Clear Conscience

Seattle Times staff reporters Nicole Tsong and Pamela Sitt drink in the area's cocktail scene

The place: Restaurant Zoë, 2137 Second Ave., Seattle, 206-624-1756.

Quote: "I think that nonalcoholic drinks should be as special as those with spirits ... and you can drink all you want to." — drink creator Kathy Casey

Comments: The drink itself might look a little cloudy, but Clear Conscience is one you can consume with, well, a clear conscience. That's because it's nonalcoholic. That's right, teetotalers have feelings, too.

Restaurant Zoë has long been known for its inventive cocktails, but we got to drink twice as many when we went the mocktail route because they only cost $3. The Clear Conscience looks like a drink — served up in a martini glass with a cucumber garnish — and walks like a drink, but can still drive itself home after.

Local celebrity chef Kathy Casey created the Clear Conscience for a pregnant friend who was craving a nonalcoholic drink that was "not cloying or sweet and had multilayers of flavor." The result is a slow-sip-worthy concoction with an herb-fueled dryness that mimics the feeling of alcohol and functions as an aperitif.

Clear Conscience

- 1/4 of a tangerine

- 8 thin cucumber slices

- 1 lemon verbena leaf (or sub a kaffir lime leaf)

- 1-½ oz. simple syrup

- 2 oz. soda water

- Garnish: paper-thin cucumber slice

Squeeze the tangerine into a cocktail shaker and drop in. Break up the cucumber slices and add to the shaker.

Crush and add the lemon verbena. Fill shaker with ice. Add lime juice and simple syrup. Add the soda. Top shaker and shake until very cold. Strain into large martini glass. Float the cucumber in drink.