Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom

EP 105 Unlocking the Flavor Power of Bitters with Ian from All The Bitter

• Deb, Mocktail Mom • Season 1 • Episode 105

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Ever wondered what bitters are or how to use them? This episode is here to demystify the magic of these tiny-but-mighty drink enhancers!  Recorded as part of the recent Mocktail Summit 2025, I’m chatting with Ian Blessing, co-founder of All The Bitter, an incredible alcohol-free bitters company he runs with his wife, Carly. (Want to hear more about their journey from sommeliers at The French Laundry to NA entrepreneurs? Check out Episode 6 for the full scoop on how they started their company and manage it together!)

Today, our focus is on bitters: what they are, how they work, and why they’re the “salt and pepper” of the cocktail world. Ian breaks down how these intensively flavored extracts can transform everything from sparkling water to your favorite mocktails. And with All The Bitter, they’ve created a totally alcohol-free option that’s packed with flavor and functional benefits, making them perfect for anyone.

And, of course, we couldn’t just talk about bitters—we made a drink together! Ian shares his recipe for Goodnight, Manhattan, a deliciously rich and complex mocktail you can recreate at home. (Find the full recipe below!) And as an added bonus, Ian shares his go-to recommendations for various NA drink options. 

Whether you’re mixing up something fancy or just looking to add a little extra sparkle to your daily hydration, this episode is packed with tips, flavor ideas, and plenty of fun. Cheers to discovering your new favorite drink upgrade!


Get in touch with Ian at All The Bitter!
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Use code MOCKTAILMOM for a discount!


Goodnight, Manhattan

2 oz Three Spirit Nightcap

1 oz tart cherry juice

3 dashes All The Bitter Lavender bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice, stir for 15-20 seconds, and strain into a coupe glass (or a rocks glass with an ice cube). Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

Head to The Mocktail Summit to access all the replays!

You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Deb:

Buckle up, friends, and welcome to the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I'm your host, deb, otherwise known as Mocktail Mom, a retired wine drinker that finally got sick and tired of spinning on life's broken record called Detox to Retox. Let this podcast be an encouragement to you. If alcohol is maybe a form of self-care for you, where you find yourself dragging through the day waiting to pour another glass, I am excited to share with you the fun of discovering new things to drink when you aren't drinking and the joy of waking up each day without a hangover. It is an honor to serve as your sober, fun guide. So sit back and relax or keep doing whatever it is you're doing. This show is produced for you with love from the great state of Kentucky. Thanks so much for being here and big time cheers. Okay, hey friends, it's Deb. Welcome back to Thriving Alcohol-Free. I'm so happy you're here, welcome, welcome. It's dry January. I hope you're enjoying lots of delicious mocktails, non-alcoholic options, non-alcoholic beers, wines there's so much to drink when you are not drinking. So excited that you're here.

Deb:

We actually have a really, really special episode today. This episode features Ian Blessing of All the Bitter. He was actually one of the presenters at the Mocktail Summit 2025. So if you were there, this is the session that I recorded with him where he actually shared about founding All the Bitter, which is an award-winning non-alcoholic bitter company founded out in Chico, california. Ian and his wife Carly started the business, so he talks a little bit in the episode about opening the business and getting started and the craziness of it all, and then he actually walks us through a little bit about the functionality of non-alcoholic bitters and just bitters in general, and then as well, we make a mocktail together. So this episode is going to be really special. So if you weren't at the Mocktail Summit, you'll get a little sneak peek here of what we did in the Mocktail Summit and you can still get in on the replays. If you want to mocktailsummitcom, you can still grab an all-access pass so you can watch all the recordings. But today you get to listen in as I record with Ian Blessing all the bitter.

Deb:

We make a mocktail together. It's called Good Night Manhattan. That's what he calls it. It's basically like a mix between a sleepy girl mocktail and a Manhattan. So if you were a Manhattan drinker I wasn't, but this mocktail is delicious We'll put the recipe below. So you have that and just so happy you're here. So welcome, welcome. Hope you're having a great dry January here to encourage your heart. The fun is not over and there are still good things to drink. All right, hey friends, welcome back. I have one of our most requested presenters in the house today, one of my favorite people in the non-alcoholic space, ian blessing of all the bitter. If you don't know him, first of all, everyone knows you, everyone knows you. You are a rock star. Ian is the co-founder. He and his wife, carly, launched all the bitter, non-alcoholic bitter company that started 2021?

Ian:

22.

Deb:

22. No, was it 22?

Ian:

longer, because we spent like six months on social media hyping it up because we were waiting for a permit from the state and we were like ready to go, like we we thought that we were going to launch months and months earlier and so we thought we were, you know, like gently teasing. And then after six months people were like that's so funny.

Deb:

You sent me bitters right then. In the beginning, you and I, we were just laughing because I remember us doing an Instagram Live together I think it was, yeah, january of 2022, or maybe February or so and we were laughing Like you guys just crossed over. By the time this airs, it'll be way more than this, but 100,000 bottles that you have sold of your non-alcoholic bitters Amazing.

Ian:

But when you and I did your first instagram live together, what you sold, what that night we sold seven bottles during that show and I remember I was flipping out.

Ian:

I was in the our office, our home office, doing our our chat together and afterwards carly was like carly was out here with the kids and she like runs in effort. She's like you sold seven bottles. I was like that's amazing. Yes, yes, yes, I was shy. I was like the wildest thing. I was like that's amazing. Yes, yes, yes, I was shy, it was like the wildest thing.

Ian:

I was like looking at our sales and I was like they started, you know, right when our Instagram live started and then we had like it was like seven or nine bottles sold or something during that hour and I remember being absolutely shocked. I was like I turned to Carly and I'm like we got to do more Instagram lives. It's great. They don't usually go like that. I don't usually sell like 10 bottles during a live, but that was wild and seemed so insane and it was. That's pretty good, there's no discounting that. But yeah, we just crossed 100,000 bottles of non-alcoholic cocktail bitters sold in less than three years, which is pretty wild. When, know, when we started, the most common question that we got from friends and family was so you're going to sell in farmers markets and not to discount farmers markets, not to discount, starting that way. But we were having conversations with importers around the world before we had even launched which was, you know, wild and again, not the typical experience of a mom and pop startup that we literally developed recipes in this kitchen, you know, with a six month old overseeing in a bassinet on the on the counter Incredible. And, you know, opened to 300 orders in our in our first day, which was wild.

Ian:

But it it says a lot about this community and about the non-alcoholic beverage space and the fact that there are so many people out there who are either drinking not drinking, moderating, try to drink less just normal drinkers, just not problem drinkers like me, just normal drinkers who want to enjoy a glass of wine at night but it's Tuesday and you've got work tomorrow and you can't have a second glass because you're going to wake up, you know, feeling terrible. So you grab a glass of non-alcoholic wine or a bitters and soda or, you know, an NA beer or whatever. There's so many people looking for these alternative drinks and the community is so supportive and fun and engaged and honestly, I think and I can say this because I am that community grateful that these drinks exist. You know, we quit drinking five years ago and I had so much joy brought back to my life when I discovered athletic beer was the first thing that we started drinking and it was fine, you know.

Ian:

But I had been sober for six months drinking, and it was fine, you know, but I had been sober for six months, and that's not. There's obviously very good things about that, but you also lose a lot of things, and that first sip of a non-alcoholic IPA was like oh yeah, okay, no, I'm cool, I'm still here, I'm on earth, this is nice. I just. I think there's a lot of gratitude and a lot of support in the NA community, which is really, really lovely 100%.

Deb:

It's the best and I think, yes, for me as well, like the non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails and non-alcoholic wine, it brought the joy of continuing that ritual without the hangover on a Tuesday. You know, yeah, yeah, it's been. It's been so wonderful and the community is amazing and, knowing you, I just I can't even believe like to be connected to you and Carly from so early on and so early on in my alcohol-free journey, like you guys have been such a support. So for anybody who doesn't know all the bitter how, I mean how many awards you're in what 500 locations, is that right Like?

Ian:

yeah, we're everywhere We've won. At this point We've won 30 like pretty great awards from different spirit competitions, really 10 gold and double gold medals. And we're in now 500 bars, restaurants and retailers across the country and 10 countries.

Deb:

And Amazon. Ok, and from your website people can use code Mocktail Mom. It'll give them 15 percent off if you use code Mocktail Mom. But yes, but yeah, everywhere you can find All the Bitter, almost everywhere.

Ian:

We're getting there. There's still a lot of ground to cover, but it's been very exciting.

Deb:

So exciting. Okay, ian and Carly were guests on episode six of the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast, so if you want to hear their story and hear about how starting this company was, Episode six Nice. Episode six. Right, we've been together for so long, but I love on that episode. You guys described what it was like starting this company. You guys described it as holding hands running naked as fast as you could through a field. I can't believe that was the description you guys made of what it's been like to launch this company.

Ian:

You forgot screaming yeah, holding hands, hands running naked through a field, screaming um, but, but holding hands the whole time and you guys are still holding hands and you guys are rocking it. So it's no less wild than it was three years ago. It's only getting weirder, but it's good yeah now you have employees.

Deb:

Yes, now you have a staff. And yeah, the boys it's not just the boys picking out the dinosaurs. Yes, yeah, all right, where do you want to start? We are going to make the drink together. We're going to make us called good night manhattan, which is like a take on a sleepy time girl it's sleepy girl.

Ian:

Mocktail meets a manhattan perfect.

Deb:

So we'll do that in a second, but right now, like a, sleepy mom mocktail because it's grown up. Yeah, this mom is sleepy. Yes, and I did try the trend and I used the wrong magnesium. I used the magnesium that they use like for colonoscopy prep. It's not the magnesium that will help you sleep, it's the magnesium that will clean you out, and it was a very cleansing mocktail.

Ian:

They're different, they're very different. I was like magnesium.

Deb:

I'm ready to go, so be careful, which magnesium? Anyway, we'll get into that drink.

Ian:

I love that you share your drink successes and I like that you also share the failures. I think that's really refreshing.

Deb:

I share my expired ingredients.

Ian:

I liked the expired condensed milk. That was real. It was like 14 years expired. I might be exaggerating, but it was pretty bad.

Deb:

It was so bad. My pantry is very dangerous. Yeah, don't take Excedrin if you live in my house. It's from like 2007. You might really have a headache. Never goes bad. Okay, all right, sorry, all right, sorry, we digress. Okay, ian, I'm going to hand it over to you to share about bitters, about, obviously, all bitter, non-alcoholic bitters, and the functionality, and we'll go from there.

Ian:

Yeah, let's talk about bitters, so we'll do a kind of a quick overview.

Deb:

Perfect.

Ian:

Because there's a lot to get into.

Ian:

But at its most basic, what are bitters? Bitters are a very intensely flavored extract. They are typically made with high proof alcohol, so usually 35 to 50% alcohol, typically 45. You're only using a couple of dashes. So, depending on your relationship with alcohol, depending on your comfort level, depending on a lot of different things, you may be totally okay using alcoholic bitters. I've got a shelf up here of a bunch of different alcoholic bitters that I like and I enjoy. I don't okay using alcoholic bitters. I've got a shelf up here of a bunch of different alcoholic bitters that I like and I enjoy. I don't mind using alcoholic bitters in my cocktails. I know it's not going to get me drunk.

Ian:

Carly adamantly opposed to using alcoholic bitters in her drinks. If she went to a restaurant and ordered a mocktail, she's going to assume, I think, like a lot of people, that mocktail means a drink without alcohol, which is literally the definition. She would be very upset if the bartender used Angostura bitters in her drink without asking her first. It's a very personal thing. People don't drink for a lot of reasons for religious reasons, for health, for medication, for recovery from alcohol abuse. So there's a wide spectrum of comfort with alcoholic bitters. So we decided to make a version that was fully alcohol-free. So we make these exactly like you'd make alcoholic bitters. We use a lot of the same ingredients, but we don't use alcohol as our extractor of flavor, as our solvent. We've packed our bitters full of functional ingredients. So cocktail bitters are good for you, kind of.

Ian:

In general, anything bitter is good for your digestive system, so cocktail bitters are good for your gut. It's why people drink bitters and soda the next morning or after a large meal, because it helps you digest food meal. Because it helps you digest food. We really went the direction of digestive bitters, herbal supplement type of idea, by packing these full of things like dandelion root, burdock root, milk, thistle seed, which is great for your liver, adaptogens like holy basil and schisandra berry and ashwagandha, ginger, fennel ingredients that you are more likely to find in digestive bitters. But we flavored these like cocktail bitters. So, at its most basic, use them to flavor drinks. Bitters are liquid seasoning. They are the salt and pepper of the cocktail world. A couple dashes enhance flavors, make your drinks taste better in kind of imperceptible ways. What it's doing is bitters are bitter. If you taste them on their own, they're very bitter, but you're only using a couple of daffos. So as an example here we'll make a bitters and soda.

Deb:

And let's describe what a dash is. I didn't know, yes, so.

Ian:

I love that you have that top. That's great. I don't have that here, so a dash. So we take a bottle. This is a dash cap. You'll see a hole in it. So a dash is about this. It's a straight shake right down. Don't kind of gently tip it over. What you see coming out here is a drop. That's not enough liquid.

Deb:

And that's what I thought a dash was in the very beginning was like a little drop.

Ian:

Yep, it's a full you want a pretty good dash straight down. What that equates out to there's no precise measurement, but typically a dash is about one milliliter, maybe a little bit less 0.7, 0.8. It doesn't really matter, it's not that important. But 0.7 to one milliliter is the actual liquid amount of a dash. So when you're using that dropper top, one squeeze that fills up most of that little pipe out. There is going to be a single dash. So if your recipe called for three dashes, you would dispense that and do that three times. So I'm going to make bitters and soda and I've got at the bottom of this glass here. That's probably a lot. I was demonstrating dashes so I went a little bit heavy.

Deb:

But honestly, that's probably what I would use for myself. I was going to say it's the lavender you have right there, right.

Ian:

I use orange actually. Oh, you use the orange in there, okay, yeah, yeah, so good.

Ian:

I like this drink a little bit heavier. And bitters and soda it's the only flavoring You're only adding to season the drink. The drink already has all of its other components. You're using it like a pinch of salt or pepper. What it does is that bitterness in there. I like to call it micro dosing bitterness. It's not going to make your drink bitter. You're not adding an ounce or two ounces of like Campari, let's say, which is going to make for a bitter drink. You're adding a half a teaspoon of a concentrated bitter extract. It's going to balance the other components in the drink. So it's going to help balance the sweet, the sour elements. It's going to help tie things together. It adds another layer of flavor and another flavor sensation.

Ian:

We have sweet, salty, sour, umami and bitter. Most drinks are sweet and sour. Most drinks, unless they contain a bitter liqueur, they're missing a component. They're missing bitterness. So adding a couple of dashes really just helps to round out the drink. It also adds whatever the flavor of the bitters are. So our orange bitters obviously are very citrusy. They have orange peel, but they've also got a ton of cardamom, coriander, warm spices, lemon balm. So you're adding those warm spices, you're adding herbal flavors.

Ian:

Our aromatic bitters are very spicy. It's all cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, all spice. They taste like Christmas. That's great with bourbon, it's great in any drink. Where you want to add richness, you want to add spice, you want to add warmth, the aromatic bitters work well. So again, you're kind of micro dosing bitterness and then adding whatever the flavor of the bitters are.

Ian:

Our New Orleans bitters are tart, cherry, anise, hibiscus, rose hips. So you're adding a little bit of bitterness and then you're also adding those tart, dry red fruit flavors and spices. So that, yeah, the little travel pack has all three of those and then our last regularly available flavor. Right now we're always expanding and doing limited releases. But our lavender bitter, which we're going to use in this drink, goes in a different direction. It's very floral but, I think, really nicely balanced. It's not overtly lavender, it's not soapy, it's lavender and chamomile and has a number of grassy bitter herbs that really help to again kind of soften the super sharp, aggressive lavender flavor. Ingredients that are there for their functional benefits skullcap, passionflower, ashwagandha, lemon balm, rose petals, chamomile again all these ingredients that are good for anxiety and stress and for helping you get to sleep, which we'll touch on again. But those ingredients all help to balance that lavender flavor, so they're not in your face, so they're just a really nicely balanced, I think, floral cocktail.

Deb:

I love that, not soapy.

Ian:

Yeah, the first thing that people say when I try and serve the lavender bitters is they go. No, I like lavender on my hands.

Deb:

I'm going to get on my lotion.

Ian:

Yeah, I don't want to drink it. And then nine times out of ten, you know, I'll, I'll, you know, encourage them to just take a small sip, and I won't be offended if you don't like it. And they always, they always enjoy it, because it does have a much softer flavor than you would, than you would expect that's awesome so I've got a few dashes of bitters in here and gonna make it the easiest, mostly, mostly, because I'm thirsty.

Ian:

The easiest drink possible is bitters and soda, literally just adding unflavored soda water to a few dashes of cocktail bitters Again, however much or however little you want. If you only want to use, you know, a couple of dashes, that's great. If you want more, go for it. Use a little more. You know your palate, you know what you'd like to drink. As kind of a starting point, I would recommend four to five dashes of bitters and a glass of sparkling water. But again, use as much or as little as you like, and that's it. It's really just a botanical seltzer. Think of it like LaCroix or any other flavored sparkling water, but without any artificial flavors or colors, and it's good for you.

Ian:

You've got ingredients that are good for your gut, your digestion, for your liver, adaptogens that are good for stress, and you don't have to use it in sparkling water. This could just go in. We put it in our regular water bottle and drink it, you know, in a plain I don't have one next to me, but in a plain water bottle throughout the day, in the same way that we add, you know Mio or any other like water flavor to our waters, because plain water is boring, yep, but we know that we need to drink more water. It adds a really wonderful flavor that's even more interesting than those artificial, you know, flavor packets and honestly keeps you drinking. It keeps you coming back for more, because you're like, oh, you know, this is kind of cool, like yeah, it's flavored seltzer, but it's kind of a flavored seltzer cocktail. Yeah, um, it feels a little more sophisticated, it's a little more interesting. Um, and in your water bottle then you're, you're getting those benefits throughout the day without even thinking about it, just drinking water that's so true.

Deb:

That's so true. Okay, cheers, it's so good, it's so true, that's so true.

Ian:

Okay, cheers, it's so good, it's so easy. This was strong, that was really strong. You're like it was strong for me. Well, you were demonstrating.

Deb:

You were demonstrating the dashes and we just kept talking.

Ian:

So okay, no, that was like a solid quarter ounce, maybe even like a half ounce almost, of top cover Very very bitter.

Ian:

But honestly but not bad. So because we don't use alcohol, they're not less flavorful, but they're less aggressive, if that makes sense, Because alcoholic bitters you're not only getting the very aggressive flavor but it's 45% alcohol. So tasting alcoholic bitters straight is something people don't normally do because it's a lot. It's really really intense. This is really flavorful. Most people would probably not like this. I enjoy it, but it's much easier to drink and, I think, much more delicious than a bitters and soda that would be made with alcoholic bitters and the same quantity Interesting Because it's not 45% alcohol.

Deb:

Right right.

Ian:

Glycerin, which is the base that we use, actually has a bit of sweetness to it which balances all those bitter ingredients. So when you taste these, they're not sweet. They're aggressively flavored and bitter and herbal and botanical. But what the glycerin helps to do in a drink like this is balance it and so honestly, I think that our bitters make a better bitters and soda period. Whether you're a drinker or a non-drinker, this makes for a more enjoyable cocktail than alcoholic bitters and soda do.

Deb:

Amazing. Did you ever think that you'd be able to create something that would be? Not just come out with a non-alcoholic bitter, but it's better. Better than the alcoholic version in any drink, whether it's a cocktail or a mocktail or whatever you're making.

Ian:

Not really. I mean, we said that when we started four years ago, the verbiage was like yeah, these are the best fitters period, but I don't know if I believe that or not. And then, as we got into it, as we got a little further down the road, I was like no, this is really good.

Deb:

That's so good, ian, that's so good. I love it, makes me so happy, amazing.

Ian:

It's nice and, honestly, just the fact that it's something that helps people drink better and live better. Again, whether or not you're drinking or not drinking, you know you can use these in alcoholic cocktails. So let's say, you want to make a Manhattan or an old fashioned with regular whiskey at home? Great, please use our bitters. So you're getting the same flavor, but you're also getting milk thistle seed for your liver, which is probably a good thing to have if you're drinking an old passion.

Ian:

Yeah for sure. So it's something that everybody can use and enhances everybody's well-being and makes their drinks tastier. But getting emails from people saying even just bitters and soda which is like a pretty humble drink, people saying that that bitters and soda was their favorite drink or their dad's favorite drink and they haven't been able to have it in in 10 years because they don't want alcoholic bitters and soda and they can drink this now, like I didn't expect that. I didn't expect for people to send us emails and say that we've made their, we've improved their, their lives. I honestly kind of assumed that was going to be for the sexier products the beer, the wine, the spirits. You know, bitters are a little esoteric and the fact that the people reach out and are like truly moved and touched by a bottle of cocktail bitters is pretty wild. I don't think people are often moved by cocktail bitters.

Deb:

Right, right, right right. You're like, I'm like you're changing lives. I mean, you're making such a difference in people's lives.

Ian:

Really, really, it's wild, it's really cool. We're really grateful.

Deb:

I'm so happy. I'm so happy for you and Carly and your team. I'm over the moon. Okay, we are gonna. Sorry, were you going to say something? Go ahead.

Ian:

No, I was going to say let's make a drink.

Deb:

Yeah, okay, yeah, let's make our drink. We're going to make. Good Night Manhattan.

Ian:

Yeah, so this is an easy one. Bitters and soda is easy. That's our go-to every day. But this as far as a cocktail goes, you know that same thing. It doesn't matter if it's glass or metal.

Deb:

I didn't know what a mixing glass was like when I first got started. I didn't know, If somebody said mixing glass in a recipe, I would have felt like, oh, grab a glass, grab a glass.

Ian:

And that's the thing. It's just a glass. It can be anything. So you know if at home, if you already have a cocktail shaker, you can use this as a mixing glass. You don't need a different glass. You can stir in one of these. It doesn't matter what you use. You can shake cocktails in a mason jar. You can shake cocktails in a Tupperware container. Are there better tools? Yes, of course, and better tools are going to make better drinks, to be honest. But if you don't have it at home, don't let that stop. You. Use whatever you have. It doesn't matter. Take an old McDonald's cup and use that as your stirring vessel. I don't care, nobody cares, literally nobody cares, nobody cares, you're exactly right.

Deb:

You're exactly right. Thank you for saying that, Ian.

Ian:

People don't care what you do, just do it.

Deb:

Yeah.

Ian:

So this is basically a Manhattan, which is a very classic cocktail. Obviously, we are going to replace the ingredients with non-alcoholic alternatives and take it in a slightly different direction. Three Spirit Nightcap is one of my absolute favorite drinks hands down.

Deb:

I love that. You love this. It has like a woody flavor.

Ian:

Yeah, so it's not meant to be whiskey. Three Spirits drinks aren't meant to mimic any traditional alcohol, but this falls into a whiskey camp. It's not whiskey. It doesn't taste like whiskey, but if you like whiskey, it's going to scratch that itch and you can use it in recipes that call for whiskey. Obviously it's going to have a different flavor, but you can use it in recipes that call for whiskey. Obviously it's going to have a different flavor, but you can use it like a whiskey and yet it's woody, it's spicy, it's a little bit sweet, it's botanical. It's really wonderful, complex and very enjoyable. On its own, this is something that you could drink by itself. You could drink it on the rocks, which is rare. Not a lot of non-alcoholic spirits you can do that with, but this one works. So we're going to use two ounces of Nightcap here.

Deb:

You're using a jigger. I'm using a little thing from Walmart to measure.

Ian:

That'll work.

Deb:

Because I can read the numbers on it.

Ian:

That works perfectly Without my raiders. Those are great. I really like those. To be honest, I didn't have one with me, but I actually prefer those. Okay, so me, but I actually like, I prefer those. Okay, uh, so two ounces of nightcap we are going to use instead of sweet vermouth, which is what a manhattan would get, is sweet vermouth. We are going to use tart cherry juice kind of like a sleepy girl mocktail, because cherry juice has melatonin in it. Okay, we're going to add an ounce of tart cherry juice.

Deb:

One ounce of cherry juice. Okay.

Ian:

Normally in Manhattan would call for Angostura bitters, but because we are doing a night-night drink, we're going to use our lavender bitters and because lavender and cherry go well together, so lavender and, like dark berries, cherries, those flavors all make sense together. So, in terms of you know, seasoning your drinks and figuring out what bitter to use, be creative, play around with it Again, just like you would season your food, kind of intuitively, understanding what flavors are in the food, understanding what flavors are going to go with it and experimenting. You know, trying a little bit and seeing how it goes. Like don't be afraid to use different things, but think about the flavor profile and think what it would, what it would work with. Honestly, this drink will work with any of our bitters. You could use orange, aromatic, new Orleans, any of these are going to work here. Lavender works because lavender and dark berry do go together. But honestly, I'm using it here mostly for the functional benefits, because Three Spirit Nightcap has valerian root, ashwagandha and hops in it and lemon balm Nothing that's going to knock you out, but things that are absolutely going to help you get to sleep and stay asleep. And our lavender bitters then have ashwagandha, passionflower, skullcap, lemon balm, blue vervain, rose petals, lavender and chamomile. So again, all things that you would find in like a sleepy time tea or a nighttime, you know, herbal tincture. So we're really going to compound those effects with the lavender bitters.

Ian:

Again, not going to put you to sleep, I would drink this right now. I'm not going to, you know, it's not going to knock you out, but it will relax you and it will absolutely help you go to bed. If that's your intention, it'll help you get to bed. This would get intention is it'll help you get to bed. This would get about three dashes of these bitters. I use significantly more because this bottle is new. So in a in a dash cap bottle with the dropper top, it doesn't matter. But in a dash cap bottle, when the bottle is full, it comes out slower, which is one of the many reasons why dashes are kind of an annoying imperfect measurement, because there's not a lot of empty space in the bottle for the liquid to move through. So when it's a new bottle of bitters using a dash cap you want to use probably double the amount of shakes as you normally would.

Ian:

Okay, and again, use your, use your you know season to taste, use your eyes, see how much is actually in there. You want a decent amount of liquid, but it's. It's more than just a couple of drops. Okay, typically to to flavor, to flavor a drink. So we've got all our ingredients here. We're gonna add some ice.

Ian:

When you're adding ice to your shape and you really want to kind of fill it, you want to fill it up. You want the ice to come over over the liquid. As much ice as you can get in there is going to help chill it down faster, which is important, because the longer this ice is in here, the faster it's going to dilute and the more watery your drink is going to be. So whenever you're making non-alcoholic drinks, the faster you can stir it. Basically, the quicker you can get it chilled, the better. And if you're only putting a couple of ice cubes in there, not enough. If you're only filling it halfway with ice, let's say it's not going to chill fast enough, it's going to dilute more. So if you can fill up your glass as much as possible, it's going to help. You're going to put a strainer over that mixing glass, pour it out and then, if you want, if you have a cherry.

Deb:

Let's garnish, let's garnish. Okay, so you have the same ones. Okay, I have those from trader joe's video. Yeah, these are great you can grab these at trader joe's or richard. Loud introduced me to the luxardo cherries back a couple years ago. These are delicious. You could use these okay and there we go big time cheers, cheers, cheers. Shut up. Everyone needs to make this right.

Ian:

So it's got, it's like it's got the cherry juice. It's easy to drink, it's, it's juicy and tasty, but then three spirit adds this spiciness, this woodiness that brings it down into not just being, obviously, a glass of cherry juice.

Deb:

It's juicy, but it's it's really, really delicious but it's right, it's not overly, it's not like it's not just cherry juice. It's so good it's. This would also.

Ian:

This would work really well. This exact same recipe. You could take this and just put it in a highball glass and add soda water to it.

Deb:

Make it like a yep, a Manhattan spritz, almost Would you say. What would you call that? Yeah, there you go. That's going to tone down your. I'm'm gonna tone that down a little bit that's aggressive.

Ian:

Now, there was a lot of bitters in there.

Deb:

I was gonna say you had a lot in there to begin with but the the point is, you know, drinks don't have to be fancy.

Ian:

Like you know, we had a mixing glass. We stirred it, we garnished it. Drinks don't have to be that fancy. You can take the same idea. Add a couple of dashes of bitters to a highball glass eyeball. As much or as little of this as you want. Throw in some cherry juice Don't use a jigger, measure with your heart Top it off with soda water. You could add a little squeeze of lemon to this. You could add a little more sugar to this if it was a spritz on water.

Ian:

You play around, make whatever drink you want, find recipes, find inspiration, you know, find flavor combinations that make sense together, and then play around, throw stuff in a glass. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you know again, if you want to make elevated cocktails, find recipes and follow recipes. So we have. There's a lot of great recipes on our website. If you go to allthebittercom, there's a ton of recipes. So we have. There's a lot of great recipes on our website. If you go to allthebittercom, there's a ton of recipes.

Ian:

Ours are a little unique because we're not a spirit range, so we use our cocktails, call for spirits across different brands, so it's a really nice resource. If you have a bunch of bottles at home and you don't really know what to do with them, you're going to find recipes that call for a three-spirit Pathfinder Kentucky 74. In the same recipe You're going to find recipes that call for two, three different brands, products you probably already have and maybe don't know what to do with. The upshot is that I think that I wrote them, so this is maybe silly to say. I really like our recipes.

Deb:

They're delicious yeah.

Ian:

Because they incorporate the entire non-alcoholic back bar. They're not just confined to one range of spirits. You're not just saying, oh, I only have to use these, they incorporate a range. So, like our espresso martini, for instance, uses ritual rum and half finer, which is maybe not a common combination and maybe not something you would think of. But after making 30 something different versions of an espresso martini that were all not very good, trying recipes that were already out there, things that should have made sense, they just weren't very good I finally landed on what I think is the best espresso martini recipe. That's awesome and it calls for rum and half finer. But you're not going to find that on. You know, this is not to disparage them at all. You're not going to find that on their sites because they're they're promoting their, their product, which makes sense.

Deb:

Right, right.

Ian:

But we literally promote the entire non-alcoholic range. So you're going to find, I think, some really good recipes that make good use of your, your bar.

Deb:

Absolutely no. And the recipes? The way you have photos of all the beautiful pictures of each of them, descriptions easy to follow. Yeah, definitely Perfect. Perfect place to start for a great resource for recipes. Okay, I'm going to ask you the most impossible question. I'm asking this to everybody here at the Mocktail Summit and that you just mentioned that you work with all the brands. Okay, so if you could only buy one, if you could only buy one non-alcoholic spirit, if like only one just today, not like ever, ever, but like what's your. So I don't want to say your favorite, because it's like asking you what's your favorite child, but only by one.

Ian:

I'm gonna, I'm gonna cheat slightly and and and and say a range, and say a range because I was between there's and this is. This is an impossible question. There's so many that are like I know.

Deb:

I know I feel like this is not fair, but I want to get a resource for like. Here's some favorites.

Ian:

I know it was either between Pathfinder or Three Spirit, but I'm going to say Three Spirit because I'm going to claim the whole range and Pathfinder makes one exceptional product. Three Spirit makes five exceptional. Nightcap is my favorite. This is by far my go-to and my favorite. But Livener is also exceptional. It's again spicy, bold, watermelon, fruity, really delicious, really easy to use and has a great uplifting. It's got caffeine, it's got Yeramate, it's got Guarana Leaf, it's got all these things that are really really great for energy and it's really justerba Mate. It's got Guarana Leaf, it's got all these things that are really really great for energy and it's really just easy to use. But their whole range of spirits and their wines are all really good.

Deb:

Delicious. Okay, all right, non-alcoholic beer, if you could only buy one today.

Ian:

I'm going to cheat again and say Athletics whole range Okay, okay, that's fine, that's fine, okay, okay. If I had to pick one, it would be Tucker's West Coast IPA.

Deb:

Really yeah.

Ian:

But they, you know, they make a hundred different beers. So I think it's safe to say Athletic.

Deb:

Tucker's. Okay, but Athletic Alcohol-free wine, non-alcoholic wine, Boy, this is here we go.

Ian:

Also challenging and I'm going to take the cop-out route again and say naughty's. I'm going to say naughty's range, okay, um, there's. And again it's a really challenging one because I think there's a lot of great wines, there's a lot of really cool wine alternatives, but I think for for a whole range, for the red white rose, sparkling and sparkling rose, the naughty range is is just, it's a really solid, really go-to entry point is the wrong word. It's something I would recommend it to just about anybody and I think that everybody is going to enjoy probably their entire range of wines.

Deb:

Yeah, I don't hear anything bad ever about naughty. Yeah, no, okay, last one ready to drink, which is my favorite, the ready to drinks, the RTDs. Yeah, again, there's so many but-.

Ian:

You know which is my favorite? The ready to drinks, the RTDs. Yeah, Again, there's so many you know there's so many.

Deb:

I'm sorry, ian.

Ian:

I feel so bad asking you this For bitter or for worse.

Ian:

Okay, really, I think that makes a spritz called Ava's Spritz that I really really love, and Rose City Fizz. That's also really nice, but they're two canned cocktails. They are one of the few brands in the country that makes their own products by hand from raw ingredients, versus, you know, creating a recipe and then having a co-packer make it, which, again, there's nothing wrong with that. That's how most of the products get to our store shelves. The food system in the States wouldn't exist without it. But most drinks are made by somebody else For Bitter, for Worse, makes their own drinks in Portland. Bottle can everything themselves from again, just like we do, from raw botanicals to finished product, and I think there's something really really special about that and you can taste it. You can taste it in the drinks. It tastes like they were made with love and attention and great ingredients. It's also a husband and wife team. They're just, they're incredibly sweet. Their drinks are wonderful and the cans especially, I think, are highly underrated and should be enjoyed more.

Deb:

Good to know. Okay, okay, thank you. Thank you for that. You're like why are you asking me this? I work with all these, I love all of them and I feel I mean it's. I think it's just good for people to hear, because there's people who are listening, who are brand new to mocktails or brand new to non-alcoholic. You know options and stuff. So to even hear these brands you know maybe we've heard of athletic, but I've never heard of, you know, naughty. So it's good to hear the names of other brands that people are top rated. So thank you for sharing those, thank you.

Ian:

It's a hard one.

Deb:

There's. There's so many, but those are some of my, my go-tos. Your go-tos. Yeah, which is good to know. Ian, thank you for being here. So fun to record this together. Thank you.

Deb:

Thanks for having me no-transcript favorite non-alcoholic spirit, favorite non-alcoholic wine, non-alcoholic beer, and then ready to drink. So if you want to know what the top mocktail influencers and enthusiasts are drinking and what their favorites are, grab your summit pass so that you can get in on all that information. So lots and lots of love. See you guys next week and I hope you're doing great. Big time cheers. Big time cheers to you for tuning into the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I hope you will take something from today's episode and make one small change that will help you to thrive and have fun in life without alcohol. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social, send up a flare or leave a rating and a review. I am cheering for you as you discover the world of non-alcoholic drinks and as you journey towards authentic freedom. See you in the next episode.