Summer mocktails come in many forms and flavors. Whether you want your summer mocktail blended, over ice, or in a big batch for a party, we’ve found recipes to match.
Make your next summer party inclusive for everyone by adding mocktails to the menu and impress your guests with beverages that look almost too good to drink!
Key Takeaways
- Summer mocktails are a great way to make your summer parties inclusive for people who are underage or avoiding alcohol.
- We always have mocktails available at a cocktail party, so no guests feel left out! You never know who might not be drinking or why, and they shouldn’t have to explain to have a good time.
- The key to making good mocktails is to find ways to imitate the flavors and qualities alcohol usually brings to the cocktail. For instance, using orange juice instead of orange liquor or club soda instead of sparkling wine.
- Adding garnishes and serving mocktails in cocktail glasses makes them feel more authentic.
Summer Mocktails Over Ice
Virgin Mojito
A virgin mojito is one of the easiest summer mocktails to prepare, and the variations are endless. For the classic mojito, mint leaves are muddled with a lime wedge in the bottom of a glass. Add granulated sugar or simple syrup to sweeten, ice, and fill the rest of the glass with club soda.
When we want to change it up, we like to add fresh blackberries or raspberries with mint before muddling.
Strawberry Kiwi Spritzer
Summer drinks that use fresh, in-season fruits are the best drinks! Sure, a fruity drink can be made with artificial juices and flavoring, but why not use fresh ingredients first? This is one of our favorite mocktails when we’re trying to keep a low calorie and sugar intake. It’s just 60 calories per serving with 8 grams of sugar.
Start by adding chopped kiwi and strawberry pieces to a tall glass. Muddle them together, then top them with ice. Pour in soda water, then add strawberry kiwi water drops. There are a ton of brands with strawberry kiwi water drops, so take your pick! Add a few drops, taste, then add more as needed. Stir in chopped kiwi and strawberry.
Moscow Mule
A Moscow mule is a cocktail with a wow factor, thanks to the copper mug it’s served in. This mocktail recipe is almost identical to the original cocktail recipe, minus the booze, of course.
You can make the recipe using ginger ale or non-alcoholic ginger beer. If you opt for ginger ale, adding a little fresh ginger will enhance the flavor of your mocktail.
Add crushed ice to a copper mug, followed by ginger beer, lime juice, and club soda. We like to keep things traditional with a garnish of fresh mint and a lime wedge, but it’s not required.
Tea-Tini Mocktail
by Food Network
Dust off your favorite martini glasses, grab a cocktail shaker, and get excited to taste this iced tea-inspired, virgin martini. If you like the process of making a hand-crafted cocktail, this recipe will scratch that itch perfectly.
Start by adding crushed ice to a cocktail shaker. Unsweetened tea and lemon simple syrup are poured in, then shaken until chilled. Strain into your martini glasses, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy your iced tea-tini with no worry of a hangover the next day! Technically this isn’t served over ice, but it’s close enough, right?
Frozen Summer Mocktails
Pina Colada
The pina colada is a no-brainer when we want a cocktail that tastes how sitting on a tropical beach feels. Strong, tropical flavors are sweet, creamy, and, thankfully, quite easy to make without alcohol.
Pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and a little vanilla extract are blended with ice cubes until smooth. Don’t confuse the cream of coconut with coconut milk! Coconut milk has a much lower fat content, so the drink won’t be as creamy.
We like to garnish with a fresh pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry to make the mocktail look just like the cocktail you’d be served in a bar.
Strawberry Daiquiri
We can’t talk about summer cocktails without mentioning the strawberry daiquiri. It’s a blended, refreshing treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth. This mocktail recipe has all the flavor of a daiquiri with none of the liquor!
Frozen and fresh strawberries, lime juice, and sweetener are blended until smooth. Add a few drops of bitters to mimic the flavor of alcohol, or leave it as-is for a sweeter mocktail. This is one of our go-to mocktail recipes for a family party because adults and children love it equally.
Margarita
A classic blended margarita is the perfect summer drink when you want something that’s not too sweet. This non-alcoholic drink recipe mimics the flavors of the classic cocktail without the need for tequila, and that’s a real challenge!
The recipe starts with three types of fresh juice. Lime, orange, and grapefruit juice are blended with lime sparkling water and the sweetener of your choice. We prefer Agave to pull some of those familiar tequila notes. Rim each glass with lime juice and salt before garnishing with a lime wedge, and start sipping.
Virgin Mango Margarita
by Food Network
Finding mocktail recipes that taste as good or better than the cocktail that inspired them is no easy task. This virgin mango margarita knocks it out of the park, though! The recipe calls for jarred mango chunks and ice cubes, but we got great results by using frozen mango chunks and minimal ice.
Lemon lime soda and sugar are added to a blender with the mango chunks of your choice and ice, then blended until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a splash of mango juice until it reaches the perfect margarita consistency.
Virgin Pitcher Drinks for Summer
Peach Bellini Mocktail
A peach bellini is always the answer if you want a refreshing beverage to beat the summer heat and highlight one of the most delicious summer fruits. In fact, we love peach bellinis so much that we want a way to indulge even when we don’t want to consume alcohol. That’s where this peach bellini mocktail recipe saves the day!
Fresh peaches, peach juice, and sparkling apple juice or cider do a fantastic job of capturing that iconic peach bellini flavor and mouthfeel. Learn from our mistakes; don’t overmix the mocktail, or you’ll lose some of the sparkling bubbles. Let’s be honest; the bubbles are half the fun!
Non-Alcoholic Sangria
The ultimate refreshing summer drink that’s traditionally served in a pitcher is sangria. Typically made with Spanish red wine, sangria is garnished with a variety of fresh fruit to make a big-batch cocktail and centerpiece in one. If you’ve never heard of a non-alcoholic sangria, don’t worry; neither have we!
This recipe has us wishing we knew about it sooner, though. Red grape juice, sparkling water, and orange or cranberry juice make a fruity mocktail that can be garnished with any fresh summer fruits you have in the fridge.
Strawberry Lemonade Mocktail with Basil
In the world of refreshing summer drinks, it doesn’t get much better than a glass of strawberry lemonade. It’s a crowd-pleasing cocktail that can easily be made in a big batch for a party. We enjoy this recipe because it feels (and looks!) like a cocktail, not just strawberry lemonade.
It begins with sliced strawberries blended with sugar and strained to make fresh strawberry juice. Lemon juice, fresh basil leaves, and sparkling water are added to make a bubbly strawberry lemonade that looks like summer in a cup! If you want to release more flavor from the basil leaves, muddle them with a little bit of simple sugar before adding them to the pitcher.
Watermelon Lime Mocktail
You’re missing out if you haven’t tried mixing watermelon and lime flavors! This health-conscious recipe is just 123 calories per serving and uses good-for-you ingredients. Making fresh watermelon juice is the first step, but don’t worry; it’s easy!
Blend fresh watermelon chunks until smooth, then run the mixture through a sieve into the desired pitcher. Agave or honey, fresh lime juice, and water are added to the pitcher. Give it a good stir, let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour, and serve.
We like to add another level of flavor by muddling some fresh mint leaves in the bottom of the pitcher before the other ingredients are added. Save some extra mint leaves for an effortless garnish.
Non-Alcoholic Mimosa
Mimosas are the perfect addition to brunch, a cocktail party, a baby shower, and just about every other occasion! The refreshing drink tastes even better on a hot summer day too. We always have the ingredients on hand to make a pitcher of non-alcoholic mimosas, and they never disappoint!
The mocktail is made of two parts ginger ale and one part orange juice. You can combine the ingredients in a pitcher before serving or let guests pour their own. We try to use high-quality, organic ginger ale to get the best flavor, but any ginger ale will do the trick.
FAQ
Does ginger beer have alcohol in it?
Some ginger beer has alcohol (think along the lines of a hard soda), but most are alcohol-free versions. Reed’s Ginger beer is our favorite non-alcoholic brand.
What non-alcoholic alternative can be used in place of sparkling wine?
Sparkling wine can be substituted with almost anything that has bubbles. Soda water, sparkling apple cider, flavored sparkling water, and ginger ale are popular alternatives.
Can you make a margarita without tequila?
The best way to make a margarita without tequila is to bring in as many of the traditional margarita flavors as possible.
Lime, orange (orange liqueur), and Agave (tequila) are the primary flavors in a margarita. Orange juice can be used instead of orange liqueur, and agave sweetener shares some flavor profiles with agave tequila.
Summer Mocktails
- Virgin Mojito
- Strawberry Kiwi Spritzer
- Moscow Mule
- Tea-Tini Mocktail
- Pina Colada
- Strawberry Daiquiri
- Margarita
- Virgin Mango Margarita
- Peach Bellini Mocktail
- Non-Alcoholic Sangria
- Strawberry Lemonade Mocktail with Basil
- Watermelon Lime Mocktail
- Non-Alcoholic Mimosa