Change of Address

Fasten your seat belts, we are going on a trip – to Portland, Oregon.

It is 4,900 miles and a twelve hour direct flight. We are going to have Eric Nelson’s signature cocktail at his Thai restaurant, Eem.

“Eric Nelson doesn’t take cocktails—or life, really—too seriously. Seriously! His drinks are well crafted, but they also have a sense of humor, and I love the way he doctors everyday Coca-Cola with savory soy sauce in this recipe. The drink is a killer pairing for a burger. —Julia Bainbridge.” (Reprinted from Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason by Julia Bainbridge, copyright © 2020)

It’s a Change of Address and Eric’s favourite cocktail. Ingredients: 3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3/4 ounce maple syrup, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 3 ounces Coca-Cola. Mix the juice, syrup and sauce then add ice and Coke. Of course you will cut a few corners: I use concentrated lemon juice and honey instead of maple syrup. Like the best cocktails it doesn’t taste of any of its ingredients. It is slightly salty and a little sharp – that’s the lemon juice – and doesn’t taste of Coke at all – a zero alcohol cocktail for grown-ups.

Now that we have come so far it would be madness not to pop over to  Departure for a Yu the Great invented by Samantha Azarow. Unfortunately, Clyde Common, home to Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Grapefruit Radler closed last month but you can get both recipes in Julia Bainbridge’s book. Some of her recipes are hard work; she ranks them one to four in order of complexity. Four she says “is a weekend project for which you have to source a number of ingredients and spend some serious time in the kitchen”. Best avoided, I’m sticking to One.

If you want maximum simplicity I recommend the recipe cards provided when you buy anything from Clean Co. Of course they all require Clean Co products. I have bought or been given pink gin, clear gin, rum and whiskey. The whiskey tastes noting like real whiskey and Clean Co sensibly calls it “non-alcoholic amber oaked spirit”. The rum is excellent with Coca-Cola, ice and a wedge of lime. The gins just need tonic and ice.