This century-old Sugar House home is SLC’s newest nonalcoholic speakeasy. Here’s where to find it.

At this cozy Utah speakeasy, flavor is a well-honed craft. Each drink is meticulously curated, a sensory delight that’s as much a work of art for your tastebuds as it is for your eyes.

And it all goes down without the burn of booze.

Take 1833 Craft’s most popular drink, “The LBGT” — a vivacious play on a classic gin and tonic, with hints of lavender and juniper. It only takes one sip to realize how refreshing it is.

“The gins are easier,” co-owner and bartender Matthew LaPlante explains as he mixes the drink, which uses the nonalcoholic spirit Dhōs Gin Free. “This is the gin that actually transformed me and made me think we could do this.”

LaPlante, a former Salt Lake Tribune reporter, runs 1833 Craft with his sister, Kelly LaPlante. The Sugar House watering hole’s motto boils down to four words: zero alcohol, all heart.

1833 is a cheeky nod to the year the Word of Wisdom was given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The health code advises members to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea.

The LaPlante siblings started the lounge, which opened in December, because they wanted to create a third space where people could have the social aspect of a bar experience without the pressure of alcohol.

Sober beginnings and an ode to the craft

Matthew stopped drinking seven years ago, but he still loved “bar spaces.”

“I would go to bars with my friends … then they would start drinking and I would not be drinking,” he said. “It was sad. I want[ed] to be having fun, too, and then the drinks weren’t very good.”

He also missed that art of having a good cocktail — so he started mixing his own nonalcoholic drinks at home. When Kelly moved to Utah last year, the LaPlantes had a conversation at Roots Coffee & Co. just up the street, where they lamented the lack of good nonalcoholic drink options.

For her part, Kelly would have either one drink at a bar, or no drinks at all.

“Whatever I ordered off the nonalcoholic menu almost anywhere was basically soda or juice with sparkling water in it or something,” she said. “It was not very inventive and if it was very inventive, it was just a pure sugar bomb. I just felt like there has to be something better than this.”

The idea to start a nonalcoholic cocktail spot began to stir. A few days after that meeting, Kelly bought a 100-year-old house just a few doors down from the coffee shop and got to work.

While the siblings work together to run 1833 Craft, it’s clear that they each apply their areas of expertise to the place — a trip to the speakeasy is a full sensory experience.

Matthew is an artist behind the bar, where he garnishes and crafts drinks with a precise science. Kelly has transformed the building at 1398 S. 1100 East — which used to have holes and tiles galore — into a bold ode to the 1920s, with deep forest-green walls, warm lighting and comfy furniture.

The glasses and bottles of spirits shimmer on the 1960s shelves, which are made entirely from lucite. There’s always a record spinning from the collection curated by the siblings’ grandparents, parents, younger brother and even some customers.

1833 Craft is a family affair all around, from the art that hangs on the wall to the merchandise on sale: candles made by their cousins Jaclyn Joslin and Amanda Steiner, and pottery from Matthew’s wife, Heidi.

A commitment to experimenting

The menu, which switches every three months, ties it all together.

Take “The Golden Hourglass” — a devilishly smooth espresso-martini dupe that features housemade Ceylon cinnamon spirit, nonalcoholic tequila and espresso.

“Almost every drink that’s on our menu, or every special, has been through lots and lots of iterations,” Matthew said. A lot of the N-A spirits are meant to mimic their alcoholic counterparts, but it doesn’t always taste the same, which leads to experimentation on the LaPlantes’ part.

For example, the “Libre libre” (a play on the Cuba Libre) took nine months to perfect. It’s a rich drink with herbal cola, dark cane, freshly squeezed lime and a sprig of freshly cut mint.

“That’s really the strategy behind it, is don’t try to make these nonalcoholic spirits behave like alcoholic spirits,” Kelly said. “Enjoy them and appreciate them for what they are.”

The menu also has ‘“The Bartender’s Affections” — where the bartender, usually Matthew, crafts two drinks based on three English words a customer provides him. He makes one for him, one for you. The best affection will be the next week’s special, and there’s a new one every week.

1833 Craft also has a hydroponic garden in the basement, where the siblings grow their own herbs for the drinks, like the mint from the “Libre libre.”

“That makes a difference because what you’re smelling as you drink the drink,” Kelly said, “also is part of the experience and crafting of it.”

Up until fairly recently, 1833 Craft was only open one evening a week. Because of the increase in demand, the bar is now open two evenings — Thursdays and Fridays from 5-10 p.m.

In the year since the speakeasy opened, Kelly said she and her brother have seen all sorts of curious people come through the front door: a couple on their first date, regulars celebrating their sober anniversary, and visitors who left a set in the middle of Kilby Block Party to try their cocktails.

Though some might find the concept of a nonalcoholic speakeasy peculiar, the siblings aren’t worried about it.

“The point is not to get drunk. That’s not the only reason people drink alcohol. Part of the reason that people drink alcohol is the social experience of having a drink together,” Kelly said. “It’s community. It’s being in a third space. It’s being someplace with other people and enjoying some experience together. Alcohol does not have to be a part of that.”