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The Doyle in Dupont Circle puts a zero-proof spin on an Old Fashioned.
Doyle/official photo

Where to Sip Superb Zero-Proof Drinks in D.C.

18 prime stand-ins for cocktails

byTierney PlumbUpdated
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The Doyle in Dupont Circle puts a zero-proof spin on an Old Fashioned.
|Doyle/official photo
byTierney PlumbUpdated

Mocktails are having afull-blown momentright now, and with dry January in full swing, there’s never been a better time to hop on the virtuous drinking trend.

There’s proof that no-proof drinks are here to stay all year long. Shaw tea house and mocktail master Calabash Tea & Tonic expanded with a second location in Brookland last summer, and two formerJoseph A. Magnusemployees recentlystarted their own pop-up cocktail companythat makes zero-proof drinks and tonics for parties. Next month, Coconut Club is playing host to a spirits-freeevent.

The drinks on this list won’t deliver hangovers and frequently sell at lower price points (many are around $5). Some of these also cater to drinkers with menus instructing diners to add liquor.

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Calabash Tea & Tonic

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Brookland’sjewel-toned tea shopmakes a kombucha mocktail ($5.82) with muddled herbs and flowers grown on-site, agave, and Digestive Bitters (an ancestor of cocktails bitters) topped with local kombucha on tap. “I like to say we are the queens of mocktails — it’s been our thing for many years,” says owner Dr. Sunyatta Amen, whose inaugural Calabash opened in Shaw in 2015.

2701 12th St NE, Washington, DC 20018
(202) 248-1186
(202) 248-1186

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The Gibson

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The decade-old speakeasy serves a Musique Sortie (orange, lemon, vanilla, tonic) and the Hear The Falconer with cranberry maple shrub, lime, Old Fashioned bitters, and ginger ale ($7 each).

2009 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
(202) 232-2156
(202) 232-2156
Jai Williams [The Gibson]

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盧波佛得角客棧柵欄

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The Palisades’s Italian go-to serves an Under the Tuscan Sun with orgeat syrup, cherry reduction, lime juice, club soda, and blueberries ($8).

4814 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 506-6683
(202) 506-6683
Lupo Verde/official photo

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El Techo

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A warming mug of “Housemade Nutella” at Shaw’s tropical rooftop bar comes with coconut, hazelnuts, cacao, dark chocolate and milk ($8). The sweet treat can be spiked for $12.

606 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 836-4270
(202) 836-4270
El Techo/official photo

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Doyle

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The glitzy bar tucked inside the Dupont Circle Hotel makes a believable Old Fashioned with kombucha, demerara, orange, and angostura ($12).

1500 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 448-4301
(202) 448-4301
Doyle/official photo

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Logan Tavern

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The P Street mainstay has an entire mocktail menu with seven options ($6 each). A Green Tea Mojito comes with with Tazo Zen blend, lime juice, mint simple syrup, and soda water. A wintertime Mock Mule is a mashup of blueberries and mint instead of strawberries and basil.

1423 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 332-3710
(202) 332-3710
Logan Tavern/official photo

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O-Ku Sushi DC

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The sleek Japanese spot near Union Market offers options like the antioxidant-packed Doctor’s Orders ($6), featuring a house-made tea blend of chamomile, ginger, and cinnamon, with lemon juice and spiced winter demerara syrup (cardamom, clove and cinnamon).

1274 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002
(202) 888-8790
(202) 888-8790
O-Ku/official photo

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Iron Gate Restaurant

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Iron Gate spirits director Nick Farrell just unleashed a new spicy mocktail for the winter called Walking East ($6), made with milk thistle, honey, bitter orange, chiles, andchinotto coda, an Indian-spiced syrup flavored with sous vide orange peel.

1734 N St NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 524-5202
(202) 524-5202
Iron Gate/official photo

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Columbia Room

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The award-winning cocktail bar’s popular Getaway is now available sans alcohol. It’s made with San Pellegrino Chinotto, maple shrub, lemon, aquafaba, and salt. The no-proof list here will grow during dry January with the addition of four more spirit-free elixirs.

124 Blagden Alley NW, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 316-9396
(202) 316-9396
Emma Anzelone/Columbia Room

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Blue Duck Tavern

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The classy hotel restaurant inside the Park Hyatt whips up a non-alcoholic Pineapple-Passionfruit Julep ($12).

1201 24th St NW, Washington, DC 20037
(202) 419-6755
(202) 419-6755
Blue Duck Tavern/official photo

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Mirabelle

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The French stunner relies on Seedlip’s trend-setting line of non-alcoholic spirits to fill a trio of cocktail replicas that work well as stand-ins for a working lunch downtown. Apothecary Pick Me Up ($10) comes with Seedlip Grove, lemon, lime, Verbena Tisane Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters, and soda water.

900 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20006
(202) 506-3833
(202) 506-3833
Mirabelle offers a trio of zero-proof elixirs.
Tierney Plumb/Eater DC

Also featured in:

CIRCA (Multiple locations)

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All area Circa locations, including its new outpost in Navy Yard, offer two sober cocktails: a Grapefruit Rose Fizz ($7) with lime, lemon, simple syrup, rosemary, and lemon-lime soda and a Treat Yo’Self ($8) with turmeric, carrot, orange, pineapple, mango, lime, and ginger beer. Either can be jazzed up with gin.

2221 I St NW, Washington, DC 20037
(202) 506-5589
(202) 506-5589
The Grapefruit Rose Fizz at Circa.
Circa [official photo]

Also featured in:

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar - Washington, D.C.

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The cavernous Cuban chain in Penn Quarter stirs “no-jitos” — aka its long list of 11 mojitos — without rum. Sample watermelon, passionfruit, and grilled pineapple varieties built with fresh sugar cane juice, calledguarapo, pressed in-house, and tropical fruit juices ($4 per glass and $22 per pitcher).

801 9th St NW suite a, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-1600
(202) 408-1600

barmini by José Andrés

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José Andrés’s Michelin-starred cocktail lair in the heart of Penn Quarter ditches alcohol in the well-crafted Eastern Promises, made with Seedlip Garden, lemongrass, butterfly pea, yuzu, sudachi, and a floating a hibiscus cloud finish ($18). Reserve a spot viaTock.

501 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
(202) 393-4451
(202) 393-4451
Rey Lopez/barmini

Also featured in:

China Chilcano

Copy Link

何塞·安德烈斯的秘魯餐廳服務刷新ing “Chicha Morada” — a traditional drink made from imported purple corn, pineapple, and various spices ($5). The fruit-forward Peruvian favorite has started to gain traction in the U.S. in recent years.

418 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
(202) 783-0941
(202) 783-0941

Also featured in:

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Buffalo Bergen

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Shrubs and syrups expert Gina Chersevani’s latest edition of Buffalo Bergen in Capitol Hill makes a tongue-in-cheek Marion Berry mocktail ($6), jam packed with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapefruit, chia seeds, and sugar.

412 3rd St NE, Washington, DC 20002
Buffalo Bergen/official photo

12 Stories

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驚人的碼頭屋頂酒吧提供一雙沒有n-alcoholic cocktails ($8 each). The Ginger Snap comes with fresh ginger juice, pineapple, agave, lemon, mint, and soda water.

75 District Square SW 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20024
(202) 894-9700
(202) 894-9700
Anna Meyer/12 Stories

Also featured in:

RASA

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The Mango Lassi at Navy Yard’s fast-casual Indian destination comes with puréed fresh mango, saffron,dahi(yogurt), sugar, and water ($5). The colorful, traditional drink can be spiked with Cotton & Reed Spiced Rum.

1247 First St SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 804-5678
(202) 804-5678
Rasa/official photo

Also featured in:

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Calabash Tea & Tonic

2701 12th St NE, Washington, DC 20018

Brookland’sjewel-toned tea shopmakes a kombucha mocktail ($5.82) with muddled herbs and flowers grown on-site, agave, and Digestive Bitters (an ancestor of cocktails bitters) topped with local kombucha on tap. “I like to say we are the queens of mocktails — it’s been our thing for many years,” says owner Dr. Sunyatta Amen, whose inaugural Calabash opened in Shaw in 2015.

2701 12th St NE, Washington, DC 20018
(202) 248-1186
(202) 248-1186

The Gibson

2009 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

The decade-old speakeasy serves a Musique Sortie (orange, lemon, vanilla, tonic) and the Hear The Falconer with cranberry maple shrub, lime, Old Fashioned bitters, and ginger ale ($7 each).

2009 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
(202) 232-2156
(202) 232-2156
Jai Williams [The Gibson]

盧波佛得角客棧柵欄

4814 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, DC 20007

The Palisades’s Italian go-to serves an Under the Tuscan Sun with orgeat syrup, cherry reduction, lime juice, club soda, and blueberries ($8).

4814 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 506-6683
(202) 506-6683
Lupo Verde/official photo

El Techo

606 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

A warming mug of “Housemade Nutella” at Shaw’s tropical rooftop bar comes with coconut, hazelnuts, cacao, dark chocolate and milk ($8). The sweet treat can be spiked for $12.

606 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 836-4270
(202) 836-4270
El Techo/official photo

Doyle

1500 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036

The glitzy bar tucked inside the Dupont Circle Hotel makes a believable Old Fashioned with kombucha, demerara, orange, and angostura ($12).

1500 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 448-4301
(202) 448-4301
Doyle/official photo

Logan Tavern

1423 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005

The P Street mainstay has an entire mocktail menu with seven options ($6 each). A Green Tea Mojito comes with with Tazo Zen blend, lime juice, mint simple syrup, and soda water. A wintertime Mock Mule is a mashup of blueberries and mint instead of strawberries and basil.

1423 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 332-3710
(202) 332-3710
Logan Tavern/official photo

O-Ku Sushi DC

1274 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002

The sleek Japanese spot near Union Market offers options like the antioxidant-packed Doctor’s Orders ($6), featuring a house-made tea blend of chamomile, ginger, and cinnamon, with lemon juice and spiced winter demerara syrup (cardamom, clove and cinnamon).

1274 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002
(202) 888-8790
(202) 888-8790
O-Ku/official photo

Iron Gate Restaurant

1734 N St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Iron Gate spirits director Nick Farrell just unleashed a new spicy mocktail for the winter called Walking East ($6), made with milk thistle, honey, bitter orange, chiles, andchinotto coda, an Indian-spiced syrup flavored with sous vide orange peel.

1734 N St NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 524-5202
(202) 524-5202
Iron Gate/official photo

Columbia Room

124 Blagden Alley NW, Washington, DC 20001

The award-winning cocktail bar’s popular Getaway is now available sans alcohol. It’s made with San Pellegrino Chinotto, maple shrub, lemon, aquafaba, and salt. The no-proof list here will grow during dry January with the addition of four more spirit-free elixirs.

124 Blagden Alley NW, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 316-9396
(202) 316-9396
Emma Anzelone/Columbia Room

Blue Duck Tavern

1201 24th St NW, Washington, DC 20037

The classy hotel restaurant inside the Park Hyatt whips up a non-alcoholic Pineapple-Passionfruit Julep ($12).

1201 24th St NW, Washington, DC 20037
(202) 419-6755
(202) 419-6755
Blue Duck Tavern/official photo

Mirabelle

900 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20006

The French stunner relies on Seedlip’s trend-setting line of non-alcoholic spirits to fill a trio of cocktail replicas that work well as stand-ins for a working lunch downtown. Apothecary Pick Me Up ($10) comes with Seedlip Grove, lemon, lime, Verbena Tisane Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters, and soda water.

900 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20006
(202) 506-3833
(202) 506-3833
Mirabelle offers a trio of zero-proof elixirs.
Tierney Plumb/Eater DC

CIRCA (Multiple locations)

2221 I St NW, Washington, DC 20037

All area Circa locations, including its new outpost in Navy Yard, offer two sober cocktails: a Grapefruit Rose Fizz ($7) with lime, lemon, simple syrup, rosemary, and lemon-lime soda and a Treat Yo’Self ($8) with turmeric, carrot, orange, pineapple, mango, lime, and ginger beer. Either can be jazzed up with gin.

2221 I St NW, Washington, DC 20037
(202) 506-5589
(202) 506-5589
The Grapefruit Rose Fizz at Circa.
Circa [official photo]

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar - Washington, D.C.

801 9th St NW suite a, Washington, DC 20001

The cavernous Cuban chain in Penn Quarter stirs “no-jitos” — aka its long list of 11 mojitos — without rum. Sample watermelon, passionfruit, and grilled pineapple varieties built with fresh sugar cane juice, calledguarapo, pressed in-house, and tropical fruit juices ($4 per glass and $22 per pitcher).

801 9th St NW suite a, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-1600
(202) 408-1600

barmini by José Andrés

501 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20004

José Andrés’s Michelin-starred cocktail lair in the heart of Penn Quarter ditches alcohol in the well-crafted Eastern Promises, made with Seedlip Garden, lemongrass, butterfly pea, yuzu, sudachi, and a floating a hibiscus cloud finish ($18). Reserve a spot viaTock.

501 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
(202) 393-4451
(202) 393-4451
Rey Lopez/barmini

China Chilcano

418 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004

何塞·安德烈斯的秘魯餐廳服務刷新ing “Chicha Morada” — a traditional drink made from imported purple corn, pineapple, and various spices ($5). The fruit-forward Peruvian favorite has started to gain traction in the U.S. in recent years.

418 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
(202) 783-0941
(202) 783-0941

Related Maps

Buffalo Bergen

412 3rd St NE, Washington, DC 20002

Shrubs and syrups expert Gina Chersevani’s latest edition of Buffalo Bergen in Capitol Hill makes a tongue-in-cheek Marion Berry mocktail ($6), jam packed with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapefruit, chia seeds, and sugar.

412 3rd St NE, Washington, DC 20002
Buffalo Bergen/official photo

12 Stories

75 District Square SW 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20024

驚人的碼頭屋頂酒吧提供一雙沒有n-alcoholic cocktails ($8 each). The Ginger Snap comes with fresh ginger juice, pineapple, agave, lemon, mint, and soda water.

75 District Square SW 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20024
(202) 894-9700
(202) 894-9700
Anna Meyer/12 Stories

RASA

1247 First St SE, Washington, DC 20003

The Mango Lassi at Navy Yard’s fast-casual Indian destination comes with puréed fresh mango, saffron,dahi(yogurt), sugar, and water ($5). The colorful, traditional drink can be spiked with Cotton & Reed Spiced Rum.

1247 First St SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 804-5678
(202) 804-5678
Rasa/official photo

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