Secret Admirer

Secret Admirer is on SW 5th Street in downtown Des Moines, and its approach to alcohol-free drinking is seasonal rather than fixed: the bar rotates spirit-free and low-ABV options through the year alongside its cocktail list. The Santa Spritz — raspberry, cinnamon, apple cider and Topo Chico — was the winter entry, which is why it is described here rather than recorded as a signature drink; it will have rotated off.

The seasonal approach is the thing worth praising. A bar that prints two mocktails and leaves them there has made one decision, years ago, and stopped thinking. A bar that rebuilds the list every season is making the same decision repeatedly, with whatever is good at the time, which is the only way an alcohol-free drink stays as interesting as the cocktails beside it.

The second detail is that the bar carries low-ABV as well as spirit-free. This directory keeps flagging the distinction because venues so rarely do. Someone who has stopped drinking entirely needs zero alcohol and needs to be certain of it. Someone who is moderating — the much larger group — wants something with less in it rather than nothing, and is poorly served by a mocktail list. Running both categories acknowledges that these are different people with different needs, and it is a more sophisticated position than most bars take.

This entry is graded three, honestly: the offer is seasonal and documented, but no current build could be verified against a live menu, so none is recorded as a signature drink.

Open 4pm to 11pm Monday through Wednesday, to midnight Thursday, to 1am Friday, 10am to 1am on Saturday and 2pm to 9:30pm on Sunday — seven days a week with no closed day, and a rare weekend daytime service.