Mocktail Mania

White's Elixirs Sour Mix being poured over a lineup of colorful tiki mugs

Mocktail Mania: Real Non-Alcoholic Cocktails, Zero Proof

Non-alcoholic cocktails that actually drink like cocktails. Balanced, a little complex, and built by people who make the boozy versions too.

No alcohol, no juice-box energy, no lecture about your ice.

A mocktail is just a cocktail that skipped the hard stuff

Most mocktails fail for one reason: they're sweet and nothing else. But a real cocktail was never just sweet. It's balanced. There's acid to keep it bright, a little salt or bitter to give it some edges, and some savory depth underneath so the thing tastes finished instead of flat. Pull the booze out of a lot of recipes and all of that vanishes. What's left is fancy juice.

Good news: you can put it all back without the alcohol. That's the entire trick. Build in the balance and a mocktail tastes like something a bartender handed you, not something you poured from a carton. We've spent 20 years making cocktails, so we know where the structure comes from. Then we bottled it so you don't have to think about it.

What is a mocktail, exactly?

A mocktail is a non-alcoholic cocktail. A mixed drink built to taste like a cocktail, just without the alcohol. (The word smashes together "mock" and "cocktail." Bartenders have other names for them, but that's the one that stuck.)

There are basically three ways to make one:

1. The classic, minus the booze

Take a cocktail everybody knows, like a Margarita or a Mojito or a Moscow Mule, and rebuild it without the spirit. This is where most people start. It's also where a good mix earns its keep, because these are the drinks that fall apart the second you leave the alcohol out.

2. The free-form one

Juices, sodas, bitters, a shrub, a handful of fresh herbs. No recipe, just balance. Fun, a little improvisational, very "what's in the fridge right now."

3. The one with a non-alcoholic spirit

Zero-proof gins, agave alternatives, that whole category. They add back some of the bite and complexity the alcohol used to bring.

Are mocktails actually alcohol-free?

Usually yes, but read the label. "Non-alcoholic" can legally still mean a tiny trace (up to 0.5% ABV) for some products, especially certain zero-proof spirits. Plenty of others are a true 0.0%. What you add to a mocktail is always up to you.

What are the most common mocktails?

Mostly virgin versions of the classics. The Virgin Margarita, the Virgin Mojito (some people call it a "No-jito"), the Moscow Mule, the Paloma, plus old-school favorites like the Shirley Temple, the Arnold Palmer, and the Virgin Piña Colada. Recipes for the ones we make are right below.

Or skip to the good part

Sure, you can squeeze the limes and balance the whole thing yourself. It's honestly satisfying. But you can also pour a great mocktail in about ten seconds, because we already did the balancing part for you.

Every White's mix gets made in small batches with real stuff. Actual citrus, real ginger, honey, cane sugar, nothing fake. Add soda water and you've got a mocktail. Add the spirit and you've got the cocktail. One bottle, both ways, your call.

Mocktail questions, answered

Do mocktails taste good, or is it all just sweet juice?

The good ones taste great, like an actual cocktail. It comes down to balance: acid, a little salt or bitter, some depth. The sweet-only ones are what gave mocktails a bad reputation in the first place. Ours aren't those.

What's the difference between a mocktail and a non-alcoholic cocktail?

Nothing, really. Two names for the same drink: a cocktail with no alcohol in it. "Mocktail" is just the more fun word to say.

Can I make a mocktail without special equipment?

Yep. A glass, some ice, and something to stir with will handle most of them. If a recipe actually needs a blender or a shaker we'll say so, but plenty don't.

Are your mixers alcohol-free?

Yep. Add a spirit when you want the cocktail, add soda water when you want the mocktail. Same bottle either way.

Are mocktails lower in calories than cocktails?

Often a little, mostly because you're skipping the alcohol, and that's where a lot of a cocktail's calories hide. Ours are made with real cane sugar and real fruit instead of artificial sweeteners. The counts are on every label if you want the numbers.

That's the whole secret: good ingredients, a little balance, zero pretension. Now go make something.

Shop the mixers
Close (esc)

Popup

Use this popup to embed a mailing list sign up form. Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page.

Age verification

By clicking enter you are verifying that you are old enough to consume alcohol.

Search

Shopping Cart

Your cart is currently empty.
Shop now