Blueberry Ginger Mocktail

Blueberry, lemon, ginger mocktail with a kick.  

Have you noticed the rise of the mocktail? Non-alcoholic cocktails are becoming a regular addition to the best bar menus. Even food magazines are running mocktail recipes. And don't forget entire non-alcoholic beverage companies like Seedlip! The mocktail started making headlines as a trend in mid 2017 but 2018 is absolutely the year it's hitting mainstream culture. Here's what you need to know:

I like to think of this trend as inclusive. Having drinks is great (because I love a good cocktail and I also love wine), but there are always one or two people who are pregnant/underage/don't drink and their option is basically tap water, questionable milk or a small Capri Sun that dwells behind two obscure canned items on a shelf. Creating non-alcoholic drinks means that everyone can enjoy a beverage that's specifically crafted to focus on building flavors outside of the alcohol that will be added. Because as much as you think the act of omitting the two kinds of alcohol ingredients from the drink recipe to make a mocktail for those guests, it's just not balanced. It's not the same.

I think the popularity of mocktails is two fold. There's a bit of health halo with this trend (but leaving out alcohol doesn't necessarily mean the end result is healthy). And there's also a social media trend aspect in my opinion. The drinks are typically Instagrammable visually or due to their ingredients. Mocktails lean towards the usage of botanical inspired wellness ingredients as a pull (CBD for example, or adaptogens or super foods like spirulina or using colors derived from plants like butterfly pea flower tea). That's not a bad thing and I like that bartenders and recipe developers are showing applications outside of vegan smoothie bowls.

Admittedly, this is the first mocktail recipe on the blog. It would be perfect with vodka or tequila (Sorry-it's true) but it truly is amazing on its own. This drink is not meek or mild. The shot of freshly pressed ginger is spunky so if you're not used to ginger, dial that back and add a bit more water. The blueberry drink concentrate is rich and wild with a gorgeous color. While the blueberry drink concentrate I'm using here is from IKEA you can find a few brands in your grocery juice aisle. 

Watch the fast recipe video here!

Blueberry Ginger Mocktail 

INGREDIENTS

per drink:

• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger juice
• 3 Tablespoons blueberry drink concentrate 
• ice
• fresh mint
• cinnamon stick
• blueberries

DIRECTIONS

1. To make ginger juice, put 1 hand of ginger (unpeeled) through a juicer. You can also buy ginger shots at a local juice shop or the refrigerated natural food section of your grocery.
2. Squeeze 1-2 lemons for juice.
3. Crush ice by adding several cups of ice cubes to a blender. Process until ice is in tiny pebbles. 
4. Add pebbled ice to a glass.
5. In a shaker, add a few ice cubes, lemon juice, water, ginger juice, blueberry drink and shake for several seconds to combine and chill.
6. Use a strainer and pour over ice in glass.
7. Garnish with cinnamon stick, blueberries and fresh mint.