Whether you're a committed teetotal, taking part in Go Sober for October or just fancy a break from hungover Saturdays, non-alcoholic cocktails are a great way of not feeling like you're missing out.
Have a go at giving these classic cocktails a booze-free twist:
Bellini
This bubbly cocktail is usually a mix of prosecco and peach puree. You can buy low- or no-alcohol sparkling wine in many supermarkets – the cheapest we found was Tesco's <0.5% sparkling for £2.75 (although this does contain milk proteins, so is no use for vegans), while Asda does a bottle of Nosecco Spumante for £3. However, if you're not keen on the taste of wine, Schloer white grape is delicious!
Once you have your bubbles, simply pick up a value brand of tinned peach slices (in juice or syrup, depending on how sweet you want things), whizz in a food processor (or mash to a pulp if you don't have one), pour into your glasses and top with the wine / Schloer. Cheers!
Cosmopolitan
A traditional cosmo contains vodka, triple sec (orange-flavoured liqueur), a squeeze of lime juice and – of course – cranberry juice. With all these fruity flavours, it's actually pretty easy to recreate without the alcohol. Just replace the triple sec with either orange juice or orange cordial – then you can either ditch the vodka completely or add a little bit of tonic water or ginger ale (as this Ocean Spray recipe does) to give the drink a bit more of a kick.
Espresso martini
For when you need a little mid-party boost. This classy cocktail (usually vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, sugar syrup and ice) can be de-boozed by ditching the vodka and swapping the coffee liqueur for something such as Camp chicory and coffee syrup (£1.70 at Tesco) and/or vanilla-flavoured syrup. Take this BBC Good Food recipe as a starter, use instant espresso as your base and make whatever alcohol-free swaps you fancy. Yes, it's kind of just a fancy iced coffee – but we're not complaining.
Piña colada
This one's basically a dessert in a glass. The alcoholic version of a classic piña colada contains rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream. Turn it into an indulgent alcohol-free drink by blending either pineapple juice or pineapple chunks in juice with canned coconut milk at a roughly 2:1 ratio, then garnishing with a chunk of pineapple and/or a couple of maraschino cherries. Add water if the mixture is too thick, and add sugar to taste. Sweet.
Sex on the beach
We'll never get tired of ordering this. Traditionally made with vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice, you can also add a bit of grenadine for that classic sunset look. Make an alcohol-free version – known in some circles as a "Cuddles on the beach" – by swapping the schnapps for peach syrup. Use equal parts orange and cranberry, then pour the grenadine in slowly down the centre.
White Russian
This indulgent cocktail is usually a heady mix of vodka, coffee liqueur and cream. To make it booze-free, follow Leaf's tips for making your own coffee syrup (and throw in some of that Camp chicory coffee syrup and/or vanilla syrup from earlier if you fancy). Pour into glasses, stick a few large cubes of ice in, then top with either single cream or coconut milk for a veganised version. If your coconut milk has separated, don't worry: just heat it gently in a pan and stir until it comes back together again.
