Best Christmas Mocktails To Keep You In Good Spirits

Tis’ the season to indulge! From fancy feasts and family time to refreshing beverages that will slake your thirst, it’s most certainly a time for celebration. Get ahead in party planning with some non alcoholic drinks this holiday season and try your hand at these fantastic recipes for the best Christmas mocktails in town. From fizzy to fruit and beyond, these seasonal sips will turn gatherings at your house into the event of the season.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill and excitement of hosting your very own grown-up Christmas party. From preparing the perfect feast to wow your guests to setting up a secret Santa gift exchange, there’s an inimitable quality to be enjoyed at such celebrations — one of liveliness, friendship, and the spirit of togetherness. To toast to another happy year ahead, you need drinks — and eschewing spirits to include children, it can be wise to go with non alcoholic drinks that everybody can enjoy.

Thankfully, when it comes to beverages, prepping in advance is quite easily done. Simply make sure you have an ample supply of ice, fizzy mixers, garnish, and flavour enhancers, which can be anything from fruit jams and puree to storebought syrups. Fresh fruit also makes for an amazing Christmas mocktail, and you’re best off purchasing an assortment of berries and citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes — particularly as these are best and most flavourful in the winter months. And, if you know there’ll be Bridgerton fans in attendance, impress them with these fantastic selections from Williams-Sonoma’s brand new Bridgerton selection.

Bar essentials to make the best Christmas mocktails

When it comes to serving the perfect Christmas mocktail, drinkware and other bar essentials should never be forgotten. Serve your fizzy Christmas mocktails in Williams-Sonoma’s Victoria Cut Champagne Flute Glasses or LSA International’s Dusk champagne flutes, both of which are available in sweet pink hues for a hint of Barbiecore glam. Up the ante on the glamorous vibes with Versace’s Medusa Lumière Haze Red Wine Goblets — which look every bit as beautiful when used to serve vibrant and fruity non alcoholic Christmas drinks. We also love Tiffany & Co.’s Tiffany Twist coupe glasses, which will easily imbue your table with quiet luxury.

Easy as they are to make on the spot, Christmas mocktails can also be made in advance, allowing you plenty of time to putter about with your other party preparations. Just as the best hotels offer refreshing drinks on arrival, so too can you, upon welcoming your friends and family to your casa. Greeted by drinks at the ready in jugs and carafes of choice, your guests will certainly appreciate your thoughtfulness, allowing your party to kick off to a festive, delicious start.

If you’re feeling a little showy, enthral your guests by making your Christmas mocktails to order. For this, you’ll need the ultimate show of expertise: bar essentials in the form of shakers, muddlers, and stirrers alike.

How to make a simple syrup

While it’s relatively easy to buy a simple syrup solution at the grocer’s, it’s always best when made at home for your Christmas mocktails, where you can impart all the different flavours you would like. The resultant syrup is great for all kinds of drinks — cocktails to non alcoholic Christmas drinks alike. Because a simple syrup is essentially sugar and water, it’s relatively low cost and will last you a good, long time if stored properly — up to a month in the refrigerator. As a rule, you should use equal parts water and sugar, with the 1:1 ratio ensuring your syrup is of the right consistency and sweetness.

Bring your sugar and water to a gentle boil over medium heat; do not stir, as this will cause the syrup to crystallise. After simmering for five minutes, allow it to cool completely, then store in a glass bottle, where it will be ready for use in all the best Christmas mocktails.

Recipes for the best non alcoholic drinks to enjoy this Christmas

Nigella Lawson’s Pussyfoot

Ingredients:
3 cups pink grapefruit juice
3 cups orange juice
2 Tbsp grenadine syrup
2 Tbsp lime juice

Method: Combine equal parts pink grapefruit and orange juice. Add a dash of grenadine syrup and lime juice to taste. Top with ice.

Watermelon Lime Mocktail

Ingredients:
1 cup watermelon, cubed
2 limes, sliced
4 Tbsp sugar
4 cups sparkling soda or water
Few sprigs of mint

To decorate the rim of the glass: Combine 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp lime zest, and 1/4 tsp salt. Lightly wet the rim of the glass, then dip it into the mixture. For an added kick, add 1/8 tsp chilli powder to this mix.

Method: Blend watermelon to a smoothie consistency. In individual glasses, combine sliced limes with sugar and mint. Muddle to release the flavours. Add ice, and then pour over blended watermelon juice. Top off each glass with sparkling soda or water.

Gordon Ramsay’s Starfruit Punch

Ingredients:
250 ml passion fruit juice
750 ml pineapple juice
750 ml lychee juice
Few sprigs of mint
1 sliced star fruit
1 thinly-sliced lime
500 ml soda water

Method: Combine all ingredients in a large jug and chill under ready to serve. Just before serving, top with ice cubes and 500 ml of fizzy soda water.

Jamie Oliver’s Cherry Iced Tea Mocktail

Ingredients:
2 oranges
2 English Breakfast tea bags
2 Tbsp caster sugar
500 g cherries, washed and pitted
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

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Method: In a heatproof jug, combine the zest of an orange, one tablespoon of the sugar, and the tea bags. Pour in 600 ml of boiling water and allow to steep for five minutes. Remove the teabags, then add in 500 ml room temperature water and allow to cool before refrigerating for at least an hour.

Prepare the cherry syrup: Cook the cherries down for ten minutes over medium heat with the juice of the peeled orange and the remaining sugar. Squish the fruit with a wooden spoon to create a syrupy texture. Strain and discard the pulp, reserving the syrup.

To prepare the mocktail, combine the chilled tea, cherry syrup, apple cider vinegar, and sweeten with a little honey or simple syrup if desired. Serve over ice, garnished with the remaining sliced orange.

Nigella Lawson’s Elderflower and Passionfruit Cooler

Ingredients:
Elderflower cordial
Soda water
3-4 passion fruit
Few sprigs of mint

Method: Combine one third elderflower cordial with two thirds soda water in a large pitcher. Add the pulp and seeds of the passionfruit, as well as the mint. Serve over ice.

Seedlip Cosmopolitan

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp Seedlip Grove 42
2 Tbsp cranberry juice
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp simple syrup
Orange peel for garnish

Method: Combine Seedlip Grove, cranberry juice, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill and combine, then strain into a coupe glass and garnish with orange peel.

Jamie Oliver’s English Garden Mocktail

Ingredients:
2 oranges, 1 juiced and 1 sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1/4 cucumber, sliced
A handful of strawberries, sliced
4 sprigs of mint, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
600 ml lemonade
300 ml sparkling water

Method: Combine the orange juice, all the sliced fruit, mint, and vinegars in a large jug. Top up with lemonade and sparkling water, and allow to infuse for five minutes. Serve over ice.

Strawberry lychee mocktail

Ingredients:
750 ml sparkling grape juice
2/3 cups ripe strawberries, diced
2/3 cups lychees, diced
Few sprigs mint leaves, torn

Method: Divide the diced fruit between your glasses with the mint and muddle to release some of the flavours. Top with ice and sparkling grape juice, and serve garnished with extra mint.

Apple and Cranberry Spritzer

Ingredients:
500 ml apple juice
500 ml cranberry juice
100 ml sprite
Few sprigs rosemary
Fresh cranberries

Method: Combine apple juice, cranberry juice, and sprite. Serve over ice, garnished with rosemary and cranberries.

Ina Garten’s Pomegranate Spritzer

Ingredients:
2 cups chilled sparkling water
2 Tbsp grenadine syrup
2 Tbsp lime juice
Fresh pomegranate seeds
Lime slices

Method: Combine sparkling water, pomegranate juice, and lime juice with ice. Stir for 30 seconds to chill the drink. Strain to remove the ice, then serve garnished with pomegranate seeds and lime slices.

(Main and featured image: Gaby Yerden/Unsplash)