With mocktails continuing their recent momentum, here are 15 nonalc mixed-drink recipes for spirit-free sipping.
Cure for the Winter Blues
3 tsp. Element blueberry rosemary shrub
2 tsp. Royal Rose Maine blueberry syrup
1 tsp. Owl & Whale acid phosphate
½ dropper King Floyd’s grapefruit and rosemary bitters
Q Mixers club soda
Dried lemon wheel
Fill rocks glass with ice. Add shrub, blueberry syrup, acid phosphate and bitters. Top with Q club soda (about 5 oz.) Feel free to adjust ingredients to your desired sweetness/tartness level. Garnish with a dried lemon wheel clipped to the rim of the glass with a cocktail clip.
Mocktail mixologist, and founder of Raising the Bar, Abbie Romanul created this recipe.
Elderflower Collins
1½ oz. Ritual Zero Proof gin
1½ oz. Bittermilk No.2 mixer
Tom Collins with elderflower hops
Club soda
Build cocktail in Collins glass, add ice and ingredients. Top with club soda and quickly stir for 3 seconds. Garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel.
The mixologists at Four Brothers at Omni La Mansión del Rio in San Antonio, TX, created this recipe.
Oh, Pear
1½ oz. Seedlip Grove
1 oz. Asian pear cordial
¾ oz. Lemon juice
Sage (2 small leaves or 1 large)
Soda to top
Shake ingredients (except soda) together. Fine strain over crushed ice in white wine glass. Top with soda and garnish with a small sage leaf.
The mixologists at Miss Carousel in Houston, TX, created this recipe.
I Love Yuzu
2 oz. Ghia nonalcoholic apéritif
1 oz. Yuzu
½ oz. Cinnamon simple syrup
Rose water spray
Sparkling water
Add the liquid ingredients (except for the sparkling water) one by one to a cocktail shaker. Add ice to fill the shaker. Shake for 30 seconds. Strain the contents from the shaker into glass, preferably a coupe. Top with sparkling water. Spray rose water over top and garnish with a flower. You can also smoke with dry rose petal using a Stündenglass beverage infuser.
Husband and wife duo Chef Danielle Duran-Zecca and Chef Alessandro Zecca, founders of the Amiga Amore pop-up dinners in Los Angeles, created this recipe.
Mellow My Man
2 oz. Carrot juice
1 oz. Beet simple syrup*
½ oz. Lime juice
Soda water
Add carrot juice, beet simple syrup, lime juice and ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake, then double-strain into a highball glass with fresh ice. Top with soda and garnish with fresh berries on a skewer.
*For Beet simple syrup: Combine 1 cup sugar, cup beet juice, cup water in a pot and heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool and store refrigerated.
Katie Tobin, bar manager at The Aquifer at New Riff Distilling, Newport, KY, created this recipe.
Cherry Blossom
2 oz. Seedlip Spice 94
2 tsp. Cherry syrup
1 oz. Cold-brew jasmine tea
Build in a terracotta glass over ice. Garnish with jasmine flower.
The mixologists at Seedlip created this recipe.
Get Naked
2 oz. NKD LDY Gin Alternative (non-alcoholic spirit)
1 oz. Lemon juice
¾ oz. Red wine syrup fortified with foraged botanicals*
4 dashes Scrappy’s black lemon bitters
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake to chill and dilute. Double strain into rocks glass with KY straight ice.
For Red wine syrup: Infuse Chianti Classico with foraged botanicals for one month. Strain solids and cook wine at a simmer for 10 minutes until alcohol is cooked out. Add sugar and cook until dissolved.
Miranda Densford, beverage director at Barn8 Restaurant and Bourbon Bar in Goshen, KY, created this recipe.
Blueberry Lemonade
2 oz. Blueberry Ginger Mint Amethyst NA Spirit
1 oz. House-made lemon syrup
1 oz. House-made lime syrup
Shake all ingredients together. Serve over ice. Garnish with blueberries in the glass and on a skewer.
The mixologists at Lucky Rooster Kitchen + Bar in Hilton Head Island, SC, created this recipe.
Alternate Earth
1½ oz. Seedlip Garden
¾ oz. Carrot juice
¾ oz. Lemon juice
½ oz. Simple syrup
¼ oz. Ginger syrup
Combine ingredients and shake. Strain into pilsner of crushed ice. Garnish with a mint bouquet.
The mixologists at Death & Co. created this recipe.
Dry French 75
2 oz. Pink London Spirit
3 oz. Lyre’s Classico Grande nonalcoholic sparkling wine
½ oz. Lemon juice
½ oz. Demerara syrup
Combine ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice. Strain into a flute. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Aniceto Rena, beverage director at Dirty Habit in Washington DC, created this recipe.
Menta Limón
1 oz. Ritual Zero Proof gin
1 oz. Mint syrup*
1 oz. Lemon juice
Hard shake ingredients together. Add cobbled ice and a splash of soda. Pour into a Collins glass. Garnish with expressed mint sprigs.
*For Mint syrup: Make simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water). Pour in quart container, while leaving about of the container empty for the mint. Take two large bundles of mint, twist up, and add mint leaves to simple syrup. Stir in and let rest overnight in fridge. Strain and refrigerate.
Kala Ellis, bar director at Oak Steakhouse Nashville, created this recipe.
Rose Martini
3 oz. Martini & Rossi Vibrante nonalcoholic aperitivo
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
¼ oz. Monin rose syrup
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir for a few moments until chilled. Pour into a coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
The mixologists at Martini & Rossi created this recipe.
At Ta Boy!
½ oz. Guava Reàl
3 oz. Red Bull energy drink
3 oz. Red Bull Yellow Edition
1½ oz. Pineapple juice
¼ oz. Grenadine
Combine all ingredients in cup with ice. Roll ingredients into mixing tin and back into cup. Garnish with a pineapple leaf.
The mixologists at Lifted Bar & Restaurant at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport created this recipe.
Smokey Piña Margarita
2 oz. Optimist Smokey nonalcoholic distilled spirit
2-4 slices of Serrano pepper, seeds removed (or not, if you like the heat)
2 oz. Pineapple juice
½ oz. Lime juice
½ oz. Simple syrup
Muddle serrano in a shaker. Add remaining ingredients and ice, shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with additional serrano coins for extra heat.
The mixologists at Optimist created this recipe.
Espresso Martini
1½ oz. Lyre’s nonalcoholic coffee liqueur
1 shot Espresso
1 oz. Oat milk
Combine ingredients in a mixing tin and shake. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with 3 espresso beans.
The mixologists at The Desmond restaurant in the Kimpton Alma San Diego hotel created this recipe.
Melissa Dowling is editor of Cheers magazine, our on-premise sister publication. Contact her at mdowling@epgmediallc.com, and read her recent piece, Why Mocktails Remain So Popular.
