Cool off summer’s heat with a mocktail

 

On a sunny summer day, there is little better than sitting on a patio or deck, drink in hand.

Perhaps you’re reading a good book, grilling a meal or just relaxing — summertime is the right time to enjoy the warmth with a cool drink to take off the edge.

While a cocktail or glass of wine is often the preferred drink, today there are plenty of nonalcoholic offerings if you don’t feel like drinking plain water, having a soda or sipping an iced tea.

Mocktails are having a moment, and for good reason. They are flavorful, offer the appearance that you’re enjoying a cocktail like others you may be with and won’t give you a headache if you over-imbibe.

Mocktails can be made with non-alcoholic spirits or they can be flavored with herbs, sodas, berries and all sorts of other ingredients to create a fresh, tasty drink that will quench the thirst and your spirits.

Use your favorite classic cocktails as an entry point, and explore twists on the flavor to elevate the drink without the alcohol. For example, you might create a non-alcoholic gin and tonic with fresh herbs to keep the garden flavor that gin often provides.

Remember, it may take some experimenting to find a nonalcoholic option for the spirit you are looking to replace.

Use fresh ingredients such as just squeezed fruits in your mocktails.

For some, the best way to make a mocktail is to start with something sparkling, be it soda or seltzer or another carbonated beverage. This helps make the drink feel fancy and differentiates it from just a glass of juice.

Be bold with your flavors. There are three basic ways to do this — homemade syrups, infusions of fresh fruit and herbs and garnishes, everything from using flavored salts or sugars to rim a glass to using citrus slices or other fresh ingredients to add flavor and fragrance to your drink.

No matter what, present your mocktails in beautiful glasses, just as you would a fine cocktail.

Following are some mocktail recipes from www.tasty.co.

 

Strawberry Mint Julep Mocktail

For simple syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar or agave

1 cup fresh mint leaves

For each julep:

3 to 4 mint leaves

1 to 2 strawberries

1 to 2 tablespoons mint simple syrup

3/4 to 1 cup crushed ice

1/4 cup limeade or lemonade

1/4 cup sparkling water

Optional garnishes: Fresh mint leaves, strawberries, lemon or lime slices or wedges

To make simple syrup, in a saucepan, combine water and sugar or agave. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add mint leaves. Allow the mint to steep about 15 minutes. Strain out the leaves and transfer the simple syrup to a jar or container. Chill in the refrigerator until cool. Mint simple syrup will last one week in the refrigerator.

To make juleps, place strawberries and some simple syrup to the bottom of a cup. Muddle strawberries until mostly smooth. Add mint leaves and muddle three to four  times to release the essential oils.

Fill the cup about three-quarters full with crushed ice. Add limeade and sparkling water. Use a straw or drink stirrer to mix the julep for a few seconds, until the glass starts to get frosty. Garnish with strawberries, lemon or lime slices and fresh mint and serve.

 

 

Fizzy Blueberry Basil Punch

1 pound blueberries

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 cup basil

Juice of two limes

1 liter club soda

Place blueberries, basil, water and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook 10 to 15 minutes.

Push mixture through a sieve and into a pitcher. Add lime juice, then chill in the refrigerator about 45 minutes, until cool.

Add sparkling wine or club soda right before serving.

Garnish with extra blueberries, lime or basil.

Makes six to eight servings.

For an alcoholic version, add 1/2 cup vodka with the lime juice and use a bottle of champagne instead of sparkling water or club soda.

 

 

Mint Berry Smash Mocktail

1 handful raspberries

1 handful blueberries

1 sprig fresh mint

1 ounce lime juice

1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

Ice

1 splash soda water or seltzer water

In a cocktail shaker or tall glass, muddle raspberries, blueberries and mint. Add lime juice, sweetener and ice and shake until well combined. If you do not have a cocktail shaker, simply pour back and forth between two glasses until combined.

Strain mixture over ice and top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with berries and mint.

Makes one serving.

 

 

Cranberry Mojito Mocktail

4 to 5 mint leaves

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons cranberry simple syrup

Ice

Lemon-lime soda or club soda

Mint leaves and cranberries for garnish

Muddle mint leaves and lime juice in the bottom of a tall glass. Add cranberry syrup and ice. Fill remainder of glass with club soda. Garnish with mint leaves and cranberries. Stir before drinking.

For a sweeter drink, use half club soda and half lemon-lime soda.

For cranberry simple syrup, simmer 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar and 4 ounces fresh cranberries in a small saucepan over medium low heat about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and strain. Discard berries.

 

 

Non-Alcoholic French 75 Mocktail

2 cups ice

3 ounces fresh lemon juice

4 dashes lemon or orange bitters

2 6 to 8-ounce bottles premium tonic water

2 rock candy swizzle sticks

Place fresh lemon juice and bitters in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until frosty, then divide into two champagne flutes or coupe glasses. Top with tonic water until drink fills three-quarters of the glass. Garnish with the swizzle sticks and serve immediately.

Makes two mocktails.

If you can’t find rock candy, add one teaspoon superfine sugar along with the lemon juice and bitters in the shaker.

 

 

Roseberry Mule Mocktail

1 handful blackberries

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1 bottle ginger beer, to taste

1 ounce lime juice

Ice

In a cocktail shaker or a tall glass, muddle blackberries and rosemary. Add sweetener and ice and shake until well combined. If you do not have a cocktail shaker, pour back and forth between two glasses until combined.

Strain mixture over ice, then add ginger beer and a squeeze of lime to taste.

Garnish with blackberries and a sprig of rosemary.

Makes one serving.

 

 

Cucumber Ginger Mocktail

1 medium cucumber, sliced

10 slices fresh ginger, 1/4-inch thick

2 cups sugar or 1-3/4 cups agave nectar

2 cups water

1 soda water for serving (about 5 ounces per drink)

1 to 2 cucumber slices , for serving, optional

Place sliced cucumber and ginger in a large, heat-proof bowl.

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Pour over cucumber and ginger and let stand for two hours.

Strain into a bottle and chill.

To prepare a cocktail, stir together one shot syrup with three shots water, or to taste. Garnish with a cucumber slice.

 

 

Spicy Watermelon Mocktails

1 heaping cup frozen watermelon cubes

1 heaping cup fresh watermelon cubes

1/2 jalapeno, not seeded

1/4 cup simple syrup

1 tablespoon lime juice

Sparkling water

For garnishes:

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Jalapeño coins

Thin watermelon wedges

In a blender, combine frozen and fresh watermelon and half the jalapeno. Blend until you don’t see any jalapeño left. Strain mixture and discard pulp. Add lime juice and simple syrup and stir to combine.

To make salted rims, combine salt and cayenne powder in a wide flat bowl. Run a wedge of lime around the edge of the glass, then dip the wet edges into the spicy salt.

Pour glasses two-thirds full with watermelon/jalapeno mixture, then top with sparkling water. Garnish with a jalapeño coin and watermelon wedge and serve.

 

 

Mango Margarita Mocktail

6 tablespoons fresh mango puree

4 tablespoons simple syrup

2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

16 ounces sparkling water

For rimming the glasses:

1 Meyer lemon wedge

1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Ice

4 sprigs fresh mint, for garnish

Whisk together the mango puree, simple syrup and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Refrigerate as long as three days.

Right before serving, stir sparkling water into the fruity mixture. Be careful not to over-stir and lose the water’s carbonation.

Rub a lemon wedge along the rim of each glass, then dip into coarse sugar.

Put a few ice cubes in each glass, pour in the drink and garnish with a mint sprig. Serve immediately.

To make mango puree, peel and cut a fresh mango, then puree until smooth in a blender or food processor.

To make simple syrup, add four tablespoons sugar and four tablespoons water to a small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook, stirring, about 10 seconds, until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature before using.

  To make an alcoholic mango margarita, can add one cup tequila blanco and 1/4 cup orange liqueur to the recipe.

 

 

 

Lemon Basil Soda

1/2 cup simple syrup

1/2 cup lemon juice

6 fresh basil leaves, torn

Seltzer, for serving

Lime, cut into wheels, for garnish

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine simple syrup, lemon juice and basil. Simmer five minutes, until slightly reduced. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Strain into an airtight glass container and store in the refrigerator for as long as one month.

Pour one cup seltzer into a glass filled with ice, then add one to two tablespoons lemon basil syrup. Stir to combine. Garnish with lime wheels, if desired..

Makes 16 servings.