Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
10 recipes
This Field Manual holds 10 recipes built without alcohol. Removing the spirit removes three things at once: bitterness, viscosity and the burn that tells your mouth a drink has arrived. A good one replaces all three rather than leaving juice in a nice glass.
Bitterness is the one most often missed. Non-alcoholic bitters, strong tea, grapefruit pith or a bitter soda give the drink somewhere to end, and without it a mix of juices tastes flat however good the fruit is. Acid does the lifting a spirit’s heat would otherwise do, so these recipes lean harder on citrus and vinegar than their alcoholic equivalents. Texture is the hardest to replace: a syrup, an egg white or a shrub gives the drink weight, and a Seedlip-style distillate brings aroma without body.
Difficulty Level
Arnold Palmer
An Arnold Palmer is 135ml of cold, unsweetened black tea and 45ml of still, cloudy lemonade, three parts to one, built over ice in a highball and stirred once, with a lemon wheel.
Chocolate Orange Mocktail
The Chocolate Orange Mocktail is 75ml of fresh orange juice, 20ml of chocolate syrup and 22.5ml of single cream, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and strained into a
Rose Lemonade Fizz
A Rose Lemonade Fizz is 25ml of rose syrup and 25ml of fresh lemon juice in a chilled champagne flute, topped slowly with about 100ml of cold sparkling water and stirred once,
Shirley Temple
A Shirley Temple is an alcohol-free drink of ginger ale and grenadine: 150ml ginger ale in an ice-filled highball, with 15ml grenadine poured in last so it sinks, and a maraschino
Sparkling Elderflower Lemonade
Sparkling Elderflower Lemonade is 25ml of elderflower cordial and 25ml of fresh lemon juice over ice in a highball, topped with 150ml of sparkling water, stirred gently and
Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Non-Alcoholic)
Vietnamese iced coffee, cà phê sữa đá, is 90ml of strong robusta coffee dripped through a phin filter onto 30ml of sweetened condensed milk, stirred together while hot and poured
Virgin Colada
A Virgin Colada is 120ml of fresh pineapple juice, 45ml of cream of coconut and 15ml of fresh lime juice, blended with a cup of crushed ice for 10 to 15 seconds and poured into a
Virgin Mojito
A Virgin Mojito is ten mint leaves pressed gently with 25ml fresh lime juice and 20ml simple syrup in a highball, packed with crushed ice and topped with 120ml of soda water, then
Virgin Passion Fruit Martini
The Virgin Passion Fruit Martini is two fresh passion fruits, 50ml passion fruit juice, 25ml vanilla syrup and 15ml fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and strained
Watermelon Cooler
A Watermelon Cooler is 150ml of fresh watermelon juice, blended and strained, with 25ml of fresh lime juice over ice in a highball glass, topped with soda water and stirred once.