Top 5 Non-Alcoholic Cocktails for Dry January

Are you in recovery or taking a break this month? We asked The Sober X Bartender for recipes to her favorite non-alcoholic drinks. Cheers!

By Ania Majsterek and Lauren McCaffrey

January 14, 2021

Julia Ghaith has redefined the concept of happy hour as a bartender—a sober bartender. When the Seattle-based bartender stopped drinking in 2019, she knew that didn’t mean she was done drinking. She was just done with alcohol. Ghaith now has made it her mission to create noteworthy libations for the sober community.

She launched her own brand as The Sober X Bartender and has been crafting alcohol-free cocktails ever since. Follow her on Instagram to see her latest and greatest non-alcoholic craft cocktails, including her recipes. Ghaith also hosts an online sober community on Facebook and is working on her first recipe book.

Check out these non-alcoholic recipes by Sober X Bartender:

Sober X Bartender Dry January alcohol free drinks

Blueberry Mint Nojito

This mint-infused refresher is perfect to sip cuddled up inside your warm house reminiscing about your last beach vacation—or when you’re poolside next summer. With a hint of lime and tangy blueberries, this drink is a favorite. Add a handful of fresh blueberries to complete the fresh beverage, leaving you satisfied and eager for your next warm-weather vacation.

Ingredients

handful of fresh blueberries
fresh sprig of mint
1 lime
your favorite soda water (Sober X Bartender uses La Croix Limoncello)

Toss in a few blueberries and lime slices for decoration, garnish with a mint leaf. Stir and enjoy!

Dry Botanical Bee Happy

Try the mouthwatering three-ingredient Dry Botanical Bee Happy mocktail. The lavender soda presents a crisp floral flavor, providing you with a blissful pick-me-up. A blend of lemon and honey creates a sweet and sour explosion in your mouth. Garnish with a fresh lemon slice and it is ready to enjoy.

Ingredients

6 oz Dry Botanical Lavender Soda
1 oz honey shrub (Sober X Bartender uses Som Cordial)
.75 oz lemon juice

To garnish, you can do something simple like a lemon slice or more advanced like this yellow rose.

non alcohol drinks Dry January SOber X Bartender

Harvestini

Despite its name, this spooky mocktail can be enjoyed year round. Balanced with fresh-pressed apple juice, almond milk and a dash of cinnamon, the Harvestini offers warm comfort regardless of the season.

Ingredients

3 oz fresh-pressed apple juice
3 oz almond milk
nutmeg garnish
3 oz apple pie shrub:
>1 1/2 granny smith apples
>1 cup apple cider vinegar
>1 cup raw sugar
>2 cinnamon sticks
>5-6 whole cloves

Note: To make the apple pie shrub, combine approximately one cup of fresh chopped apple with one cup of apple cider vinegar with mother, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and a dash of nutmeg in a clean mason jar, and then let it sit in the fridge for one to two weeks. Make sure the apple is covered completely with vinegar; if you need to add more vinegar than a cup, just measure the amount and add an equal amount more of sugar in the end. If you’re using a metal lid, cover the jar with parchment paper or a plastic wrap to keep the lid from rusting. Once the vinegar has infused, strain out the solids and mix the vinegar with one cup of raw sugar.

Feel free to play with the recipe and make it your own. If you want a bit more bitterness, reduce the sugar. If you don’t want to make your own shrub, many companies sell an apple shrub that will work perfectly.

Garden Tonic

It’s not easy being green, but it’s so easy to sip this drink! This herbal refresher is a take on an alcohol-free G&T. The Garden Tonic’s vibrant recipe revolves around cucumber herb water with fresh-chopped parsley, dill and mint. Talk about a great way to get those greens in.

Ingredients

4 oz cucumber herb water
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Aquafaba or egg white
Fill with Fevertree Indian Tonic

Start by making the cucumber herb water: Sober X Bartender grates about half of a cucumber, then adds fresh-chopped parsley, dill and mint. She often adds a splash of water to the mix just to make sure there is plenty of liquid, but this is optional. She then covers it, leaving it in the refrigerator for few hours to infuse. After a few hours, it’s time to remove as much liquid as possible from the mixture. Use a cheese cloth to squeeze everything and extract the juice. If you have a juicer, then just popping everything into it will work well. If you don’t have a juicer or cheese cloth, a fine-mesh strainer should do the trick. She opts not to get her juicer out, so she just muddles everything together one last time and then presses it into the fine-mesh strainer. It may not be the most elegant solution, but it works.

Once you have your cucumber herb water, this drink is just a few simple steps. Garnish with fresh dill, a sprig of mint, a cucumber slice or fresh lemon.

Voodoo Seas

A tiki treat that’s both refreshing and sweet! Derived from the Pina Colada, Voodoo Seas is a combination of silky coconut milk, a punch of pineapple and a splash of Kombucha. One sip and this voodoo magic will transport your mind to the ultimate tropical vacation destination.