Mocktails

Sober-curious millennials are drinking less than ever before, a focus on healthier living and social movements such as Dry January are encouraging people to, on occasion, ditch the booze and revel in a hangover free lifestyle.

Bar experts Arribar!, the cool guys behind the popular Rock the Kasbah and Chameleon bar at Glastonbury Festival, have created a selection of delicious non-alcoholic cocktails for their clients that offer an exciting alternative for those who choose not to drink for whatever reason.

Here, Dan Gardner, Bar Manager at Arribar! shares his favourite virgin tipples:

Wake Me Up martini

The classic Espresso Martini is a sumptuous blend of vodka, coffee liqueur but is equally as delicious sans alcohol. Rumoured to have been invented in the 1980’s when a young model requested a drink to “wake me up and f**k me up”, this ‘virgin’ twist still packs a punch in the flavour department with the delicious addition of almond and cardamom whilst the caffeine kick ensures you can keep up with the party.

Ingredients:

50ml of freshly extracted coffee

15ml Orgeat syrup

15ml heavy cream

A pinch of ground cardamom

Ice for shaking

Method:

  1. Fill a martini glass with ice to chill
  2. Add all ingredients to a cocktail tin, fill with cubed ice and shake vigorously
  3. Discard the ice in the martini glass
  4. Fine strain the espresso mix into the martini glass
  5. Garnish the cocktail with three coffee beans and a pinch

Bohemian Raspberry

A drink that’s bright, light and bursting with fresh berry flavours, perfect for summer. The muddled raspberries and thyme are shaken with lime juice, and simple syrup, which is later strained through a fine-mesh colander so that just the sweet, nectary juices come through without any of seeds.

Ingredients:

4 raspberries

1 sprig of thyme

1 dash orange bitters

15ml lime juice

15ml agave nectar

Method:

  1. Add raspberries and thyme to a cocktail tin and muddle until a jam like
  2. Add lime juice, agave nectar and orange bitters
  3. Add ice and shake vigorously
  4. Fine strain the cocktail mix into a short glass filled with ice and top with sparkling water of soda
  5. Garnish with orange peel and edible flowers if you’re feeling fancy

Coco Loco Margarita

Simple and delicious, this drink is perfect for those that wish to abstain from booze but still want the complexity and depth of flavour that comes with an alcoholic cocktail. Slightly tropical in flavour and reminiscent of a classic margarita, this slightly savoury concoction is sure to impress.

Ingredients:

50ml coconut water

25ml pineapple juice

15ml simple syrup

Juice of half a lime

1 slices of fresh chilli

1 cup of ice

Black Himalayan salt to garnish

Mint sprig to garnish

  1. Rub a lime wedge along the rim of a martini glass and then dip the edge of the glass into salt
  2. Add all ingredients to a blender
  3. Add margarita mix to the glass
  4. Garnish with lime and mint