Mindful Drinking & Moderation in Midlife: Low No Drinker Podcast

#104. 5 Secrets to Better Mocktails at Home with Lila Volkas

• Denise Hamilton-Mace • Episode 104

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This week I’m joined by certified nutrition consultant and booze-free mixology expert Lila Volkas, who shares her brilliant five-element framework for making better alcohol-free drinks at home.

We get into why creating complexity is trickier without alcohol (and how to work around it), plus how ingredients like apple cider vinegar and citrus peels can completely transform your drink — no fancy kit required.

From her early days brewing kombucha in a student flat to leading workshops for global companies, Lila's approach blends flavour, function and a touch of wellness in every glass.

If you’re looking to elevate your weeknight wind-down or serve something special at your next get-together, this chat is packed with practical tips to help you make drinks worth savouring — booze or no booze.


0:00 Lila's story
4:05 A choice for health
6:21 Kombucha: Weird, slimy & I want some
14:59 Connecting nutrition & alcohol-free drinks
19:31 Five elements of non-alcoholic cocktails
26:57 Functionality in cocktails
29:59 Add some funk to your glass
34:30 Making things easy
39:33 Virtual & IRL classes with Lila Volkas
44:51 The BBQ-Q

LILAVOLKAS.COM  //  THEMOCKTAILSCHOOL.COM

WE ALSO TALK ABOUT:
Perfect Puree
All the Bitter

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Speaker 1:

Hello, hello and welcome to this week's conversation on the Low no Drinker podcast, bringing you closer to the people, places and brands leading the low no and light alcohol revolution. I have a little smirk on my face because this is take two. There was a slight technical error but luckily my guest, the wonderful Lila Volkos, is being very, very gracious about it all. And speaking of Lila, today we are talking about the wonderful juncture of non-alcoholic mixology, food and wellness. With certified nutrition consultant Lila Volkis, we're going to take a look at some of the fundamentals of alcohol-free cocktails and how you can make the most out of these principles, whether you're at home, out at a work do or just out and about. In general, I'm very much a student with you, lono Nation, on this episode, so I am very grateful to our professor, guest professor, for the day. I would like to say a very big welcome to you, lila. Thank you for joining me. How are you?

Speaker 2:

lovely, it's a pleasure to be here, very excited to chat with you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank you. It's a pleasure to have you as well. I love on this podcast to help listeners to understand, I say one of my other taglines is to help you to find, understand and enjoy the world of low note and light alcohol drinks, drinkers and drinking and I think you're a great person for that, because I know that you are an educator and you're a sharer of all these things that excite you as well as help you in your life. So start where you'd like to start. What was the journey that led you to where you are now in your low-no adventure?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so a little bit, just like a little bit about me. Background is I am a holistic nutrition consultant and workshop facilitator. But I started my workshop facilitation journey back in college when I taught my very first kombucha brewing workshop in 2012. And, yeah, I fell in love with wellness, making things yourself that you would normally buy at a store and teaching. So that became something that I kind of taught on the side kombucha brewing workshops while in university and then after moving back to California, where I'm from, and then I started to expand my offerings into just things that I was interested in. At that time I had no certification, I just was enthusiastic, I loved teaching. I used to be a kid's art teacher, a spin instructor, so I love the group energy and making things fun to learn and kind of easy to understand.

Speaker 2:

But through that I really started struggling with my health. So in about 2015, I kind of reached a tipping point where some inconvenient symptoms of like digestive discomfort, some skin issues, kind of reached a like an apex and I just all of a sudden was really feeling unwell. I, you know, was chronically fatigued. I had skin rashes all over my body and I was like having chronic stomach pain and I was like what's happening? I thought I was eating healthy and that really sent me on this journey of healing myself. But through that, I also went back to school for nutrition and then was inspired to share what I've learned to other people. So I started to then expand my offerings to wellness and food related topics and then weaving them together. So that's kind of how I got my start in my workshop facilitation and I have been running my workshop corporate and public and private, basically wellness mixology and food workshops since 2019. So it's been a while. At this point.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's fantastic. I do. I think that there's such that crossover at the moment.

Speaker 1:

I was chatting with somebody just earlier on today about the fact that this choice that a lot of people are making to change the way that they're drinking is, for so many people now, born out of a desire for a healthier lifestyle rather than a necessity for a sober lifestyle. And that's not to say that one choice is better or worse than the other, but it is to say that it's great to see that so many people are recognizing that, in order to look after themselves better, changing the way that they drink can add benefits to their life, whether they're doing it for, you know, a dry month challenge, or whether they're just taking a bit of time off because they're training for an event, or, you know, they've got a big weekend coming up with the kids and they want to be clear headed. There's like so many different reasons that people are choosing to look after themselves and incorporating drinking less as part of that, so it must be quite exciting for you to bring those elements together into a sort of a bundle that you can share with people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. And that's kind of how I got into the space myself. I mean through that kind of health crisis that I was examining what I was eating and how it was making me feel. So I cut out all the big food triggers, including wheat and dairy and eggs and caffeine and alcohol and alcohol wasn't really a huge part of my life before that. I just found that I couldn't wake up and teach my morning spin classes the way that I really wanted to if I had, you know, drank the night before.

Speaker 2:

But after kind of feeling pretty sick for quite a long time, I alcohol, just like other foods, made it back into my rotation and alcohol just never made it back in my regular rotation. Now I don't consider myself as sober. I'll have a sip of a drink here or there to taste the flavors, but it honestly immediately gives me a headache and it's not that fun for my body. So I just don't really drink it, which means that I've been on the search for delicious non-alcoholic beverage alternatives for quite a long time at this point, you know, going on like 10 years.

Speaker 1:

Amazing and it must be quite exciting seeing how that's changed. I definitely want to talk to you about what you've seen, but I want to take it back a little bit, because you said that you said something really interesting that this started off for you as you um teaching kombucha brewing to people. So, first of all, I would like to know how you know how to teach, like, how did you learn kombucha brewing? Because it's not. I mean, I know a lot of people do it at home, but it's not just oh yeah, yeah, I just I'm. I'm a kombucha brewer of old. So so how did you know how to do that? And also, for the listeners, tell us a little bit about kombucha brewing and why it's so good for people, particularly if they're looking for different ways to drink or to look after their health why they should jump into this kombucha trend that's happening at the moment.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So if you're unfamiliar with kombucha, kombucha is fermented tea and it's pretty simple to make. You know, you basically make sweet tea and then you add this weird slimy disc called a SCOBY, and SCOBY stands for Symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, and essentially it's like cellulose that grows on top of this sweet tea. You also need to save. You basically need kombucha to make more kombucha. So there's a lot of speculation about where the history, where the first person who made kombucha was from and how they made it, but it has really ancient roots. It's thousands of years old, dates all the way back to you know. People tell the story that it dates back to Asia, potentially in Japan or China, especially where tea is really, you know, been around for a very long time.

Speaker 2:

So I got started making my own kombucha when I was in university. I wanted to travel inexpensively, so I participated in woofing, which is worldwide opportunities on organic farms. But basically you volunteer on an organic farm and you get room and board and you get to have a new experience. So I volunteered on a farm on Vancouver Island in Canada and the owner of the farm made kombucha and I had never tried it before. I'd never seen it. She'd pull out this weird slimy jar of stuff and then drink from it.

Speaker 2:

I was like that is so bizarre, I want some. How can I try this? So she made plain kombucha. So I just tried just regular plain kombucha, no flavors, and I really I fell in love. It was tart, it was carbonated, it was kind of funky and it was weird and I kind of like weird things. So she gave me a piece of her SCOBY SCOBYs grow in kind of layers. So she just peeled apart a piece, I put it in a plastic bag, I put it in my suitcase and I flew back to California and I started making kombucha. And then it wasn't until, like, my friends were asking me what I was drinking in art history class and I was like, oh, it's kombucha. And so that's how I got inspired to start teaching kombucha brewing workshops at my student food co-op.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love it. Most people go oh, that looks slimy and weird. You're like, no, no, no, let's have some more of that. Let me give that a try.

Speaker 2:

So one really cool thing. I mean there's a lot of cool things about making kombucha. I love fermentation, I love consuming fermented foods, and so kombucha is a fermented food which, like, populates our gut with beneficial bacteria which we really need for the wellness of our entire body Makes a great you know, non-alcoholic cocktail ingredient. Add some texture, it adds a little bit of carbonation, it adds some funk because of that fermentation. And it's actually pretty simple to make yourself. The only thing that you need is a kombucha organism and starter liquid. So starter liquid is basically already brewed kombucha. It does need to be plain, so it can't be like your strawberry kombucha that you're drinking from the grocery store. Plain kombucha exists, but it's actually more rare than you would think.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and on that note of it being fermented, because quite often people are talking about at the moment, you know the difference between alcohol-free the 0.05 over here in the UK, the 0.5 where you are, and different numbers around the world, and homemade kombuchas in particular, because there isn't a control mechanism for them. So what sort of ABVs are kombuchas normally sitting around?

Speaker 2:

So it really depends on how long you ferment it for. So have you ever tried hard kombucha like alcoholic kombucha? I haven't. I haven't. It is a you know, it's still a thing. It had a big you know boom here in the US.

Speaker 2:

So typical kombucha usually goes through two different stages of fermentation primary fermentation in a larger jar with the slimy pancake thing and tea and sugar, so it's pretty simple and plain. Then it goes through a secondary fermentation with all the flavors and so typically if you want to really increase the alcohol you would have to go through a third fermentation, introduce champagne yeast usually to then increase the alcohol content. Otherwise really strong kombucha will just taste like vinegar. So it does have trace amounts of alcohol. In the store it has that under 0.5% ABV. At home I usually use a taste test of just like how does it taste and if it tastes alcoholy probably has more alcohol. But for me personally that's not a huge deal. But for folks at home I usually, when they want to limit the amount of alcohol in their kombucha, I usually suggest that they just ferment it for less time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think you clearly know your stuff when it comes to kombucha. So thank you so much for sharing that, because we hadn't necessarily planned to go into this much detail about it, but it's something that I know people are really, really interested in. And what I would say to those who are listening if you have any concerns about the ABV of your kombucha, obviously check if it's store-bought. You can just check, uh, the abvs on the cans or on the bottles, uh, and just make sure that you're you're comfortable with it, um. But if you're making it at home, there is equipment that you can buy to test these sorts of things. But I guess you'd be quite dedicated to the craft if you're buying all of the equipment and the abv testers and everything like that. But it sounds like fun if you want to play with a slimy disc on top of some tea, totally.

Speaker 2:

And once you have a kombucha organism, you can basically make kombucha forever. It's like a sourdough starter, in that you feed it, it continues to grow. And my kombucha organism I got from the farm on Vancouver Island in 2012, but she got her kombucha organism from San Francisco in 1992. So this kombucha organism lineage is at least 33 years old, which is pretty wild. I didn't know that. That's amazing.

Speaker 1:

Wow. Okay, I'm going to take forward a little bit, because there is a definite link there between the kombucha and those looking for sort of alcohol free drinks or low alcohol beverages, and you'll talk about the connection between nutrition and the fact that things like kombuchas and fermented drinks are going to be really gut healthy for us. And then, obviously, that's led you to move forward in your career and develop this passion for um, searching for low, no, and possibly light alcohol drinks as well um, which has then grown into a love or alongside a love that you have as well for nutrition and food, and then into mixology. So tell me a little bit about that journey and and where you are now with, uh, your outlook on alcohol-free drinks.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean. So I would say the beginning of my interest in non-alcoholic beverages was really geared towards herbs and functional beverages. I was making a lot of drinking chocolate and tea and concentrates because with my nutrition training I was like I just really love, I really love herbs. So I was really focused on that. So I was doing a lot of these like quote unquote functional drinks before they were a thing just on my own, serving them to my friends, making them, you know, in workshops, and I would consider those elixirs. I kind of define elixirs as functional beverages. So that's my definition of kind of like how I kind of differentiate.

Speaker 2:

Non-alcoholic cocktails have the kind of aesthetics, taste profile, presentation of a cocktail, whether it has alcohol or not, whereas elixirs are like they are functional and they have some sort of ingredient that's going to give you some sort of health benefit or quality to your, your wellness or your cognition or your, you know, stress levels. So I was really into that and it wasn't until I had a corporate client of mine during the pandemic ask me hey, do you teach cocktail classes? And I'm, you know, I'm like, fake it till you make it, let's go and then learn along the way. So I was like you know what? Yes, I do, yes, I do. And I was like, okay, how to make cocktails? And so I started my journey learning how to mix drinks and, you know, learning something because you're really passionate and interested in it and I think it is really, it's really fun.

Speaker 2:

So that was in 2020 when I started kind of teaching myself mixology skills. So I don't have a background as a bartender or in the bar restaurant industry, I am self-taught but I think that all my skills that I really kind of learned were also very tightly connected to non-alcoholic ingredients, because that's what I was drinking. Now I do and did and still do, instruct foolproof mixology classes, and I think I just, you know, one of my specialties is making information really easy to understand, breaking it down so that anybody can understand, and so that's how I kind of got into the mixology class realm and I got really into it. I got really into it and I love learning, and so I just have continued to learn and then woven in all these awesome non-alcoholic products that are coming out from before and continue to, as well as really focusing on food based ingredients, which is, I'd say, one of my specialties is how to make non-alcoholic cocktails with things you have in your kitchen or things that take a little bit more culinary skill, but adding complexity through food.

Speaker 1:

Interesting, and we are. We are Lono Nation going to talk about all of that, because I think it's really fascinating what Lila does and the way she speaks about it. So there's a couple of bits we're going to cover now, which is you have a sort of framework, don't you, around your cocktail making, which is part of what you teach when you do your classes excuse me, for your, for your clients, be they corporate or social. So I'd love to pick your brain as much as we can about your framework for the five elements, or the five fundamental elements, for cocktails.

Speaker 1:

Now, most people listening to this are going to be considering non-alcoholic or alcohol-free cocktails, but as, as you know, lono Drinker is not a sobriety platform, so there are people here that will be also drinking alcohol, and so perhaps these are techniques that they can use to make a lovely non-alcoholic cocktail on a Wednesday evening, when they want to get over hump day and they've had a crappy day at work and the boss is really annoying and the kids just won't shut up and they want to make a lovely drink, but but then on the weekend they might want to put a little bit of pep in it. They might want to have something full strength. Because, you know, the way we choose to drink isn't binary, is it? It's not black and white for anyone. So if we could have a look at those fundamentals and how people can really start to enjoy the possibility of making these drinks for themselves.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I, like you mentioned, I have kind of five elements of a non-alcoholic cocktail that can be applied to, you know, foolproof cocktails as well. So the first element is complexity. A lot of these are geared towards, you know, non-alcoholic ingredients, so I'm going to speak directly to that. So you know, complexity, I think, is really what sets a non-alcoholic cocktail apart from a lemonade or an iced tea, because those are single kind of note beverages. So I think what makes something you know a mocktail is that it has layers of flavor that you're experiencing and that is honestly very challenging to do in. It's more challenging to do in non-alcoholic cocktails than it is in foolproof. So layering flavors, understanding how different things work together, but I would say having something that kind of creates it has depth and has multiple kind of flavor notes as you're sipping it is a really important part of making a non-alcoholic cocktail. So you can do that by using a non-alcoholic spirit does the heavy lifting, for you is already complex, infused with botanicals and really kind of can do that heavy lifting. Otherwise, you have to know somewhat about food and different juices and syrups and teas and citrus and peels and herbs and spices and how those can work together both kind of like form wise and taste wise, into a non-alcoholic cocktail.

Speaker 2:

So complexity is number one in when you're making a mocktail, that's what you want to kind of integrate. Number two is texture. So, as I think I've heard you talk on the podcast before with other people, we talk about texture in different non-alcoholic spirits and different non-alcoholic products. But texture is really important. Some sort of interesting mouthfeel, whether that's carbonation, whether that is some sort of kind of velvety, thick kind of texture. But alcohol has texture and when we remove that, we don't want a really watery kind of thin drink, we want something that has kind of some full body. So there's different ways we can incorporate that through, like I mentioned, carbonation, we can add a foaming agent, we can use syrup, we can, you know, shake our drink Lots of different ways to integrate texture.

Speaker 1:

Okay great.

Speaker 2:

So these are two strong ones we're coming out of the gate with already.

Speaker 1:

And I'm making notes. You can see I'm looking at them, making notes. I've got questions, but this is fabulous. So we've got complexity, then we've got texture, so what's next?

Speaker 2:

Next is for lack of a better word, I would say intensity. There's some sort of intensity and it doesn't need to be like, wow, this drink is so spicy or this is so sour or so sweet, but there is something that provides a flavor that slows you down because alcohol is intense, it burns as it goes down your throat. Intense, it burns as it goes down your throat. So I just like to, you know, kind of give the example of a lemonade. That a lemonade is like, you know it's really you could chug it. You could chug a lemonade.

Speaker 2:

But in a non-alcoholic cocktail I'm looking to have something that slows down the drinking experience. That's so that you're sipping it instead of just like, oh, this is just juice and I'm just going to chug it. So that could be something sour, something bitter, something spicy. But I don't want to overwhelm people's palates. I don't want it to be too spicy. I do think that a lot of non-alcoholic spirit products lean sometimes a little too heavily on the spicy to replace that kind of burn, and I don't always want something spicy. So that is a consideration. But intensity is the third element of a non-alcoholic cocktail.

Speaker 1:

I think you're right there. I think a lot of them especially perhaps not so much now to the newer producers who are coming out and recognizing this, but in the last few years a lot of them are leaning on the, the chili, the spice, the capsicum and that sort of thing to to replace that burn, is it gives you the burn of alcohol. But I can't remember who I was listening to. It was possibly Derek Brown's podcast, which is which, by the way, lona Nation. Uh, absolutely fabulous.

Speaker 1:

Derek Brown is is a master of his craft, um, but I think he was making the point that you know, when you're drinking full strength alcohol, nobody goes oh yeah, let me have that tequila, I want the burn. Nobody asks for a burn. What you want as I love the way you say is that intensity and something that slows you down, so that, yeah, that is the difference. Isn't it knocking something back if that's what you do with a soft drink, but sipping it slowly and savoring it, that's what you do with an adult drink? Yeah, I love that. I love that. Okay, so that's intensity. So what's number four?

Speaker 2:

number four is aesthetics, so presentation so important. We feast with our eyes first. First, that is the first signal to our brain that we are drinking something special. So it could be as simple as a garnish or some nice glassware. One of my favorite things to do is go to the thrift store and find some really cool glasses. Maybe I don't get a whole set, but I get one super cool glass that I can enjoy a really elevated non-alcoholic cocktail in. So aesthetics and presentation is a really big part of setting this at the same level as you know, foolproof cocktails as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I completely agree with you there, and I will ask Lila to share her contact spaces afterwards. But I was on your Instagram and you do have some beautiful glassware in some of your photographs, and you're right. It does make such a difference, doesn't it? You know, just having something that's really pretty or something that's got carvings in it, or something that's just got some character in it, and it's just got some character in it. So it's like if you go to a bar and you ask for your drink, it just comes in a really boring glass. You're like okay, well, you haven't put that much effort into it, but it's the same thing at home. Like, don't just like chug it into the kid's plastic cup, put it in something nice, Yep, exactly exactly.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic. And now for number five yes number five.

Speaker 2:

So number five is optional. So the optional element is function or quote unquote effect. Because you know alcohol, you know of course, has a taste that a lot of people really enjoy and some people, you know, don't like it as much and are really there for the intoxication. So when we remove that, we can include some sort of other quote unquote effect, and that could be as simple as caffeine through tea.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people don't think about caffeine as a intoxicating substance, but it is something that has a significant effect on our body and we feel a certain way when we drink it. So it could be something like that. And then we could also get into nootropics and functional ingredients and adaptogens to give our body, maybe even instead of something that is going to be intoxicating, something that is wellness promoting. So I don't think that this is absolutely necessary to include in a non-alcoholic cocktail, but I do think that it's part of my specialty and interest in including those functional beverages or functional ingredients. Because of my background in nutrition, I really like to boost my wellness whenever I can.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And you're right about caffeine. I mean, people forget with all this talk about functional ingredients at the moment, and caffeine is kind of like the original functional ingredients and people were like well, I feel a functional thing, will it affect me? Well, does caffeine affect you? Because if it does, then there's a likelihood that at some point some of these other things will feel the same way. And also tea, you know, because everyone thinks that coffee is the only thing with caffeine in it. But but and you'll know better than me that some teas have as much, if not more, caffeine than coffee. Is that right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, I think it depends how long you steep your tea, how much tea you're adding, because you can have a very caffeinated tea. Personally, I'm like pretty sensitive to caffeine, so I like to do a kind of combo. It's like I have a whole ritual in the evening that I make my tea for the morning. I do a short hot steep of like some green tea or some jasmine tea is my favorite. I do a hot steep for a couple minutes. I fill then the rest of the jar up with cold water and I put it in the fridge. And I find that that has a much easier impact on my body than if I especially were to over steep tea to make it really, really strong. That would give me some anxiety, make me feel a little like, you know, buzzed in a way. That's like okay, this is not quite comfortable for me.

Speaker 1:

Oh my God, we're getting so many good tips in so many areas. I'm really excited. I'm like what bit should I pick on next? What should we talk about next? There's so much good stuff. It's fantastic. It's fantastic. I want to go back to number one, if I can, because you mentioned there you talked about complexity and complexity being really important for a non-alcoholic cocktail. But the fact that you mentioned that it's harder to achieve in non-alcoholic why is complexity harder to achieve for a non-alcoholic drink?

Speaker 2:

So you know, I think, kind of drawing it back to our lemonade or iced tea, like when we heavily rely on fruit juice. For you know very intro what we'll call I want to say, old school mocktails, because when we think of old school like mocktails, those are the things that are heavily relying on juice and syrup and soda and the overly sweet. I think we are in a new era of mocktails or whatever you want to call it. I'm in the camp of use whatever word you want. I use the word mocktail often because it is the most searched word. That's how people are going to find me if they're looking for non-alcoholic cocktails. So I want to get as many people in the door as possible, so I do use mocktail.

Speaker 2:

So when we heavily rely on these like really overly sweet ingredients, we're really not able to get the layers of flavor, especially the herbs and the different notes that we can get from alcohol that's aged, that is using plants. So we need to intentionally incorporate some spices, some warming spices, some bitter, some botanical, different balance of sweet and sour. One of the ways that is um or. I'll share two ways that I really like to include complexity that are very inexpensive and you probably already have them in your kitchen. Great one is apple cider vinegar or any kind of vinegar uh, I think is one of my, um like most favorite food. And we're not adding a lot of vinegar, we're adding half a teaspoon to a full teaspoon per serving and that gives a little bit of funk, whatever. That fermentation kind of funky flavor which I think adds an element of you know, adult-ness, which is ultimately what we're looking for in these elevated, adult, non-alcoholic beverages is a little bit of you know something unique. So, and apple cider vinegar has a plethora of health benefits, so it's not expensive, you can get it at the grocery store, you probably have it in your pantry. Really easy to use, excellent, excellent.

Speaker 2:

And the other one. And the other one is citrus peels. So we're often juicing citrus for our drinks, but a lot of the flavor of citrus actually exists in the peel, in the essential oils. So we can like express, you know, a citrus peel on the top, but I actually really like to include it in the body of my drinks. So I'll often do a little bit of zest in the drink, shake it and then double strain. So I'm not getting that zest in my actual drink shake it and then double strain. So I'm not getting that zest in my actual drink. I personally don't mind the texture, but you could also muddle peel in there. But really getting that, those essential oils and the peel from our citrus, you know, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit I think is a really great way to add again something sharp, something complex, without adding something that is super expensive or it's just what you have on hand. So I those are two, I think, underused, but very like all star food ingredients in my food-based non-alcoholic cocktails.

Speaker 1:

Those are fantastic tips, and I think that it's often overlooked that you have stuff at home that you can use. You don't always have to buy everything brand new, and in fact it's good to use up the things that you have instead of letting them go to waste. You know, maybe you've made something for the kids and you've got some peel left over, and then you can put that aside and say, right, I'm going to use that in a cocktail later. Um, but we did mention, didn't we, before we pressed um record, that that there is there are two camps of people when it comes to um making cocktails at home. There there are those who, um, get really excited and go right, I've got the stuff, I've got the stuff, I've got a shaker, I've got a strainer and I've got this recipe and I can't wait to do it. And then there are others, like my friend Dab, who helps me with the magazine, who just can't be bothered. It's too much faff, but it doesn't always have to be complex, right?

Speaker 2:

No, no, it doesn't. And I, you know, as someone who loves food and drinks and I love I'm constantly experimenting in the kitchen. There are many days I crack open a RTD drink that I really like and I just call it a day and I'm like this is what I'm drinking tonight. But I would say you know some ways that I like to incorporate things is I like to stock them in my pantry and in my kitchen to make sure I have them on hand for when I want to make something. So a couple of those are tea. So I love tea and if we're talking about true, tea comes is like black tea, white tea, green tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, so everything else is technically a tisane or a herbal infusion which are going to be your lavender, chamomile, peppermint, and I like to use kind of both. So I think there's a long history of tea ceremony, of using tea as a ritual, and I think that's a really underused kind of ingredient in non-alcoholic products and cocktails. So I personally really like using those.

Speaker 2:

So I'll make, like I mentioned, my cold steep jasmine tea. I'll make a extra strong black tea to add into drinks which adds that kind of tannic quality, that mouth drying that we experience from wine, but we can also get that from tea. And then I'll also incorporate some unique juices that I have on hand. I'm a big fan of this brand called Perfect Puree. I don't know if you've ever heard of them, but they're used a lot in bars and restaurants. But they make these kind of frozen concentrates of really unique ingredients like passion fruit juice concentrate, lychee juice concentrate, and so I'll often have something like that.

Speaker 2:

I really like the yuzu lemongrass one it's one of my favorites and that I love that flavor. I'll mix that with some cold hibiscus tea and it just like super simple, instantly makes a really delicious non alcoholic cocktail just with two ingredients, which is kind of hard to achieve. But having those things on hand including, you know, your apple cider vinegar, your citrus, and then I'll also have a different syrups that I like to make with herbs and spices, which lasts a long time in the refrigerator. So if I have tea, I've got citrus, I've got some interesting juice, I've got syrups not you know and then I have a whole bar cart of non-alcoholic products. So those I can mix and match, but those are some of my favorite food ingredients that I have on hand to make drinks.

Speaker 1:

This is amazing. What, what an insightful way to approach it. As I think you know, you can just add those things onto the end of your shopping list when you're going to the supermarket or the grocery store, as you would say, and just making sure you've got them, and you know, when you're feeling inspired to batch up something and make a little bit and then just put that aside for later or for the weekend. I think these are some fantastic tips for people to really be able to, because when you change the way that you drink, you know we often in this industry are well known for saying, aren't we, that it's not the drink, it's the ritual, and so finding ways to keep that ritual going with adult flavors, with sophisticated glassware, with lovely garnishes, with great ingredients and something that's more interesting than just an alcohol-free spirit mixed with some tonic. Yes, it serves a purpose and that's lovely, but if you can have something special, then why not? You deserve to have it. Purpose and that's lovely, but if you can have something special, then why not?

Speaker 2:

you deserve to have it totally, and it's just everybody. You have to find your own style whatever works for you. Some people just like, want to mix non-alcoholic spirits together and you can make amazing, delicious things with minimal effort because those are having all the all the complexity you can, you know more similarly mimic some of these traditional cocktails instead of with food-based things. You really are doing your own thing. But that I think is one of the special places of the non-alcoholic beverage movement is we are paving the way. This is new in the form that it is here now and I think that you know redefining a lot is, and educating people, I think, is a big missing piece in the non-ALC space.

Speaker 1:

Well, you've just done a wonderful job of educating Lono Nation, and, speaking of which, I know that this is part of what you do.

Speaker 1:

So the reason why you've done such a great job is because this is what you do for a living. So tell listeners first of all, where they can go to get hold of you and find out more about you. But what specifically is it that you do? Because I mentioned that you work with corporate clients. You mentioned classes that you do. How does what you've just shared with us manifest in your working life? Yeah, how does what you've just shared with us?

Speaker 2:

manifest in your working life. Yeah, so I run a business that hosts workshops at the intersection of food, beverages and wellness, and so I mostly am hosting corporate team building events, both virtually and in person, here and based in the Bay Area, and so we're connecting people around, making something new, introducing them to new ingredients. So I have a mocktail mixology class, I have a tea-based mocktail class, I've got a mocktail tasting with ready-to-drink drinks, so, in addition to about 30 other classes in different topics. So I, you know, specialize in shipping the ingredient kits to everybody. Uh, and then we all make the same recipe at the same time, whether that's in person or virtual. So I've been doing that since 2019, especially with COVID.

Speaker 2:

Um turned virtual and I'd say still about 75% of my workshops are virtual at this point. Still, oh, wow, yeah, yep. And then I also teach public workshops, and I teach them locally here in the Bay Area. I do virtual ones as well, kind of one-offs of some of these topics. And then I also have co-created the Mocktail School, which is basically, if you like, what we're talking about. That's a deep dive into everything I'm talking about and more, and it is the Fundamentals of Non-Alcoholic Mixology. Currently it is a live four-week virtual course. But it's iterating, it's shifting, it may come in different forms soon in the future, but definitely take a look at that if you're interested in going deep, whether that's personally or professionally, for learning about non-alcoholic mixology specifically.

Speaker 1:

I think that's fabulous, because I think that the reason why I have this podcast is because I want to help people to understand this world of low, no and light drinks and to feel comfortable and confident about their choices around it, for whatever length of time, for whatever reason, and hearing that you've got so many different ways that people can get involved and and pick and choose the elements that really light them up, and that it's not just corporate, it can be for fun as well, you know, because I think that this needs to be fun and we need to let people know that actually, this is, this is a perfectly fine way for you to have a fun time out. Get your friends around, have a cocktail making class, but it's alcohol-free cocktails, or if you somebody wants alcohol, then that's their choice. Totally, bringing it into the workplace is fabulous, because I know there's a lot of talk on both sides of the pond, isn't there, about workplace events now needing to change their reliance on just having a boozy bar and no other thoughts? Right, yeah?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely yeah. It's yeah, being in the corporate space and getting a little peek into different like, hundreds of different companies, so many different people from around the US and the world of like you know. How are they connecting? What's the culture like with or without booze? So I do think that there is a rise in conscious, mindful drinking and interest in wellness, and this is the perfect intersection of like, mixology and wellness and fun and connection. So we make drinks, but we also, you know, talk and connect with each other, and in a mindful way, which I really, really love. So I adore teaching my classes.

Speaker 1:

I can see that that comes very clearly across the airways to us all. Where do people go to find out about these classes and to reach out to you, Lila?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so you can find me a couple different places. So, lila Volkis, my name first and last name is my website and also my Instagram, if you want to follow along there. I've got recipes, I've got upcoming events, all of that great stuff. And then I have the Mocktail School. So you can find us on Instagram at Mocktail School and you can also find us online at the Mocktail School.

Speaker 1:

There you go, and I can 100% vouch for Lila's recipes, because the reason that we know each other is that not long ago Lila did some wonderful, wonderful recipes for Lono Drinker magazine that you can make at home, and they were all beautiful and all delicious.

Speaker 1:

So I highly recommend that anybody who's looking to get a better understanding of how they can incorporate this into their, their own drinking repertoire, uh, to give you a shout, um, now, before I let you go, uh, I have. Well, first of all, I have lots of other questions that I could ask you, but I think we might have to get you back for another episode another time to go over that, um. So my last question is the same as I ask everybody who comes in the show, because I believe in spreading the low no and light, love and appreciation around the world. So, um, I mentioned to you before we press record that we're having a little mini heat wave here in the uk. I don't know what the temperature's like in the bay area at the moment. I'm guessing quite warm, and it might be barbecue season yeah, fabulous it's.

Speaker 2:

It's a very moderate temperature here. It's foggy right now, but it will warm up by the afternoon.

Speaker 1:

There you go, there you go. Well, let's imagine that later this afternoon you are off to a barbecue at a friend's house and you are bringing along some drinks to enjoy. What in the low, no or light alcohol space do you like to enjoy on a sunny barbecue day?

Speaker 2:

all right. So I would say I would want to bring a class like a spin on a classic um. So we've got lemonade, which I talked a lot about as being, like one note, not that interesting. However, I really love to make a lavender orgeat lemonade, so I like to use uh, all the bitter, non-alcoholic bitters lavender and orgeat which is typically used in tiki drinks. It is an almond syrup and it adds this creamy, delicious I mean it's like melted marzipan. It's delicious with lemon juice and some lemon zest or lemon peel that I'll also kind of steep in there before straining out. So it's kind of like an adult complex take on a lemonade, but both, I would say, kids and adults can enjoy it. I actually made this for my wedding last year. That was in the summer and, yes, I made the non-alcoholic cocktails for the 60 guests at my wedding. I had other people serve them, but I was like this is an expression of me and my love and serving people, so that's something that I served at my wedding.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's lovely. Well, you got to know then that the recipe is going to be fabulous if you deemed it worthy enough to be at your wedding day. Fantastic, and All the Bitter what a great brand. They are a non-alcoholic bitters brand. For anyone who doesn't know, they're huge in the US, harder to get hold of in the UK there might be some on the shelf behind me for those who are watching on YouTube but they are absolutely lovely and they make such a big difference to really lift a simple drink and to add those layers of complexity that you were talking about and depths of flavor. So great choices there. Awesome Thanks to change the way that they're drinking, for whatever length of time, and I think it just shows that there's so much to be enjoyed if we just experiment a little and just try different things. And, as you said, you know we're at the beginning of things with this non-alcoholic movement, but what it means is that we've got the freedom to just make stuff up and see what works.

Speaker 1:

And it sounds like you do that beautifully, so thank you, thank you, thank you it.

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Denise Hamilton-Mace

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