The Velvet Hippo

The Velvet Hippo occupies the third floor and roof of a building on Orange Street in downtown Durham, and it is the strongest licensed non-alcoholic programme in the Triangle by a clear margin. What distinguishes it is not that zero-proof drinks exist on the menu but that they are given their own standing section, their own name, and the same treatment as everything else: "Tomorrow-Friendly", six builds deep, every one of them priced and spelled out ingredient by ingredient.

The list is genuinely varied rather than six versions of the same idea. Two are spritzes built on alcohol-removed sparkling wine — one on Lyre's Italian Spritz with an orange wheel, the other on Pallini's Limonzero limoncello and Freixenet. The Hot Tropic is the ambitious one: Ritual Tequila Alternative with guava, lime and fresh jalapeño, served with a cinnamon-sugar and smoked-chilli salt rim. Girl Dinner is a rich, fruit-forward build on prickly pear, passionfruit and coconut cream with no NA spirit in it at all, which matters for anyone who would rather avoid spirit analogues entirely. She Is The Moment runs Lyre's Pink London Spirit over muddled blackberries, and The Peach Blossom is the cheapest and simplest at nine dollars — lavender syrup, lemon, cranberry and Goslings ginger beer.

Behind that list sits an equally serious stock of finished alcohol-free product, which is the part most rooftop bars skip. Athletic Brewing's Run Wild IPA and Atlética Mexican-style copper are both on, alongside Freixenet's alcohol-removed sparkling, Giesen's de-alcoholised New Zealand sauvignon blanc, the Lyre's spirits range and Ritual's tequila alternative. So a non-drinker can order a cocktail, a beer, a glass of wine or a spritz and get something considered in every case.

One practical note: the bar's official site is velvethippodurham.com. A similarly named domain, thevelvethippo.com, serves a broken menu page and is not the venue's — a trap worth knowing if you are checking the list before you go. The rooftop opens at four most days and noon at weekends, with the kitchen running late Thursday through Saturday.