Need some cocktail ideas for Sober October? We’ve got you covered with serves that including a pineapple jalapeño Margarita and a booze-free Old Fashioned
The biggest dry January on record was reported in 2021, with 6.5 million people taking part in the UK and now this month an estimated 60,000 Brits will give up drinking for Sober October, Macmillan Cancer Support’s fundraiser. This follows the increasing trend to plump for no or low alcoholic alternatives, which isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Where once non-alcoholic drinks menus and booze-free alternatives were rare, they’re becoming now a necessity for bars and pubs. Taking this into account, we’ve pulled together some simple Sober October offerings to ensure those looking to drink less, can still drink well.
Light, refreshing and so easy to make
Pentire Seaward Grapefruit Spritz
First thing first is a delightful Spritz, perfect for bringing some sunshine into these colder autumnal days. The recipe is from Pentire, which makes full use of its coastal and refreshing tipple Seaward (made with sea rosemary, sea buckthorn, wild seaweed) as a base and combines it with fresh grapefruit juice, honey and a mixer of your choice.
75ml Pentire Seaward
50ml fresh grapefruit juice
1 tsp honey
100ml soda water or light tonic
Pour the ingredients above into a highball glass or wine glass full of ice, then garnish with a grapefruit wedge and/or bay leaf.
Just because you’re not having alcohol doesn’t mean you have to miss out on favourites like an Old Fashioned
DV Old Fashioned
Just because you’re not having alcohol that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy classics like a good Old Fashioned. Devant New Dusk Oak & Spice is a warming, spicy alcohol-free alternative to whisky or rum with notes of caramelised fruit, toasty spices, and a touch of chocolate, making it the ideal base for a non-boozy twist on one of our favourite serves. If you’re not too fussed about cutting alcohol out completely Angostura Bitters will work best but there are plenty of alcohol-free bitters too.
70ml Devant New Dusk Oak & Spice
10ml sugar syrup
3 dashes bitters
Combine the ingredients over ice in a rocks glass and give it a good stir.
Bright, fruity and fun. Sober October doesn’t need to be miserable
Pineapple Jalapeño Margarita
A recipe that combines several tasty ingredients while still being easy enough to mix up at home, this layered and complex take on Margarita is the perfect way to demonstrate great cocktails can be made with no-and-low alternatives. Seedlip Garden 108 is a herbaceous, complex base made with hay, pea, rosemary, spearmint, and thyme that ensures you won’t miss your usual agave-based goodness at the core of this classic.
50ml Seedlip Garden 108
10ml agave syrup
25ml pineapple juice
10ml fresh lime juice
2 slices of jalapeño
Apply a nice salt rim to your serving glass before juicing one lime and cutting slices of jalapeño. Lightly muddle all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice & shake & strain over ice. Garnish with a dehydrated pineapple wheel.
Indulgent and satisfying serves are still possible
Espresso No-tini
Nothing beats a good cocktail at the end of the day, but a truly great Espresso Martini is welcome anytime. You don’t have to go without this month, however, thanks to this recipe provided by Nine Elms No.18, which takes the juices from four different varieties of berry and botanical infusions from 20 different flowers, herbs and spice to make a complex, versatile alternative that shines in this serve.
50ml Nine Elms No.18
150ml quality black coffee
5ml Sugar syrup
One egg white
Add all your ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and give it a hard shake for at least a minute. Strain the mix into Martini glass and then garnish with coffee beans.
Easy, yet to effective
Darjeeling Nightcap
An intriguing non-alcoholic alternative featuring a naturally soothing botanical drink that mirrors whisky or rum thanks to a mix of tree saps, aromatic plants and bright spices used for centuries for traditional remedies. On its own, Three Spirit Nightcap is the perfect after-dinner option but there the sparkling tea adds some pep and brightness, making it the perfect accompaniment to food.
50ml Three Spirit Nightcap
Saicho Darjeeling Sparkling Tea
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add 50ml Three Spirit Nightcap. Top with cold-brewed Darjeeling Sparkling Tea by Saicho and then garnish with liquorice root and citrus peels.
