Top Three Mocktails.

Being pregnant you look for fun where you can.

Note: This post is scheduled to go out on Friday, September 26th, which is my birthday! I will probably be spending it recovering from birthing a whole human and craving a drink, so this seems appropriate for that day. Okay byeeeee

This summer, I made it a mission to try as many mocktails as I could from as many places as possible. This post will be highlighting the top three.

The main thing I look for in a good mocktail?

Complexity. Similar to any boozy cocktail, there needs to be nuance. Does the mocktail have notes? Layers? Unless I’ve ordered a seltzer with cranberry - a very good alternative for plain water - I don’t want you to just dump seltzer and syrup into a tumbler, shove it in front of me and expect me to be pleased. It’s 2025, and more and more people are pivoting to N/A drinks. I want effort. It doesn’t need to be sexy, just make it interesting. (Which, perhaps, is what I want from most things.) To that point there are mocktails I had this summer that I did not put on this list because it was basically just lemonade with flavored syrups in it. While that’s fun and good, it’s not the same, dammit. (Shoutout here to the Fizzy Basil Lemonade, from Audacity in Manchester. This is, by the loosest possible definition, a mocktail. It’s just ginger beer mixed with lemonade with a ton of basil pounded into it. But god DAMN is it refreshing. I would get it even if I weren’t pregnant.)

I want to also highlight that N/A beers are skyrocketing in popularity. While I’ve never been a major fan of We always have a sixpack of Athletic in the house or Guinness 0 for The Chef to have after work.

Note: Giusto in Newport had a really good mocktail but when I tried to find the name on the site they had scrubbed it for their new menu. I wanted to namedrop them because it was legitimately a good one but I cannot for the life of me remember anything about the ingredients. Just go and see what they have. Also, try the fried ricotta balls.