What makes the perfect mocktail?
Balance between sweet and sour, ice to chill the drink properly, and texture – quite often mocktails don’t have the texture of alcoholic drinks and seem almost watery. – Chantelle Horn, Cocktail Consultant & Photographer at Crave
Focus on one flavour and find pairings that will go well with it. Play around with cooking techniques (syrups, shrubs or infusions) and take water dilution into consideration, i.e. drink-making method. – Cassandra Eichhoff, Director & Head Trainer at European Bartender School
Complexity. Just because it’s a mocktail doesn’t mean it has to be a fruit cocktail mix or a tall drink. Although alcohol can bring a lot of fun to the party, there are still lots of ways to get some really interesting flavours. – Leighton Rathbone, Bar Manager at Gigi Rooftop Bar
What advice do you have for combining flavours?
Chantelle: Generally people find the kitchen as a source of flavour less intimidating than the scary world of cocktails, so step into your kitchen and explore.
My go-to combinations are:
– Sir Fruit cranberry juice/Granny Smith apple juice and vanilla syrup
– Elderflower cordial and coffee
– Ginger beer and fresh limes
– Pineapple and pepper
– Grapefruit and pink pepper
– Basil and blueberry
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Cassandra: Just like when we cook food, we want an overall balanced taste. Consider which ingredients are more sweet, sour or bitter, as well as which ingredients offer mouthfeel, heat or astringency. Don’t be afraid to pair flavours that you thought could never work.
Examples:
– Coffee and passion fruit
– Pineapple and sage
– Banana and masala
– Raspberry and thyme
– Beetroot and chocolate
– Peanut and apricot
Leighton: Some flavours I love paring for this season are banana, granadilla, vanilla and brown (baking) spices. For something super healthy and refreshing, go with grapefruit, chamomile, mint and ginger.
Any good recipes?
Chantelle: Sherbet smash
Cassandra: Citrus quencher
Leighton: Tennis biscuit syrup
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