9 Mistakes People Make When Making Mocktails

When the excesses of December all get a little too much, and we emerge blinking into the New Year, there's only one thing for it: Mocktails. Whether you're trying to cut back on alcohol in January (or any other time of the year), or simply want a change of pace from your regular drinks, mocktails can be a salvation. When they're made properly, they provide all of the flavor of a regular cocktail without any of the hangover, and they're just as fun, too. Plus, most cocktails can be turned into mocktails without much work at all, making them surprisingly easy to put together when you know what you're doing.

That last thing I just said? That's the key part. A lot of people simply don't have a handle on how to make a good mocktail, and instead, they make the same old classic mistakes that everyone does. Throughout my years as a professional bartender, working in various bars since 2014, I've seen both colleagues and customers alike forget the basic rules of making these drinks, pouring in sweet ingredient after sweet ingredient with no balance, using the wrong ice, and generally treating them badly. I think it's time for all of that to come to an end. In this article, I'm going to break down every key mistake that people make with mocktails and how to do the right thing instead.

Of all the mistakes you can make with a mocktail, this is the biggest and by far the most frequent. A lot of people forget that the alcohol in cocktails doesn't just give you a buzz — it also adds flavor balance. Even a neutral-tasting spirit like vodka can somewhat take the sting out of sweeter drinks and syrups, while liquors like rum or gin provide pepperiness and a herbal note. When this is missing, people can overcompensate by adding more sweeteners, but this can then make the mocktail just taste like a soda. It doesn't help that countless mocktail recipes are based around fruit juices, which gives you a limited flavor palette from the start.

Instead, ensure that you're creating balance by adding in other flavors. You want your mocktail to be as lively as your cocktail would be, if not more so, and the best way to do this is by contrasting sweet, sour, and bitter (and sometimes, salt and umami, too). Bitters will be your best friend in a mocktail, and there are several non-alcoholic ones out there that can deliver immediate complexity. If you can't find a non-alcoholic option, regular bitters (which are alcoholic) are generally used in such small quantities that they won't raise the ABV of your drink that much, if at all.

One of the most frustrating things bartenders see on mocktail menus is a bunch of drinks that look the same. Most mocktails are long drinks, and as a result, most bars opt to use crushed ice, which fills the glass up, makes everything look good, and keeps the liquid cold. The problem is that crushed or small ice cubes also melt way more quickly, and because you don't have the potency that alcohol provides in your drink, mocktails can get watery and lose flavor very fast.

When mixing mocktails, small ice cubes can also be a problem. Non-alcoholic liquids will adhere to ice more than alcohol will, and when you're shaking drinks with a bunch of small pieces of ice, you'll ultimately lose more flavor in your drink. Now, there are situations where you do have to opt for crushed ice to get the right effect (like if you're going for a virgin mojito, for example), but other mocktails benefit from larger ice cubes. Some, like non-alcoholic old fashioneds (made with zero-proof whiskey), require big pieces to retain their potency. More generally, too, larger ice cubes just look better — wherever possible, I'd opt for bigger cubes, to stop your drink from getting watery and to give it visual flair.

Why do we treat mocktails like they're not as special as cocktails? It really bugs me. These drinks can be as delightful as their high-alcohol siblings, but because they don't give us the same buzz, people tend to put half the amount of effort in. That means that aspects like garnishes, salted rims, and other finishing touches are often neglected or forgotten about, because people are content to dump a few liquids together and call it a day. Depressingly, this has even happened in bars I've worked in, because the owners have considered garnishes too fussy for mocktails, and because they didn't want to spend too much on the presentation of less expensive drinks.

It's important, though, to remember that these elements don't just add flair, but flavor. Herb sprigs can give mocktails notes they'd normally get from liquor, as well as providing freshness and balance with the other notes. Salted rims, meanwhile, are important for contrasting sourness, and are particularly useful for mocktails based around lemon or lime flavors. Cocktail garnishes like citrus, cherries, or fruit pieces can also deliver sweetness in more bitter drinks. Oh, and all of these things just make you feel as though you're getting a drink that feels like an event — which is what we all want from a good mocktail, right?

Mocktails are boring. There, I said it. Okay, I know that's not true of every single one out there, but if you cast your eye over the average mocktail menu, you'll see what I mean. In a lot of bars (including some I've worked in), the owners are all too aware that mocktails aren't the best-selling items on the menu, and so they'll generally make them out of what they've got lying around. That means that they're usually based around fruit juices or sodas, and maybe a few extra ingredients if you're lucky.

However, this means that they generally fall into a sweet-citrus pattern, with the odd touch of bitterness here and there. There are so many other flavor options out there that you could be playing with in your mocktails. Green tea, for example, makes an exciting base for batch mocktails, particularly virgin mojitos. Elsewhere, you can employ the spicy notes of fresh ginger, the chocolatey bitterness of coffee, the weight of cream, the depth of licorice, or the fragrance of lychee. Think creatively about your drinks, and don't be afraid to make bold decisions with them.

I'll never stop banging the drum about the importance of glassware, and it's as important in mocktails as it is in alcoholic drinks. With mocktails, the glassware you use doesn't seek to enhance the alcohol aromas, which is one of its primary functions with drinks like whiskey or wine. However, it does affect the other fragrances and flavors in your drink. Citrus and herbal notes can be better released by wider-rimmed glassware, while wine glasses can concentrate the general scent of a mocktail, making it an ultimately better experience. On the other hand, highball glasses have no room to capture the fragrance of a mocktail, and so you can end up missing out on an essential part of the experience.

Beyond all this, though, the right glassware puts mocktails on a par with cocktails, which is a big thing for non-drinkers. Simply, it makes things feel fancy and special. Why should mocktail drinkers not have that, too? So, my advice is to think carefully about glassware, to opt for fragrance-trapping options where possible (plenty of highball mocktails can go in a wine glass), and to not cheap out on your choices.

One of the biggest issues with mocktails is that they lack balance, and adding too much mixer is a major cause of this. When you add too much mixer to your drink, be that fruit juice or soda, you dilute all of the other interesting flavors that you might have going on. Instead, you end up with a vaguely spruced-up version of a drink that you've likely spent too much time on for the result to be what it is. You need to give your extra ingredients, like your syrups, bitters, or aromatics, space to breathe, and that space comes from holding back on your base liquid just a bit more than you probably think.

Using too much mixer is also a major problem if you're making a mocktail using a zero-proof liquor. These liquors can often be good at emulating the flavor of the classic alcoholic versions, but they do lack a certain punch sometimes, and so can easily get swallowed up by mixers. Make sure you're exercising a steady hand when you're mixing them, and that you're taste-testing your mocktail as you go.

This is a big bugbear of mine, and sadly, it's not just something you see when people are making mocktails at home — you also see it in bars. For some reason, people seem to forget that you don't just shake a cocktail to incorporate the alcohol with the other ingredients. You also do it to aerate your drink and create more body in it, which will ultimately give you a lighter, bouncier beverage.

This is as important when you're making a mocktail, but sadly, people often think that mixing it is enough (because it's not really a cocktail, right?). As a result, you lose a key textural aspect of some mocktails and end up with a flatter result with no particular mouthfeel. Don't make that mistake, and shake up your mocktail. It's important not to do this with every drink you make, though; a good rule of thumb is that if the cocktail version is normally shaken, then the mocktail version should be too.

Look, I understand this one. Because mocktails don't have the star ingredient of a liquor (or two, or three), which is usually the most expensive component, it can be tempting to treat them as a lower-priced version of your favorite drink. This is especially true when people are turning to mocktails in a bid to save money, or during a month like January, when cash can be tight after the holidays. As a consequence, it's fairly common for people to think that they can make a great mocktail out of a few cheap ingredients and any old fruit juice.

You can't put a price on quality, people. It's certainly true that mocktails are generally cheaper, but you shouldn't be tempted to try to cut corners in the interests of reducing costs. In fact, it's arguably more important to make sure that your ingredients are as high-quality as possible, so that your drink still feels special. My advice is always to go for the most expensive ingredients you can afford, either in a mocktail or a cocktail. You can taste the quality in drinks far more than you think, and you'll definitely notice if it's lacking.

As a bartender, my personal belief is that we can be a little scared of mocktails. Or, rather, slightly scared of what they have to offer us. There's a world of flavor out there, and yet, we tend to shy away from the wealth of mocktail options at our disposal. Instead, we simply seek out non-alcoholic versions of our favorite cocktails, but the harsh truth is that sometimes, non-alcoholic dupes just don't taste as good.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love a virgin piña colada as much as the next person (any cocktail snobs out there, I don't want to hear it — it's a delicious drink), but I also think mocktails have more to offer than we sometimes realize. Mocktails should be celebrated for what they are, and while you can easily make a non-alcoholic dupe these days, there are so many fantastic options that bring their own flavor dynamics to the table. There are lots of spritzers, for instance, which balance bitterness, sweetness, and freshness, and which have no real cocktail comparison. You'll miss out on these, and a world of interesting choices, by just trying to make virgin versions of your favorite drinks.