drink Archives - Community Food Co-op

Learning to Make Mocktails

Three Glasses of Mocktails (Raspberry, Peach and Pineapple) standing on the Bar, Horizontal Wallpaper

With fewer people drinking alcohol and dry January around the corner, it’s time to freshen up your mocktail skills! The Community Food Co-op has some recipes, tips, and tricks for even the most novel of mocktail creators.

Mocktails Made from Scratch

1. We’re celebrating citrus season with this grapefruit and lime refresher! First, you’ll need 2.5 ounces of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Add this juice and 1 ounce of lime juice to your glass. Then fill your glass with ice and sugar-free lemon-lime soda. Top this drink with a grapefruit slice.

2. For a take on a margarita, you’ll need cucumber, jalapeño, sugar, and some spices. Combine one cup of sugar and one cup of water then bring to a boil and cook until the sugar dissolves. Add chopped cucumber and a jalapeño, halved and seeded. Boil for three more minutes, then set aside to cool.

A jalapeno, cucumber, lime, and club soda sit on a countertop, four of the ingredients for this second mocktail.

A grapefruit and a lime sit on a countertop, two of the ingredients for this first mocktail.

In a separate bowl mix 1 tablespoon of lime zest, 2 tablespoons of coarse salt, and 2 teaspoons of red chili flakes. Cut a slit in a lime wedge then run the lime along each glass rim. Dip the glass rims in the salt mixture to coat. Remove the cucumber and jalapeño from the syrup you made. To each glass add 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 2 tablespoons of syrup. Stir, then fill with club soda. Top each mocktail with a slice of jalapeño.

Using Pre-Made Ingredients

1. To make an orange dream, start by muddling 1 tablespoon orange marmalade, 2 large orange slices, and 3 mint leaves. Add in 2 ounces of fresh squeezed orange juice, then fill with ice and club soda. Top with more orange slices.

2. For a drink that screams cozy, combine 1 tablespoon of apple ginger shrub, 2 ounces of apple cider, 3 ounces of sparkling water, and a sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice. Top with apple or lemon slices.

Sparkling water, apple shrub, and apple cider sit on a counter, three ingredients for this mocktail.

The Trick to a Sensational Mocktail

Quality is important when picking your mocktail ingredients. When you choose higher-quality juices or fresh herbs over dried, you’re introducing a more mature flavor profile. This more mature flavor profile lends itself to complexity, the key to separating mocktails and plain juice.

Complexity can be achieved by including different but complementary ingredients. For example, red chili flakes will bring a warming effect to a mocktail and honey will bring sweetness. These ingredients work together to create a complex flavor profile.

If you prefer your mocktails to imitate the flavors of alcohol, try spicy ingredients for the warming effect and bitter ingredients such as over-steeped tea or citrus pith for bitterness. If you prefer more sour alcohol, try an apple cider vinegar mocktail such as the citrus delight.

To make a citrus delight, muddle 4 slices of blood orange with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Add some ice then half of a can of grapefruit sparkling water. Stir it all together then top it off with some fresh mint. The result is a mocktail reminiscent of a sour orange cocktail. Too sour for you? Add a teaspoon of maple syrup.

Grapefruit sparkling water, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, a blood orange, and mint sit on a counter, the ingredients for a citrus delight.

How to Create Your Own

Creating your own mocktail recipe is simple and fun! Pick a shrub, sparkling water, and a garnish.

For example, we love to pair pineapple and sage shrub with coconut sparkling water, then top it off with some fresh sage or mint.

This basic, three-ingredient recipe allows you to play around with flavors and discover the ratio of tartness to sweetness you enjoy.

Once you have the hang of it, explore with syrups, fruit juices, and more. Our selection of cocktail mixes and syrups allows for plenty of combinations. Have fun!

Apple mocktails sit surrounded by cinnamon and apples.

Co-op Welcomes Leif’s Tea: Probiotics Have Never Been So Delicious

Leif’s Tea uses produce and juice from the Co-op to create delightful jun beverages that are now sold in our stores.

About Leif’s Tea

“Bee free, bee strong. Live free, live long.”

That is exactly what Leif’s Tea is promoting in their organic and delicious jun.

All of their teas use local herbs and honey in addition to the use of Co-op products, probiotic jun culture, and organic green tea.

What began in handmade tea bags and individually gathered herbs is still processed by hand to maintain the integrity of the ingredients. You can truly taste the difference.

Six flavors are available in our stores:

Seattle Sky: A sophisticated, classic blend of lavender, vanilla bean, and Earl Grey tea.

Wonderful Watermelon: A summertime splash of watermelon and hibiscus.

Dreamy Bee: A sparkling combination of elderflower, lavender, roses, chamomile, and orange peel.

Pink Lemonade: A stone fruit favorite made with black cherry juice.

Herbal Evermore: Refreshment at its finest with a mix of peppermint, spearmint, and Alaskan Ginseng.

Supernatural Blue: Blue spirulina and alfalfa create a blue sky in a bottle.

The Benefits of Jun

This sparkling beverage is more than just delicious, it’s nutritious. Jun is like kombucha’s cousin, made of green tea and honey as opposed to black tea and sugar. While you may know jun provides the benefits of a probiotic, additional ingredients can add even more benefits. Each herb used at Leif’s Tea has its own purpose.

For example, blue spirulina is a blue-green algae that can aid in lowering cholesterol levels.

“These plants are our allies, our partners in life,” owner Linda Quintana said.

In addition to the probiotic features and use of nutritional plants, green tea provides antimicrobial properties and is rich in vitamins C and B2.

Make a Fruit Punch Mocktail

Ready to try Leif’s Tea? Try this easy mocktail recipe for two!

You’ll need two glasses, one bottle of Supernatural Blue Leif’s Tea, one can of Tropical Punch Olipop, and one kiwi.

Dice half of your kiwi, and slice the other half.
Add the diced kiwi to your glasses and muddle it.
Distribute the Olipop between the two glasses and stir.
Add your Leif’s Tea and stir, don’t shake!
Garnish with the kiwi slices, and enjoy!

This mocktail is both delicious and eye-catching with the blue spirulina from Leif’s Tea’s Supernatural Blue.

There is nothing more exciting than a new vendor! Find your favorite flavor in store now, or find a new favorite at our Leif’s Tea demos on August 11 and 12. On August 11 they’ll be at the Downtown store from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., and on August 12 they’ll be at the Cordata store from 2 to 4 p.m. We can’t wait to introduce you to this new product.

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