Holiday Mocktails for the Sober Curious

If you are doing a sober curious experiment or avoiding alcohol for other reasons, the holidays can be a challenging time. There are so many parties, events, outings and usually plenty of alcohol to go along with them. One of the best tips I have found for not drinking alcohol is to have a great alternative drink. Even if you are not personally avoiding alcohol, it is always nice to have some fun non-alcohol drinks available for any parties or events you may be hosting. So in preparation for the holiday season, I have tested and tasted some holiday mocktails and am sharing my tips below! Read to the bottom for my verdict on the best holiday mocktail. 

Hot Mulled Cider 

This gave me major hygge vibes. I followed a recommendation I read to keep this on the stove at a low heat for a couple of hours and it definitely paid off. Here are the details: 

Base Recipe: Mulled Apple Cider

Ingredients I used: Apple Cider, Cinnamon Stick, Orange, Ground Cloves, Nutmeg 

Time required: Two hours, but most of that was very low maintenance. 

Ease of assembly: Pretty easy- it did require cutting an orange and then watching the cider while it was on the stove. I think this drink would be a great one to have in a slow cooker so it can stay warm without you having to keep as much on an eye on it.

Overall taste: This was very festive and I would be happy to sip it at a party. 

Ginger Ale and Cranberry Mocktail 

This combination of flavors was recommended by many people and was very tasty and easy to put together. The bright red color is festive and you can easily customize and alter the sweetness by using different ratios.

Base Recipe: Cranberry Ginger Cocktail

Ingredients I used: Cranberry Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Lime Juice, Ginger Ale

Time Required: Five minutes

Ease of Assembly: Very easy 

Overall Taste: This was great! The combination of cranberry, pomegranate, and lime juice made it unique and interesting. 

Grinch Drink 

I was drawn to this drink because of the bright green color. I could not find Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid, so I used a drop of green food coloring. 

Base Recipe: Grinch Punch

Ingredients I used: Pineapple juice, Limeade, Ginger Ale, green food coloring 

Time Required: Five minutes 

Ease of Assembly: Very easy, but be careful with the green food coloring! 

Overall Taste: This was not my favorite in taste, although the bright color was super fun. I think I would include less pineapple juice as that is not my favorite flavor.  

Homemade Eggnog 

A holiday classic, but I honestly had no idea you could make eggnog yourself! I had to give it a try.  

Base Recipe: Non-Alcoholic Eggnog

Ingredients I used: Oat Milk, Egg Yolks, Honey, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves, Vanilla

Time Required: 15 minutes 

Ease of Assembly: More difficult. You have to really watch the eggnog when you have it on the stove because if it gets too hot the milk will curdle. This took me two tries to get it right. 

Overall Taste: Pretty good! I only put a small amount of honey in because I didn’t want it to be too sweet. I added quite a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to get it to the flavor that I wanted. While it was a fun experiment to make it myself, I would probably just buy store-bought eggnog for a party and then season with spices. 

White Russian Mocktail 

I’ve never actually had an alcoholic White Russian before, so I’m not sure if this recipe nails those flavors or not, but I was surprised at how much I liked this holiday mocktail version! 

Base Recipe: Christmas White Russian Mocktail

Ingredients I used:  I cheated a bit and used a Starbucks Iced Espresso that you can buy in a bottle at the grocery store. I also used Oat Milk, Cranberry Juice, Seltzer, and Hazlenut syrup. 

Time Required: Five minutes 

Ease of Assembly: Pretty easy. It may have been more complicated if I had done something fancy with the coffee. 

Overall Taste: This seemed like such a weird combination of flavors…BUT I really liked it. It was very refreshing and felt festive. 

Apple Cider Faketini 

Sparkling apple cider is a classic holiday mocktail, so I wanted to include it on this list but spice it up a little. I decided to skip the Cinnamon Syrup and instead used the Hazlenut Syrup that I already had. 

Base Recipe: Apple Cider Faketini

Ingredients I used: Sparkling Cider, Hazlenut Syrup, Seltzer, Apple Cider Vinegar 

Time Required: Five minutes 

Ease of Assembly: Very easy, but would have taken longer if you made Cinnamon Syrup from scratch 

Overall Taste: This was too sweet for me at first, so I cut the sweetness with some Seltzer which really helped. Then I added just a splash of apple cider vinegar and it was delicious! 

Final Verdict for the best holiday mocktail! 

My go-to choice for a holiday mocktail would be the Ginger Ale and Cranberry Mocktail. Easy to make, great flavor, customizable, and a pretty color, what more could you want? My backup holiday mocktail would be mulled apple cider, which serves a secondary purpose of giving you a great aroma for your party. If you try them out, let me know what you like best! And if you have a favorite holiday mocktail that is missing from this list, let me know in the comments below. 

Cheers to a wonderful holiday season! 

Louisa