Non-alcoholic drink recipes

I want to use this space to brainstorm your favourite non-alcoholic drink recipes … post a comment with your best ideas. Here’s mine, you’ve seen this before:

Fuck You Wolfie Lemonade Concentrate

In a saucepan, stir together 1.5 cups of granulated white sugar (300 g) and 1 cup water (230 g) [for fancier drinks, add a stick or two of fresh rosemary to this while boiling.]

Heat until the mixture boils and the sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Meanwhile, juice 8 medium-sized lemons until you get 1.5 cups (340 g) juice. Strain the juice to remove pits and pulp.

Once the sugar syrup has cooled a bit, add the lemon juice, stir, leave the rosemary in, and then put in a container. You can freeze this (for 3-6 months) or store in the fridge for a week.

You now have about 3 cups concentrate.

When you’re ready for drinks, you add 50% concentrate with another liquid – regular water, carbonated soda water, bitter tonic water, or ginger ale.  I also put in a splash of cranberry juice.

It is dynamite, let me tell you.  I’ve served it for catering events and drinkers often like it better than the wine being served!

Belle

I want to put this online, to hold myself accountable. I want to document the noise in my head. I'm tired of thinking about drinking. date of last drink: june 30, 2012

  • When you’re out in a bar/restaurant, what’s your favorite drink to order? I usually order a cranberry/tonic. What’s on your favorite list, gotta get ready for New Years!

  • Here are a few of my favs:
    ~Squeeze one meyer lemon into a glass (the whole thing) and top off with sparkling water. Soooo refreshing, and sweeter than regular lemons.

    ~IKEA sells Elderflower and Ligonberry Syrups – I mix with sparkling water over ice to make a fancy soda. Yum.

    ~Juice of one pink grapefruit, two dashes of bitters, a slug of Lingonberry syrup and topped off with sparkling water. Served over ice.

    ~I also have been trying different kinds of Kombucha. I know some have trace amounts of alcohol (less than .5%), but there are others that do not. Recently enjoyed a ginger-pear one that tasted reminiscent of hard cider, and another with lavender that was delish.

    ~Look for Fentimans sodas. They are very interesting. LOVE the Rose Lemonade, which I might try to make myself with rose water and fresh lemon. http://www.drinkfentimans.com/#!rose-lemonade/c23br

  • A little late to the game but here goes…

    Hot Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

    to make about four servings you’ll need

    ~1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
    ~quart of milk
    use whatever you prefer here but if you’re going to have chocolate and peanut
    go for the gusto… whole milk

    what you need to do with it all

    heat the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat (not on WOW) until everything is a melted, gooey, chocolatey-peanut buttery mess then add the milk.
    continue to heat over medium heat until it’s hot
    serve it up and dunk some giant marshmallows in there for a smores like feel and kick back, indulge and know that life is good

  • Excellent idea Belle! I love the tart/citrus flavours of a lot of these mocktail recipes. Can’t wait to try! When I first got sober I thought I would crave sugar but I started to crave citrus which was probably better to realkanilize my body after all the acidic sugary alcohol I had been consuming. (hippy alert!) High quality vitamin B12 supplements, Folic Acid, emergen-c, intense cardio, hot yoga and Kombucha also helped in my early sober days. So weird what works for each individual. Happy Holidays!

  • I have been making non-sugary drinks, like chilled teas, which seem to do me better–I can drink more of it and not feel too full, and I don’t consume the calories of sugar or have the sugar crash. For something tart but really thirst-quenching, try sorrel (hibiscus) tea, minus the sugary ingredients:
    about a 1/3 ratio of shredded ginger to sorrel (sold as dried leaves, also called hibiscus) – I use about 1.5 cups sorrel leaves
    a handful of cloves
    a couple cinnamon sticks

    Throw it all into boiling water (about, 8-12 cups water) and let sit overnight. Straing and serve over ice. Delish!

  • My Mum used to make a lemonade concentrate just like that Belle and it was delicious – for some reason its only a summer drink to me and doesn’t sound good in the frozen Chicago wasteland! I love the half cranberry, half club soda and a squeeze of lime – not sweet but oh so delicious. I also do a lot of Perrier with grapefruit and endless cups of good old English Breakfast tea when Im home.

  • Oh! And ‘shrubs,’ or drinking vinegars, are having a moment in my part of the world. You can make your own, but I’ve found delicious ones in flavors from honey to tamarind to pomegranate at Whole Foods. One part vinegar to 4 parts water–delicious, unusual, and a perfect mix of tangy and just a tad sweet.

    Kristi

  • I found this one in the NY Times–basically a juniper syrup that is good with tonic (as written here) but also with plain old club soda:

    1 cup superfine sugar (I could only find regular sugar and it worked just fine)
    2 ounces juniper berries, crushed lightly in a coffee grinder
    4 ounces fresh lime juice
    8 ounces tonic water
    Thinly sliced lime rounds, for garnish.
    1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup water and juniper berries. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Let stand uncovered, 4 hours. Strain.

    2. In a cocktail shaker, combine lime juice and juniper syrup. Pour into ice-filled highball glasses. Top with tonic water. Serve, garnished with lime slices.

    Yield: 4 cocktails.

  • I really like about 1/3 dr. braggs organic apple cider vinegar & 2/3’s pure grape juice. serve over ice in beautiful wine glass. Very yummy.
    Belle suggested not drinking it in the wine glass because of the temptation .

    • I love the idea of this recipe and I will have to try because Dr. Bragg’s is so good for you!

      Imagine waking up the night after an Xmas party and actually feeling better then normal. Isn’t that the complete opposite of a hangover! I wonder if I can work a green juice into an appetizing mocktail.

  • Half a glass seltzer water with some orange juice, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice, with a squeeze of a line wedge. I am drinking them out of fun and fancy glasses. My husband had one with me last night! Really tasty! FYI, the trader joes pineapple juice is really quite amazing and so much better than others I’ve tried.

  • Simple syrup, equal parts fresh lime/lemon juice, club soda, sprig of rosemary and thin slice of cucumber to garnish. Make by the glass or pitcher. Can use agave instead of simple syrup. The taste of this mocktail exceeds the sum of its parts.

    • I love each of those ingredients so I can’t wait to try this out. I recently started making my own simple syrup. I didn’t realize how…simple lol it was to do.

  • I think after Christmas I will put together a pdf of all the drinks and share it. Too bad I don’t have Trader Joes…..I live in the boonies. Maybe we can reinvent those recipies and make something similar from scratch. Can you tell I am trying to keep myself busy????? Keep those wolfie poison ideas coming!

  • @ Josh, Trade Joes does have some nice sparkling water/juice selection. I was there before Thanksgiving. I bought a nice sparkling pink lemonade. I need to go back. Plus TJ’s is cheaper than Whole Foods.

  • I think I am going to stick with the tried and true Cranberry & Tonic. You introduced the drink to me through your blog and I am IN LOVE, although I did decide to spice it up just a pinch and switch from cranberry to cran-strawberry. I know, I know-I am a wild one. I can’t help but chug them every time I make one. And, it’s RED, which is festive so it’s pretty much a win win.

  • For a Christmas nibbles and mulled wine party recently I equipped myself with some cloudy apple juice. I guess it’s a bit like apple cider in the USA. I just heated it with spices (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves) and it was delicious. Wintry and warming, even the wine drinkers were getting involved…

    • This sounds great. I am looking for something hot to settle a cough that I have going with a bit of bronchitis and walking pneumonia. I was thinking today how good mulled warm red wine would taste, and then quickly made a cup of hot tea, instead. But your suggestion, Nancy, sounds very good! Thanks!
      Joan B.

  • @Ketiebelle – Regarding warm drinks, I have been on a mulled cider kick recently, drinking lots of it in the evening. I also like to make n/a hot toddies in the evening (dark tea, lemon juice, honey as the base, and then you can add cloves/cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc to taste).

    Otherwise, although they are not recipes per se, I have been keeping lots of sparkling juice on hand. If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, they stock a sparkling pomegranate juice which is lovely. I also really like ginger beer. Anything tart is really good in my book. When in doubt, I use 3 parts sparkling water with 1 part juice, and have a refreshing spritzer. I love all these ideas, though! keep ’em coming!

  • cold drink – cranberry and raspberry juice drink mixed with tonic water. I find plain cranberry too sour and cran/rasp takes the edge off. Sainsburys and M&S sell it here in UK.

    hot drink – Pukka herbal tea ‘Vanilla Chai’ – with vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, licorice and fennel. Wish you could smell it. Hell, I wish this tea was a house I could move into and live there forever!

    • Going to try that cold drink. Just been in Sainsburys and saw the Vanilla Chai. Must get some next time I go in (tomorrow probably).

  • Sober

    Your fuck you wolfie bracelet must give you the powers of ESP. I was drinking yet another cup of tea last night when I decided that I need some additional special drinks to add to my arsenal! Hopefully u will garner lots of ideas!

    Sent from my iPhone

    • my spidey sense was tingling … well, and trish emailed me and prompted me to ask everyone for genius ideas. so maybe Trish is my spidey sense …

  • Can’t take the credit for this. It is from Nigella Lawson’s Christmas Book. But this is top of my list to try:

    Mistletoe

    For 1 drink:
    1 oz chilled lime cordial
    3 oz chilled ginger beer
    1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

    For a pitcher:
    1 cup chilled lime cordial
    1 cup chilled ginger beer
    1 oz fresh lime juice

    To make 1 mocktail pour the lime cordial & ginger beer into a glass (over ice if required), spritz with fresh lime & stir gently.

    For the pitcher, chill a pitcher, fill it with ice and do as above (makes 10 cocktails)

  • I hosted an event last Friday and made NA Punch I found on Pinterest. I never made NA punch before lol. will post pic too it looked so nice.

    Equal Parts of:
    Lemonade
    Cranberry Juice
    Ginger Ale

    Place in clear container. Add sliced lemons and whole cranberries. Serve Ice on side. I used diet GA and light cranberry to make it less in calories.

    • I’ve made this before too, and put in frozen strawberries just to garnish the top (they float nicely). In fact, I think this was my mom’s recipe for Christmas punch… imagine making it with homemade rosemary lemonade!

      • That’s a good idea Belle, plus helps keep cool. I think I will make again on Xmas. It looks so pretty too! Great post today!