Even with Dry January coming to an end, there is still a lot of fun to be had with alternative drinks for a night or day out. In fact, there is a bar specifically centered around serving mocktails located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan called Hekate Café and Elixir Lounge. This sober bar offers a variety of creative mocktails, non-alcoholic beers and wines, as well as engaging events, including tarot card readers, bingo nights, performances and more. The atmosphere of Hekate resembles a cozy cafe with a touch of mystical energy and magical charm surrounding it. If you’re looking for a fresh and unique place in the city to visit with friends or to find fun events accompanied by a delicious and thoughtfully-crafted beverage, this is the place for you. 

There are many places that serve mocktails in New York City, but even if the restaurant you are going to does not have any menu options for mocktails, you can ask if they have the ingredients to make the drinks below. These drinks could also be perfect for a relaxing movie night with friends, a cozy gathering at home or simply to try something new. Here are a few of my and my friend’s favorite mocktails to try out, experiment with and enjoy!

One of my favorite mocktails is a strawberry-lime rickey. This drink was a staple for me at the restaurant I worked at in high school, and I still enjoy making it in college. A strawberry lime rickey is similar to a virgin strawberry daiquiri, except it has soda water, which makes it taste a little more refreshing. The drink has strawberry purée, lime juice, soda water and simple syrup. I usually make this to taste, although the standard recipe is eight ounces of soda water, one and one-half ounces of strawberry puree, half an ounce of lime juice and one ounce of simple syrup. My favorite part of this drink is that you can substitute any fruit purée to fit what you are craving at the moment. I would also recommend trying it with raspberry purée if you don’t mind a few seeds in your drink. 

Another classic mocktail is a Shirley Temple. While this may seem like a given in the world of non-alcoholic drinks, it is always good to have a reminder of how yummy they can be. To make a Shirley Temple, you only need three ingredients: Sprite or ginger ale, grenadine and cherries. Simple ways that you can spice up this mocktail is with the addition of herbs like mint or sage. Herbs can change the taste of a drink because the first sense that is activated is the smell, which can change our experience with a drink. You can also change the taste of a Shirley Temple by substituting ginger beer for Sprite or ginger ale to add a new flavor to the mix. 

A mocktail recommended by my friend is a blueberry-lavender drink that he also used to make at the restaurant where he worked. This drink includes muddled blueberries with mint, lavender simple syrup, lemonade and soda water. To make the simple syrup, you need one cup of water, one cup of white sugar and one tablespoon of fresh lavender blossoms. Combine these ingredients over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved, then you reduce the heat and let it simmer for a minute before removing it from the heat entirely to steep for 30 minutes. While you are waiting for the mixture to steep and cool down, you can begin muddling around eight blueberries and a few mint leaves. Then you add the syrup, lemonade and soda water until you reach your desired taste. If you aren’t able to make the lavender syrup, you can also use simple syrup and use lavender as a garnish. 

One final recommendation for a fun mocktail to try is the summer spritzer. The ingredients for this drink include lemon simple syrup, seltzer and thyme or rosemary. To make the lemon simple syrup, you can follow the directions above for the lavender syrup, but substitute lemon juice for the lavender sprigs. Similar to the other drinks above, you can add the ingredients to taste so you are able to control how sweet or tart you would like it to be. This drink would be perfect for a summer day at the beach or to channel the energy of summer while waiting for the weather to warm up.