3 Super Refreshing Summer Mocktails

From hangovers to calorie overload to post-mojito sugar crashes, not to mention that boxing class you booked for Saturday a.m., there are plenty of reasons not to go as hard on a night out this summer. But that doesn’t mean you need to stick to water.

Evelyn Chick from Toronto’s Pretty Ugly bar shares three of her fave alcohol-free summer bevvies—the savoury, herbaceous Green Lantern, the perfect-for-brunch berry-flavoured Clover Field, and a non-alcoholic take on an Old Fashioned, which she’s called Summer Nights. Full recipes below!

1. Green Lantern
Pour 4 oz. of half-and-half freshly squeezed celery and green apple juice, 3/4 oz. lime juice and 3/4 oz. rich simple syrup* into a shaker tin. Add a pinch of salt and a handful of coriander leaves. Fill the shaker tin with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Fill a Tom Collins glass with ice and strain the drink into the glass. Garnish with a sprig of coriander.

*To make simple syrup, combine 100 mL hot water with 200 g white sugar.

2. Clover Field

3. Summer Nights
Add a large ice cube to an old-fashioned glass and pour in 4 oz. reduced oolong tea and 1/2 oz. honey hibiscus syrup. Stir for 30 seconds and garnish with an orange twist.

To make oolong tea, steep 4 oolong teabags in 1L of water for 7 minutes. Take out the tea bags and reduce tea on medium in a saucepan until it’s half the volume.
To make honey hibiscus syrup, steep 10 g hibiscus flowers in 1/2 L water. Add 1/2 cup honey and stir. Let cool.

Video: Michelle-Andrea Girouard
Production: Jed Tallio and Carli Whitwell