Max Schikora is not like most mixologists. He’s the bar manager at Echelon Kitchen & Bar and Hunã, a pair of standout haunts in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He’s known for his deftness behind the bar, achieving maximum flavor and impeccable balance through his stellar cocktail recipes. Oh, and he doesn’t drink.
Schikora has been sober since 2020. He makes his drinks without tasting them, banking on earned expertise, fellow culinary minds, ratio play, and more. In many ways, he’s like a musician, feeling out the music with his other senses and still creating some bona fide brilliant art. He can practically feel the cocktail.
“For me, I knew that if I wanted to be great at what I did, I couldn’t ever drink alcohol again,” he says, candidly. “I studied recipes, formulas, the flavor bible, chemistry, read books, articles, and asked my more talented bartender friends. I needed to know the way that drink design worked, because I couldn’t do it using my most important sense: taste. The biggest advantage I had at the time was how much I knew about food. I spent the majority of my career learning how to taste things and explain them. To say it helped a lot is a massive understatement.”
His approach
“I look at a cocktail like a circle,” he says. “It is broken up into three basic parts: alcohol, acid/ bitterness, and sweetness. I always try to make the parts align in such a way that the drink isn’t out of balance. The rest is the fun part. I like to get adventurous and challenge myself and guests by mixing things like pineapple and arugula-based Amaro. Most of my best creations come on the fly, and sometimes I wish I knew why they worked…but that’s the fun part, because I don’t.”
Collaboration is a key ingredient in his methodology. Schikora admits that it’s one of the most impactful and important aspects in engineering good drinks.
“I have the honor to have two incredibly talented palates at my disposal at all times,” he says. “I will always praise Joe for how much he has taught me about flavors and textures. Taylor Johnson has also taught me a lot in another way. Her ability to explain the experience of the cocktail (which most often contains alcohol) really helps me hone and dial in my flavors. I couldn’t be more grateful to have people to help make the things I do better, in ways I might not be able to alone.”
The joys and challenges
You might think not tasting the drink would be the hardest part. Not so. Instead, it has to do with the performative nature of the job and the countless permutations out there.
“I think the most challenging part of my job is remembering all of the drinks I make up on the spot,” he says. “I cannot tell you how many times someone asks me to make ‘that one thing you made last July.’ I sometimes need some context, because it’s easy to forget something that is a one-off. I also think that this is the most rewarding part of my job. It feels pretty special that I made someone a drink once, and they didn’t forget it. Getting the opportunity to try to make it again is so flattering and fun. I feel honored that people trust me so implicitly.”
Joys come in many forms. For Schikora, it’s about flipping the script, at least a bit. That could mean using a lesser-known liqueur or offering an element of surprise.
“I think for me one of the most fun parts of making drinks is giving someone something they won’t expect to like, and end up loving,” he continues. Schikora says that when opening Hunã, the underground tiki bar, patrons would be after non-alcoholic Pina Coladas. But that presented a problem as the equipment involved (blender) would have to be sanitized and fully alcohol free.
“This is when I decided to make ‘The Coconut.’ This drink blends a non-alcoholic, adaptogenic gin, lime juice, Coco Lopez, saline, and cinnamon,” he says. “One paper, this drink doesn’t sound like something that works…and it even surprised me. The way everything plays together, and how outright crushable it is, sometimes catches people off guard. More than once, I have had someone order it and drink it in three sips. I think it is so much fun to show people how rewarding it can be to step out of your comfort zone.”
The broader NA movement and newfound footing
I continue to argue that it’s the golden age of non-alcoholic drinks. There are more great options than there have ever been, starting with beer, but also getting into legitimate substitutes for things like amari and even wine.
“It is awesome to see spirit-free beverage culture take off,” he says. “Long gone are the days of people drinking second-rate NA beers, paying too much for overly sweet juice in a glass, and suffering through awful pours of zero alcohol wine. Whether someone is just taking the night off, or maybe the absence is a touch more permanent, no one needs to just order a soda water with lime anymore. If the options available now were this well-made fifteen years ago, I think a lot more people would have started their sober curious journey a lot sooner.”
That context makes creating a non-alcoholic drink all the more interesting now, too. People are taking them more seriously, and that goes for both the bartender and consumer. Schikora is playing a big role in taking the category to unforeseen heights.
“The beauty for me with making NA drinks is that they are the only ones that I actually choose to taste,” he says. “When designing a drink, I try to treat it like I would a normal cocktail. I take into account texture, flavor, acidity, sweetness, and most importantly, saltiness. I learned an amazing thing about using saline in
