5 healthy mocktail recipes from London’s hottest alcohol-free bar

Soberistas, these mocktails will make you cheers your good health – they’re from Catherine Salway and Andrea Waters from vegan alcohol-free bar Redemption 

As much as a strawberry daiquiri, or better yet, blueberry martini can slide down for some evening pleasure, the sugar, calories and hangover just aren’t worth it. Especially with the capital’s growing mocktail menus. Glamourous and still fabulously tasty, mocktails are the new go-to, even if you’re a sucker for a fruity vodka mixer or super-sized G&T.

Rescuing you from the next-day blues and ever-so-lovely bloating, the health-inspired Redemption Bar has curated a delicious selection of detoxifying, tangy and utterly creative alcohol-free cocktails from its new recipe book, Redemption Bar: Alcohol-free Cocktails with Benefits (£8.09 from Amazon).

You can sip on a refreshing spritzer, frozen wonder or my favourite, a chic Cosmopolitan, and since they’re healthy and alcohol-free, treat yourself to another.

Who’s counting? We sure aren’t…

Healthy Mocktail Recipe #1: Black Magic

Serves 2 

Prep: 5 mins 

What black magic is this… a detox cocktail? That’s an oxymoron, surely? This impressive concoction is made with fresh lemons for a vitamin C and potassium kick, activated charcoal for its detoxifying properties, and cayenne pepper, which adds a stimulatory heating effect. All three ingredients aid the metabolism, and the body’s cleansing and elimination process.

It’s important to select activated charcoal made from coconut shells or other natural sources, not just a lump from your barbecue. Activated charcoal is popular medically for a safe and effective treatment of poisoning and drug overdoses. It’s used to reduce bloating and gas and even prevent hangovers, so a glass of Black Magic is perfect for any of your guests who arrive ‘hanging like a loose tooth’ from the night before.

Ingredients: 

300ml (1/2 pints) sparkling mineral water juice of 2 lemons (you need 120ml/4fl oz)

¼ teaspoon activated black charcoal (available in health stores and online)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 frozen cube of aquafaba (see below)

To garnish:

Hibiscus Flower Dust, optional, to serve

Indulgence time: 

1. Simply blitz all the ingredients in a blender until frothy, and pour into two chilled martini glasses.
2. There should be a lovely creamy foam sitting on top of the dark magic below.

Healthy Mocktail Recipe #2: Rhubarb and Ginger Spritzer

Serves 2

Prep: 5 mins

Sundays were the busiest day at the vicarage where I grew up, with church in the morning and the evening. Mum somehow managed to find the time to rustle up a rhubarb and ginger crumble which used to magically appear after she’d served lunch for the family, plus guests from the congregation. She never showed us how she did it. She must have sneaked out at midnight on Saturday to pick the prolific rhubarb from the garden. This spritzer is a lovely, healthy homage to my mum, Pauline – and to all mums who work miracles.

Ingredients: 

10 fresh mint leaves

150ml (1/4 pint) Rhubarb Cordial (see below)

50ml (2fl oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice

50ml (2fl oz) Maple and Ginger Switchel (see below)

200ml (7fl oz) sparkling mineral water

crushed ice

To garnish:

Transparently thin ribbons of rhubarb, peeled with a swivel-head vegetable peeler

Indulgence time: 

1. Blitz the mint leaves, rhubarb cordial, lemon juice and switchel in a blender
2. Half-fill two chilled highball glasses with crushed ice and ribbons of rhubarb
3. Pour the rhubarb, ginger and mint mixture over the ice, top with chilled sparkling water and serve

Healthy Mocktail Recipe #3: Shoreditch Sunrise

Serves 1 

Prep: 5 mins 

The sun rises in the East, casting its iridescent hues of bright oranges and pinks over London’s most exciting neighbourhood. The sins of the night before are (almost) forgotten as techies rise and shine to create the new economy. New artworks, neon signs, graffiti, tattoos and piercings appear magically overnight. People #needRedemption and get photographed in front of our angel wings to show they’ve been. We love our little corner of Shoreditch and the community we share it with. Here is our homage to our spiritual home.

Ingredients: 

Crushed ice

½ teaspoon orange blossom water

60ml (2fl oz) fresh blood orange juice

80ml (2½fl oz) fresh pineapple juice

4 teaspoons Maple and Ginger Switchel

30ml (1fl oz) Grenadine

To garnish: (choose one or some of the following)

Pineapple wedge

Cherries (if in season)

Hibiscus flower

Blood orange slice

Cocktail umbrella (optional, but why not?!)

Indulgence time: 

1. Fill a hurricane glass with crushed ice.
2. Pour over the orange blossom water, blood orange juice, pineapple juice and the switchel and swizzle.
3. Add the grenadine (which hopefully will sink to the bottom, then rise like a phoenix to the top).
4. Choose your garnish and serve immediately.

Healthy Mocktail Recipe Recipe #4: Cosmopolitan (AKA Crantini)

Serves 1 

Prep: 5 mins 

Miranda asked Carrie, ‘Why did we stop drinking cosmos?’ and Carrie replied, ‘Because everyone else started.’ The cosmo peaked as the most sophisticated New York accessory during the height of Sex and The City fame, we all drank millions of them, then they fell out of favour – probably after seeing the wrong end of one too many hen nights. Here we share a very quick and easy cosmopolitan in our typical Redemption style: all the fuss and pizzazz; none of the bad stuff.

Ingredients: 

50ml (2fl oz) cranberry juice

4 teaspoons freshly

squeezed orange juice

4 teaspoons freshly

squeezed lemon juice

4 teaspoons Birch Syrup (see below)

100ml (3½fl oz) coconut water

Ice

To garnish: 

Edible flowers

Indulgence time: 

1. Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker half filled with ice cubes. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass.
2. Garnish with edible flowers because life is too short to be burning orange rind.
3. Drink wearing heels without fear of falling over.

Healthy Mocktail Recipe #5: Flu Fighters Martini

Serves 1

Prep: 10 mins 

My stepdaughter, the lovely Alice, worked with us in the early days of Redemption and this is her invention. An ailing customer asked her to make a cocktail that had every flu-busting ingredient she could find in the bar. Of course she obliged, and the result happened to be delicious! It has been modified a little over the years, but at its heart it is a hot, feisty little number, which is why we named it in homage to the rock band.

Ingredients: 

80ml (3½fl oz) coconut water

50ml (2fl oz) freshly

Squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon freshly

squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly

squeezed lime juice

4 teaspoons Rhubarb

Cordial or elderflower cordial, shop-bought if you prefer

4 teaspoons pure aloe

Vera juice

1cm (½ in) piece fresh ginger, peeled

1cm (½ in) slice red chilli

A couple of ice cubes

To garnish:

Slices of ginger and a chilli

Indulgence time:

1. Put all the ingredients, except the ice cubes, in a blender and blitz well.
2. If you wish, you can pass the blended liquid through a fine-mesh sieve for an elegantly smooth drink. It is equally delicious and slightly spicier not passed, with the chilli flecks remaining, so it’s entirely up to you whether you follow this step or not.
3. Put the ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and pour over the elixir.
4. Shake well to chill and pour into a large chilled martini glass.

Why is it good for you?

Chilli: contains up to seven times the vitamin C levels of an orange and has properties for fighting sinus congestion.

Ginger Root: has long been used in traditional alternative medicine. It is a great aid to digestion, reduces nausea and helps the body to fight off the flu virus and common colds.

Aloe Vera Juice: is packed with vitamins, including B, C and E, as well as folic acid, all of which fortify the body’s immune system.

Redemption Bar Alcohol-Free Cocktails With Benefits by Catherine Salway and Andrea Waters is published by Kyle Books.

Photography Catherine Gratwicke.

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