There is nothing quite like a warm evening out in the yard with good friends and a cool drink in hand. What often happens though is that our drinks are filled with refined sugars, artificial flavours & colours. Take your bevvies up a notch with these simple and tasty recipes.

Step 1: Choose Your Base

Kombucha – fermented tea with probiotic activity, supports digestion, even though it tastes sweet, it contains far less sugar than pop

Sparkling Water – carbonated water, no sodium or sugar

Ginger Beer – alternative to ginger ale, often more natural ingredients and less sugar; since it has a stronger flavour, you use less

100% Fruit Juice – avoid fruit ‘beverages & cocktails,’ that often contain additional sugars

Tea – herbal, green, black – look for natural options without added artificial flavours

Step 2: Consider Your Sweetener

Not all mocktail recipes require any additional sweetener. Much will depend on your taste buds and also how much natural sweetener is already present from fruit & fruit juice ingredients.

Stevia – Can be up to 400x sweeter than refined sugar; doesn’t adversely affect blood glucose levels and may be used by diabetics. Stevia has a unique flavour. Along with its sweetness there is also a bitter component. The poorer the quality of the leaf the more bitterness is evident in the taste.

Simple Syrup – 1 cup raw organic sugar to 1 cup water – gently heat mixture to dissolve. Store in a glass mason jar in the fridge.

Tips

  • Make ice cubes out of fruit juice to avoid diluting your drink.
  • Make ahead and serve in a large glass jar. Use a ladle to serve fruit.
  • Frozen fruit is a quick & easy way to make a mocktail in a hurry.
  • Left over mocktail? Turn it into a healthier frozen treat option.

Recipes are by the cup unless otherwise noted. Mocktails will become more flavourful with infusing time. Make your drink ahead of time and let sit for a few hours in the fridge. Add any sparking water or ginger beer just before serving.

Cucumber, Lime & Mint Mojito

  • 1″ cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 lime, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 lime, juiced
  • 1 mint sprig or 5 leaves
  • 1 c sparkling water

Ginger Beer Mojito

  • 1/2 c ginger beer
  • 1/2 c sparkling water
  • 3 – 4 lime slices
  • 1 mint sprig or 5 leaves

Kombucha Mocktail

  • 1 c kombucha, unflavoured
  • 1/4 c frozen fruit of your choice – blueberries, strawberry slices

Blueberry Infusion Herbal Iced Tea

  • 1 c blueberry herbal tea, steeped & cooled
  • 1/4 c frozen berries
  • 1/4 c sparkling water
  • 1 – 2 tsp simple sugar syrup (see above for recipe)

Watermelon-Lime Mocktail

  • serves 4 – 6
  • 8 c seedless watermelon, blended
  • 1 lime, freshly squeezed
  • 1 lime, sliced for garnish
  • mint sprigs
  • 1 c sparkling water

Sangria

  • serves 10 – 12
  • 1 litre white grape juice
  • 1 c orange juice
  • 2 – 3 c sparkling water
  • 1 bag frozen mixed berries
  • 2 limes – 1 squeezed, 1 sliced
  • 1 orange, sliced