10 Non-Alcoholic Drinks To Help You Cut Down On Alcohol (with Recipes)

When the weekend comes and events get scheduled it's nice to detox and have some non-alcoholic options for you and guests!

In a shocking turn of events, non-alcoholic red wine may lower blood pressure better than actual red wine.

The powerful antioxidants in red wine (“polyphenols”) are the reason why many people drink red wine. When you’re going through alcohol withdrawals… there’s no denying that non-alcoholic beverages are a little difficult to come by. (Since virtually every drink without alcohol in it can be classified as “non-alcoholic”.) Water is a non-alcoholic drink, in this regard. However, it’s essential to always be fully hydrated and drink up to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

For those who are in recovery, non-alcoholic drinks help the recovery process because the drinks look like alcoholic drinks, sans alcohol. As most folks know: appearances are deceiving - and in this case, deception turns out to be healthy. Cutting back on harmful substances doesn’t have to be an arduous trial, however. “Mocktails” serve as drinks that look like booze-flavoured drinks - and Lord knows psychological warfare is half the battle during recovery.

Blood orange cocktail

To make it, all you need is: - 2.5 oz of blood orange juice - 2.5oz of white grape juice - Sparkling water.

Then all you have to do is fill your glass with ice, pour in the blood OJ, grape juice and the club soda/sparkling water.

Spicy Ginger Soda

Here are the things you’ll need: - 6 cups of sparkling water - 12 lime wedges - 1 cup of sugar - 4 tsp. crushed red-pepper flakes - 1/4 tsp. salt - 2-3 pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped finely

Once you’ve gathered the ingredients…

• Combine the pepper flakes, ginger, sugar, salt and 2 cups of the water in a small frying pan
• Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
• Simmer for 15 minutes
• Remove pan from stove, cover it (tinfoil is fine) and let steep for 30 minutes
• Strain the syrup into a jar and let the jar cool (30+ mins.)
• Fill preferred drinking glass with ice cubes
• Add two tbsp. of ginger syrup to glass
• Add rest of sparkling water
• Repeat for other drinks/glasses
• Drink and enjoy

Sangria

When you want the sweet refreshing taste of Sangria, here is what you do: gather cranberry-grape juice, orange juice, lemon juice, a pear, 1 apple, and a carbonated lime-lemon beverage. Now all you have to do is…

• Grab a pitcher
• Pour 4 cups of cranberry-grape juice
• Pour 1 cup orange juice
• Pour 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• Dice the pear and add it in
• Dice the apple and add it in
• Stir and put in fridge for 2-3 hours

After the allotted waiting time passes, it’s time to serve your non-alcoholic Sangria! Just be sure to add 3 cups of the sparkling lime-lemon beverage to the pitcher before serving it to yourself or guests. Add as many ice cubes as you want.

Water

Yes, plain regular water. It is a powerful drink that cleanses our system, hydrates us, regulates our blood circulation, and even stimulates our energy levels. There is absolutely no reason why water should not be a part of your “beverage diet.”

Sparkling Peach Punch

This is one of the lesser time-consuming drinks you could possibly make for one of those few Summer nights we have remaining this year. First, gather these ingredients:

• White cranberry-peach juice (Ocean Spray)
• 1L chilled lemon-lime soda (optional)
• 2 cans peach juice (chilled)
• 2 packages frozen peach slices
• 1 package frozen raspberries (optional)

Once you have all those beverages, simply mix them all in a punch bowl and top with the frozen fruits as you see fit.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Loaded with omega-3, vitamin A, vitamin K and healthy amount of fiber… this “pumpkin pie” smoothie is a real treat. It couldn’t be simpler to prepare. First, grab these ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of pumpkin purree
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 banana
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup vegan milk (or almond/soy milk)
• 1 tbsp. ginger juice

Put them all in a blender and puree until your desired smoothness.

Iced Green Tea Elixer (Ginger & Lemon optional)

For this “exotic” drink that certainly requires a mature taste… Gather the following:

• 2 cups water
• 6 green tea bags
• 1 cup low-calorie sweetener
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. ginger (ground)
• 1 1/2 tsp. lemon peel (grated)

Once you have those…

• Grab a medium saucepan. To it, add the water, lemon peels, ground ginger and low-calorie sweetener.
• Bring to boil
• Immediately reduce to a gentle boil (resume for 8 minutes)
• Remove from heat and add green tea bags
• Steep for 10 minutes
• After 10 minutes, remove and discard tea bags
• Stir in lemon juice
• Cover with a lid and store in fridge for a few hours (can stay in fridge for a week)
• Remove from fridge, pour in your favourite glass
• Add 3/4 cup of sparkling water and add as many ice cubes as you want
• Drink

Watermelon Strawberry Cooler Ingredients:

• 8 mint leaves (2 are for garnish)
• Watermelon
• Chia seeds
• 1 cup Hulled strawberries
• Lime

Now, you’re going to need a blender or juicer for mixing them all together. Whichever device you choose to go with, the instructions are the same: Cube the watermelon into 4 cups, add 1/2 peeled lime, and mix it all together until it’s smooth.

-Using a sieve, strain mixture, pushing juice through with force into a pitcher. - Add 2 tsp. chia seeds well - Store in fridge for 10-15 minutes - Grab glasses and muddle 3 mint leaves in the bottom of each glass - If you prefer your drinks chilled, add ice to each glass - Stir juice in pitcher to break up seeds - Pour into glasses - Drink

Blackberry Elderflower Spritzer (mint optional)

Grab these (Chill all ingredients in a fridge for a few hours. Or put ingredients in freezer for 10 minutes until severely cold.):

• 1 liter sparkling water
• 1/2 cup elderberry flower syrup
• 1 juiced lime
• 1/3 cup blackberries
• 1/4 mint leaves

First, bruise/muddle the mint leaves in the bottom of your glass. Once you have the rest of the ingredients together, add the sparkling water and syrup together in a bowl. Then add the lime. Now, it’s time to gently stir in the blackberries. Whisk everything together and immediately serve to your guests (or drink it yourself).

Rosemary Citrus Spritzer

First, to make this deliciously fruity drink, you need: - 2 lemons - 2 oranges - 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary - 3/4 cups of sugar - a quarter cup of honey - sparkling water.

Once you have all the necessary ingredients…

• Juice the oranges and lemons until you have 1 cup of juice (if you come up short, fill the rest up with water to make 1 cup)
• In a saucepan, combine the juice, honey, sugar, and rosemary and set until boiling.
• Let boil for a full minute - stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and let sit until completely cool.
• Using a strainer, strain and discard any solids.
• Fill a glass with ice cubes, add 3 tbsp. of the syrup, fill with sparkling water and stir.
• Drink and enjoy

Conclusion

“Battling the bottle” and recovery doesn’t have to be a long, grueling process. A lot of the drinks are fun to make and certainly worth talking about with a group of friends. There’s no harm in trying anything new.

Written by Natalie Bracco for Working Mother and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.

We LOVE making the Chocolate Coconut coffee and icing it! It makes for a great summer drink!