January 16, 2025

Dear reader,

For anyone else abstaining from alcohol this month, congratulations on reaching the halfway point. It’s (almost) been easy thanks to all of the new, actually good zero-proof drinks on the market. I don’t even want to imagine how the first Dry January went back in 2013, when all we had to help us get by was watery near-beer and grape juice masquerading as wine (the grocery store bottles always an inch thick with dust). Now we have non-alcoholic IPAs, phoney negronis, hangover-free spirits and natural wine pretenders. When I found myself at a bar earlier this month—just a few days into the challenge—I was able to order a non-alcoholic Czech-style pilsner by Rainhard Brewing. I enjoyed it enough to have a second one. In this week’s newsletter, you’ll find a roundup of the best new drinks to get you through Dry January and beyond.

Also in today’s Table Talk, a ranking of the city’s best new cookies—of which there are many, so trust me when I say it was hard work to narrow it down to just 10. Toronto wasn’t always neck-deep in artisanal cookie dough. When I moved to my west-end neighbourhood around 15 years ago, the trendiest dessert spot was Sweet Flour, where the cookies were a design-it-yourself affair: customers chose their dough and mix-ins, then waited exactly two minutes while their creation baked. After many different elaborate attempts, I learned that straight-up chocolate chip was the way to go—but that also took all the fun out of the process. Now there are locations of both Craig’s and Andrea’s Cookies within walking distance as well as a little café and bakery called Cosette Coffee. It’s run by Christina Cho, a former aerospace engineer who takes baking just as seriously as rocket science—which probably has something to do with the fact that (spoiler alert!) she currently makes the city’s best cookie.

For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.

—Rebecca Fleming, food and drink editor

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Toronto, Food and Drink, Toronto's best new cookies

ROLLING IN DOUGH

Toronto Life writer and self-proclaimed cookie monster Nick Zarzycki did the Lord’s work by eating his weight in butter to find the city’s best new cookies. The delicious list he came up with includes a sesame sourdough standout, a peanut butter miso masterpiece and the best delivery mechanism ever devised for walnuts.

A DRY—NOT DULL—JANUARY

Non-alcoholic drinks have entered their best era yet, evolving way beyond saccharine sodas, juice-like “wine” and boring near-beer. We rounded up a list of the tastiest new zero-proof stuff—including a crushable white-wine alternative in a three-litre box—to help you make it through the rest of the month.

WHAT’S ON THE MENU

And for those enjoying a Wet January, meet Bar Maaya. Named after the Sanskrit word for magic, it lives up to its name, serving over-the-top concoctions complete with flame-spitting sparklers, clouds of smoke and smouldering accoutrements. It’s also one of the only places in the city offering a traditional absinthe service.

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