10 fun mocktails to make your holidays merry and bright

Craft cocktails are getting more popular. But what to do if you want to go easy on alcohol or give it up altogether? Luckily, there are more choices than ever as restaurants and bars add more alcohol-free mocktails to their cocktail menus. With the pandemic shuttering businesses temporarily, we asked some of our Diamond-Designated resorts and inns to share some mocktail recipes. Here are 10 tasty ones, from fruity to hearty, to serve at your next cocktail hour.

Recipe from the AAA Five Diamond-designated Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Beach, California. (885) 467-6800; pelicanhill.com.

Ingredients

• 2 oz. coconut water
  
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
  
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
  
• 1-1/2 oz. cucumber juice
  
• 2 slices of fresh cucumber, for garnish

How to make it: Fill a tall glass with ice. Add ingredients, and stir. Add two slices of cucumber.

Ingredients

• 1/4 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/4 oz. lemongrass syrup
• 1 oz. coconut puree
• 2 oz. coconut water
• 1 lemongrass sprig, for garnish
• Edible flowers, for garnish

How to make it: Combine first four ingredients in a shaker and add ice. Shake, and pour into a rocks glass or short tumbler. Garnish with a lemongrass sprig and flowers.

Ingredients

• 3 oz. jasmine tea
• 1-1/2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
• 1/4 oz. lychee puree
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• Squeeze of fresh lime juice
• Pineapple or lime slices, for garnish

How to make it: Add all the ingredients over crushed ice in a tall glass and stir. Garnish with fresh lime wheel or pineapple slice.

Ingredients

• 3 pineapple cubes
• 3 basil leaves
• 2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 2 oz. pure raw honey water
• Fever tree Ginger Beer
• Pineapple chunks, for garnish

How to make it: Muddle pineapple chunks and basil leaves. Add pineapple juice, lime juice, and pure raw honey water. Top with Fever Tree Ginger Beer and pour into mason jar. To garnish, add three pineapple chunks on a bamboo skewer.

Ingredients

• 4 fresh blackberries
• 1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 basil leaves
• Dash of Q Tonic
• Wedge of lemon, for garnish

How to make it: Place three berries and lemon juice in a tall glass and crush them with a muddler. Take basil leaves, slap them in your hand, and add to the glass. Stir lightly with a dash of tonic, add ice, top with tonic, and garnish with a blackberry and wedge of lemon.

Ingredients

• 2 orange slices
  
• Heaping teaspoon of five-spice powder
• Fine cylindrical colander
• Pre-warmed coffee mug (12-14 oz.)
• Hot water (near boil)
• 3/4 oz. honey syrup
• Star anise, for garnish
• 1 lemon slice, for garnish

How to make it: Place orange slices and five-spice into a mug. Add enough hot water to cover the oranges. Muddle the mixture. Work the rinds in because some of their bitterness will accent the five spice. Put mixture in colander and strain into pre-warmed cup. Pour 6 oz. hot water through colander, allowing some pulp and five spice to pass through. Add honey syrup. Garnish by floating star anise and adding lemon slice to cup's lip. 

Ingredients

• 2 oz. apple cider
  
• 2 oz. apple juice
  
• 2 oz. pear juice
  
• 1/2 oz. caramel syrup
  
• Apple slice, for garnish

How to make it: Rim a martini glass with caramel syrup. Shake all liquid ingredients in a shaker and pour into rimmed glass. Garnish with apple slice.

Ingredients

• 6 Honey Crisp apples
  
• 1 fresh ginger root (3 inches by 1 inch)
  
• 2 oz. Tamaya honey
  
• Cardamom bitters
  
• Star anise, for garnish

How to make it: Wash apples and ginger in running water. Core and remove seeds from apples. Cut apples and ginger into one-inch cubes. With a food processor or blender, grind ingredients at low speed. Use a juice press to extract juice. Add honey and stir. Put juice in freezer for 10 minutes. Use a soda siphon or soda stream to carbonate beverage. Add dash of cardamom bitters. Serve chilled. Garnish with star anise.

Ingredients

• 1/2 oz. Luxardo cherry syrup (from the can)
• 3 oz. ginger beer
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• Mint sprig, for garnish

How to make it: Add first three ingredients to a copper mug. Stir ingredients briefly to combine. Fill with ice and mix. Top with more ice. Garnish with lime wheel.

Recipe from the AAA Five Diamond-designated Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, Virginia. (888) 918-1895; jeffersonhotel.com.

Ingredients

For rosemary simple syrup:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 3 large rosemary sprigs

For the mocktail

• 1-1/2 oz. pomegranate juice
• 1-1/2 oz. orange juice
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. rosemary simple syrup (recipe below)
• 3 oz. soda water
• Fresh rosemary sprig, for garnish
• Lemon wheel, for garnish
• Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

How to make rosemary syrup: Add ingredients to pot and stir. Bring to boil over medium heat while continuously stirring. Once sugar has dissolved and mixture is simmering, remove from heat. Remove rosemary sprigs and let cool. 

How to make the mocktail: Add juices and rosemary syrup into a shaker. Add ice and shake for 12 shakes. Strain into glass, add ice, and top with soda water. Garnish with rosemary sprig, lemon wheel, and pomegranate seeds.

“Alcohol affects balance, judgment and reaction time while driving or walking, so don’t drive or walk under the influence,” says Anita Lorz Villagrana, the Auto Club’s community programs and traffic-safety manager. “And avoid using handheld devices, including mobile phones, while driving or walking. Everyone should prevent being 'intexticated'."

To keep roadways safe during the holidays, the Auto Club offers partygoers these tips:

• Designate a sober driver; don’t drive if you’ve been drinking.
• If you have been drinking, call a cab, use a ride app, or have a sober friend or relative drive you home.
• If you cannot find a safe ride home, stay where you are until you are completely sober.
• If you’re hosting a party, serve plenty of nonalcoholic beverages and food.
• Make sure your guests do not drive home impaired.
• Don’t serve anyone under 21 alcoholic beverages.  It’s against the law.
• When driving, be sure to watch your speed.  Slow down as you drive through neighborhood areas, preferably five miles per hour less than the posted speed limit.
• Discourage new, inexperienced drivers from driving.