Non-alcoholic cocktails, also called “mocktails”, are on the rise. Tips and recipes.
The appeal of the “non-alcoholic cocktail” goes beyond the concept of party captain and seduces the crowds. A phenomenon observed for a long time in the United Kingdom, spirit-free could therefore well follow in the footsteps of cocktails that have long been too sweet and alcoholic. Impactful and well-thought-out elixirs that favor more creative and sophisticated-tasting ingredients such as syrups, infusions, or macerations.
Well-thought-out non-alcoholic cocktail recipes
Know your ranges
In the world of mixology, there are many ingredients that go into making a traditional cocktail. On the one hand, alcohol which is forgotten here, but also fruit juices of all kinds, syrups like grenadine or mint for the best known, and carbonated drinks like tonic, lemonade, ginger beer or cola which usually lengthens the drink. Added to this are the different elements that can upgrade a cocktail such as the addition of spices (the celery salt of the extremely famous Bloody Mary), herbs or even vegetables (in juice or in pieces) which give another dimension to the cocktail. That’s the basics.
Beware of too much sugar in the non-alcoholic fruit cocktail
When you prepare a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail, you may tend to replace the dose of alcohol with another ingredient such as fruit juice, but you must pay particular attention to the excess sugar, common with cocktails. Fruit. The solution ? Rebalance your drink by using ingredients rich in flavor but not in sugar. We must also not forget that alcohol certainly brings degrees to the cocktail but above all an additional flavor. By skipping it, we therefore think about relying on other fragrant elements such as light syrup in which we have infused herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil), and to be sure not to add any sugar, we can even put your herbs and vegetables through the juice extractor to recover the tasty nectar that will elevate our non-alcoholic cocktail. Good to know, herbs of all kinds are an excellent idea in cocktails. Their herbaceous flavor tempers the sugar in the non-alcoholic cocktail and balances the whole thing.
How to make an easy mocktail recipe
First of all, you need to have a nice variety of ingredients to prepare a simple non-alcoholic cocktail: fresh fruits and vegetables like strawberries, raspberries, or even cucumber, which you crush to bring out all the flavors ; fresh or store-bought fruit juices of one or more kinds; homemade syrup or not depending on the recipe; yellow or lime which gives pep to any drink; tonic or ginger beer to lengthen the mixture; and some fresh mint or basil to use with lemon to freshen it up, that’s enough for the base.
From there, everything is imaginable: for example strawberries reddened by the sun, simply crushed with mint, all subtly zested with lemon and topped with ginger beer, or even cucumber passed through an extractor with basil, green apple and lime for a fresh green cocktail, or a mixture of exotic fruit juice and grenadine.
The one and only thing to remember when making a cocktail is balance. If the mixture is too sweet, temper with lemon juice. If there is too much fruit juice and the mixture is thick, add sparkling water or lemonade. If the mixture is “flat” in the mouth, why not add a drop of Tabasco? Etc.
The rest in 8 delicious and easy-to-make recipes.
