Mocktails are having a moment. As more and more restaurants and bars focus on the booze-free craft of concocting house-made sodas, juices and effervescent infusions, there are now plenty of ways to pair flavorful and bubbly sips with your next night out. Skip the boozy sips in place of one of these hangover-free beverages, and learn how to mix your own with a recipe from Summer House Santa Monica.
Beer on tap, sure. But the new craze joining these brews is all about kombucha. This naturally bubbly fermented tea is popping up at healthy, fast casual eateries like Modern Market and Flower Child — no surprise since kombucha is packed with powerful health-benefits. High in antioxidants and a raw probiotic, this slightly sweet, slightly sour sip supports gut health, helps detoxify, and boosts energy levels, and comes infused with flavors like ginger, berries, and citrus for the perfect complement to your next plant-based meal.
While soda is usually the fizzy topper to your mixed drinks, Terrain Café is focusing on the bubbles with homemade spritzers derived from syrups, herbs and juices mixed to make anything-but-average sparkling flavors like Hazelnut, Lavender and Blueberry. Even better? You can play mixologist and pair their assortment of flavors for a completely unique alcohol-free cocktail –Lavender & Honey and Apple & Ginger pair particularly well and will make you forget there’s zero-proof involved.
One craft cocktail, hold the booze. Both Fogo de Chao and Summer House Santa Monica feature an entire section of zero-proof cocktails on their Pike & Rose menus, infusing fruits, herbs and sodas into an assortment of refreshing combos (which you can add alcohol to, if you really want). At Fogo, try the Brazilian classic Batida, a blend of sweetened condensed and coconut milks with fruit over ice, or a Caipirinha mocktail.
At Summer House, the aptly-named ‘MoCo Mommy’ – a mix of strawberry puree, fresh basil, lemon, honey and soda – is a sip of summer in a glass, and you can learn how to make your own below.
MOCO MOMMY ZERO-PROOF COCKTAIL RECIPE
Ingredients:
Equal parts of the following:
Strawberry purée
Honey syrup
Lemon juice
Directions:
Build over ice and shake with a basil leaf.
Strain mixture over ice in a rocks glass.
Top with lemonade and a splash of soda.
Garnish with a basil leaf.
