My fellow drink writer Liza Weisstuch wrote a story about seltzer and the specific affinity that the jewish people of NYC have for it.
The story includes some quotes from me, as I covered the medicinal history of spas and the soda fountain in my book Doctors and Distillers.
The story is very fun and super interesting – read the whole thing here.
My latest piece for Food & Wine is "How a Bottled Water Goes Social Media Viral and the Real Differences Between Them"
The reporter for this story in The Guardian and I talked a long time about clear ice, iceberg water, and bottled water.
Not much made it into the final story from me (so it goes) but I did get mentioned in the lead paragraphs!
Towards the end of 2009, Camper English achieved a major breakthrough in his kitchen in San Francisco. After months of experimentation, English, a drinks industry consultant, created the perfect piece of clear ice: a cube with minimal fissures and microbubbles, as transparent as air.
His method for making clear ice – freezing water in an insulated container, which forces tiny bubbles towards the edge and leaves the rest of the block clear – is now widely copied in bars. English has also written The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts, and has found his algorithmic niche as Instagram’s top “ice cube reporter”. He regularly shares pictures of bevelled spheres, ridged gems and crystalline pebbles on his account @alcademics, all tagged with #IceBling.
The story has some good points – the most important one being that bottled water does not compete with tap water.
But anyway, if you want to geek out about water with me, I have an upcoming water class in April 2024 you can join!
I recently read the 2012 book Drinking Water: A History by James Salzman, in preparation for my forthcoming water classes I'm teaching in San Francisco.
It is about the history of public and private drinking water and bottled water, from olden times until recent times. From researching Doctors and Distillers I already knew a lot of information in this book, but it deepened my understanding of some things.
Here are some facts I picked up.
Roman Lead Poisoning
You know how people theorize lead poisoning might have killed off the Roman Empire? Well if so, the lead likely didn't come from the lead pipes, even though those were used to carry water- in part because they became calcified and the water wouldn't touch the lead. But they did boil fermented grape juice into a syrup called sapa for sweetening foods and beverages, since they didn't have sugar yet. The boiling was often done in lead pots, and it was this source of lead poisoning that could have led to problems.
p. 71
Montezuma's Revenge
Traveller's belly was known by different names in different parts of the world. Montezuma's Revenge, Delhi Belly, Mummy Tummy (Egypt), and Karachi Crouch (Pakistan). It's not neccesarily that the water is so bad, it's that you're not used to it.
p. 76
Chlorinated Water
Chlorinated Water dates to 1902 – the first municipality to use it was Middelkerke, Belgium. In 1908 Jersey City became the first city in the US to do so for an entire city.
Drinking Fountains
Public drinking fountains were often sponsored as charity works by pro-Temperance groups, both in England in the 1800s and in the US leading up to Prohibition. They were provided as free alternate sources to beer, which was the more common form of hydration before modern sanitation. Still, many public drinking fountains had a community cup chained to them for drinking! A lot of people got sick from the cups. The modern "bubbler" with water that shoots out so that you don't need a cup was an answer to the communal cup.
Some early drinking fountains in the US had space to add 20 pound blocks of ice to chill the water.
Branded Water
The first branded bottled waters were from holy wells during the era of European religious pilgrimages and visits to holy sights and relics. One could purchase flasks that were branded with the source. Later on, healing mineral waters became the branded bottled waters.
p 168
Modern Bottled Water Brand Dates
Poland Spring 1845
Vittel 1855
Perrier 1863
Deer Park 1873
Arrowhead 1894
p 171
Bottled Tap Water
For Dasani and Aquafina, "Coke and Pepsi take tap water; run it through a series of fine filters to remover minerals and bacteria, ultraviolet and ozonation treatments to kill any remaining organisms, and reverse osmosis to remove any remaining materials; and then add minerals back in because all the taste has been removed."
p 178
US FDA Regulated Terminology
I don't think I knew that certain terms on bottled water bottles are regulated. I verified on the FDA website:
The agency classifies some bottled water by its origin. Here are four of those classifications:
- Artesian well water. This water is collected from a well that taps an aquifer—layers of porous rock, sand, and earth that contain water—which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface. Other means may be used to help bring the water to the surface.
- Mineral water. This water comes from an underground source and contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.
- Spring water. Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface, this water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole that taps the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.
- Well water. This is water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.
Monitoring Water
“One thing is certain: Bottled water is less stringently regulated than tap water.” Bottled water isn't necessarily more "pure" or safe than tap water. It certainly can be though.
p 183
I provided some context for a story about carbonated water for Wine Enthusiast.
“Naturally carbonated mineral spring water was thought to be extra healthy compared with regular mineral water, and far healthier than surface water from rivers and streams,” English notes. “European and American mineral springs rich in iron or other mineral salts were recommended to settle the stomach or treat conditions including anemia.”
Many distilleries brag about their pure water supply, but typically that water is only used for fermentation, and then reverse osmosis filtered or distilled tap water is used to dilute spirits down to bottle proof. So the quantity of that special water left in the bottle is small – in the case of vodka it's just a few percent.
Some producers claim to use special water but then do the RO or distillation to it to remove minerals and other organic matter from it for bottling, making the special water a lot less special.
That's what I suspected was going on when I noticed that on the new Lucky Thirteen bottling from Widow Jane bourbon the label says, "Pure limestone water from the legendary Rosendale mines of NY."
So I asked their PR team for clarification- it would be pretty unusual to be using untreated/filtered water.
I heard back from Lisa Wicker, President and Head Distiller for Widow Jane. She wrote:
It is very unusual to use mineral-rich water for proofing! When I “inherited” proofing using water from the Rosendale limestone mines, it took me a while to determine how to handle it. We worked with water engineers on a withdrawal system that does not strip the minerals. The water tests beautifully, it does not need to be treated. Our cave is under lock and key for purity and we hold the only permit of its' kind in New York for withdrawing cave water as an ingredient. Finally, we “polish” the whiskey without chill and conventional filtration, which would have stripped the minerality out that makes Widow Jane whiskey, “Widow Jane.”
So, it turns out that they do something that I think is pretty unique. I will have to see if I can detect any mineralogy when I taste it.
I was recently in touch with Top Note Tonic founders founders Mary Pellettieri and Noah Swanson about their new Club Soda that was created specifically for making highballs with whiskey. They went into the process with specific goals in mind to pair it with whiskey, researched styles of water and other brands' mineral content, then experimented with specific minerals to use for best results.
The end product contains water, potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and salt.
To achieve their ideal club soda, Pellettieri says that they followed "standard beer chemistry rules – to make malty beer the brewer will add chloride ions and have a 2:1 chloride:sulfate content minimum. The goal was to make it high chloride, low sodium. [Other brands] didn’t take a position on what a club is. It was time to make club soda different, not just salty water. "
"We really followed beer brewing fundamentals and built our club soda water base to amplify malt, like a beer brewer would do to make a light malty beer. It so happens the core ion, chloride, is what we focused on here. I think this reference is the best to explain the different mash water chemistry and the impact to beer across the world.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/brewing-water-target-profiles/
"In brewing, they look at the ions separately, and focus on ratios. SO4/Cl ratio is an important one, as is the hardness and alkalinity of the water. They all play a factor in the final product, because of how the malt interplays with the mash."
But water of this style is also similar to Kentucky limestone water. "Noah found after researching that it was close to Kentucky water. We found out indeed Kentucky water was close, but not exact to what we set out to do. We focused on the mineral content, keeping it low sodium, but high in calcium, magnesium and minerals that amplify flavor."
Differentiation
Pellettieri says, "The chloride helps pop the citrus [notes], so it plays nice with vodka too. It's probably not best in a bitter drink."
They had other brands of club soda analyzed.
Swanson says, "[We looked at] a few waters from Japan –those were also low sodium, but some were also low in other minerals."
Pellettieri says, "Mineral waters are variable, so the numbers change a bit…. Schweppes is hugely salty. Q is salty. Our target was 54, a little lower than Fever Tree. I think later in the game we decided to add more potassium – it adds some mouthfeel. But too much potassium chloride gave it a swimming pool character. Topo Chico is high in sulfate. So is San Pellegrino – it almost has an eggy character from sulfate [sulfur]."
I asked about Burton Water Salts, which are a pre-mixed ratio of minerals that are used to make beer, but they also closely resemble the mineral ratios in San Pellegrino.
Pellettieri responded, "Burton salts famously produce really hoppy beer and we didn't follow that sort of chemistry. We followed the rules for making 'light/malty' beer as the image below shows. You can see the light hoppy beer water chemistry formal below as well, it has nearly 3:1 So4/Cl. Brewing research shows the higher the SO4, the higher the hop perceptions. Even 4:1 is what they strive for. But we were not going for that."
Carbonation
Swanson said of carbonation, "We did a lot of whisky highballs in the office. [We were aiming for] a subtle mouthfeel, super bright carbonation to lift the maltiness of whiskies."
"Our goal was 4.0 volumes. Most beer is 2.5-2.8 volumes. Champagne can be 6.0."
I don't recall if they had other brands measured for carbonation level. I asked if it is possible to get that high carbonation in cans versus bottles. They told me it's challenging to reach high carbonation levels in cans by nature of canning and the large surface area of the top of a can, versus bottles.
Production and The Future
Swanson says, "Our co-packer packs with 100% RO [mineral-free reverse osmosis-filtered] water. Other ones only use a portion of RO water. So that was a problem with others. [Our co-packer] mixes minerals into water then dilutes with more water [before force carbonating]."
I asked – since this is "Top Note Club Soda No 1, aka 'Kentucky Club" if that means there are plans for this to be a range of club sodas. Yep, there are.
Pellettieri says they're, "Planning to do a series of them – low and higher sodium sodas: High sodium for more bitter drinks [like bitters and soda]; lower for malty more subtle. A little sodium goes a long way."
DIY at Home
Are you curious about making your own custom soda water at home? A few years back I did some experiments I called The Water Project. The most relevant posts are:
In a series of posts I've been nerding out about cognac production, after sending a list of 100 questions to Hine cognac's cellar master Eric Forget, and combining that information with what I can pick up in books and elsewhere.
In this post, I'll talk about diluting and additives used in cognac. There is a lot that happens in between taking cognac out of a barrel and it being sealed up in a bottle.
The posts in this series are:
1. Cognac from grapes to wine.
2. Cognac distillation and the impact of distillation on the lees.
3. Wood and barrels used for cognac.
4. Aging conditions for cognac.
5. The strange exception of early landed cognac.
6. Dilution and Additives in Cognac.
Dilution in Cognac
As mentioned in an earlier post, dilution in cognac does not necessarily come all at the end just before bottling. Diluting alcohol with water is actually an exothermic reaction – it creates heat. And heat blows off more volatile aromas. Much of what is done in cognac's gentle handling is specifically designed not to blow off volatile aromatics.
So cognac is often diluted slowly over the years – a little bit more water is added at certain intervals during aging, and a final amount at the end before bottling (well, most likely while marrying the blend that will rest before bottling). According to Cognac by Nichos Faith, they don't bring it down below 55% ABV while aging though, as it needs to be stronger to interact with the wood in the barrel. (Cognac is distilled to 70% initially and at least at Hine they dilute to 62-65% before putting it in barrels.)
The water used for dilution at Hine is reverse osmosis filtered totally neutral water so that there is no flavor impact on the spirit.
Some producers, however, dilute with petits eaux. Petits eaux ("small waters") is made by putting water into an old cask. This will pull some of the alcohol out of the wood and end up at around 20% ABV after six months, according to Cognac. This water is used to further slow the rate of dilution. [Note that in most places it is spelled "petites eaux," just not in the Cognac book.]
Faith's book says petits eaux are used by "reputable" producers, but Hine's Forget says they do not use petits eaux because "There is a negative impact in term of finesse."
Another reason to dilute cognac slowly is saponification – if not done correctly, the brandy can take on soapy flavors, as Faith writes, "When brandy is blended with water, molecules of fatty acids clash and the result is the sort of cheap, soapy cognacs found in all too many French supermarkets."
I would love some time to compare quick-diluted soapy-cognac with properly-reduced version to see how soapy soapy cognac is.
Boisé
Some call boisé cognac's dirty secret. It is woody water made from boiling wood chips down into a thick liquid. This liquid is added to cognacs to make them woodier without the cost of new wood barrels. As Faith writes, "It thus provides a shortcut for those wanting to add a touch of new wood to their cognacs – and an alternative to buying new casks which now cost up to £500 each, which equates to over a pound per bottle of cognac. "
Forget says that boisé is often used in wine production (I had no idea, but it makes sense), but Hine does not use it in their cognac. Faith writes that there is no limit on boisé used in cognac, unlike other additives.
I wonder about making some boisé at home to make "barrel-aged" cocktails without the barrel…. I'll have to think about that next time I get some wood chips.
Sugar
According to Faith, it is permissible to add up to 8 grams of sugar per liter to cognac, and certainly it is very common to add sugar especially to young cognacs. In the case of Hine, Eric Forget says their VSOP and XO expressions do have added sugar, but not the rest of the line. He says, "It is a common habit for all houses to deliver a little sweetness."
Caramel
Coloring caramel, which should be flavorless, is a common additive not just in cognac but scotch whisky, rum, tequila, and pretty much all aged beverages except straight bourbon where it is not allowed.
Most producers will say that adding caramel is for "consistency only" and not to make the products appear older by being darker, but in cognac some producers are actually honest about it. For Chinese/Japanese markets in particular cognacs are often made darker than the same cognacs sold elsewhere. (Nicholas Faith writes that they are often made "richer" as so they can be diluted with ice as they are frequently consumed.)
Forget says that Hine does not make their products for other markets extra dark.
Filtration
Forget says Hine is filtered, "Like all the houses of cognac, at room temperature and then again at cool temperature. Cognac is very rich in oils and if some are [removed] during the filtration, and if the filtration is well conducted, there is no negative impact on the quality. It is also necessary to export in cold regions."
Typically spirits below 46% ABV are chill-filtered for just this reason – when the spirits get cold, oils can come out of solution and look cloudy. Consumers, generally speaking, associate this with the spirit being bad or moldy or something; and cognac is nearly always bottled at 40% ABV, so all cognac (that I know about anyway) is chill filtered. Forget says this is only done for visual reasons.
If you ever want to see the effect, take a 46% or higher spirit (probably whiskey) and add some cold water to dilute it a bit. Place a glass of this and a glass of full-strength spirit in the freezer and compare after they chill – you can see the cloudy bits in the diluted one.
Marriage
I did not ask Forget specific questions about how long after creating blends does the cognac sit in large vats to "marry," to come into harmony with itself so that it doesn't taste disjointed. (To be fair, I'd already asked him 100 questions at this point.)
But when I inquired if I'd missed anything or if anything else could impact the blending process, he said two factors I hadn't mentioned were having bad wood (which is a problem I think we're seeing in all the small batch American whiskies – people are so concerned with distilling they forget to pay attention to the barrels); and the other potential problem is not allowing enough time for marrying the blend before bottling.
So, this is the last official post in the series sponsored by Hine cognac. I've learned so much, and yet I still have so many questions! But that's the nature of learning - you're never done, it's always a journey. I hope you were also able to enjoy the ride.
Note: This series of posts has been sponsored by Hotaling & Co, importers of Hine cognac.
Several years ago I visited the Deanston and Bunnahabhain scotch whisky distilleries. Click on those words to read about the visits.
At the time I was there I was really obsessed with the effects of water in distilled spirits (not that I'm over it), so I followed up with some super specific questions about the pH and TDS of the water sources. I never ended up putting up a blog post about it but now it's about time.
Note that the Highland and Islay distilleries have slightly basic water (above 7.0), while the Island of Mull distillery water is slightly acidic. It would be more typical for Islay water to be acidic, as it typically runs through decaying vegetation through peat bogs, but at Bunnahabhain they collect the water upstream, two miles from the distillery. (Read more here.)
Deanston (Scottish Highlands slightly north of Glasgow)
Water Source: River Teith
Ph 7.1
Total Hardness ( mg CaCO3/ L ) 19.5
Colour (mg/L Pt/Co scale ) 20
Calcium ( mg/L ) 6.18
Bunnahabhain (Islay)
Water source: Margadale underground river
Ph 7.2
Total Hardness 120.7
Colour 50
Calcium 29.5
Tobermory (Isle of Mull)
Water Source: Gearr Abhainn
Ph 6.2
Total Hardness 21.4
Colour 175
Calcium 5.02.
To see how these water sources compare against typical Highland/Islay water, see this post as well as the whole Water Project series here to see how different water sources change the flavor of whisky before and after distillation.
It's January, and maybe you're taking a break from drinking so much or maybe you've resolved to drink less. Here are some suggestions on what to drink instead.
I asked my bartender pals on Facebook what they drink when they're not drinking alcohol. I didn't expect 100 of them to reply! I put them into various categories mostly based on their first answer to the question. There are some conclusions at the end. It is very long.
Water! And Coconut Water
It seems that people who like plain water also like herbal tea.
Daniel Castro of La Banane in Toronto, Ontario: Water. I'm getting older, I get migraines, and so looking after my health is #1. Herbal, peppermint tea is another go-to.
John Lermayer, Sweet Liberty, Miami: Alkaline water and green tea (together and separately)
Paul Bradley of Dubai: Large amounts of water, St Clements, lashings of ginger beer. And coconut water
Jabriel Donohue of Circadia, Seattle: Plain soda water, herbal tea, non alcoholic beer
Robert Freeman of Sidecar in Jacksonville FL: Acqua Panna with fresh squeezed lemon.
Charles Steadman: Mayim sparkling water and sencha tea from JoJo tea
Nonna Titulauri of Hakkasan San Francisco: If I'm out but not drinking, if I'm at a restaurant bar, I either drink hot/cold tea or a coffee beverage. And if I'm at a single standing bar, I just drink water with no ice. I like to keep it simple. I often times go visit my friends after my shift at bars where they work and just have a glass of water.
Chris Grimm of Sugar & Olives, Norwalk, CT: I try to drink a couple of litres of water, during a shift. My non-alcoholic, non-water go-to is Pellegrino Pamplemousse.
Ricardo Albrecht: Coconut water
Topo Chico Sparkling Water
Mindy Kucan of Hale Pele Portland, OR: Topo Chico!!!! I always have a case of topo in my car! Iced tea- sometimes I sweeten it. Black tea, golden milk, and I make this coconut water-banana-cocoa powder-Hawaiian sea salt smoothie that does the trick.
Pamela Wiznitzer of Seamstress, NYC: Topo Chico when available. Otherwise, I drink loads of tea and very into matcha these days!
Brad Bowden of Lounge Here Dallas, TX: Topo Chico for sure! HOLY Kombucha is up there on my go to list.
Donnie Pratt: Tap water, Topo Chico or Mountain Valley Springs and espresso 1000 Faces out of Athens, GA are my favorite.
Stuart Humphries of The Pass & Provisions, Houston, TX: Topo Chico, a highly effervescent agua mineral hard to find outside of Mexico and Texas, goes great with everything, esp. tacos and hangovers
Greg West: Topo all the way. Topo with hint of lime. So good.
Cameron George: Topo chico and Ango.
Kyle Zimmerman, Hutch on Avondale, Oklahoma City: Topo Chico with bitters and an orange slice. I feel like the minerality of topo really plays well with the bitters.
Will Croxville: Topo Chico if possible, but if not just regular old seltzer water for me.
Rich Heider II: Topo Chico
Sodas or Soda Water with Splashes of Something
Paul Russell of Hugo's, Portland Maine: Cinotto by San Pellegrino. Also, what I call the hydrito…an N/A mojito with a heavy hand of ango.
Danny Ronen, Consultant: I go for effervescent with little to no sugar, so: Perrier Grapefruit, Coconut water (preferably the one Robert Pallone has been working on for the past few years, it's so GD delicious and some of the lowest sugar content i've seen), Hot water, fresh lemon juice (neighbor's tree).
Tony Morandi of 900 wall/the Capitol. Bend OR: Coffee. Half soda water/half water. Tea is awesome mid day and night. Veggie based smoothies. Coconut water. But for special occasions, well made/ interesting sodas in limited quantities. Made a pineapple allspice soda the other day that was killer
Jason Laidlaw of The Shameful Tiki Room, Vancouver: Water, splash of pineapple if I need an energy boost (and the opened can(s) of soda water at the end of the shift. Not at work: coconut water (no added sugar), kombucha, water.
Travis St Germain of Clover Club, Brooklyn: Soda water lime juice and salt.
Matt Roberts of London: 1 lime, Mexican elbowed, pinch salt and soda water during service. Pot after pot of pu'erh tea helps keep the focus on line clean day too!
Josey Packard of Bar Mezzana, Boston: I make a tamarind syrup that has brags vinegar in it, a no-sugar St John's "syrup," and a sarsaparilla syrup.
Andy Griffiths: Sparkling water with yuzu juice!
Jamaal PatronJames Bowen: Clayton's Kola Tonic, splash Ginger Ale and 4 dashes of Angostura Bitters for good measure
Elliot Clark of Trick Dog, SF: Soda water, pineapple juice, and Peychauds bitters.
Alastair Burgess: Lemon, lime and bitters, actually available as a canned soft drink in the Caribbean. Other wise, ginger juice, lemon juice ango bitters and soda water.
Kailee Asher of Counter Intuitive/Undertow in Phoenix AZ: I'm pregnant right now so no drinking for a while… Clausthaler N/A beer, club soda and ango, dealer's choice N/A cocktail at a cocktail bar – had a really good smash at Otium in LA!
Odd Strandbakken of Himkok, Oslo. Norway: soda, ice, grapefruit bitters and grapefruit zest!
Francis Schott of Stage Left & Catherine Lombardi a restaurants, New Brunswick, NJ: Blenheim Ginger Ale (not-so-hot) out of the painted glass bottle (never plastic) or Elderflower syrup and soda. 2 oz in 6 oz seltzer- my favorite brand is Austrian by Nikolaihof. Elderflower syrup in German is Holunderblütensirup (available through Michael Skurnik Wines). Fun to drink – fun to say. I keep a bottle in my refrigerator at all times.
Zachary A. Evans: Fresh squeezed lemonade, ginger ale, and cran. Equal parts.
Ole Buddrus: Technically speaking bitters contain alcohol, that aside my favorite is still ginger ale and angostura, preferably East Imperial.
Ben Johnson of The Imperial Life, Asheville, NC: I find myself drinking a lot of Coke, or specialty soda in general. When I go out to eat or to a bar, my go to is almost always Peach Nehi soda if they've got it (and most places in Western North Carolina do). I'll also crush a soda water with lime after a long shift. And if I'm at a real dive, I'll generally go for a grapefruit juice (out of a can) and soda, as it looks more like a drink. There's really no reason to be at a dive bar if you're not drinking, so I find it best to mask it at these types of places.
Tonic Water, Modified
Jacopo Rosito: 54 Mint, San Francisco: Cranberry, tonic, lime !
Mike Henderson of Edible Beats (Root Down), Denver: Tonic, Lime, and Angostura Bitters. Preferably Q or Indi tonic.
Jay Villafana of The Slanted Door, San Francisco: Grapefruit and Tonic
Blair Frodelius. Mid-Century Lounge. Syracuse, NY: Fever-Tree Tonic water and a squeeze of lime, Orangina or Lavender Dry Soda all served on the rocks.
Brian Means, Michael Mina Group: Seedlip and tonic is delicious!
Tyler Fry: Tonic on anything, especially grapefruit. Juices and tea. Chai-spiced cider.
Jessi Mess, Absinthe, SF: grapefruit & tonic, sometimes with ango.
Paul Mathew of The Hide/The Arbitrager, London: House tonic syrup, orange bitters, squeeze of lime, soda, long w/lots of ice. And shots of 50:50 maple syrup and lime juice for a pick-me-up.
Coffee, Please
Fred Yarm of Loyal Nine in Boston: My number one nonalcoholic drink is coffee, hot and black, although I have no problem drinking it room temperature such as during a shift or if I have left overs from yesterday's pot. Otherwise, the majority of my nonalcoholic drinking consists of water either still or sparkling. And medicinally (besides its use for making Bucks and Mules), ginger beer such as a ginger-forward one like AJ Stephens is my go to.
Adam Patrick K of Rothbard Ale & Larder, Westport, CT: Bulletproof Coffee, tisanes, kombucha
Tom Zyankali of Zyankali Bar, Berlin: Café au laut with Vietnamese coffee
Anthony DeSerio: Coffee… lots and lots of coffee. Verners ginger ale when i can get it.
Or Geshury: Espresso tonic. Cold brew from coconut water. Jasmine green speedballed with chamomile/peppermint depending on the time of day. Coconut water + activated charcoal + sea salt (hangover preventative). Fevertree sodas. Mexicoke. Bitters lime and soda when at a bar and not drinking.
Tea and Iced Tea
Bill Brooks, The Cannibal Liquor House, Manhattan: I am a big fan of sun tea in the summer. I have 2-3 empty clear growlers that I fill with water, various fruits (watermelon, lemon, raspberry, peaches, etc), spices (mint, lemon verbena, basil), and some really good quality tea. Leave it out in the sun for a couple of hours and I will go thru a jug every 2-3 days. Love my sun tea.
Gary Crunkleton of The Crunkleton in Chapel Hill, NC: Sweet Tea
Christian Suzuki of multiple bars, San Francisco: Genmaicha, Oolang (iced for summer, hot during winter), coffee (black…like my soul)
David Bonatesta: Genmaicha tea , Evian Water or San Pellegrino. Vitamin Water, Carrot Juice, Espresso
Trevor Easter of Normandie Club, Los Angeles: Bhakti original and coldbrew chai blend.
Bethany Ham: If it's cold out – green tea with honey and lemon or chai tea with a little hot almond milk. If it's hot out – bitters and soda #ftw, iced tea or ice water with a splash of fresh sweetened ginger and ango.
Jared Hirsch of Sidebar, Oakland, CA: At work: Arnold Palmer the way he liked it (3:1 iced tea : lemonade.) At home: Harney and Sons' Paris tea, or Lapsang Souchong tea, or Dr. Browns' Cream Soda.
Matthew Rowley, writer: For me it's tea. Iced tea all year and, when the mercury dips, hot tea in an old 500 ml West German beer stein. First one goes down usually before dawn. Second by 7am or so. A third only if I'm not going to the gym that day. Between hot and iced teas, I usually dispatch 2-4 liters per day. I may have a tea problem.
Andreas Künster: Black tea (the English way), cold milk, calpis or calpico with soda and a lot of non sparkling water
Tim Morrison of 4th Street Bar & Grill, Lake Mary, FL: I'm a tea addict. Hot or cold or any kind. I go thru more unsweet iced black tea than anything.
Christopher Day: Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
Niquito Constan: mate-cocido (a famous argentinean infusion) with milk and mascabo (red sugar), coffee with milk and honey, ginger beer whenever I can lay myself on one. I tend to mix tonic with juices. Homemade guarana soda, or homemade pomegranate with soda! From time to time I go full on zombie mode and drink guarana flavoured energy drink called V.
Jen Ackrill, Top of Waikiki, Hawaii: Technically when I'm "not drinking" I'm drinking Dolin Blanc with soda and a grapefruit zest, but when I'm NOT drinking it's Yogi Egyptian Licorice Tea, hot or cold!
Weird Miscellany
Cari Hah of Big Bar in Los Angeles: Korean Corn Silk Tea
Blake Pope of Kindred, North Carolina: Switchel. It's composition is incredibly simple – usually, just three ingredients: seltzer, apple cider vinegar, and either honey, molasses or maple syrup. I love the simplicity. Kindred currently has a pomegranate switchel on tap and I can’t get enough.
Thor Bergquist of PS40 in Sydney, Australia: Smoked lemonade made in house
Dan Brink: Apple cider vinegar, honey, cinnamon, ice
Leilani Vella: I don't find the trade of sugar for alcohol to be a healthier choice. So kombucha, bitters and soda, lemon grass mint tea, orange slice with fresh mint a splash of lemon juice and soda, or fresh juiced ginger, lemon apple and greens.
Ariana Vitale: Verjus
Cordula Langer: Joghurt with soda and homemade smoothies
Alex Smith, Whitechapel, SF: I have a favorite recovery drink when I go to the gym – when I am coincidentally also "not drinking." Combo of the following: some concentrated cold brew coffee w/ chicory (4 oz), hemp milk (2 oz), natural cane ginger beer (2 oz), coconut water (10 oz), and some Bob's Red Mill chocolate protein powder (3 tbs).
Conclusions
So if you wanted to take something away from this, here is what I see. Bartenders like:
