Summer is a great time to be outdoors and enjoy time with family and friends. When the heat starts to rise, what’s the first thing you reach for? A nice and refreshing cold beverage. Ahhhh!

And if you’re like most people, your beverages are probably refreshing fruit-inspired alcoholic cocktails or maybe ice-cold beer. If you’re wanting to cut back on the adult beverages, then guess what…you don’t need alcohol to have a good time! And you definitely don’t need alcohol to make a tasty treat of a drink! In fact, you can turn any of your favorite fancy cocktails into a clean and alcohol-free mocktail.

But just because your glass is free from alcohol, doesn’t mean it has to be boring! In fact, mocktails are always a fun idea, whether for you or your guests. And with a few tips and tricks, you can make easy mocktails that taste just as good as the real thing.

What is a mocktail?

A mocktail is a non-alcoholic beverage. It’s a beverage that mimics traditional cocktail recipes while cutting out the liquor. This is perfect for those who are pregnant or otherwise avoid alcoholic drinks. Or for people who don’t prefer the taste of alcohol!

There are plenty of ways to mix and match your ingredients to make flavorful refreshing beverages for a hot summer day. Enjoy all the summer flavor with the hangover.

Here are a few ingredient tips for throwing together your favorite drinks.

Tips For Crafting Your Mocktail

•       Use a carbonated or bubbly mixer. Club soda, tonic or sparkling water, ginger ale or ginger beer are all nice and carbonated to add the classic sparkling element to your mocktail.
•       Try a fancy simple syrup. Simple syrups will add some sweetness and layers the flavor, making your beverage deliciously complex. You can even try making your own homemade syrup! Check out these recipes for mint simple syrup or ginger simple syrup.
•       Throw in non-alcohol bitters. All you need are a few dashes of bitters to add a whole lot of flavor and intricacy to your drinks. (Check out this easy Bitters and Soda recipe.)
•       Add fruit juice. Get the fruity flavor in your virgin drinks from virgin mixers. Try pineapple juice, apple cider, passion fruit or even your True Lemon Peach Iced Tea.
•       Use a powdered flavor enhancer. True Citrus Wedge Replacements make the perfect substitute for lemon juice and lime juice, without the labor and waste from fresh produce. You can also cut the sugar by using True Citrus Fruit Infusions to mix up your favorite flavor before adding other drink elements.
•       Garnish it! Presentation is the main event. And you can make it look extra fancy and like it took a lot more time to make than it really did! Add sliced fruit on the rim, fun little drink umbrellas, pretty swirly straws. You can also toss in a few chunks of fresh fruit and throw fresh herbs on top.