What’s not to love in a cocktail, but sometimes a mocktail is what we really want. It might be because you’re on a health break or because you’re the designated driver, but there’s absolutely no need to sip plain water or hiccup through a soft drink when these delicious non-alcoholic delights are on the menu.
4 cups coconut water
2 cucumbers sliced very thinly
½ cup of fresh lime juice
¼ cup of chopped mint leaves
¼ cup of sugar (optional)
Combine the coconut water, sliced cucumbers, lime juice, sugar and mint leaves in a jug. Let chill for an hour or two. Serve over ice in a tumbler or long glass.
4 large strawberries, hulled
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1½ cups chilled lemonade
8 ice cubes
Combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into your favourite glass and enjoy. Serves two.
100g ginger, scrubbed and roughly chopped
1¼ cups water
1 lemon, chopped
½ cup light muscovado sugar
Chilled lemonade or sparkling water to serve
Combine ginger, lemon, and water, and blitz with a hand blender until very smooth. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, then press the pulp to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard the pulp, add the sugar to the liquid in the bowl and blitz again. Pour into a bottle and chill. Serve diluted with lemonade or sparkling water. Add or subtract ginger depending on how fiery a flavour you like.
1 handful of fresh blueberries
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup simple syrup (see end of article for the simple syrup recipe)
Splash of soda
6-8 mint leaves
Slightly muddle (with a long pestle or stirrer) the blueberries in a glass, then add the liquid ingredients, drop in some ice cubes and garnish with mint leaves.
½ cup pear juice
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup rosemary-infused simple syrup (see end of article)
Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a martini glass or serve long topped up with soda water. Garnish with a pear slice.
It's simple because it's sugar and water with a 1:1 ratio.
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
Heat the water in a saucepan but do not boil. Add the sugar and stir until it has all dissolved. Leave to cool then pour into a bottle or jar with a lid. Your syrup will keep in the fridge for two to three weeks. And that's it.
Simple syrup can be infused with any fruit or herb (such as rosemary for the Nice Pear mocktail) – simply add it to the hot water with the sugar and remove 30 minutes into the cooling process.
