My First Attempts to Replace Whiskies

What do I miss about drinking? The narcotic effect isn't at the top of the list, no, it's either taste or ritual - the time of day or social space that a given drink occupies.

Beers go well with a lot of my favourite foods and are easy to replace with the wide variety of "near-beers" available. I'll make a past about that in the future.

I liked a glass of red wine (preferably Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon) with my steak. I'm still
struggling with this one- I'll let you know when I find a solution, just keep coming back here.

No, today I'm adressing whisky/whiskey. My favourites were rye, scotch (former spelling and bourbon (latter spelling), though I had been sampling Japanese whiskies when I quit.

A glass of whisky in a tumbler with a stainless steel 'whisky rock' instead of an ice cube was a nice way to observe an accomplishment or remind after a tough day.

I should have picked bourbon as my first substitute attempt since it's notes are often reminiscent of fairly common foods, but instead I found ALT's peat product which should have reminded me of scotch. There are a lot of spirit free whisky substitutes but I wanted one that was Canadian or at least not American (a non-drinker
can do Elbows up too). Sadly, this stuff tastes like lawn mower clippings
steeped in piss.

My wife likes to get loose-leaf teas from naturopaths and apothecaries etc. so we have some tea-balls around the house. A little online research led me to believe that I could concoct something that might be close to whisky. I found a local tea merchant called Tea Sparrow and purchased a bunch of their Bourbon Vanilla Bean tea (and a small pouch of something called Cherry Bomb to get to the free shipping threshold). Once it was in house, I needed to find the biggest container we had that would be able to withstand boiling water, and also store the tea in the fridge, while storing a litre or more of it.

I found a vase, and I let the tea steep with cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract and lemon peel rinds overnight. I put a small plate on top to minimise air and oxidation - I'm not sure why. The next night, I gave it a try, but not before adding a little maple syrup. I'm honestly not sure I really came that close to a real bourbon flavour experience, but the rooibos in the tea combined with the other flavours was pleasant - sweet, but not cloyingly so. Soda pop is sweet, and that's not what I'm after, I want something a bit sophisticated tasting but overall still pleasing to the tongue.

A few weeks later I repeated the experiment, but I skipped the maple syrup and vanilla out of laziness. It actually tasted pretty similar. I think I might stick with this general recipe as one of my solutions, but it takes a lot of organisation to have it prepped for the days I want it. I was excited to find a large glass jug (with lid) that I thought would be perfect for storing the tea, but I realised the neck was too narrow to fit a tea-ball in. For convenience's sakes, I might try another product from Upside Drinks .