Easy mocktail recipes and delicious non-alcoholic drinks to wet your whistle this Valentine’s Day.
The go-to when it comes to Valentine’s Day dates often looks like dinner and drinks. But what to do if you or your boo don’t drink?
Never fear, celebrating this romantic day sober with your SO doesn’t mean you have to miss out on enjoying a good drink! And we’re not just talking about Coca-Cola on ice – as much as we love that guilty pleasure every now and then. Instead, here are 6 deliciously complex mocktails and drinks that’ll bring flavour to your lips and a smile to your cheeks.
Keep scrolling for all you need to spice up your sober Valentine’s Day.
Blushing Bellini
Ingredients - Serves 1
- 45 ml peach purée
- Lyre’s Classico Grande
- Monin Peach syrup (optional)
Method
- Peel several ripe white peaches, remove the stones and blend until smooth (skip if using pre-made peach purée
- Add peach purée to a narrow tall glass or champagne flute
- Fill part way to the top with Classico Grande and stir mixture together
- Add a dash of peach syrup to taste (optional)
- Top up with Classico Grande
Sweet, suave and sparkling - this variation on the classic Italian cocktail is the perfect accompaniment to your hot date this coming Valentine’s Day. Best of all, with plenty of high-quality, alcohol-free sparkling wines out there, going sober for this drink doesn’t have to mean compromising on flavour.
While just about any non-alcoholic sparkling wine will work for this recipe, we think the Classico Grande by Lyre’s hits the spot. It’s made in the style of prosecco and brings a gentle acidity that is a great counter to the sweetness of the peach.
If you’re making this drink with fresh peach purée, or you’re just partial to a sweet drink, you can also add a dash of peach syrup to up the flavour.
Pink Panther Mocktail
Ingredients - Serves 2
- 240 ml fresh pineapple juice
- 240 ml canned coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 30 ml pomegranate molasses
- 1 cup cubed or crushed ice
- Mint sprig with leaves
Method
- Add all liquid ingredients and ice into blender and blend until smooth
- Build drink in tall glasses, occasionally adding a dash of extra pomegranate molasses for texture and colour
- Garnish with mint sprig
Everything looks pretty in pink! This deliciously sweet blended mocktail is fresh, fruity and a little bit flirty. With a soft pink tone and lashings of rich red throughout, this mocktail ticks all the right boxes as far as looks go.
It certainly delivers in the flavour department as well, with a fresh sweetness, zippy tartness and an earthy, nutty depth all on a rich, creamy coconut foundation. This is one mocktail you’d definitely find in Cupid’s cup!
Booze Free G&T
Ingredients - Serves 1
- 50 ml Seedlip Spice 94
- Light tonic
- Cubed ice
- Grapefruit peel
Method
- Place ice in a highball glass
- Add Seedlip Spice 94 non-alcoholic spirit to glass
- Top up with light tonic water
- Garnish with a twisted grapefruit peel
Who doesn’t love a refreshing G&T on a hot summer day? Thankfully, you can enjoy all the refreshment and flavour of this iconic quaff without any of the booze. With the sober-curious and mindful drinking movements in full swing, there’s no shortage of non-alcoholic spirits on the market today.
Seedlip 94 is a great choice as the base for this bitter and fresh bev, with its artful blend of rich spices, including cardamom and allspice, balanced beautifully with citrus overtones. We love to go for a lighter style of tonic to let the complexity of the spirits shine through. Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water is a delicious and affordable option that fits the bill perfectly.
NON Blush Set
When it comes to wine alternatives, there are few drops as complex and tasty as the NON range. Brewed from scratch, these booze-free bottles are guaranteed to intrigue, with a depth of flavour to match any fine wine.
Not only do the pretty pair in the NON Blush Set look absolutely gorgeous, they’re also completely smashable - so they’re the third wheel you actually want to tag along on Valentine’s Day.
NON 1 – the brighter half of this set – is a floral, fruity delight. It has a subtle and sweet fragrance that lands the moment you pour the first chilled glass, thanks to its delicate, pét-nat style bubbles. On the palate, it’s the raspberry that shines the brightest, with its bright sweetness nicely balanced by the earthy chamomile. A dash of racy salinity from the Murray River salt gives this beverage a gorgeously rounded feel and brings all the flavours together for a warm, more-ish finish.
Once you’re through this blushing pink aperitif, you’ll want to crack NON 5 to accompany your romantic dinner. This darker drop is significantly more full-bodied and intense, and pairs gorgeously with heavier dishes. It strikes a delicious sweet-tart balance, with multiple layers of bright, lemony flavours in the mix, including lemongrass, lemon myrtle, lemon verbena and preserved lemon. That citrus spectacular is brought down to earth with a subtle undercurrent of hops and licorice, making this drop a brilliant finisher to your evening.
Yuzu Highball
Ingredients - Serves 1
- Soda water
- 20 ml Elderflower cordial
- StrangeLove Yuzu soda
- Kaffir lime leaves
- Cubed ice
Method
- Place cube ice and elderflower cordial in a tall glass
- Fill halfway with soda water and mix
- Smack and tear several kaffir lime leaves and add to mix
- Top up with StrangeLove Yuzu soda
- Garnish with kaffir lime leaves
We love a complex flavour profile in drinks. But what’s even more lovable is a cocktail that comes together in a refreshingly uncomplex way. This tall and totally thirst-quenching mocktail comes together in a flash. With few ingredients, but a surprising depth of flavour that’ll have you reaching for another glass… and another.
The first thing you’ll notice when you sip this tall quencher is the striking, bitter-green fragrance of the kaffir lime leaves. This pairs beautifully with the elderflower cordial with its herbaceous richness and subtle bitter undertone. From here, the sweet jube-like yuzu soda cuts through with its intriguing mix of mandarin and grapefruit, leaving a gentle, citrus finish on the palate.
Heaps Normal Quiet XPA
There’s no need to get stuck on pretences here… we all know that sometimes, nothing hits the spot better than an ice-cold beer. This non-alcoholic beer by Heaps Normal carries the full-flavoured, fruity feel of a pale ale, with crisp citrus notes and a lovely long finish. It’s also brewed from scratch unlike a bunch of big-brand non-alcoholic beers. That means you won’t miss out on the richness or mouthfeel of a beer just because you’re staying sober.
Crack a couple of these bad boys on the beach while the sun sets this Valentine’s Day and you’re guaranteed a good time.
(Psst . . . want to level-up your mocktail game? Check out this fig simple syrup.)
