If you're going alcohol-free for Dry January, you still have craft cocktail options

One good thing about Dry January: It doesn’t have to be 5 o’clock anywhere.

People have been taking part for more than a decade in the annual pledge to start off a new year alcohol-free, and surveys show that up to 35% of Americans now participate. It started with one British woman’s resolution in January 2011 as she began training for a half-marathon. The idea was adopted as a campaign in 2013 by a group called Alcohol Change UK, and it has grown since on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dry January is billed as a post-holidays opportunity for participants to re-evaluate their drinking habits. Even one alcohol-free month can help people shed a few pounds, lower their blood sugar and notice other health benefits, according to experts.

If you’ve imbibed already in this new year, don’t worry. They’ll be perfectly happy to have you for a Dry Last Three Weeks of January.

Here are some tips from the UK group and WebMD on cutting back in general and cutting alcohol out entirely:

• Let people know about your plan to go dry for the month and recruit someone to join you, if possible.

• Think about how you’ll politely but firmly refuse drink offers. One suggestion: Soda water with lime can fool people and help you avoid questions about why you’re not drinking.

• Try a few drink-free days per week if you're not doing a completely dry January.

• Keep track of your drinking. Alcohol Change UK offers a free Try Dry app to help track dry days and calculate the money and calories you’ve saved. (Even alcohol-free craft cocktails usually cost much less.)

Both groups also suggest trying alternatives to your usual drinks with alcohol. Here are seven local restaurants and bars whose alcohol-free offerings go far beyond a Diet Coke.

Cobra

Three of the four owners of the late-night dinner-and-drinks bar that opened in October have beverage backgrounds, and two — Alex Chien and David Yee — have been finalists in Bombay Sapphire’s annual Most Imaginative Bartender competition.

Cobra’s cocktail menu includes three “venom-free,” nonalcoholic cocktails. Its rumless version of the Cobra’s Fang, a classic Tiki drink from the 1930s, includes a house-made fassionola (fruit syrup), orange and hibiscus. It’s called a Fangless. The most interesting of its alcohol-free drinks is the Pool Float, which is made with mango cordial, lime, serrano and cilantro.

Cobra is at 684 S. High St. in the Brewery District.

Tupelo Honey

Two cocktails, two beers and several other nonalcoholic drinks are on the beverage menu at Tupelo Honey, the modern Southern chain with restaurants in 14 states. Its only Ohio location is 1678 W. Lane Ave. in Upper Arlington.

Tupelo Honey makes its own ginger beer and dry-hopped sweet tea. Its Buzz-Free Bee’s Knees hews closely to the Prohibition-era cocktail of gin, honey and lemon by using Lyre’s Pink London Spirit, a no-alcohol gin.

The ginger tonic is made with fresh ginger, turmeric, honey, lime and black pepper.

Bossy Grrls Pinup Joint

The LGBTQ+-friendly bar and burlesque venue at 2598 N. High St. in the University District offers three mocktail versions of classic cocktails.

Its Nojito includes lime, a simple syrup, mint and soda. Its NArgarita (the NA stands for nonalcoholic) has lime, simple syrup and nonalcoholic triple sec. The Donkey, like a Moscow Mule, is made with ginger beer, lime, mint and simple syrup. It has no vodka, though.

Goodale Station

Shrub was a popular beverage in colonial America made with fruit, sugar and vinegar. Goodale Station, located Downtown at 77 E. Nationwide Blvd., makes two of its own versions for use in nonalcoholic drinks.

The Evening Fog includes a lavender-and-juniper shrub with lemon and ginger syrup. The Shrubbery uses a seasonal shrub with soda.

High Bank Distillery

Although it makes its living from whiskey, gin and vodka, High Bank Distillery offers a three-drink mocktail menu at its two restaurants: 1379 E. Johnstown Road in Gahanna and 1051 Goodale Blvd. in Grandview Heights.

In addition to a seasonal nonalcoholic mule, there’s a gin-free gin and tonic made with blood orange, house-made tonic and Seedlip Grove 42, a dry, alcohol-free spirit with flavors of orange, lemon peel, lemongrass and ginger. A gin-free gimlet includes another Seedlip spirit, lime, simple syrup and cucumber.

’plas

The Italian Village restaurant,, located at 21 E. 5th Ave., promises the “same love and attention” to its alcohol-free drinks as the rest of its craft cocktails.

The Aphrodite’s Promise uses cold-pressed sour apples, black garlic molasses, citrus and pineapple. The Campside includes black tea, house-smoked cherry juice and ginger soda. There’s also a nonalcoholic mule with Italian wild cherry syrup, ginger beer and lime as well as a citrus “Nogroni” that’s made with grapefruit shrub, cranberry, citrus and soda.

Mouton

The three nonalcoholic cocktails at Mouton, 954 N. High St. in the Short North, span a range of flavors from creamy to tart and spiced.

The Pandan Painkiller is a mix of pineapple, coconut cream, pandan, orange juice and nutmeg. The Nutcracker includes lemon, rosewater and macadamia orgeat, which is a sweet and nutty syrup. The Just Beet It is a bubbly drink of beet juice, chai syrup, lemon, rosemary and soda.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nonalcoholic drink options for Dry January in Columbus