Paper Lantern

The hardest thing about a zero-proof drink is the finish. Alcohol gives a drink length — it lingers, it warms, it tells your mouth something happened. Take it away and most non-alcoholic drinks stop dead, pleasant and forgettable. Verjus is our answer: pressed unripe grapes, tart and structured, with a grip that carries all the way through.

Build: an ounce and a half of white verjus, half an ounce of a gentian-and-grapefruit syrup we make in-house, topped with a dry tonic. Built directly in a tall glass over ice, stirred once, and finished with a long strip of grapefruit peel twisted until it looks like it might snap.

It is bitter, and it is meant to be. Nobody drinking this should feel like they were handed the compromise.