5 Easy Mocktail Recipes for the Holidays
Mocktails Can Help You Maintain Your Sobriety During the Holidays
As the holidays approach, people gather gifts, prepare food, and spend time with families yearly. This is a joyous time of year filled with laughter and cheers for some. For others, it may be a test of strength and solidarity within themselves and their sobriety. Whether it’s wine with dinner, drinks around the fireplace, or a specialty coffee during gifts, having an alcoholic beverage with loved ones has become an integral part of many holiday celebrations.
Family and friends may support your alcohol-free lifestyle, but it does not mean you won’t encounter alcohol during the holidays. The best way to support yourself and those you love is to be proactive with the introduction of mocktail recipes. Allow yourself to enjoy and indulge in the holiday beverage tastiness without risking your sobriety. Mocktails are the new cocktails; you just might not know it yet.
Novo Detox is excited to share some mocktail recipes that taste amazing and help you embrace the holiday spirit and support your sobriety during this festive time.
Mocktails are a great way to help you or someone you love maintain sobriety during the holidays. With their endless recipes and delicious taste, you’ll see that these drinks taste just as good without the consequences.
Apart from tasting amazing, a few reasons why mocktails may help you include:
- Discretion—If you are attending a holiday party with people unaware of your sobriety, you may want to keep it a secret. This can cause pressure to feel you should have an alcoholic beverage. Instead, seek out a mocktail recipe and blend in with the crowd. No one needs to know what is in your glass besides you.
- Cost-Effective—It goes without saying that alcohol is expensive. By switching your beverages to mocktail recipes and avoiding alcohol altogether, you can expect to save money this holiday season.
- Creative—If you are making mocktail recipes yourself, get creative! Mocktails are meant to be fun, tasty, and look great too. This is your opportunity to explore all the tastes you love beautifully. Proud of your recipe? Please share it with friends.
5 Delicious Mocktail Recipes
While creativity is critical, we all need a little encouragement from time to time. Check out these delicious mocktail recipes, carefully selected to fit a variety of taste buds. Time for the holiday spirit to get your creative juices flowing—literally!
Christmas Lights
Recipe:
2 oz cranberry juice
.5 oz lemon juice
2 oz homemade sorrel tea
Dry kombucha
Directions:
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a champagne flute.
Top with kombucha and garnish with a clove-studded orange twist.
Lamplighter Inn
Recipe:
1.5 oz heavy cream
1.5 oz spent coffee grounds syrup
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz egg white
Seltzer
Directions:
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake.
Add ice shake again.
Strain into a fizz glass.
Top with seltzer and garnish with coffee beans.
Seedlip Spice Sour
Recipe:
1.5 oz Seedlip Spice 94
1 oz lemon juice
Dash of sugar
1 egg white
1 dash of white wine vinegar
Directions:
Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker over ice.
Shake vigorously.
Non-Alcoholic Hot Buttered Rum
Recipe:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup Monk Fruit In The Raw bakers bag (or 24 packets of Monk Fruit In The Raw)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
Boiling water
Half and half or heavy cream
Directions:
Combine the butter, sugar, Monk Fruit In The Raw, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves in a mixing bowl.
Beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.
Use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
To make each drink, scoop 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of the buttered spice mixture into a small mug.
Pour 1/4 cup of boiling hot water into the cup and stir or whisk to dissolve completely.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of half and/or cream, stirring once more.
Taste, and add more water or cream, as desired.
Apple Barley Old Fashioned
Recipe:
1 oz strong-brewed chilled barley tea bag (poured from 10 oz of hot water brewed with two tea bags)
1/3 dropper Angostura bitters
5 dashes of molasses bitters
.25 oz simple syrup
.5 oz apple cider
Splash of club soda – optional
Directions:
Stir ingredients and garnish with an orange swath and two Luxardo cherries.
Steps You Should Take If You Relapse During the Holidays
Despite the good intentions of mocktails, it is also important to note these recipes may carry potential triggers for individuals in recovery. While there is no alcohol in the mocktail, the absence of it may induce urges or cravings. It is important to remain vigilant in recognizing if you or a loved one find a mocktail recipe is causing stress over support.
If this happens, consider the following steps:
- Don’t be ashamed—Recovery is a life-long journey, and oftentimes relapse is part of recovery. Guilt and shame are the two leading responses following a relapse. These will not help you—let them go.
- Reach out to your support systems—Attend a meeting, call your sponsor, or reach out to a trusted friend. At this time, you can and should be reaching out to the support systems you’ve built while in recovery.
- Consider treatment services—Talk to a counselor, consider a medical alcohol detox, and explore patient programs suited to your needs.
- Don’t Give Up—A relapse can take its toll physically, mentally, and emotionally. You may feel it is impossible to start over—it’s not. You’ve been successful in the past and will be successful again.
See other tips for long-term sobriety here:
Regain Your Sobriety With Novo Detox
Healing is not linear, and neither is recovery. At Novo Detox, we pride ourselves on providing services that will aid you throughout your journey and always be available for continued support. After a relapse, we offer numerous pathways to get you back on your feet and return to the life you were living.
Each case will be different, and needs may vary based on the severity of the relapse. For some, it may require a full medical detox followed by inpatient and outpatient care, and some may prefer access to only outpatient support and counseling services. Regardless of where you feel you are, know that Novo Detox is a place where you will not be judged, you will be welcomed by dedicated, compassionate staff prepared to guide you back to your best self.
With the holiday season just around the corner, we hope that you socialize with loved ones in a fun and safe way—try that new mocktail recipe, put on your favorite ugly sweater, and allow your strength to bring you joy. Call Novo Detox at (844) 834-1777 to learn more sober living tips.
