Revival House

Revival House is Des Moines' tiki bar — neon, thatch, a room built as an escape from an Iowa winter — and it carries three alcohol-free drinks, more than anywhere else in the city.

Two of them are what you would expect from the format, and that is a compliment. Tiki is the most forgiving cocktail style for anyone not drinking, because the drinks are assemblies of fresh juice, house syrups, spice and heavy garnish with the rum as one component among many. The Cyclone works orange juice and passion purée against lime, demerara and grenadine. The Blue Hawaiian gets its colour from butterfly pea flower tea rather than curaçao, with pineapple, coconut and lime.

The third is the one worth going for. The Double Tea Old Fashioned is built on double-steeped Earl Grey with demerara, orange and Angostura, and the technique is doing something specific. Steeping tea twice as strong concentrates its tannin, and tannin is the closest available substitute for the astringent grip that whiskey gives an old fashioned. Bergamot in the Earl Grey handles the citrus oil that an orange twist would provide. It is a genuinely well-reasoned drink rather than a sweet one wearing the name.

One small practical note that local coverage flags and that this directory rarely gets to report: the alcohol-free versions here cost less. Most bars charge the same for a mocktail as for a cocktail — defensible, given the labour, but a persistent irritation for people who drink alcohol-free every time they go out. Revival House passing on the saving is worth knowing.

Open 4pm to 10pm Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and 4pm to 1am on Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.