly to a double Old Fashioned glass.
Top with the pre-batched Beet and Dill Milk Punch.
Add a large cube of ice.
Top with a layer of Horseradish Cream.
Ingredients
184 grams peeled, chopped horseradish
17 cups Absolut Vodka
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
Directions
Combine horseradish and vodka in a container.
Cover, label, and date.
Store at room temperature for seven days.
After seven days, strain off horseradish and add honey.
Label, date, and store in the freezer.
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“What we have done at the Peach Crease Club is develop non-alcoholic bases that we can then incorporate alcohol or an NA spirit into,” explains director of operations Alex Jump. For this cocktail, inspired by the classic Eastern European soup, the base is a ruby-red “milk” punch with beet juice and dill syrup, clarified not with milk but with tart yogurt. For the spirit, Jump uses either full-proof or non-alcoholic vodka, both of which are steeped for multiple days with freshly grated horseradish for a nose-clearing zing.
Just as a bowl of borscht is best with a dollop of smetana, the drink is finished with a float of horseradish-infused heavy cream, which adds richness to the cocktail and a cooling balance to the sweet-tart beet — and makes for a striking visual contrast.
Developed by Alex Jump, director of operations at the Peach Crease Club and co-founder of Focus on Health
Ingredients
AGUA DE HORCHATA: ZERO PROOF
4 1/2 ounces filtered water
1 1/2 ounces Horchata
Garnish: orange wedge
Directions
Add ingredients to a highball glass on a large cube of ice.
Garnish with an orange wedge.
Ingredients
AGUA DE HORCHATA: FULL PROOF
4 1/2 ounces filtered water
1 1/2 ounces Horchata
1 ounce Jameson Black Barrel
Garnish: orange wedge
Directions
Add ingredients to a highball glass on a large cube of ice.
Garnish with an orange wedge.
Ingredients
2 grams vanilla bean, minced
38 grams Mexican canela cinnamon, lightly crushed
200 grams Irish oats, 1600 grams Arborio rice
4 ounces saline solution
4 ounces vanilla extract, pure
28 3/4 cups water
Directions
Add dry ingredients to an immersion blender. Pulse to shred (don’t puree).
Strain the product and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Weigh strained liquid and add 3% of its weight in sweetened condensed milk and 127% of its weight in sugar.
Process with immersion blender until ingredients are completely incorporated. Store in the fridge.
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Bar manager Diego Livera developed this booze-optional agua fresca for the opening menu at San Patricios, a Mexican cantina meets Irish pub in Jersey City. “No-and-low cocktails are a huge part of how people imbibe,” he explains, “and we wanted to make sure that we offered this in a considerate way,” one that worked with the bar’s overall concept. Aguas frescas were a natural choice — they’re designed to stand up on their own, but it’s not uncommon in Mexico to add a piquete, a small pour of liquor, to one’s glass.
Among the aguas frescas on offer at San Patricios is the Agua de Horchata, which doesn’t diverge too much from the Mexican standard except for one ingredient: Irish oats. It’s a nod to the other half of the bar’s hybrid personality and the roots of managing partner Jack McGarry, co-founder of The Dead Rabbit (where Livera was a longtime bartender). Another nod to Ireland: an optional splash of Jameson.
Developed by Diego Livera, bar manager
at San Patricios
Editorial
Joanna Sciarrino
Hannah Staab
Ingredients
3 1/4 ounces 1:1 simple syrup
3.5 grams sliced serrano peppers
12 grams cilantro (stem and leaf, rinsed)
Directions
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until well incorporated.
Let sit for 10 mins.
Strain through a fine strainer.
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Ingredients
70 grams salt
1 1/2 grams Szechuan peppercorns
2 1/2 grams Aleppo pepper flakes
Directions
Grind peppercorns.
Add salt and Aleppo and stir to incorporate.
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Ingredients
QUINCE CHARMING: ZERO PROOF
2 ounces ISH London Botanical Spirit
1 ounce Quince Syrup
3/4 ounce lemon juice
Garnish: persimmon slice
Directions
Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard until well chilled.
Strain into a Nick & Nora glass
Garnish with a persimmon slice.
Ingredients
QUINCE CHARMING: FULL PROOF
2 ounces Wild Roots Vodka
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce Quince Syrup
Garnish: persimmon slice
Directions
Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard until well chilled.
Strain into a Nick & Nora glass.
Garnish with a persimmon slice.
Ingredients
4 medium quinces, fuzzy skin scrubbed clean
1 1/2 cups sugar, Water to cover
1/2 lemon, sliced
Optional: 2 tsp pink peppercorns
Directions
Quarter and core the quinces (no need to peel). Cut into chunks about 1/2 inch thick.
In a medium saucepan combine quince, sugar, water, and lemon. Add peppercorns if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
Simmer uncovered for about 45 to 60 minutes, until the quince pieces are tender and the liquid has turned a pale rose color. Stir occasionally.
Pour through a fine-mesh sieve (don’t press too hard or the syrup will get cloudy). If you’re patient, let the weight of it drain on its own. Discard the solids, or save them for spooning over yogurt.
Let cool, then pour into a clean glass bottle or jar. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks. Makes about two cups.
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This convertible drink at Hayward, in the Willamette Valley town of Carlton, Oregon, started as a way to use up some delicious leftovers. The restaurant has a general “‘use what you’ve got’ attitude,” explains general manager and beverage director Jules Bandy. “We use every part of our ingredients to the best of our abilities, and compost the rest.” When the team was left with a glut of spiced quince syrup, the result of poaching roughly 100 pounds of fruit, they knew what to do.
When developing cocktails that can go either full or zero proof, Bandy explains, “not every drink translates easily,” especially ones that are spirit-forward. But working with bright fruit and light spirits, “you can play with texture, acidity, and botanicals to make something that feels balanced in either form.” Here, the result is a flexible cold-weather cocktail “without the heaviness or excessive richness that some winter drinks have,” Bandys says. Fresh quince oxidizes quickly, so the drink is garnished instead with a slice of mellow orange persimmon for an effect “like a little harvest sunset.”
Developed by Ant McCain, bartender at Hayward
words
hannah walhout
DESIGNER
marcello bevilacqua
Photography
Hannah Walhout (Nasturtium) Cobra (Above Ground Pool) Shawn Campbell (Borscht) Carter Hiyama (Quince Charming) DrinkInCreative (Agua de Horchata)
1 1/2 ounces Horseradish-infused Absolut Vodka
4 ounces NA Beet and Dill Milk Punch
Garnish: Horseradish Cream
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Ingredients
4 1/4 cups heavy cream
35 grams horseradish, peeled and chopped
Directions
Combine the horseradish and the cream in a container.
Cover, label, and date. Store refrigerated for 24 hours.
The next day check potency. If needed, let infuse for an additional 24 hours.
When ready, strain, label, date, and store refrigerated.
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FOUNDERS
JoSH MALIN & ADAM TEETER
Ingredients
6 ¼ cups simple syrup
50 grams fresh dill
2 ½ ounces beet juice
1 ounce lime juice
Whole probiotic yogurt
Directions
First make the dill syrup — set the immersion circulator to 135º Fahrenheit.
Combine simple syrup and fresh dill in a vacuum seal bag and seal.
Once the immersion circulator has reached 135º F, place the bag in the circulator and set a timer for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes, remove the bag from the circulator and place it into an ice bath. Let cool and strain.
Combine dill syrup with beet juice and lime juice and weigh.
In a separate container, add 30% of that weight in yogurt.
Pour the punch batch into the container over the yogurt and stir to combine.
Let sit at room temperature, covered, for one hour.
Strain the batch through a lined cone filter and ensure it strains without any cloudy bits.
Store the batch in a container in the fridge.
