The Mocktail Club Recipe Book Could Take Dry January to the Next Level
Welcome to Cookbook of the Week. In this series, I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While searching for a specific recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has its own magic.
It may be halfway through Dry January, but I think the mocktail book is still in good shape. Along with people who want to cleanse once a year, there are also those who give up drinking all year round. In this case, this week’s cookbook , The Mocktail Club, came just in time.
Personally, I enjoy adult drinks from time to time, but on many social occasions, I look at the cocktail list like it’s the last thing I want near me. But when the mocktail finally took hold in the industry and began to gain popularity, I was happy to pull up a stool.
A little about the book
There has always been a feeling, strong or lasting, that drinking alcohol socially requires alcohol. This is fine if it suits your lifestyle, but it can also exclude others if there are no other options. Enter: cocktail. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, a mocktail (aside from being a clever play on the word “cocktail”) is a non-alcoholic drink that combines two or more ingredients.
Mocktail Club comes to us from Derick Santiago, a certified mixologist who has poured his expertise into non-alcoholic libations that are just as complex and delicious as the booze-infused ones. This miniature hardcover was published in 2024 and contains 75 non-alcoholic recipes, including non-alcoholic versions of classics like piña colada or B&T (herbal remedies and tonic).
A great book for those who are not content with juice.
The difficulty with cocktails, especially in the early years, was that many of the smaller ingredients or components also included alcohol – liqueurs, bitters, vermouth. Achieving complexity in cocktails without these small additions has led to the creation of one-dimensional drinks and sometimes just weird juices. In the past, giving up alcohol meant your options were pretty limited, and not everyone wants six Diet Coke or water when they’re at their wife’s birthday party.
Today opportunities have opened up. Now in the non-alcoholic sphere there are many brands and enterprises producing non-alcoholic tequila, whiskey, bitters and much more. Mocktail Club uses the full range available, so now you don’t have to settle for soda or juice if you don’t want it. You can make beautiful, sophisticated drinks that don’t look like substitutes or disguises; in fact, these are exquisite drinks that you want to enjoy.
This book is for those who want to truly plunge into the world of non-alcoholic cocktails NA. This is not for those who want to make an easy smoothie with regular ingredients you have in the fridge. You’ll need supplies, non-alcoholic spirits, and a little prep work with syrups and shrubs.
Recipes You Can Expect
One of the reasons I decided to introduce The Mocktail Club is how carefully the introductory part is prepared before getting into the “real” recipes. Santiago takes the time (but not too much space) to explain what a mocktail is, important terminology, how non-alcoholic versions of spirits are made, and what flavors they mimic.
Santiago brings you a full section of simple syrup recipes, shrub recipes, and accessories that add “that little something” to take the drink to the limit. You’ll learn different shaking techniques, including one that will help you replace the alcoholic tincture with a simple orange peel.
Recipes are organized by the main soft drink in the recipe; they are primarily interested in chapters such as “Gin Mocktails” or “Rum Mocktails.” The book is rounded off with aperitifs and non-alcoholic cocktails.
Each recipe has a title that briefly explains the drink’s flavor profile and how the ingredients interact. Most of the measurements are for one serving, and sometimes two, so I understand that making batches of these drinks for a party can be a bit taxing from a math standpoint. But not impossible.
The drink I made this week
This week I made the General Giuseppe cocktail. I was thinking about a trip to Italy next year and this bright orange drink seemed to fit my mood. At first this annoyed me because I wanted to already have all the necessary components, but this did not happen. Then I realized that a good mocktail would require a little work on my part. The cocktail ingredients have to be different from what I have because my home bar is a liquor area.
Luckily, finding a “non-alcoholic Italian red aperitif” isn’t as difficult as I thought. You can buy a package online (the stuff is delicious on its own) or stop by any Italian specialty store you have nearby. You might be surprised to learn that some Italian restaurants sell these items too. I bought a bottle from the Italian sandwich shop next door. The same goes for non-alcoholic or zero-proof orange bitters. Visit stores that sell mixers, liquor stores, or buy them online .
The drink only had three ingredients and was easy to make; dry cocktail before adding ice. The tasty, bright drink that I poured into my glass exceeded all expectations. I was afraid it would be too sweet, maybe too juicy, or just plain boring, but that wasn’t the case at all. The sweetness of the orange juice was combined with the bitter aperitif. And a light addition of orange bitters added aromatic depth, giving it a “cocktail” flavor.
Moreover, I never had to pour it out. When I make alcoholic cocktails for work, it’s usually 11 am, and that’s not for me.
How to buy
“Mocktail Club” is available both online and in real life at many Barnes & Noble bookstores . Remember, you can support local bookstores by asking them to order the book if they are out of stock. Although I haven’t tried making the cocktails from the book, I think I will at the next party I attend. If you do this before me, let me know how it goes and enjoy your dry month.