Mocktails—non-alcoholic mixed drinks—have become all the rage recently. In the past year alone, the number of menus offering cultivated cocktail alternatives has risen by 10%, and the restaurant and bar industries have seen a five-year growth rate of 39%.
You can find a small but thoughtful selection of mocktails at nearly every downtown Lewisburg establishment, and I have to say, they’re my new thing! In Pennsylvania, every individual at a table must be 21 before servers will allow anyone to order an alcoholic beverage. Partaking in a mocktail allows for the same elevated experience but leaves a person feeling lighter than they likely would have felt after a cocktail. Overall levels of enjoyment are comparable if not exceeded when replacing a cocktail with a mocktail, and you don’t have to worry about any adverse results. What’s not to love?
You also don’t necessarily need to go out and spend $6-14 on a mocktail. They’re easy to put together from the comfort of your own kitchen. I received a bar set for Christmas, which is nice to have for things like muddling herbs or berries and cooling a concoction with ice, but nearly every mocktail recipe is achievable without any tools besides a glass and a spoon. It’s so much fun to improvise new recipes with whatever ingredients you have hanging around!
I love a good theme as much as the next girl, and a holiday like St. Patrick’s Day is just begging for a creative mocktail menu that you and your friends can enjoy. I put together four recipes for you to try this March, complete with garnishes.
- Mock Mojito
Fresh and minty, this is a classic mocktail that you can get pretty much anywhere. I tend to make it with muddled mint leaves as a base and lime juice, simple syrup, and club soda in a 1:1:3 ratio. Today, I happened to have a “Mojita” flavored KeVita Probiotic Refresher. Pre-mixed canned beverages like a KeVita always make for an easy mocktail. I also tried the recipe substituting club soda for Fresca and forgoing the simple syrup, and that might be my favorite rendition yet. Of course, I’m a sucker for Fresca!
- Mockow Mule
I tried a take on a Moscow Mule but ran out of mint making the mojito, so I substituted with rosemary. I’d say it worked relatively well, although the combination of ginger and rosemary ended up verging on perfume-esque. A pro tip for anyone looking to make mocktailing a new hobby—combining simple syrup with any herb or fruit adds a much-needed dimension to the overall concoction. In the end, this drink was 60% ginger beer, 20% lime juice, 15% rosemary syrup and 5% muddled rosemary. Give it a try!
- Grape Sparkler
Although this mocktail isn’t sporting as fun a name as the previous two, I think it is my new favorite. I kept it very simple, combining sparkling white grape juice with sugared green grapes that I had frozen and threw in as an ice source. Delicious! I later added some ginger beer, and it worked well enough, but I prefer letting the grape flavor shine on its own.
- Elderflower Cucumber Spritz
Elderflower syrup has to be one of my top three favorite things to ever exist. I can’t recommend it enough, and cucumber ended up being a fantastic pairing for the elderflower flavor. It can be somewhat overpowering, though, so a little goes a long way here. I let a batch of cucumber water sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours before mixing this drink, which also consisted of lime juice and soda water because I always prefer a bubbly beverage.
If you’re looking for a little bit more flair than these classier mocktail takes, try adding food coloring to make your beverages a darker shade of green or arching a sour rainbow candy strip over the top! Even a dusting of edible gold glitter could elevate the experience and make for the perfect party offering.