u/castironandcocktails

We are missing the beach, so today's mocktail is an N/A take on a classic, the Painkiller. What is effectively a more complex piña colada, we're following the OG recipe pretty closely, but since we're not using dark rum, we're going to add back some of that funk and depth that the rum brings with a couple of different bitters.

Recipe: N/A Painkiller

Ingredients:

4 oz pineapple juice

1 oz orange juice

1 oz cream of coconut

4 dashes Molasses Bitters*

2 dashes N/A Aromatic Bitters

Nutmeg

Build:

1. Add all ingredients, except the nutmeg, to a shaker tin with ice and shake well to chill.

2. Pour the entire contents of the shaker into a hurricane glass, or rocks glass, or whatever you have.

3. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg over the top, then garnish with a pineapple wedge and an umbrella (if you're feeling fancy).

Note:

*The Molasses Bitters do contain some alcohol (about 2.4% ABV). However, the amount we're using is so small that the final drink is still considered "non-alcoholic." If this is a concern for you feel free to omit them from the recipe. The resulting drink will still be great.

Getting back into our Mocktail Monday series with another one of my go-tos, and for lack of a better name, we're just going to go with "Cherry (Diet) Coke, All Grown Up." This one keeps it simple. It's getting built right in the glass, and we're not even going to measure anything, but I'll give you some rough measurements in the recipe below.

Recipe: Cherry (Diet) Coke, All Grown Up!

Ingredients:

3–4 dashes of N/A or low-ABV bitters (I really like Spiced Cherry bitters in this, but you could use any bitters you like, in fact I would encourage you to experiment with different flavors)

6–8 oz Diet Coke

2–3 oz tart cherry juice

Build:

1. Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add your bitters, then pour in the Diet Coke, leaving enough room at the top for the cherry juice (about 2 inches of headspace).

2. Top with the cherry juice and gently stir to combine.

3. Garnish with a few dark cocktail cherries and enjoy!

Yes, it's another Mocktail Monday, and since you can't make a mocktail without breaking a few eggs... or something like that. Today we were going to make a pineapple sour, but in the interest of sticking with the long drink format that we love for summer, we are going to add a little club soda and make a pineapple fizz instead.

Recipe: Pineapple Fizz

Ingredients:

3 oz pineapple ginger juice*

0.5 oz lemon juice

0.75 oz hot honey simple syrup

2 dashes N/A aromatic bitters

1 egg white (or 1 oz aquafaba)

~2oz club soda

Build:

1. Add the juice, lemon juice, hot honey simple syrup, bitters, and egg white to a shaker with ice. Shake gently, and very briefly to chill and combine.(5-10 seconds) You do not want to over aerate the egg whites.

2. Add club soda to a Collins glass and (gently) pour entire contents of shaker into glass.**

3. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and enjoy!

Notes:

* You can absolutely use regular pineapple juice for this, or just muddle a little ginger into some pineapple juice. While the ginger is not required, I do think it adds a nice subtle bite.

** Slow pouring is key, expect this to fizz pretty significantly when you pour the drink over the club soda. Alternatively you can top with club soda, but I find this method yields a more well incorporated drink.

It's another Mocktail Monday, and we are back from our short little hiatus thanks to gallbladder surgery. This week we are making what we're calling the Triple C Tonic, because supposedly carrot juice, coconut water, and cucumber juice are all good for recovery, and conveniently they also go really well together.

The freshness of the cucumber, a little salinity from the coconut water, and a touch of earthiness and sweetness from the carrot all play nicely against the slight bitterness of the tonic and those floral notes from the bitters, which give you a well rounded mocktail. That said, if you find tonic water a little too bitter, feel free to substitute plain soda water instead.

Recipe: Triple C Tonic

Ingredients:

0.5 oz lime juice

1 oz carrot juice

2 oz cucumber juice

2 oz coconut water

5 dashes floral bitters

~4 oz tonic water

Build:

1. Add the lime juice, carrot juice, cucumber juice, coconut water, and bitters to a shaker tin with ice. Shake well to combine and chill.

2. Simultaneously pour the tonic water and strain the mixture into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice. Pouring them in tandem helps everything mix evenly.

3. Garnish with a cucumber ribbon and a lime wheel, and enjoy!

Finally starting to get some ripe blueberries on our plant, the basil is growing nicely, and I do love an alliterative name, so the Blueberry Basil Buck is the star of this week's Mocktail Monday. Refreshing, light, and perfect for a summer day by the pool!

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Recipe: Blueberry Basil Buck

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Ingredients:

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2 Tbsp blueberries

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3–4 large basil leaves

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0.75 oz lemon juice

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4 dashes N/A herb bitters

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~4 oz ginger beer

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Build:

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1. In a shaker tin muddle the blueberries and basil.

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2. Add lemon juice, bitters, and ice. Shake to chill and combine.

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3. Add the ginger beer to the shaker, then strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice.

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4. Garnish with some fresh basil or blueberries.

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5. Serve and enjoy!

I have been really enjoying playing with black tea as the base for mocktails lately, so this week I figured I'd make a Passionfruit Mar-tea-ni for Mocktail Monday. It's refreshing, just a little bitter, and perfect for these warm summer evenings.

Recipe: Passionfruit Mar-tea-ni

Ingredients:

2 oz strong-brewed black tea

3/4 oz passionfruit puree syrup

1 oz 100% passionfruit juice

2-3 dashes N/A aromatic bitters

Build:

1. Add the tea, syrup, and juice to a shaker with ice and shake to combine and chill.

2. Strain into a coupe or martini glass, then top with a few dashes of bitters.*

3. Swirl the bitters into the foam with a toothpick and garnish with a piece of dried passion fruit.

4. Serve and enjoy!

Note(s):

*I prefer to add the bitters at the end so they are more prominent on the nose.

With the summer sun in full effect, it's time we switch to longer drinks for the season. Highballs are perfect for this time of year and make a great base for a mocktail. They’re also super simple and quick to throw together when you want something fun and refreshing without a lot of effort.

Recipe: Tropical Teaball (A black tea highball)

Ingredients:

2 oz concentrated black tea, cooled

4-8 dashes N/A tropical/passionfruit bitters (I go heavy because I like the bitters, but that may be a little heavy for most, so maybe start with 4)

~4 oz soda water

Build:

1. Add tea, bitters, and soda water to a highball glass with ice. Stir with a bar spoon to chill and combine.

2. Garnish with mint or a lime wheel if you wish. Or don’t, like I did, since it was way later than I planned for it to be.

3. Serve and enjoy!

This Mocktail Monday I am finally getting around to making one of my favorites, Nitro Hibiscus Tea. I had held off on doing this for some time because it is such a simple recipe and, to me, borders on just being a mocktail, but with summer in full swing this is a great easy option to beat the heat while still feeling like more than just “fancy tea.”

Recipe: Nitro Hibiscus Tea

Special equipment needed:

ISI whipping canister (1 liter or half liter. If using the half liter, halve the recipe and only use 1 charger)

2 N2 chargers

Ingredients:

32 oz chilled hibiscus tea

Bitters (I recommend orange bitters. I used gin barrel aged orange bitters, because I liked the gin notes, but feel free to experiment)

Build:

1. Add tea to whipping canister, seal it up, and charge with both N2 chargers.

2. Shake well to ensure the gas is dissolved into the liquid.

3. To serve, use whatever glassware your heart desires, or play around with it. A coupe or martini glass are fun, but I also like a Collins or pint glass for a nitro beer feel. Add a couple dashes of bitters to the glass BEFORE pouring to ensure they get evenly distributed in the finished drink.

4. Enjoy!

Warmer days are here, so perfect weather for a long drink, and since we just cracked open our first watermelon of the season, we might as well put it to good use.

Recipe: Sandia Spritz N/A

Ingredients:

4 mint leaves

0.5 oz lime (or just the juice of half a lime)

3 oz cucumber watermelon juice*

4 dashes of a herby, non-alcoholic bitter.

~4 oz ginger beer

Garnish:

Mint and/or thin lengthwise sliced cucumbers

Build:

1. Add mint and lime juice to a Collins or highball glass and lightly muddle.

2. If using the thin cucumber garnish, now is the time I would recommend adding that to the glass. With the glass still dry, it is more apt to stick to the inside of the glass and stay in place while finishing the drink.

3. Add cucumber watermelon juice, and bitters if using.

4. Add ice, then top with ginger beer.

5. Garnish with a sprig of mint, and enjoy!

Notes:

*To make the cucumber watermelon juice, combine equal parts peeled cucumber and watermelon in a blender. Blend until liquefied, then strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the solids.

It's Mocktail Monday, and we are making a bright, vibrant cranberry sour that is perfect for these warm spring days. This one uses the same cranberry juice from our N/A Cosmopolitan to give you another fun option for repurposing that leftover juice.

Side note, I love Sours, especially for Mocktails because the egg white gives the drink a great texture and the foam you get is just so eye catching that it really helps it not feel like a Mocktail in my opinion.

Recipe: N/A Cranberry Sour

Ingredients:

0.75 oz hot honey simple syrup*

1.5 oz fresh lemon juice

3.5 oz 100% cranberry juice

1 egg white or 1 oz aquafaba**

Build:

1. Add hot honey simple syrup, lemon juice, cranberry juice, and egg white or aquafaba to a shaker.

2. Add ice, seal, and shake aggressively for about 30 seconds to chill and whip the egg white or aquafaba.

3. Strain into a Nick and Nora, coupe, or whatever other glass you feel like using.

4. Enjoy!

Notes:

*The goal is not for the drink to be spicy. The hot honey is just there to add a little complexity. You should only get the subtlest hint of spice at the back of the palate.

**While the risk of foodborne illness from raw egg white is relatively negligible, there is always some risk involved. You can reduce that risk by using pasteurized egg whites or substituting aquafaba instead.

May the Fourth be with your mocktail. Since it’s Star Wars Day, we figured we might as well make a Bantha Milk Mocktail to celebrate.

Recipe: N/A Bantha (Blue) Milk Mocktail

Ingredients:

1.5 oz pineapple juice

0.75 oz N/A blue curaçao (or N/A triple sec with 2 drops blue food coloring)

0.5 oz lime juice

3 oz full-fat coconut milk*

Build:

1. Add pineapple juice, blue curaçao, and lime juice to a shaker tin with ice.

2. Add coconut milk and shake aggressively to combine and chill.

3. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice.

4. Enjoy!

Notes:

* Do not try to sub in light or low-fat coconut milk here. You need the higher fat content to keep the drink from separating or curdling. Trust me, I tried. This is also why I list adding the coconut milk as a seperate step right before shaking, so there is less time for it to interact with the acid before dilution.

Full disclosure, this is a version I came up with after some internet sleuthing, if you’ve had the one at Disney and decide to try this, I’d love to hear how it compares.

It’s Monday, and the Kentucky Derby is less than a week away, which can only mean one thing. We’re making a non-alcoholic version of the classic Mint Julep for Mocktail Monday.

Recipe: N/A Mint Julep

Ingredients:

6–8 large mint leaves

0.5 oz simple syrup

3 oz strong black tea, cooled

2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashioned or Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters* (optional, see note)

Mint sprigs for garnish (optional)

Build:

1. Add mint and simple syrup to a julep cup or rocks glass, and muddle gently to release the oils from the mint.

2. Add tea and bitters to the glass, top with crushed ice (if you are able; normal cubes are fine otherwise), and stir to combine and chill.

3. Top with additional crushed ice if needed and garnish with mint sprigs.

Notes:

*Fee Brothers Old Fashioned bitters (both the original and Whiskey Barrel Aged) are 17.5% ABV. However, two dashes is not enough to bring the drink anywhere close to the 0.5% ABV threshold to be considered non-alcoholic. That said, I understand everyone’s tolerances and reasons for abstaining are different, so feel free to omit if you like. It is still going to be great!