Recipe Round-Up: Mocktails

Well guys, this is it. Baby boy still hasn’t flipped, so I’m going in for a C-section on Friday. That’s just three days from now. I’ve never been so excited and terrified all at once! Surprisingly (considering the whole cut-you-open-while-you’re-awake aspect of the situation), I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to meet this little guy and start this new phase of my life. And I can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore! Overall I think I had a pretty easy pregnancy, but I can’t say it went by quickly. And this belly is getting out of control!

While I definitely missed cocktails over the last nine months, I had a lot of fun getting creative with non-alcoholic recipes. For my last post, I thought I’d do a quick roundup of ten of my favorites. See the full list of mocktails here!

1. Wishful Thinking. The first mocktail I posted, this one is simple but really delicious. Lime juice and lavender syrup dress up the usual ginger beer, and a dash of cardamom bitters provides the finishing touch.

2. Juniper & Tonic. Mixing tonic water with lime juice and a juniper syrup totally cured my G&T craving. Throw in some edible flowers and you have a beautiful summer sipper!

3. Just Beet It. My only foray into the wide world of homemade shrubs during the pregnancy, this vibrant recipe pairs beet shrub with tarragon and tonic water. It was a definite favorite!

4. Chamomile Pear Sour. Using aquafaba, a vegan substitute for egg whites, allowed me to make a sour with a lovely layer of foam on top, just like the real thing. This would be a good non-alcoholic option to impress a real cocktail lover!

5. Spicy Sandia. While this mixture of watermelon, lime, and jalapeño is basically screaming for a couple shots of tequila, it’s a positively delicious recipe on its own – perfect for outdoor summer sipping.

6. Toasted Coconut Iced Chai. This one isn’t pretending to be a cocktail, and it doesn’t have to. It’s a sweet, delicious treat for when you want to drink something just a bit more decadent.

7. Consolation Prize. This is the only recipe on the list that I didn’t come up with – it’s from Smitten Kitchen, one of my all-time favorite food blogs. It’s basically a cross between a piña colada and a mojito – absolutely dreamy.

8. Golden Orchard. Fennel, turmeric, and sparkling apple cider might seem like unusual ingredients in a drink, but they work perfectly in this sparkling mocktail.

9. Old Cuban. A true “mocktail,” this recipe emulates one of my favorite cocktails with the use of non-alcoholic sparkling wine and several dashes of Angostura bitters. It was probably the closest I felt to the real thing for nine months!

10. Green Monster. Cucumber and black pepper is a match made in heaven – seriously, you’ve got to try it, preferably with some Hendricks. But failing that, green tea is a fabulous substitute.

In addition to these recipes, I discovered lots of interesting non-alcoholic products aimed at the teetotaler, including Element Shrub & Club, Seedlip Non-Alcoholic Spirits, and Fre Wines. It’s nice to see so many options on the market and on bar menus. There are a lot of reasons someone might not be drinking, and it’s great to not feel left out!

Well, I’ll probably take a bit of a hiatus from posting for the next few weeks, but check my Instagram and Twitter for baby updates and – who are we kidding? – pictures of my first few post-pregnancy cocktails. Cheers!