Sober October and non-alcoholic cocktail recipes

December 24, 2022 117

October has arrived — the month of spooky season, yes — but also “Sober October”, a trendy opportunity to give your body a rest from alcohol, should you choose to partake.

Non-alcoholic options have become popular — whether you’re taking a break from drinking or simply wanting to drink less.

Hilary Sheinbaum, author of “The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October, and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month,” published in 2020, told USA TODAY earlier this year that she drinks NA cocktails year-round.

“Even if I’m not doing a dry month, these are so helpful because you can enjoy a delicious drink without a buzz,” she said. “NA beverages also make get-togethers, restaurant menus, parties and life events more inclusive for drinkers and nondrinkers alike.”

And there are plenty of cocktails to concoct at home sans booze — including some from alcoholic brands that are now offering NA options.

Here are seven to try during Sober October, or any other time, for that matter.

Forget ‘Dry January’:Alcohol-free beer, wine, cocktails are available year round and are gaining popularity

Going ‘Sober October’? Tips to get the most out of the booze-free challenge

Peachy Pumpkin

Sheinbaum recently created a NA cocktail recipe that’s perfectly fit for the season that she’s dubbed “Peachy Pumpkin.” She shared the recipe with USA TODAY.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 can of peaches (you will use the slices and the can juice)
8 ounces apple cider (can be sparkling, if you’d like!)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice or nutmeg
Ice

Instructions:

Scoop pumpkin puree into a mixing bowl
Add 7 peach slices
In a separate cup, add sugar and pumpkin spice (or nutmeg)
Add half the can of peach juice and apple cider to the cup (with sugar and pumpkin spice mixture.) Stir with spoon.
Add the peach juice/apple cider mix to the mixing bowl. Carefully stir.
Pour contents into a rocks glass over ice, and enjoy!

Makes: 1 NA cocktail.

Freixenet Alcohol-Removed Green Glory

Dan Magro, the author of “Suck It Up: Extraordinary Cocktails for Everyday People” created a cocktail for brand Freixenet, which has come out with a non-alcoholic sparkling wine. Magro’s recipe features refreshing flavors such as cucumber and apple, to be poured over homemade sorbet.

Cocktail ingredients:

NA sparkling wine or (Freixenet Alcohol-Removed Sparkling White)
1.5 ounces green apple cucumber sorbet (you can mix sorbets to create this or use the recipe below)
Cucumber (for garnish)
Mint (for garnish)

Cocktail instructions:

Using a melon baller, place three scoops of sorbet and place in a coupe glass.
Gently pour the NA sparkling wine over the sorbet, allowing fizz to settle when needed.
Garnish with fresh mint and cucumber slices.

Makes one NA cocktail.

Green Apple Cucumber Sorbet ingredients

3 cups chopped Granny Smith Apples (about 4 medium sized apples)
1 cup chopped cucumber
4 ounces lime Juice
4 ounces apple cider vinegar
8 ounces simple syrup

Green Apple Cucumber Sorbet instructions:

Place green apples, cucumber, lime juice and apple cider vinegar in a blender.
Blend until all skins and seeds have dissolved.
Once it has reached a smooth consistency add in simple syrup and blend to completely incorporate.
Pour the mixture into a wide shallow dish (like a cake round) and place in the freezer.
Every 30 minutes take out the pan, stir the sorbet then return to the freezer.
Once the liquid has achieved the consistency of sorbet (usually takes 2-3 hours), you can cover or transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to one month. You could also use an ice cream maker instead of the stir method.

Cleantini

Ivy Mix, the co-founder of Speed Rack and co-owner and head bartender of Brooklyn’s Leyenda, a James Beard Award-nominated bar, created a Sober October cocktail for CleanCo, a non-alcoholic spirit brand, called the “Cleantini.”

Ingredients:

2 ounces Clean T
.5 ounce lime Juice
.5 ounce pineapple Juice
.5 ounce honey syrup
Pinch of sea salt
Mint leaf (for garnish)
Optional: 2 jalapeño slices (for spicy)

Instructions:

Shake all ingredients in a shaker.
Strain and serve in a coupe glass.
Garnish with a mint leaf.

Makes: 1 NA cocktail.

Lyre’s Apertif

Mixer brand Fever Tree shared this NA cocktail recipe with USA TODAY from its Fever-Tree Easy Mixing Recipe Book.

Ingredients:

2 ounces Lyre’s Apéritif Dry
6.8 ounces Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water
3 lemon wedges
Thyme sprig, to garnish

Instructions:

Pour the Lyre’s Apéritif Dry into a highball glass filled with ice cubes.
Squeeze over and then drop in the lemon wedges.
Top off with the tonic water.
Garnish with a thyme sprig.

Makes: 1 NA cocktail.

Lavender Fields

Mixologist Sara Emami designed the Lavender Fields cocktail to be listed on Laurel Tavern’s menu in Studio City, California, in partnership with Fever-Tree, which shared her NA cocktail recipe with USA TODAY.

Ingredients:

1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce lavender simple syrup
1.5 ounce lemonade
1 ounce Fever-Tree club soda
1 ounce sprite
Fever-Tree ginger beer

Instructions:

Shake lemon juice, lavender simple syrup and lemonade and strain over ice into a wine glass.
Add 1 ounce Fever-Tree Club Soda and 1 ounce Sprite.
Top with Fever-Tree Ginger Beer and stir.

Makes: 1 NA cocktail.

Orchard Swizzle

This mocktail, created and shared by NA liquor brand Ritual Zero Proof, reads like an NA autumn dream.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounce Ritual rum alternative
1 ounce fresh pressed apple juice
.5 ounce lemon juice
.5 ounce cinnamon syrup
4 dashes Angostura bitters (or nonalcoholic bitters)
Garnish: fresh apple, cinnamon stick

Instructions:

Combine the ingredients in a Collins glass and fill with crushed ice until the glass is two-thirds full.
Swizzle together using a bar spoon.
Top with more ice and add garnish.

Makes: 1 NA cocktail.

Check out these recipes to up your kitchen game:

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Sober October and non-alcoholic cocktail recipes

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