NoGroni — A shaken zero-proof answer to the Negroni, thyme and date instead of gin and vermouth

NoGroni

A shaken zero-proof answer to the Negroni, thyme and date instead of gin and vermouth

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 3 dashesOrange Bitters
    Alcohol-free, to keep the drink zero-proof
    Substitute: Any alcohol-free citrus bitters
  • 2 1/2 ozGhia
    The whole base of the drink
    Substitute: Another gentian-led non-alcoholic aperitif
  • 3 sprigsFresh Thyme
    Shaken in, not muddled
    Substitute: Rosemary, for a woodier drink
  • 1/4 ozDate Syrup
    For the weight vermouth would have given
    Substitute: Demerara syrup, though it is thinner

Instructions

  1. Add 2 1/2 oz Ghia, 1/4 oz date syrup, 3 sprigs of thyme and 3 dashes alcohol-free orange bitters to a shaker
  2. Shake hard with ice
  3. Strain over one large cube in a rocks glass and garnish with a thyme sprig

Technique Notes

Shaken, not stirred, and that is not a joke about a different drink. Three sprigs of thyme need agitation to give anything up, and without alcohol there is nothing else in the glass carrying aroma.

Why the NoGroni Works

Gentian is the one thing a zero-proof aperitif can borrow wholesale from the real thing, because bitterness does not need alcohol to work. What it does need is weight, and that is what the date syrup is doing where a Negroni would have vermouth.