Non-Alcoholic Drinks For a Cocktail Party

[mbalaver]

I'm hosting an annual St. Patrick's Day party next weekend, and I'm tired of serving only sparkling water, ginger ale, and Diet Coke for the non-drinkers. Particularly those who are only abstaining because they're driving or pregnant or flying a jet airliner tomorrow and are looking longingly at the beer and wine. Can anyone suggest a good non-alcoholic drink? I tried a pomegranate-lemonade recipe from Epicurious, but I didn't care for the flavor and the color was kinda icky. I'm thinking along the lines of a sparkling lemon/limeade, but was hoping for something more special, such as adding basil or mint. But it's got to be quick and easy to make, and I've got to be able to make it by the pitcherful. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Pat]

I like Santa Cruz limeade quite a bit. Could you maybe turn it into a punch with fruit on the top? Frozen raspberries might be good or strawberries. I'm not sure how basil would be as a garnish, though mint might be good. A virgin mojito?

[zoramargolis]

Be creative. Make an interesting flavored sugar syrup in advance and chill it--like with fresh ginger, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, lapsang souchang tea, ancho chile, vanilla bean, strawberry or whatever else might strike your fancy. At the party, add sparkling water, and a wedge of fresh citrus, like lime, meyer lemon, blood orange, grapefruit and some fresh mint or thai basil or a pre-cut cucumber spear. As your inspiration, think about favorite flavor combinations from other realms of cuisine.

[dcs]

Can anyone suggest a good non-alcoholic drink?

A number of tempting recipies are linked to this page.

[PollyG]

I'm hosting an annual St. Patrick's Day party next weekend, and I'm tired of serving only sparkling water, ginger ale, and Diet Coke for the non-drinkers. Particularly those who are only abstaining because they're driving or pregnant or flying a jet airliner tomorrow and are looking longingly at the beer and wine. Can anyone suggest a good non-alcoholic drink? I tried a pomegranate-lemonade recipe from Epicurious, but I didn't care for the flavor and the color was kinda icky. I'm thinking along the lines of a sparkling lemon/limeade, but was hoping for something more special, such as adding basil or mint. But it's got to be quick and easy to make, and I've got to be able to make it by the pitcherful. Thanks for any suggestions.

Make good decaf coffee with a bit of ground cardamom added to the beans. Sweeten with sugar, honey, or molassas. Cool to room temperature. Fill your blender 1/3 full of ice cubes and add cooled coffee mix to the half way mark in the carafe. Blend. This becomes incredibly frothy; you do not need milk. Serve in tall glasses with a straw.

I'm also pretty fond of minted lemonade. We have a ton of mint in the back yard starting in May and we make a minted sugar syrup as the base. (Sorry, no exact measurements.)

For something more exotic, try making a Korean Persimmon punch, which tastes more of ginger and cinnamon than the persimmons. It is a really impressive orange color. There are multiple recipes online, and all of our Korean grocery stores in the region have the persimmons, sometimes in the freezer section. I made a carbonated version of this once and it was quite nice.

[brettashley01]

See if you can get in touch with Gina at PS7's. All of her brilliant cocktails are offered on the menu in non-alcoholic versions.

[synaesthesia]

The lemonade at Cork is infused with cardamom, star anise, coriander, cinnamon, clove, and bay leaf. Sooo good.