Cheers to Mocktails!

If you’re avoiding alcohol, no need to settle for a boring spritzer!

With a little creativity and a crafty presentation, you can make mocktails the life of the party. Here's a few tips to get you started:

• Start with bubbles. You can’t go wrong with carbonation as a base — think soda water, tonic water, kombucha, ginger ale, or ginger beer. 
• Add a splash of juice. A touch of orange, grapefruit, or cranberry juice adds a refreshing twist without too much sugar. (You could even freeze the juice in ice cube trays and serve them in sparkling water.)
• Speaking of ice cube trays … they come in many fun shapes, from fish to flamingos. Tie your ice cubes to the theme of your party.
• Play the mock alcohol trick. Did you know that one or two teaspoons of pickle or caper juice can taste like alcohol? Try it in a virgin margarita!
• Use a homemade simple syrup. For a unique taste, add a homemade mint, rosemary, ginger, or lavender simple syrup.
• Search for alcohol-free bitters. Not all bitters have alcohol. Non Alcoholic bitters can give a citrus or herbal complexity to your N/A sipper.
• Create a handcrafted feel with fresh fruit or herbs. Jazz up the flavor with fresh lemons, limes, basil, or mint, or experiment with muddled berries.
• Break out the cocktail glasses. Presentation is everything. Serve your drink in champagne flutes, tall highball glasses, or copper mugs. Consider rimming the glasses with sugar or salt.
• Add garnish. Finish off your mocktails with citrus wedges, maraschino cherries, or olives. Thread sprigs of herbs to make edible stir sticks.

If you don’t want to come up with your own mocktails, you can find numerous recipes online based on the classics. You can also shop for a wide variety of low- and nonalcoholic beers, wines, nonalcoholic spirits, and premade drinks.  Here's a few we like:

• Heineken® 0.0: a perfectly balanced lager with fresh, fruity notes and a soft, malty body
• Guinness 0.0: the same smooth, creamy flavor and dark color of a regular Guinness
• Samuel Adams Just the Haze: a hazy, hoppy, full-bodied IPA with a citrus scent and hints of tangerine, grapefruit, lime, and tropical stone fruit
• Fre wines: from Napa Valley, created with spinning cone technology to preserve each wine’s true varietal characteristics
• Ariel wines: (Owned by J. Lohr) carefully aged, fined, and filtered according to traditional methods
• Surely wines: low in calories (30 to 40 per serving) with an incredible aroma and detailed tasting notes
• Seedlip^TM nonalcoholic spirits: three sophisticated spirits to satisfy any palate
• Mingle Cocktails: cucumber melon mojitos, cranberry cosmos, blackberry hibiscus bellinis, and more
• Mocktails: a variety of pre-made mocktails low in sugar and calories and made with all-natural ingredients

Whatever you choose to drink, swapping cocktails for mocktails can save you hundreds of calories, prevent bloating, and improve your overall health.