Gingerbread Non Alcoholic Old Fashioned
/Originally published November 2022
A traditional old fashioned cocktail takes a holiday non-alcoholic spin with a simple gingerbread syrup
Non-alcoholic bourbon is full of all the traditional bourbon flavours people enjoy, with rich, caramel-kissed or brown-sugar notes adding lovely layers to a non-alcoholic cocktail. It’s a perfect match for the spicy holiday flavours of gingerbread cookies. This cocktail brings back the fun of baking gingerbread, but elevates the sweetness with bitters and bourbon for a grown-up zero-proof version of an old fashioned.
Making gingerbread syrup
Non-alcoholic cocktails require flavoured syrups, among other things, to really elevate them. You can’t make this drink without the gingerbread syrup. It’s the hardest part of the recipe, but once you make a batch of this syrup you can use it in coffee, on coffee cake or make more nocktails with it! You can also buy gingerbread syrup from Amazon, but it’s worth making your own as the taste is fresher.
Simple syrup is usually 1 cup of water to 1 cup of sugar. For this recipe, we’re using Demerara sugar, rather than white granulated sugar. Demerara sugar is made from the first pressing of the sugar cane, and it has a nice subtle flavour of molasses - also a key ingredient in gingerbread cookies.
The allspice and cloves need one little bit of prep. To extract the freshest flavour, you can either use a mortar & pestle to crush them, or if you don’t have one, add them both to a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin.
It’s simple to pull this together, once you’ve peeled and chopped the garlic and crushed the spices. All the ingredients, except the vanilla, go into a saucepan and once you’ve brought it to a simmer for a few minutes, you remove from the heat, add the vanilla and let it cool.
Making a gingerbread cookie rim and garnish
This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it adds a real flair to your nocktail if you’re serving guests. Add a few gingerbread cookies to a plastic ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to gently crush them. Rim the glass with some of the gingerbread syrup, and roll in the gingerbread crumbs on a plate. Add a gingerbread cookie as a final bit of flair once the mocktail is done.
Making a non-alcoholic gingerbread old fashioned
Once the syrup is cool, it’s time to turn on the tree, tune in to some holiday tunes, and pull this non-alcoholic bourbon cocktail together. It’s only three ingredients: syrup, non alcoholic bourbon and bitters. Our tip is to mix it in the bottom of a rocks glass, and then add ice and stir again to chill.
**A note about ice: Try and use large square ice in all your non-alcoholic cocktails. The purpose of ice is not only to chill a drink, but to dilute the alcohol. Because non-alcoholic cocktails don’t need diluting, they are best served with extra-large ice cubes, with stainless steel ice cubes or chilled in a shaker and served sans ice.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup demerara sugar
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger root
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp vanilla
5 Allspice berries (smashed with a rolling pin)
5 cloves (smashed with a rolling pin)
Gingerbread Old Fashioned
4 oz Free Spirits Non Alcoholic Spirit of Bourbon
1 dropper, All The Bitters Alcohol Free Aromatic Bitters
1 oz Gingerbread Syrup + 1 tsp for rim
Gingerbread cookies (for garnish & cookie rim)
Preparation
How to make gingerbread syrup
Crush the allspice and cloves with a mortar and pestle.
Add everything, except the vanilla, into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves.
Keep on a simmer for several minutes, then remove from heat.
Add the vanilla, stir and then cover to cool.
Strain into an airtight glass jar or bottle.
Preparing the Cocktail
Put 4-5 gingerbread cookies into a plastic bag, or between parchment paper, and using a rolling pin to gently crush them. Pour crumbs onto a small plate.
Pour a small amount of ginger syrup onto a plate.
Dip a rocks glass into the syrup and then into the ginger crumbs to rim the glass with the cookie crumbs.
Add the rest of the cocktail ingredients into the rocks glass and stir to combine.
Add a big square ice cube, and stir again to chill.
Garnish with a ginger cookie.
Cheers and happy holidays!
Non-Alcoholic Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Non-alcoholic Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup demerara sugar
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger root
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 4 oz Free Spirits Non Alcoholic Spirit of Bourbon
- 1 dropper, All The Bitters Alcohol Free Aromatic Bitters
- 1oz Gingerbread Syrup + 1 tsp for rim
- Gingerbread cookies
Instructions
- Put 4-5 gingerbread cookies into a plastic bag, or between parchment paper, and using a rolling pin to gently crush them. Pour crumbs onto a small plate.
- Pour a small amount of simple syrup onto a plate.
- Dip a rocks glass into the syrup and then into the ginger crumbs to rim the glass with the cookie crumbs.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the rocks glass and stir to combine.
- Add a big square ice cube, and stir again to chill.
- Garnish with a ginger cookie.
