Are you a pregnant bride? In the recovery community? Having a dry wedding? Or maybe you're just wanting to give your non-drinking guests some amazing concoctions.
We've talked about delicious mocktails and non-boozy drinks before, but we knew there were more drool-worthy mocktail recipes out there to inspire your DIY bar, signature drinks, unity co*cktail, or to suggest to your bar service.
Let's talk recipes for the best mocktails for weddings.
Dark Invader
This Dark Invader mocktail is destined to become an Offbeat Bride favorite for the Vader reference alone.
Ingredients:
11 blackberries
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce vanilla syrup (see note)
Ice
Combine 9 of the blackberries, the juice and syrup in a co*cktail shaker; muddle well.
Add the ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds, then strain into a co*cktail (martini) glass.
Garnish with the remaining 2 blackberries (one on each side of the rim, like alien ears).
NOTE: To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Bring to a slow, rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a glass container and let cool to room temperature.
Cover tightly and refrigerate until chilled through; store indefinitely.
Cherry Bomb Mocktail
Ingredients:
1 liter lemon lime soda
4 ounces grenadine
juice from 1 lime (approx 2 tbsp)
4 maraschino cherries
Instructions
Combine soda, grenadine, and lime juice in mixing glass and stir. Pour over rocks or ice ball in low ball glass and garnish with cherries.
Lemon Blueberry Colada
Ingredients:
8 parts San Pellegrino Limonata (or lemonade)
2 parts light coconut milk
1 part grenadine
Frozen blueberries
Mix together all ingredients in a glass and serve cold.
Ginger Lime Fizz
Ingredients:
12 ounces ginger beer
4 ounces seltzer water
½ to 1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
Limes, for garnish
Combine ingredients in a pitcher. Serve cold.
Virgin Moscow Mule
Ingredients:
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 cup ginger beer
1 tablespoon simple syrup
2 ounces sparkling water, tonic, or club soda
Ice cubes, 3 to 5 depending on your preference
Add all ingredients in a glass and stir well.
Garnish with a slice of lime and a small slice of ginger.
I like this cran-apple cider mocktail for a winter wedding, especially if you add in some mulling spices and heat it up.
Cran-apple cider mocktail
Ingredients:
Cinnamon sugar
1 part cranberry juice
1 part apple cider
Rim glass with cinnamon sugar. Combine equal parts cranberry juice and apple cider. Garnish with a rock-candy swizzle stick.
Asian Pear Sparkler
Ingredients:
1 cup freshly pressed Asian pear juice (or regular pear juice)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cups honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 (4-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into coins
Small grating of fresh nutmeg
Ice
Soda water
Combine pear juice, lemon juice, honey, sugar, rosemary, ginger, and nutmeg in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for five minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugars.
Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids. Let syrup cool completely.
To serve, fill an eight-ounce glass halfway with ice cubes, add three tablespoons of syrup, fill with soda water, and stir.
Roy Rogers Mocktail
1 part Grenadine
3 parts co*ke or Pepsi
1 Maraschino cherry, for garnish
Pour the ingredients into a tall glass filled with ice. Stir well and garnish with the maraschino cherry.
Coconut Lavender Lemonade
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice, from about 9 lemons
1 3/4 cups sugar
8 cups coconut water
4 cups water
1/2 recipe Lavender Simple Syrup (see here for the recipe)
Place lemon juice, sugar, coconut water, and water into a pitcher and shake or stir vigorously until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour 1/2 of the lavender syrup into the pitcher and stir.
Sparkling Cucumber Limeade
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 cup water
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup lime juice
1 medium English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
2 cups sparkling water, chilled
Combine the sugar, lime zest, and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint leaves. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Strain the lime syrup through a fine mesh sieve. Combine the syrup with the lime juice and cucumber. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, add in the sparkling water. Serve over ice.
You can't go wrong with a classic.
Shirley Temple
Ingredients:
1 part grenadine
8 parts ginger ale
Maraschino cherries
Rim glass with pink Pop Rocks. Add 4 tablespoons grenadine syrup to 16 ounces ginger ale. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Sparkling Raspberry Mocktail
Ingredients:
Frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate
3 cups cold water
Frozen raspberries
Sparkling white grape juice
In a small pitcher, mix frozen lemonade concentrate and three cups of water.
For ice-cubes sprinkle raspberries into an ice cube tray and then slowly pour the raspberry lemonade mix over them. Set the remaining drink mix aside until later.
When ready to serve, add ice cubes to each glass and pour about one tablespoon of the raspberry lemonade in the bottom of each glass. Top off the glass with sparkling grape juice.
Dirty Dr. Pepper
Ingredients:
Ice
1 Lime
Torani Sugar Free Coconut Syrup
Dr. Pepper or Diet Dr. Pepper
Throw a few ice cubes in your cup and add one slice of lime. Pour Dr. Pepper in and add about one teaspoon of coconut syrup for every one cup of Dr. Pepper.
Watermelon Breeze
Ingredients:
3 cups cubed chilled watermelon
1 cup coconut water
squeeze of fresh lime
Ice
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
Another watermelon recipe, this time with a kick!
Jalapeño Watermelon Agua Fresca
Ingredients:
4 cups seedless watermelon, cut into cubes
1 cup coconut water
1/4 – 1/2 cup jalapeño simple syrup (see recipe here)
ice
lime & mint for serving (optional)
Add watermelon, coconut water, and simple syrup (start with 1/4 cup) to a blender and process until very smooth and frothy, about 30 seconds. Taste for spice and add more syrup, if necessary. Serve immediately over ice with a squeeze of lime.
Safe Sex on the Beach
Ingredients:
3 ounces cranberry juice
3 ounces grapefruit juice
2 ounces peach nectar
1 maraschino cherry
Pour over ice in a chilled glass and stir. Garnish with a cherry.
Ginger-Basil Grapefruit Spritzer
Ingredients:
1 grapefruit plus additional grapefruit for garnish
2 cups of ice
3 x 12oz cans of ginger soda
handful of fresh basil
1/4 cup basil simple syrup (recipe here)
Place sugar and water in a small pan over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add the basil. Allow to steep for 15-20 minutes and strain and discard basil. Place syrup in a glass tupperware container or squeeze bottle if you have it.
Cover and chill for a couple hours.
Related Post
How to make mocktails for your non-drinking friends at your boozy wedding
The secret that some bartenders don’t want you to know is that nearly any co*cktail can be improvised into a mocktail. Why don’t they talk about this more often? I don’t know. I take the completely opposite stance. I feel that being able to cater to any kind of guest demonstrates flexibility. Today I’m going to share with you some of my go-to mocktail recipes.
French 75 Mocktail
Ingredients:
2 cups ice
3 ounces fresh lemon juice
4 dashes lemon or orange bitters
2 (6-8oz) bottles premium tonic water (such as Fever Tree or Q Tonic)
2 rock candy swizzle sticks
Add fresh lemon juice and bitters to co*cktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until frosty then divide into two champagne flutes or coupe glasses.
Top off with tonic water until it reaches about 3/4 of the way up the glass. Garnish with the swizzle sticks and serve immediately.
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Yummy mocktails for very cool wedding drink alternatives
So you're planning out your beverage strategy for your dry wedding, or your wedding with kids and future Offbeat Mamas, or just looking to offer some non-boozy alternatives. You can surely offer sodas and coffee, but why not make their experience a little more special with fancy-shmancy mocktails? Adding fancy stemware and a garnish will put those teetotalers in the mood to party, and they won't feel left out from any "signature co*cktail" moments.
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Easy, ginger-y punch for a New Year's wedding (or, you know, anytime)
I pinned this co*cktail onto the Offbeat Bride Pinterest account and it pretty much went crazy with repins. I can see why because I, too, want to drink the sh*t out of that based on looks alone. Plus, I love bubbles. Let's take a look at what's in it via the recipe from co*cktail Remedy.
Related Post
How to make mocktails for your non-drinking friends at your boozy wedding
The secret that some bartenders don’t want you to know is that nearly any co*cktail can be improvised into a mocktail. Why don’t they talk about this more often? I don’t know. I take the completely opposite stance. I feel that being able to cater to any kind of guest demonstrates flexibility. Today I’m going to share with you some of my go-to mocktail recipes.
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.