While some of your party guests will be reaching for a celebratory coupe of Champagne or toasting to your future with French 75s, others may be more inclined to keep their alcohol consumption to a minimum or even abstaining entirely. Having an inclusive bar that caters to all partygoers will help keep the good times flowing. Fortunately, today’s nonalcoholic beverages are anything but an afterthought, featuring the same creativity, complexity, and presentation as their spirited counterparts. From floral and refreshing to spicy and sophisticated, these locally inspired mocktails from some of New Orleans’ favorite bars, hotels and restaurants prove that a great celebration doesn’t require alcohol to raise a glass.
MOCKLY
Seeking a sleek and simple addition to your NA (non-alcohol) wedding bar? Local concept Mockly (drinkmockly.com) has created an elevated, craft-level option in the form of a spirited and stylish can. “Mockly was made for moments that call for celebration – and a New Orleans wedding is exactly that,” says Aimée Sedky, co-founder of the brand. “We like to say it was ‘made for Mardi Gras’, which means it was built for big, joyful, everyone’s-invited occasions, not as a wellness substitute or a consolation prize for people not drinking.”
From a cocktail hour welcome experience showcasing the cans chilled in an ice bucket, to a more formal sit-down reception where you can uplevel the drink with coordinated glassware and garnish, Sedky says that the creative ideas for presentation of these tonics, spritzes and elixirs overfloweth. “Guests can sip it straight from a beautiful, chilled glass, or the couple can set up a DIY ‘mock or mix’ cocktail station and let their drinkers mix in a spirit of choice. It’s the one beverage on the table that genuinely serves everyone.”
Ingredients
- Nothing (But Flowers), Salon Salon at Maison Métier
1 oz hibiscus tea (recipe below)
1 oz chrysanthemum tea (recipe below)
.75 oz lime cordial (recipe below)
.25 oz ginger syrup (recipe below)
Can’t-We-Elope, Ralph’s on the Park2 oz cantaloupe purée (recipe below)
1 oz ancho and serrano pepper syrup (recipe below)
1 oz lime juice
simply syrup, to garnish
kosher salt, to garnish
zest of 1 lime, to garnish
- The Pink Dress, Avegno
5 oz strawberry purée
1.5 oz lemon juice
water (or sprite for added sweetness), to top
lemon wheel, to garnish
- Sparkling Festival Lemonade, Hot Tin at The Pontchartrain Hotel
4 oz Strawberry Rosemint Lemonade (recipe below)
1.5 oz ginger beer
1 mint top
1 lemon wheel
rose petals
- Ginger Peach Snap, The Carousel Bar & Lounge at Hotel Monteleone
Half glass of white ginger tea
2-3 oz *The hotel uses Tea Forté white ginger pear tea
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz agave nectar
Dash peace purée
1 oz ginger beer
Candied ginger
Directions
- Nothing (But Flowers), Salon Salon at Maison Métier
- Directions: Shake. Pour into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top with fever tree elderflower tonic. Garnish with an edible flower.
- Ingredients for Hibiscus Tea: 8 g dried hibiscus flowers, 2 c boiling water; Directions: Steep for 10 minutes, strain and cool.
- Ingredients for Chrysanthemum Tea: 8 g dried chrysanthemum flowers, 2 c boiling water; Directions: Steep for 10 minutes, strain and cool.
- Ingredients for Lime Cordial: 23 g lime zest, 230 g sugar, 200 ml lime juice; Directions: Zest limes. Add sugar, massage zest and sugar to encourage lime oil to release. Add lime juice, stir well. Cover and let sit overnight. Stir to dissolve sugar. Strain through fine mesh strainer.
- Ingredients for Ginger Syrup: 100 g peeled and rinsed ginger, 100 g sugar, 100 ml boiling water; Directions: Combine in blender. Strain through fine chinois.
Can’t-We-Elope, Ralph’s on the Park- Directions: Dip the rim of the coupe glass in lime juice. Then on a plate, mix the zest from one lime, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of pepper. Turn the glass over onto the plate and twist to adhere the mixture. Shake the cantaloupe purée, ancho and serrano pepper syrup and lime juice together. Double strain and pour this into the garnished coupe glass.
- Ingredients for the Ancho and Serrano Pepper Syrup: 4 each ancho chiles, dried, 2 each serrano peppers, .5 liter water, .5 liter sugar; Directions: Heat 4 dried ancho chiles and 2 dried serrano peppers, sliced in half with the seeds intact over high heat until it is very fragrant. Add .5 liter of water and boil for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture into a container. Stir in the .5 liter of sugar.
- Directions for Cantaloupe Purée: Cut the cantaloupe in half, then remove the seeds and the skin. Blend on high in a mixer for 2 full minutes. Strain off the solids. Recipe from Brittney Sienkwicz [Ralph’s on the Park-Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, New Orleans]
- The Pink Dress, Avegno
- Directions: Stir all the ingredients together. Serve over ice in a tall glass and garnish with a lemon wheel.
- Sparkling Festival Lemonade, Hot Tin at The Pontchartrain Hotel
- Directions: Fill a glass with ice. Add the lemonade. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with mint, lemon and rose petals.
- Ingredients for Strawberry Rosemint Lemonade: 1 bunch mint, 3 c sugar, 1 qt water, 1 qt lemon juice, ½ oz rose water, 1 c puréed strawberries, 1 qt ice water; Directions: Muddle mint in the bottom of a 1-gallon pot. Add sugar and 1 quart of water to the pot. Bring to a simmer so the sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and add the lemon juice, rose water and strawberry purée. Steep for 10 minutes. Add the ice water, stir. Strain and chill.
- Ginger Peach Snap, The Carousel Bar & Lounge at Hotel Monteleone
- Directions: Place the ginger tea, lemon juice, agave nectar, and peach purée in a shaker. Shake and strain over a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a candied ginger.
