Blaze Davies started his business, Voodoo Tonic, as a way to create uniquely flavored cocktails with premade concentrates, but in the past year, he’s found his herbal mixtures have been used for mocktails, served with soda water or even used as teas.
“This next generation seems to have more people who are choosing not to drink, and socially that can be sort of a badge of honor,” he said. “So I think in the coming years you’re going to see a lot more nonalcoholic drinks being made.”
Davies has his original tonic, Voodoo Tonic, which is more of a classic tonic with notes of lime, ginger and juniper. He also has a beet and lime tonic called Chupacabra Milk. The final tonic he makes is called Mojo-jito, which tastes like a classic mojito with strong lime flavors and cucumber with a minty scent. All of the tonics have earthy flavors layered in between the primary flavors.
“Using these tonics to create nonalcoholic beverages can give the depth of a mixed drink, it just doesn’t have the alcohol,” Davies said. “The idea is that you have all of the components of a classic mixed drink.”
Most commonly when people use Davies’ tonics for nonalcoholic drinks, they add about 1 to 2 ounces of the concentrate to a glass of soda water, depending on whether they want their drink sweeter or more bitter.
“What's really cool about all of these tonics is that bitterness and the sweetness balance each other and will actually change places based on how much tonic you add,” he said. “You really get a different drink depending on how you mix it. So one of these mixes can give you five different nonalcoholic drinks depending on how much you add.”
Davies distributes his tonics online, and they are carried in bars around Durango such as the Bookcase and Barber and El Moro. Some businesses, such as EsoTerra Ciderworks, lean into using Voodoo Tonics completely as a nonalcoholic option, and even sell a nonalcoholic flight that features all three tonics and an apple slushie.
In an effort to market to people who are looking for a cocktail alternative, Voodoo Tonic occasionally shares recipes on its social media platforms on what it calls Mocktail Monday.
“We’re also trying to get people to recognize that it is tea,” Davies said. “It’s a concentrate of herbs and spices. The way I like thinking about it is like a cold brew for tea.”
Durango is no stranger to producing nonalcoholic beverages. Local soda maker Zuberfizz has been making alternatives to Coca-Cola and Pepsi since the early 2000s, and Ska Brewing Co. has been making its Skagua sparkling water for years.
Both Skagua and Zuberfizz grew out of a desire to provide a nonalcoholic alternative.
Zuberfizz co-owner Dan Aggeler started off as a brewer who wanted something other than beer to drink.
“I used to drink quite a bit of beer, and it was never a problem, but now I’m almost 50 and I just don’t look for as much alcohol,” he said.
Similarly, Skagua came about when Ska co-owner Matt Vincent was looking for something to sip during the day.
“We’ve been serving the Skagua in our tasting room for over 15 years,” said Ska Brewing Co. spokeswoman Kristen Muraro. “People got to know it and became fans, and when we saw that market of flavored waters growing, we decided to can it about three or four years ago.”
Muraro said that brewing nonalcoholic beer at Ska has come up, but the cost of the equipment to brew is standing in the way. The demand for a nonalcoholic beer has to justify the price of the new equipment that would be needed.
“I think there are some folks who are looking for quality or good tasting nonalcoholic products, so they’re looking to their craft brewers to mimic the taste of their favorite beers,” Muraro said. “At the moment, I think we need to do a little more research as far as what that would look like demand-wise.”
Many soda-based mocktails and cocktails around Durango use Zuberfizz as a mixer, Aggeler said. Especially after the company started offering a soda gun system a few years back.
“It’s the same thing as other bar guns, but instead of a bar gun of Coke products, they have our cola and our ginger ale,” he said. “Those are becoming more popular at bars.”
Aggeler said Zuberfizz soda guns can be found around Durango at places such as Grassburger and Zia Taqueria, among other bars and restaurants.
“When people come through they want to try the local food, the local beer, the local soda,” he said. “We’re an alternative to Coke and Pepsi, yes. But people want that local craft-brewed soda.”
njohnson@durangoherald.com
