The mocktail— a word born from smashing together “mock” plus “cocktail”—has come a long way from sweet grenadine Shirley Temples and frozen piña coladas (hold the booze please). Ordering soda at a restaurant no longer means a choice between Sprite and Coke—bartenders now offer vinegary shrubs, housemade concoctions like cucumber lemonade, and more. While eateries like Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York has offered non-alcoholic beverage pairings for over a decade, now the rest of the country is catching on.
“What we’re finding is the mocktail revolution is just behind the cocktail revolution,” says Brian Van Flandern, president and master mixologist for Creative Cocktail Consultants, which builds cocktail lists for high-volume establishments in the United States and abroad. Van Flandern adds that not only is he seeing farm-to-table ingredients in non-alcoholic beverages, but also tinctures and minute drops of bitters. This attention to detail creates balance and cuts down on the saccharine sweetness that has plagued the mocktail for so long.