Mocktail Competition Focusing On Temperance and Inclusion

Oct 2

Oct 2 Mocktail Competition Focusing On Temperance and Inclusion

For Roger Gross, the idea that you can still have fun without alcohol is an important message for his community and was the inspiration behind the first annual non-alcoholic cocktail competition hosted by Gross and the crew at Sherkaan Indian Street Food in New Haven.

photo courtesy of Connecticut Food and Farm magazine

As the bar curator of the restaurant, Gross wanted to host an event that catered to his clientele. Sherkaan has a large Indian and Muslim customer base, many of whom do not drink for religious or personal reasons. So Gross teamed up with Fever Tree and Rishi Tea to bring the event to life. “What I wanted was a come one come all event. Temperance is cool and you don’t have to get drunk to have a good time,” says Gross.

Ten competitors met up to put their best foot forward, ranging from the CRAzies Award Best Bartender nominee, Michaela Zurstadt to Jeff Guo, a Yale law student without professional bar training.

photo by Amanda Kenny. Picture of Ruvin Bugoti

“When I heard there was going to be a non-alcoholic competition, I knew it was going to be an incredible challenge and I just wanted to be a part of it,” says Ruvin Bogati, competitor and General Manager of Fork and Fire in Farmington.

The ingredients were just as diverse as the competitors ranging from homemade kombucha to tea infused foams. Some used vegetable components such as the tomato-based drink created by Andrew Hotis of August restaurant in New Haven.

Recently, mock-tails have been cropping up on bar menus across the country including Sherkaan’s. “I’m definitely on the cutting edge of major markets which is a huge thing in Connecticut,” says Gross. “A lot of people that may be sober, whether it’s because of the religious aspect or not, and they are tired of drinking soda.”

Though this may not be an entirely new concept it is one that has been gaining more attention in the industry. “I think we are becoming more conscious of the drinking that we do as restaurant people yet still appreciate the great ingredients that go into these cocktails so I believe mock-tails will be a growing trend moving into the next year,” says Bogati.

Out of the ten mock-tails presented that evening, the drink that really wowed the judges and earned the winning spot surprisingly was from Guo. He cleverly named the drink “Pacific Rim Fog” after the “geologically active areas of the Pacific” where many of the ingredients can be found.

“Sometimes crazy exciting things happen! Everyone was so excited for him,” says Gross.

Second-place was claimed by Zurstadt, Bar manager at The Blake Hotel in New Haven and third-place went to Grace Perez, Bartender at Sherkaan.

The event which took place on September 23, had a great turnout according to Gross. “The goal was to create a lot of exposure to everyone here tonight that does not have that great of a non-alcoholic cocktail program and hopefully they’ll start putting those drinks on their menu,” he says. He learned a lot from this initial experience and already has ideas on how to improve it in the future.