Easter Weekend: Options for an Alcohol-free Brunch

One of the key parts to rethinking drinking is finding a replacement mentally and physically for the thing your brain and thus your hands are craving. This weekend will be full of reasons to pop the bubbly for a boozy Easter brunch mimosa, because you’ve worked hard at being the Easter bunny and you’ve been with your kids all weekend. Maybe you just need something so you don’t dwell on virtual Easter 2.0? Regardless, I’ve got two options for you for brunch that will quench your fear of being drinkless.

Fauxmosa

My Fauxmosa is as good as the real thing. A traditional Mimosa, in case you’ve never had one, is made with orange juice and champagne or prosecco. The best Mimosas mix the freshness of real orange juice with the tart fizz of champagne. For me, one mimosa was never enough…but that’s another story. If you’re rethinking drinking, you will love this option for an alcohol-free mimosa that is an original discovery by my friend @spiritfreejess (find her on IG) in Buffalo:

Canada Dry ginger-ale is literally a dead ringer as a replacement for prosecco.

That’s it, that’s the secret. Half good-quality orange juice and half Canada Dry. Extremely chilled. In a beautiful glass. Of course, you will miss the headache that usually comes with a real Mimosa (wink) but you won’t miss the alcohol in the taste.

In case you’re not in lockdown or social distancing and have a thirsty crowd, you could make this into a pitcher drink and it will be just as good!

The Royal York

The Royal York is a circa-1920s hotel in Toronto that is exactly as it sounds - posh. Their full English tea is something you don’t want to miss when you visit the city, with lemony buttery scones and the best quality tea imported from the UK. I was inspired to make a drink that would be right at home on their menu, for those of us that don’t drink.

This drink is made with a shrub - no, not your garden variety, but a carefully crafted drinking vinegar that is the cornerstone of alcohol-free life. I’ll be writing a more definitive resource on shrubs soon, but for now all you need to know is that they are tart but have an amazing flavour range. You’ll need to order or pick up the one in this recipe in advance if you want to make it, but if you’re in Toronto, you have plenty of time before this weekend. You can find it at manningcanning.com. If you’re outside of Toronto, you can use any other vanilla based fruit shrub and you’ll get the same effect.

Ingredients for Two

3 oz Rhubarb-Vanilla Shrub from Manning Canning
2 oz Fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1.5 tbsp maple syrup
Club Soda

Glassware: A champagne glass, or small manhattan sized glass

To build this drink, give the maple syrup and the lemon juice a shake in a shaker with ice. If you don’t have a shaker and just want to whisk it together that’s ok, just make sure the ingredients have been chilled.

Pour 1 tsp of the shrub directly into each of the two glasses (you could double it for a larger crowd). Slowly add the lemon and maple syrup mix.

Top with club soda and serve immediately. Cheers!