Non-alcoholic Robbie Burns options
January 4, 2017 6:23 PM Subscribe
This year I'll be hosting a (small) Robbie Burns night this year! We have several guests who are not drinking alcohol. I'm looking for some good, thematically appropriate, non-alcoholic drinks to provide for them.
It appears you can buy non-alcoholic whisky. Reviews are generally terrible, but maybe in the right cocktail/mixer it would work?
posted by une_heure_pleine at 7:16 PM on January 4, 2017
posted by une_heure_pleine at 7:16 PM on January 4, 2017
If your non-drinkers are in any kind of alcohol recovery situation, they may not at all want to drink simulated whiskey, or really any kind of ersatz alcoholic beverage.
posted by thelonius at 7:24 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 7:24 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Tea. Definitely hot, sweet milky tea with digestives to dunk in it. You can get decaf tea if they don't want to be up till 6am.
posted by fshgrl at 7:29 PM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 7:29 PM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
For my last Burns Night I made atholl brose, an old-school Scottish dessert-ish drink made from water left behind from soaking oatmeal, honey, cream, and whisky. You could probably omit the whisky and it would be just fine, or mix in non-alcoholic whisky to get the flavor.
posted by Itaxpica at 8:52 PM on January 4, 2017
posted by Itaxpica at 8:52 PM on January 4, 2017
Best answer: I agree about Irn Bru (I am in Scotland, currently drinking it for breakfast), but it might be difficult to get hold of and I am told that there are some people who actually don't like it.
Tea would be a fine choice (and if you've got a big budget for your supper you could really surprise them with tea that's actually grown in Scotland), but I could see some people not wanting a hot drink with their supper. Scottish raspberries are (justly) noted as being really good, and there are a number of good quality non-alcoholic raspberry drinks that you can get here (raspberry and strawberry fizz, raspberry lemonade, ginger beer with raspberry etc). I would expect locally sourced fruit drinks to be the non-alcoholic option at a reasonably posh Scottish restaurants.
posted by Vortisaur at 11:49 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tea would be a fine choice (and if you've got a big budget for your supper you could really surprise them with tea that's actually grown in Scotland), but I could see some people not wanting a hot drink with their supper. Scottish raspberries are (justly) noted as being really good, and there are a number of good quality non-alcoholic raspberry drinks that you can get here (raspberry and strawberry fizz, raspberry lemonade, ginger beer with raspberry etc). I would expect locally sourced fruit drinks to be the non-alcoholic option at a reasonably posh Scottish restaurants.
posted by Vortisaur at 11:49 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Do you have access to any Tayberry drinks?
posted by the latin mouse at 12:43 AM on January 5, 2017
posted by the latin mouse at 12:43 AM on January 5, 2017
As a person who is avoiding alcohol at the moment, I'd also like to suggest asking your guests what they'd like to drink. Do they like fruit juices? Hot drinks? Mocktails? That might give you some ideas, and ensure people have drinks they like.
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:13 AM on January 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:13 AM on January 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I live in Scotland, though I am not Scottish. I'd second raspberry. Quite apart from being delicious, raspberries are a staple part of that lovely Scottish dessert, cranachan. Raspberry juice or a lovely non-alcoholic cocktail with raspberries would do the job beautifully.
posted by kariebookish at 2:37 AM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by kariebookish at 2:37 AM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
And when you toast him, he's Rabbie, not Robbie!
posted by penguin pie at 6:23 AM on January 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by penguin pie at 6:23 AM on January 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
FYI for those curious about the event:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper
posted by intermod at 10:20 AM on January 5, 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper
posted by intermod at 10:20 AM on January 5, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irn-Bru
posted by Brockles at 7:02 PM on January 4, 2017 [10 favorites]