With bars around the country temporarily closed to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, Friday and Saturday nights have just not felt as festive.
So, since alcohol is ‘off the menu’, here are three easy-to-make mocktails to enjoy in the comfort of your own home, and bring a bit of fun back to our winter weekends ahead.
Orange blossom mocktail
Glass: Highball
Ingredients
½ cup orange tangerine juice
½ cup sparkling apple juice
½ cup natural ginger ale
8 – 10 drops Angostura aromatic bitters
Method
Combine ingredients in a small jug and stir. Serve over ice or straight up. Enjoy!
Lemon, lime, and bitters
Glass: Highball
Ingredients
30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
22ml sugar syrup
22ml lime cordial
6 – 8 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters
Lemonade
Garnish: fresh lemon or lime wedge
Method
Add Angostura aromatic bitters, then ice. Add lemon juice, lime cordial, and sugar syrup. Top up with lemonade. Garnish by squeezing the lemon or lime wedge into the drink and serve.
The classic rock shandy
Glass: Highball glass
Ingredients
165ml soda water
165ml lemonade
4 – 6 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
Garnish: Fresh Lemon or lime wedge
Method
Build ingredients over ice, dash with Angostura aromatic bitters, stir and garnish with a lime wedge and serve.
Recipes by House of Angostura.
And if you need more inspiration and tips on how to spruce up your celebratory mocktail drinks while in lockdown, barman at the Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, AJ Snetler has you covered. Below are Snetler’s foolproof tips.
Work with the glasses that you have
Everyone has a cabinet of glasses, and there’ll be an option among those that are perfect for certain types of cocktails. Take a look at what you have to work with, then plan your cocktails accordingly, so that you get the serving part just right.
Many households have whiskey tumblers, which are good for whiskey-based cocktails, dark mocktails, or gin and tonics.
Pay some attention to your garnishing
Just a touch of a green garnish can spruce up any drink, taking it from ordinary to something special. Adding a sprig of rosemary to a gin and tonic, or adding it to a Duchess or Seedlip virgin drink will also go a long way to creating a far more professional look.
You could also go all out, and buy some of the less obvious herbs, leaves, and other trimmings for a look straight out of a cocktail bar.
Banana leaves work well with tiki-style cocktails like a pina colada and easily replace pineapple garnish, while dehydrated orange and lime wheels work in almost every drink. Picture a margarita with a lime wheel.
Don’t make your mocktails too sweet
Mocktails can be tricky, so be careful about making yours taste too much like juice. You must get the balance right. Try using a clear fizzy drink as a base (tonic water, Duchess drinks, sparkling water), then add other flavours and ingredients, like a touch of grenadine syrup and orange juice. Crushed ice in the glass also goes a long way to taking this drink to the next level.
Ambience is everything
You can make the best-looking cocktail - or mocktail - in the world, but if you don’t serve it with a dose of pizzazz, you’re doing yourself no favours. Just because you’re in lockdown doesn’t mean you can’t swap your tracksuit for something far more alluring.
Get all dressed up, set up your own private “cocktail bar”, and then invite your special someone out on a home-based “date”. This is the time for some creative thinking.