Shift Drink

The first time I walked into The Noortwyck in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, I felt a general sense of calm. Maybe it had something to do with the caramel-colored velvet banquettes (my favorite kind of restaurant seating), or maybe it was just 5:30 PM on an especially chaotic work day, and I knew that I was mere minutes away from a plateful of oysters and a drink.

It's not often that I'll opt for a non-alcoholic cocktail on a whim, but I couldn't resist ordering the Shift Drink, a combination of freshly squeezed grapefruit and lemon juices, an intensely fragrant spiced honey syrup, ginger beer, and one of my favorite non-alcoholic spirits, Amass Riverine. If you're unfamiliar, Morgan McLachlan (one of Food & Wine's 2022 Drinks Innovators of the Year), is the master distiller of Amass and creates pure magic with botanicals like wildflowers, rose, and ginger. Riverine is inspired by the Pacific Northwest, and it's one of my favorite NA spirits to sip over ice with a twist.

The Shift Drink, from Noortwyck head bartender Ali Brailey, does call for a special syrup that you'll need to make in advance and cool for twenty minutes or so, but hear me out: This is a syrup worth making. I've added it to regular maple syrup for pancakes, drizzled it on top of cornbread and ice cream (don't knock it before you've tried it), and found it to be an especially versatile ingredient for other NA cocktails.