21 Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Recipes As Sophisticated As The Real Thing

These non alcoholic drinks are just as good as their boozy counterparts.

Thanks to the millennial-driven wellness trend, more and more people are taking stock of their lifestyle and limiting (or avoiding) alcohol as a result. But luckily for those folks, now a days that doesn’t mean you’re obligated to stay at home.

Bars and restaurants across the country have begun to accommodate the needs of every kind of ‘drinker’ with thoughtfully designed non-alcoholic drink menus and in many instances, these virgin drinks are just as good and interesting as their boozy counterparts.

Delivering that sort of quality and complexity without any alcohol to hide behind requires the right ingredients. Flavorful components like fruit shrubs, kombucha, tonic, and syrups are usually part of the equation. In some cases, so are alcohol-free distilled spirits.

Bartenders concerned with providing sober guests the same taste experience as cocktail drinkers have been known to reach for bottles of Seedlip–a line of liquor alternatives made by first macerating herbs, vegetables, and other botanicals in neutral spirits and then boiling off all of the alcohol to produce a “soft” distillation. The results of that six-week process is something similar to gin, minus the alcohol.

Seedlip is made in the UK and only recently has it become widely available in the United States. Now, you can have it at home for those nights (and days) when you want to enjoy a sophisticated drink without any of the buzz. Below are a few recipes (courtesy of Seedlip) to get you started.

The Beatrix Potter

Yield: 1 cocktail

The Beatrix Potter / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
1 oz Sugar snap shrub (see directions)
Club soda (to taste)
Carrot ribbon (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Instructions

Add Seedlip Garden and sugar snap shrub to a highball glass over ice. Top with club soda to fill then give everything a light, quick stir. Garnish with a carrot ribbon.

To make sugar snap shrub: Finely slice 1 cup of fresh sugar snap peas. Add all the bits and pieces to a large jar or container along with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of white sugar. Muddle everything together and let them sit for 8 hours or overnight. When the proper time has lapsed, filter out the solids using a fine mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth. Store unused shrub in the refrigerator.

Ginger & Spice Ale

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ginger & Spice Ale / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

Glassware

Rocks

Tools

Instructions

Add Seedlip Spice and ginger ale to a rocks glass filled with ice. Give everything a light quick stir then garnish with an orange wheel.

Garden Sour

Yield: 1 cocktail

Garden Sour / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
1 ½ oz Fresh, cloudy apple juice or good quality cider
1 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
1 Egg white
Sprig each of fresh rosemary and thyme
Ice

Glassware

Coupe

Tools

Instructions

Add all ingredients, including fresh herbs, to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake to chill and dilute until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with fresh rosemary needles.

Pennsylvania Dutch

Yield: 1 cocktail

Pennsylvania Dutch / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Spice 94
1 oz Raspberry shrub (see directions)
Lemon twist (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Coupe

Tools

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake to chill and dilute until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

To make raspberry shrub: Add 1 quart of fresh raspberries, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of white sugar to a jar or other large container. Muddle everything together and then let the ingredients sit for 8 hours or overnight. After the appropriate time has lapsed, filter out the solids using a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store unused shrub in the refrigerator.

PeaTini

Yield: 1 cocktail

PeaTini / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
1 oz Pea shrub (see directions)
1 tsp Agave syrup
Fresh peas (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Coupe

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake to chill and dilute until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a single, twee fresh pea.

To make the pea shrub: Combine 1 cup of peas, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of white sugar in a large mason jar or other container. Muddle the peas to mush them and leave everything to sit and infuse for 8 hours or overnight. When the proper time has lapsed, filter out the solids using a fine mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth. Store unused shrub in the refrigerator.

Seedlip Swithel

Yield: 1 cocktail

Seedlip Swithel / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Spice 94
½ oz Pineapple shrub (or see directions)
½ oz Ginger shrub (or see directions)
Club soda (to taste)
Grapefruit wedge (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Instructions

Add Seedlip Spice, shrub, and soda to a highball glass filled with ice. Give everything a light quick stir then garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

To make pineapple & ginger shrub: Add chopped fruit from a small pineapple to a large Mason jar or other container along with 1 ounce of ginger juice or 1 inch nub of finely sliced fresh ginger, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 1/2 cup molasses. Muddle everything together and leave the ingredients to sit and infuse for 8 hours or overnight. When the proper time has lapsed, filter out the solids using a fine mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth. Store unused shrub in the refrigerator.

Mint Cooler

Yield: 1 cocktail

Mint Cooler / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
1 oz Watermelon juice
½ oz Fresh lime juice
½ oz Mint cordial
5 Mint leaves
Fever Tree Soda Water (to taste)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Instructions

Lightly muddle mint leaves in shaker. Add all ingredients to the shaker, shake and train over ice.

Grove & Ginger Ale

Yield: 1 cocktail

Garden Sour / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Grove
Ginger Ale (to taste)
Lemon slice (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lemon slice

PaNOma

Yield: 1 cocktail

PaNOma / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Spice 94
1 oz Fresh grapefruit juice
½ oz Fresh lime juice
½ oz Simple syrup
Fever Tree Soda Water (to taste)
Grapefruit peel (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Instructions

Combine all ingredients (except soda) in shaker. Shake. Strain over ice in Highball. Top with soda water. Stir.

Spice & Ginger Ale

Yield: 1 cocktail

Spice & Ginger Ale / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Spice 94
Ginger Ale (to taste)
Lime wedge (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Garden Party

Yield: 1 cocktail

Garden Sour / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
½ oz Seedlip Grove 42
½ oz Agave syrup
¾ oz Fresh lime juice
2 drops Saline
Lemon wheel (for garnish)
Mint leaf (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Rocks

Tools

Instructions

Shake all ingredients and strain over ice into a rocks glass.

Garden & Ginger Ale

Yield: 1 cocktail

Garden & Ginger Ale / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Garden 108
Ginger Ale (to taste)
Fresh rosemary sprig (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Highball

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprig.

Rhubarb Spritz

Yield: 1 cocktail

Rhubarb Spritz / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Grove 42
½ oz Rhubarb Cordial (see directions)
Fever Tree Aromatic Tonic (to taste)
Rhubarb ribbon (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Wine Glass

Tools

Instructions

Fill glass with ice. Add all ingredients to glass. Top with tonic. Stir.

To make rhubarb cordial: Combine 3 chopped sticks of fresh rhubarb, 8 oz hot water & 1 cup Caster Sugar. Leave to infuse for 2 hours. Filter & refrigerate.

Picnic Smash

Yield: 1 cocktail

Picnic Smash / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Spice 94
¾ oz Fresh grapefruit juice
3 tsp Strawberry jam
Fresh basil
Ice

Glassware

Mason Jar

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Add 2 leaves of basil and shake in jar with lid on. Add ice and garnish with fresh basil leaf.

Lemon Grove

Yield: 1 cocktail

Lemon Grove / Courtesy of Seedlip

Ingredients

2 oz Seedlip Grove 42
½ oz Lemongrass cordial (see directions)
2 tsp Raw apple vinegar
Soda water (to taste)
Fresh lemongrass fan (for garnish)
Ice

Glassware

Wine Glass

Tools

Jigger

Instructions

Fill glass with ice. Add all ingredients to glass. Top with tonic and garnish with lemongrass fan.

To make lemongrass cordial: Combine 3 chopped ticks of fresh Lemongrass, 1 cup hot water & ½ cup Caster Sugar. Leave to infuse for 2 hours. Filter and refrigerate.