A Fresh Take on Spring
Mocktail Recipes

Spring is a splendid time of year — one well-deserving of a nonalcoholic toast! It’s time to shake out of winter’s hibernation and celebrate life with a delicious drink inspired by in-season fruit (including avocado, of course!). A delightful way to bring more color and flavor into this season is with cool, refreshing spring mocktails.

 

We’re not talking about the old clichés, so banish all thoughts of sparkling water and cranberry juice. A true mocktail is a creative thing of beauty that leaves you feeling invigorated! The following spring mocktail recipes will blossom on your tongue.

 

 

Fruity Spring Mocktails

Sometimes, the best mocktails are inspired by their spirited cousins. Margaritas are great as mocktails because their citrusy flavors are easily mimicked with nonalcoholic ingredients. Try using a traditional margarita recipe as your mocktail base.

 

This avocado margarita is a fun twist on the classic, highlighting the natural smoothness of avocado with orange and lime juice. If you like, you can make your own sour mix and replace the orange liqueur with freshly squeezed orange and lime juice. Want a fun tropical twist? Try adding pureed mango or muddle lime with jalapeño slices for a spicy kick. Don’t forget to rim the glass in salt, Tajín (chili, lime, and salt), or your favorite chamoy powder (a salty, spicy, tangy candy powder) for that sharp kick margaritas are known for.

 

 

Savory Spring Mocktails

To kick things up a notch, try a nonalcoholic Maria Verde. This mocktail is more savory than sweet, similar to a Bloody Mary. It’s made of everything delicious and green: avocados, tomatillos, green chili sauce, and jalapeños. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you!)

 

Already dreaming of your spring vacation? Take your taste buds on a trip with an oyster cocktail sans vodka. It’s got that salty-briny seaside taste with an earthy kick from the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces. The colorful cubes of avocado make this a presentation-forward mocktail, perfectly suited to impress guests at your next spring soiree!

 

 

Bubbly, Nonalcoholic Spring Drinks

Iced tea? That’s so last century! Instead, make a matcha soda. This mocktail is a fun mashup of the herbal, slightly bitter Japanese green tea and effervescent soda. When paired with a spicy, sweet ginger simple syrup (like in this matcha ginger soda), these strong flavors balance each other, putting you into an invigorating, caffeinated state that no simple iced tea could ever hope to achieve. Making your own ginger simple syrup is as the name suggests. Bring equal parts sugar and water to a simmer, add a 5-inch chunk of peeled, roughly chopped ginger, and let cool. Boom! You have syrup that can last for a couple of weeks in the fridge, ready to meet your spring refreshment needs.

 

 

Dessert Mocktails Good to the Last Drop

For a cool, decadent dessert mocktail, make a nonalcoholic dulce de leche martini. Dulce de leche is a popular confection from Latin America made by slowly heating sugar and milk over several hours. The result is a sumptuously sweet, syrupy substance that makes for a rich treat when mixed with avocado and fresh milk!

 

This milky, avocado-enhanced treat comes from Indonesia, where a popular way to sweeten coffee is with condensed milk. This Indonesian-style avocado coffee milkshake, made with extra strong coffee, will give you some pep in your step. (An excellent companion to help you check off your spring-cleaning checklist!) Serve it in a chilled martini glass for a mocktail reminiscent of an espresso martini.

 

Horchata is a Mexican rice milk-based favorite nonalcoholic beverage. You can make this avocado horchata recipe in just five minutes. The avocado, vanilla rice milk, and caramel coffee creamer all contribute to a smooth and creamy taste, while the almond extract and ground cinnamon give a little earthy pop!

 

Another recipe from around the globe: avocado mango lassi. Traditional Indian lassi is a rich, yogurt-based drink with a smoothie-like consistency. Its warm spices, including garam masala and cardamom, balance perfectly with the cool, creamy avocado and yogurt base. Yum!

 

 

Frozen Spring Mocktail Recipes

Perhaps the best part of spring is the new fruits and vegetables that start appearing in the markets. After a winter of apples, pears, and root vegetables, the thought of blueberries and apricots galore seems like a cause for celebration. And nothing says “Spring!” like fruit sorbet mocktails: scoops of your favorite store-bought (or homemade) seasonal fruit sorbet floated on top of sparkling water, juice, or soda.

 

If you like strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas, you’ll like this. Picture a sweet and tart strawberry sorbet with a fiery ginger beer at the end of a long spring day at work that you would have rather spent outside. Or a creamy, bright apricot sorbet float, which you can make with fresh apricots, sugar, sparkling water instead of wine, and lemon juice.

 

If frozen yogurt is more your style, try an avo-clover shake made with vanilla frozen yogurt and avocados. It’s sweetened with clover honey and garnished with mint leaves. Green on green is a particularly good look for St. Patrick’s Day. Consider this recipe your lucky clover!

 

As the heat creeps up, you can check out this popular Israeli drink, limonana: a frozen drink made from lemonade, mint, and ice that’s so refreshing you’ll wonder how you ever celebrated spring without it.

 

 

In Mocktails, There’s Plenty of Room for Fun

Just remember: The absence of alcohol doesn’t have to mean a lack of flavor or creativity. With seasonal ingredients, you can start your spring right by treating yourself to some refreshing new mocktails. From ingredients from your farmers market haul to Avocados from Mexico grown and harvested year-round, there’s a bounty of fresh produce just waiting to be whipped into a delicious spring mocktail!