Art
Enjoy Red Bull's newest Winter Edition with the taste of Fig Apple and these two cozy mocktail recipes with the help of Drinks By Evie.
Evie Negri-Albert, also known as Drinks by Evie on Instagram and TikTok, grew up in an Italian household where family dinner was also the family business. Her family owned a small Italian restaurant that served customers from 1954 until early 2022. Even so, they still had family dinner together every evening. As a kid, Evie worked every position in the restaurant that she was allowed to and when she finally turned 18, she asked to bartend. Most of the drinks she was making were simple classics like Manhattans and Cosmopolitans, but it was more than enough to spark her interest. At twenty, she started bartending at another restaurant in her hometown where she learned the true art of mixology.
Still, Evie wasn’t sure that the restaurant industry was what she wanted to do forever. She took several years away from the go-go-go lifestyle that bartending required to work in tech. During her time away, she found that making food and drinks for her friends was a way to tap into the love of food she’d grown up with. “I love to cook for people. I love to make drinks for people. It’s kind of my love language,” she said. As it did for many people, the pandemic offered Evie a chance to reevaluate her relationship with food and drink.
In early 2020, when even a mild cold sent people into two long weeks of quarantine, Evie found herself making drinks and, on a whim, decided to film one and post it on TikTok. The video blew up and her followers wanted more. Her boyfriend encouraged her to keep posting, so she spent the next few weeks trying to come up with and post as many recipes as possible. She already knew how to mix a drink, but with the eyes of the world on her, Evie dove head-first into learning as much as she could about mixology and experimenting with more and more new flavors.
Now based in Brooklyn, New York and a full-time mixologist, Evie has been able to get back to her roots of creating recipes. Her recipes take the most unexpected ingredients like Takis and bacon and mix them with fruits, vegetables, spices, and liquors to create unexpected and delicious concoctions (trust us, we tried them). Evie’s latest mocktail recipes feature Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple as the base. The fresh, sweet flavors of the energy drink gave her a sense of nostalgia for fall and she wanted to tap into that feeling. She created a Spiced Honey Spritzer and used a syrup combining cinnamon, honey, and rosemary to create warmth, sweetness, and spice all at the same time. Combined with the Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple and a little lemon juice for tang, the flavors mesh together into a cozy mocktail. “My boyfriend tasted the Spiced Honey Spritzer and said ‘oh my God, this tastes like every childhood Christmas I’ve ever had. That was pretty much the best thing I could have ever heard,” said Evie.
When brainstorming a new recipe, she often begins with one ingredient and adds more while working to offset the original flavor. Looking around farmers markets and small grocery stores often provides the perfect ingredient to start a recipe with. “You have to think of all the different tastes that your tongue and your brain think of. Sweet, spicy, tart, bubbly, and how can you incorporate different pieces of that to make something that tastes really balanced,” she said. The miso-pear purée that acts as a staple of another one of Evie’s Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple mocktails is just another showcase of her ability to combine unexpected flavors for delicious results.
Along with specific foods and flavors that inspire her, Evie now lives in a cultural hub which helps to spark her imagination. “New York is the epicenter of cool places to visit,” she said, “We have some of the most famous bars in the world for a reason.” In the beginning, she based many of her recipes on an aesthetic she was drawn to. Prohibition-era style mixology set a framework for Evie’s style and still play an important role in the drinks she makes. She’s found that checking out different menus on her own as well as having friends and followers send her recipes has provided her with new ideas when it comes to combining flavors she wouldn't have otherwise considered.
Evie hopes to one day write her own recipe book and eventually open her own restaurant to share her creations. For now, you’ll find her pouring over Disco Cubes by Leslie Kirchoff and anything former Bon Appetit editor Molly Baz is sharing. Although it’s her job, Evie hasn’t lost sight of the passion she has for mixing drinks and creating and wants others to find the same passion for it. “Just take the pressure off when it comes to putting yourself either in the kitchen or behind the bar, even if you're at home. It really should just be about having fun and experimenting with flavors that excite you and you're passionate about,” she said. As a creator of mocktails that give you wiiings, it’s safe to say Drinks by Evie is one to watch.
Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple Mocktails
Check out her two mocktail creations using the new Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple.
01
Spiced Honey Spritzer Mocktail Recipe
Ingredients:
- ¾ oz cinnamon rosemary honey syrup
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 bar spoon of red currant
- (or cranberry) preserves
- Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple
- Garnish: rosemary sprig
Directions: Combine cinnamon rosemary honey syrup, lemon juice, and red currant preserves into a cocktail shaker. Shake with a good amount of ice until chilled. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a fresh rosemary sprig.
Cinnamon Rosemary Honey Syrup
Ingredients:
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup water
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 large rosemary sprig, or 2 small rosemary sprigs
Directions: Combine honey, water, cinnamon sticks and rosemary sprig into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow honey to dissolve, remove from heat, and let the flavors steep while the syrup cools completely (about 30 minutes to an hour). Once cooled, strain out the cinnamon sticks and rosemary sprigs, and transfer syrup into an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for about two weeks.
02
Miso Pear Prickler Mocktail Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 oz miso-pear purée
- ¾ oz thyme simple syrup
- 1½ oz freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Red Bull Winter Edition Fig Apple
- Garnish: orange wheel & thyme sprig
Directions: Combine miso-pear purée, thyme simple syrup, orange juice, and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker. Shake with a good amount of ice until chilled. Double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with an orange wheel (I used dehydrated) and a thyme sprig.
Miso-Pear Purée
Ingredients:
- 1 pear, peeled & roughly chopped (should equal 1 cup)
- 3 strips of orange zest
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 2 tbsp water
Directions: Combine all ingredients into a medium saucepan on medium to low heat. Allow pears to soften and let the mixture steep on low heat for thirty minutes. Remove heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for 3 months.
Thyme Syrup
Ingredients:
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup water
- 6-8 thyme sprigs
Directions: Combine sugar, water and thyme sprigs into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow sugar to dissolve, remove from heat, and let the flavors steep while the syrup cools completely (about 30 minutes to an hour). Once cooled, strain out the thyme sprigs, and transfer syrup into an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for about two weeks.