What do you get when you mix the quest for a healthier lifestyle, less disposable income, caution about drinking and driving and a desire to socialize? The answer is mocktails, of course!
A recent survey of London bartenders found that 61% of consumers want more non-alcoholic drink choices and in Los Angeles, 83% of bar managers say so-called no-proof drinking is a growing trend.
And it’s a trend that seems driven by, you guessed it, Millennials – 45% of whom say they’re open to quitting drinking to improve their health – and by women who are the biggest consumers of mocktails.
The good news is, where once non-alcohol drinkers had to resort to a hum-drum Arnold Palmer, the options for today’s teetotalers are exploding. Today’s mocktail bartenders are experimenting with berries, vegetable purees, herbs, spices, syrups and flavored waters to create beverages that, while they may not make you tipsy, will certainly make you blissful.
Here are just a few of the booze-free delights making the rounds at your friendly neighborhood bar or lounge:
· Scorpio Sisters: A mouthwatering concoction of kiwi, ginger, coconut cream, pineapple and lime juices and rose flower water – from Nitecap in New York
· Liebling: Apricot, Chinese almond milk, grapefruit, lemon and Osmanthus (a fragrant Asian flowering plant), served on the rocks – from Trick Dog in San Francisco
· Designated Driver: A delicious blend of lime, cinnamon, orange, pineapple, bitters and soda – from Shameful Tiki in Toronto
· Nearly Negroni: A reimagined classic that uses Seedlip 94, non-alcoholic aromatized wine and bitter sweet cordial instead of gin, Campari or vermouth – from The Savoy’s American Bar in London
What your favorite festive mocktails? Please share your mixes with the Shop Talk blog community forum.
Did you know: Who coined the term?
Mocktail, aka a mock cocktail, first appeared in an ad in 1979. As for the term “cocktail”, it first appeared in 1806. (Source)
This is actually good to hear. I introduced my oldest daughter to mock mojitos & mock martinis when she was pregnant with my first grandchild. In the rural area where I live there is a high amount of teens abusing alcohol. In fact the county I live in was in the top 10 of the entire state! Hopefully they will catch on to mock tails instead of continuing to drink underage!
I do not have a favorite mocktail. I have a few that I created myself as a bartender and I am experimenting with different ingredients all the time for my own use or when I throw a party.
My all time cocktail and mocktail have the same ingrediance with the exception my cocktail has alcohol in it and the mocktail doesnt, I absolutely love blue
Cant drink for health reasons. Mocktails are a good thing!
They all sound good.
Good information
wow!
my beverage of choice is tap water, at home, and in surrounding communities – we have excellent tap water, with very few dissolved minerals.
away from home. my beverage of choice is reverse-osmosis de-ionized water.
It tastes really good, has no artificial sweeteners, no sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol, no allergens, all of which mean NO aftertaste to confuse the tastebuds on my tongue, nothing to upset my digestion, and it absorbs into my body swiftly, with no negative side effects. It does not have negative reactions with nutrients nor medications.
I took a tour of the Coors brewery, in Golden, just up the road to the south and west, and tasted their Colorado Native Amber Lager – brewed with all Colorado ingredients: barley (from the San Luis [pronounced LU EES] valley), Colorado – grown hops, Rocky Mountain water, and the oldest variety of brewing yest in the state. I was familiar with some of the other beers they brew – banquet, Coors light, keystone, Killian’s red, but had not tasted some of the others, including the Colorado Native beers. I have since tried HAYZ-ON saison, a lager, but like the Amber Lager more than I like any other beer I have tasted.
I look for it when I go to a restaurant with a bar, just-in-case I want a beer with dinner, and I do not have to drive.
Coors does not sell Colorado Native outside the state.
The “Designated Driver” sounds good!
I don’t like cocktails whether they have alcohol or not
Any fruit juices with fresh fruits added with a little soda water added in
I don’t have a favorite mocktail. I’ve never had one and I very seldom drink alcohol
Usually never drink cocktails but would be open to trying Mocktails.
I do not like the mocktails or cocktails. I knwo alot fo people do, but for me I am just not that into those things. I prefer juice, and soda.
Great idea. Many of us do not want the alchol
That was good information.
Love mocktales. Liquor makes me sleepy (even one drink) so I enjoy having fun with a good mocktale. Anything with cranberry is great or a shirley temple is delicious as well
Can’t wait to try some!
I have not had one recently, but looking forward to having one with Pumpkin which is my favorite.
I have not had any of these. Other than a glass of red whine and an occasional beer, every once in a while I’ll have a Blood Mary, but that’s about it.