Last year, by request, we created a nine mocktail recipes and it has been so popular that we haven’t stopped creating mocktails. What we loved about this request was it was from people who loved the idea of a special bubbly cocktail to toast with on a special occasion, but just wanted it as a non-alcoholic drink. And we’ve always said, we want something for the whole family to enjoy, so here are some new alcohol-free drinks for you to enjoy.
And now you have nine new mocktail recipes to add to the mix.
How Mocktails Evolved
When I was a kid, the only virgin drinks were kiddie cocktails also known as a Shirley Temple. It was basically 7Up with a splash of cherry juice garnished with some cherries. And, of course, when you’re little, the maraschino cherries were the very best part.
With the variety of sparkling waters, sodas and juices on the market, it’s a lot of fun creating new and different mocktail recipes that can be used for any of your celebrations or just to create a fun drink on a random Tuesday night….since there’s always a reason to celebrate!
Bubbly Mocktails
Since we are Bubbly Side of Life and I truly do love all drinks we bubbles, every mocktail recipe has to contain some type of bubbly beverage.
If you’ve been around here awhile, you know that the nonalcoholic drink recipes were all created by my two teenage nephews. And honestly, we didn’t know what we were doing, so that made it even more fun. So if you’re looking for a fun activity to do for with your kids in preparation for a fun celebration take your kids shopping, stock up on some of these simple ingredients listed below and start creating.
When we prepare for a day of mocktail recipe testing, the first thing we do is take inventory of what we have and then go shopping. Now, of course, we don’t by all of these ingredients at one time (or even every time). But here’s a list of the main ingredients we’ve purchased over time to create both our bubbly alcoholic cocktails and non-alcoholic mocktails.
Bubbly Beverages: Sparkling water, club soda or soda water tonic water, ginger beer, sparkling fruit juices and a variety of soda like ginger ale, Sprite, etc.
Juices: Cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, fresh grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, apple cider or apple jucie, lemon juice, lime juice, limeade, etc. (Yes, we also use store-bought juices and they work just fine.)
Fresh Fruit: Lemon, lime, orange, apple, blood orange
Syrups: Simple syrup, grenadine, maple syrup, agave nectar
Herbs/Spices: Fresh rosemary sprig, fresh mint, cinnamon stick, fresh ginger
Candy/Desserts: Cotton Candy, ice cream or sherbet, popsicles, Twizzlers
Plenty of ice will also be needed for these creations, so if you have a refrigerator like my old one without an ice maker, make sure to grab a small bag while you’re out.
Our Favorite Places to Shop
- Trader Joe’s
- Whole Foods
- Woodmans (in IL or WI)
- Petes Fresh Market in IL
Mocktail Recipes
We created 9 new mocktail recipes but want to highlight a couple of our favorites that were specially created to combat these winter months and fight any germs or bugs going around.
Since cold and flu season is upon us and everyone we know is fighting some type of cold, we thought we better create an easy mocktail recipe that would help boost the immune system as well.
Elderberry Fizz
- 5 oz Sparkling Water (Lemon Flavor)
- 3-3.5 oz Lemon Elderflower Soda (Trader Joe’s)
- 1T Elderberry Syrup
- In your favorite glass (we used a stemless champagne flute just for fun), add soda and water.
- Stir.
- Add Elderberry syrup.
Liquid IV Mocktail Recipes
You know how much I love Liquid IV, so we decided to create some mocktail recipes using it. And here’s the best part, you can enjoy this bubbly mocktail while supporting your immune system and hydrating at the same time.
This mocktail recipe uses the new Tangerine flavor that is not only a hydration multiplier, but an immune booster as well.
Liquid Sunrise
You know how much I love Liquid IV, so we decided to create some mocktail recipes using it. And here’s the best part, you can enjoy this bubbly mocktail while supporting your immune system and hydrating at the same time.
This mocktail recipe uses the new Tangerine flavor that is not only a hydration multiplier, but an immune booster as well.
- 8 oz Liquid IV Tangerine
- 4 oz Fresh Orange Juice (if you have it, otherwise store bought juice works just fine)
- 4 oz Sparkling Cranberry Clementine Water
- 2 t Cherry Syrup or Grenadine
- Orange slices to garnish
- Prepare Liquid IV according to packet in a tall glass or cocktail shaker.
- In a separate glass, combine 8oz Liquid IV, fresh orange juice and sparkling water.
- Add grenadine.
- Garnish with orange slices.
The rest of the mocktail recipes are also a lot of fun. Two recipes include cotton candy which is one of our favorite ingredients in a mocktail just because of how fun it is to watch it dissolve. A few of them are perfect if you’re hosting a brunch soon and want to create a mocktail bar or a mocktail station.
Here are the rest of the mocktail recipes. If you’re looking for the easiest way to save these and refer back to them, join us over on Pinterest where you can create a bubbly recipe board and save them right there. Otherwise, make sure you bookmark this blog post.
Mocktails to Celebrate
Mocktails are the perfect drink to create when you’re celebrating with kids or with those who aren’t drinking for whatever reason.
Whether it’s a dry January, a birthday party, a baby shower, or the holiday season, mocktails are the perfect way to include everyone in enjoying a very special drink.
A great way to make them even more fun is to garnish, sugar rimmed glasses, or adding brew glitter to make your drink truly sparkle. But I have always said, you don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients or special supplies to create the best mocktail recipes. Sometimes fun glassware like copper mugs or champagne flutes is all you really need to elevate that mocktail recipe.
These fun ingredients you can buy over time and will last forever. We’ve been working on the same brew glitter containers for 4 years now. It doesn’t need to be complicated, it just needs to be fun.
Mocktails to Cocktails
You know one of our favorite things to do is to create a non-alcoholic drink and use that as a base to create a bubbly cocktail. This is super easy to do and ultimately creates less work for you if you’re entertaining.
Basically what you want to do is in a big pitcher or punch bowl, prepare the easy mocktail recipe for everyone to enjoy. Now, off to the side, you will put a variety of liquor and, of course, sparkling wine. Now your guests who would like to enjoy something alcoholic can pour a mocktail first, and then top it off with their favorite liquor and bubbly to create their very own new favorite cocktail.
I love doing this for so many reasons. First, no one wants to have to be tending bar all night long creating cocktails for everyone who wants one. And secondly, people can create their drinks as strong as they like, as sweet as the like and as bubbly as they like. This is a win for everyone and each person will have created their own bubbly original recipe. How fun is that?!
Want More?
Do you love our bubbly cocktail and mocktail recipes as much as we love creating them? We appreciate that you’re here reading this blog now and feel free to explore our other recipe creations. And if you’d like to see some behind the scenes of us making them, then you’ll want to join us at Bubbly Side of Life on Instagram.
And since we get asked time and again where we buy our glassware, pitchers, cocktail utensils, etc., we did create a LTK storefront so that you can easily access it whenever you need something. What I love best about LTK (if you don’t follow anyone else on there), is if you like a product, but don’t purchase it right away, you will be notified if and when it goes on sale. And if you’re anything like me, I have more things sitting my my cart just patiently waiting for them to go on sale.
And we’d love to hear more from you on what types of recipes and celebrations you want us to create for you. So whether you pop into our DMs on social media or send us an email, we love your ideas the most!
If you don’t follow us on Instagram, you may not know about my love for Liquid IV. I discovered it while traveling years ago for a bubbly tasting and just wanted to make sure I was properly hydrated since I knew how much bubbly we’d be tasting. I loved it because it has faster hydration than water alone. All of my girlfriends and I drank it daily during the trip and had amazing results and we’ve not stopped drinking it since.
You can buy Liquid IV at Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon and Costco. And if you want to see all the flavors and purchase directly from them, take advantage of my 20% discount and free shipping.
