I was never a fan of carbonation until my fourth pregnancy. For some reason, all I wanted was bubbly drinks—ginger beer in particular. I tend to gain a LOT of weight during pregnancy and knew my new soda habit (and influx of sugar) wasn’t going to do me any favors, so I turned to sparkling water.
I have loved sparkling water ever since I lived in Europe in my 20s, but this new, trendy flavored sparkling water was new to me. It took a few tries before it eventually fulfilled my soda craving during pregnancy. That baby bump is now three years old, and that craving has never completely gone away, so I happily sip on a sparkling water almost every day. I figure it’s better than diving into the ice cream container late at night.
My kids like sparkling water, too, and they have fun adding fruit, juices, and other flavorings when we have “fancy drink nights.” Also, little umbrellas are a must.
First of all, let me get this out into the open: I’m not an expert on mixing drinks. In fact, I don’t even drink. I don’t have the equipment or special glassware—and I don’t even know what they’re called.
Luckily, making mocktails doesn’t require any special equipment or mixology knowledge. But here are a few tips that I’ve found to be useful.
1. You’ll need something to smash fruit or herbs (like mint) in the bottom of the cup to get the most flavor out. I used the pestle from my mortar and pestle. You could also use the end of a big, wooden spoon.
2. Sweeteners are optional. If you’re doing a round of Whole30 or are avoiding sweeteners for some reason, you really don’t need them for most mocktails. I typically use a few drops of stevia (or flavored stevia) or fruit juice when we do ours, but you can make some simple syrup if you’d like them sweeter.
Sommer posted a great tutorial a few years ago on How to Make Simple Syrup—even flavored ones using rosemary! These would be a fun addition to a mocktail, too.
3. Flavored sparkling water is optional, too. You can make a delicious mocktail with simple, unflavored sparkling water. I find the flavored ones add a little extra zing, but honestly, you don’t need them.
Here are a few of my favorite concoctions!
Ginger Berry Pomegranate
Berry-flavored sparkling water is my favorite. If a hint of berry flavor is good, it only makes sense that more berries would be better. I mashed 2 blackberries and 2 raspberries into the bottom of a glass, added about 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (because I love ginger in all the things) and a splash of pomegranate juice and then some sparkling water. So, so good.
Pineapple Strawberry Sunrise
This was such a fun, fruity combination! I mashed up some chopped pineapple and strawberry bits into a glass and added a generous squeeze of orange juice, then filled the glass with orange sparkling water. A drop or two of vanilla stevia was tasty here, too.
Cucumber Lemon Mint
My favorite flavored water to serve at parties is filled with lemon and cucumber slices with a few sprigs of mint. The combination is so refreshing and a fun twist on plain lemon or cucumber water. I made a fizzy combination with those three things and added some lemon flavored sparkling water. This one was great without sweetener, too!
Virgin Coconut Mojito
(Dare I admit I had to google what was in a mojito to make sure I wasn’t totally off base with that name? Like I said, zero experience with alcohol here.)
I REALLY loved this one.
Mash a few mint leaves into the bottom of a glass, then squeeze the juice from half a lime over it. Add some lime sparkling water, a drizzle of coconut milk, and a little sweetener. I think this combination was one of my all-time favorites. And a stripy straw makes it even better.
Does anyone else hoard stripy straws? Those cheap packages of them in the Target dollar spot get me EVERY TIME. I’m glad I have an excuse to use them!
Now, go forth and buy all the sparkling water and fruit and mint and have a sparkling mocktail party! This would be such a fun idea for a baby shower. Heck, my kids loved putting their own concoctions together after I finished photographing this post. Definitely adding this to my list of summer vacation activities!
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