🍹 How to drink this Dry January

It's Wednesday, Boston.

❓ It’s also National Trivia Day so … pop quiz! What’s Charlie Baker’s middle name? 

I’ll Venmo $5 to the first person who responds with the correct answer. Ready. Set. GO!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Baker says goodbye

• Comin’ for that No. 1 (flu) spot

• Food deliveries skyrocket 

Up first…

FOOD & DRINK

How to drink this Dry January

Wondering if Dry January is worth it? Well, if you want to feel the almost immediate impacts of improved quality of sleep and mood, then yes.

But more importantly, it’s a chance “to be intentional about [your] drinking behavior and relationship with alcohol,” according to Dr. Joji Suzuki, director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Instead of reflexively having that drink, you’re choosing to not have that drink.”

But forgoing that drink can be easier said than done. That’s why Ray Tremblay, the beverage director of the COJE Management Group, is implementing spirit-free cocktail menus across all of COJE’s restaurants, including Lolita and Coquette.

Whether someone’s sobriety is temporary or permanent, “we don’t want it to be a reason you can’t come out,” Tremblay said. 

And these aren’t your average mocktails. In fact, Tremblay doesn’t even like to use that term.

“We don't want the idea of it to be like we're mocking an actual cocktail,” he said. “We really want to have drinks that are thought out — regardless if it’s with or without liquor.” 

Some recent additions to the menu include the Chicha Morada at Ruka, a spin on sangria made with Peruvian purple corn, and the refreshing Lofi at Coquette, made with housemade cucumber syrup, Mediterranean sea salt, Verjus, and tonic.

For Tremblay, making a non-alcoholic drink is a craft. It’s all about balance, temperature, acidity, sweetness, carbonation, and texture. And when you’re used to making traditional cocktails, making a spirit-free option can be tricky — it’s a whole new flavor profile to consider.

“Most of the times when I’ve had a non-alcoholic version of drink, it’s just been sugar bombs,” he said. So he’s excited for COJE to continue to elevate the spirit-free options all year round. 

“We’re glad that everyone gets excited about this in January, but we want to offer it 365.”

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

👋 Baker bids the governorship adieu. The outgoing governor delivered one last “thank you” message to Bay Staters yesterday afternoon. He touted his admin’s achievements like turning the state’s $1 billion deficit into a $5 billion surplus, having an unemployment rate below the national average, and being named one of the best states to have managed the pandemic. Baker will leave the State House for the last time with one of the highest governor approval ratings in the country. He wished his successor, Maura Healey, all the best in her tenure.

🦠 Mass. has some of the highest flu rates in the country. And our flu cases and hospitalizations are technically dropping, according to data from the CDC. However, 8.03% of healthcare visits were related to an “influenza-like illness” during the week leading up to Christmas (and our usual baseline is 2.0%). So something is definitely swirling around. To get a better picture of how we compare to the rest of the country, take a look at this map — we’re one of the darkest color options which = not good. 

🥡 App-based food deliveries doubled in Mass. since the pandemic. Delivery trips from companies like DoorDash and UberEats went from an estimated 45 million in 2019 to over 100 million in 2021, according to researchers from Metropolitan Area Planning Council. And more delivery drivers on the road has meant more street congestion, idling, and illegal double parking in bike lanes (more so than congestion from other ride-sharing services). And as the City of Boston has learned, minimizing this congestion is easier said than done.

THINGS TO DO

Dry January approved drinks

🍵 Sip on the Hunan Mule from Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, featuring mandarin, earl gray, lime, and ginger beer. They also offer a whole set of mocktails to go, for a fun drink on the run. 

🍋 Bubble up with the Lemon Lavender Fizz, a drink with, you guessed it, lemon, lavender, and soda from Rosebud Kitchen.

🍯 Get the Lost In Translation from the Tip Tap Room, with lime, yuzu, ginger, and honey.

🥥 If you like piña coladas … try La Virgen Piña Coco  from Top Mix bar and kitchen, with coconut cream, pineapple juice, orange juice, and a splash of Sprite. 

🍹 Try the tamarind soda agua fresca from Lolita, made with blood orange, lime, cane syrup, and bubbles.

ONE LAST THING

The priciest homes of 2022

What would you buy if you had $18,500,000? If you acted faster, you could be sitting in this Cape house compound.

The $18,500,000 price tag on this Barnstable home made it one of the most expensive home sales in Mass. in 2022, according to a calculation by The Warren Group. The waterfront abode boasts eight bedrooms and bathrooms, an infinity-edge pool, and a 160-bottle wine refrigerator. 

Compared to the most expensive home sale of the year — a $36,000,000 mansion on Nantucket — it’s a steal. You can find the entire list of the most expensive homes sold in Mass. in 2022 here.

🍗 Thanks for reading! If you need a food rec, I recently tried Banyan Bar + Refuge’s fried chicken bao and just — WOW. 10/10. 

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