Bar culture has arrived in Saudi Arabia, albeit without the booze

IT LOOKS and tastes like a negroni, ruby red and bittersweet with a herbal finish. At 58 rials ($15), it is priced like a negroni too. But it does not kick like one, because this version of the classic Italian cocktail is served in Riyadh, the capital of teetotal Saudi Arabia.Mocktails are having a moment around the world, as health-crazed young people shun old-fashioned old fashioneds. In Saudi Arabia, though, a recent mocktail buzz signals a different sort of social change. Alcohol, music and gender mixing were long forbidden in the kingdom. Now you can belly up to the bar with a date and order a virgin amaretto sour in a chilled glass—the bar experience, albeit without the buzz.