Beat the heat with these easy-to-make summer mocktails!

Pooja Patel

Here are some cool summer special mocktail recipes that we got the best mixologists in and chefs in the country to share with you.

Ginger, Cucumber and Lime Cooler by Executive Chef Merajuddin Ansari, Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi

Ingredients:

¼ chopped ginger
1 cucumber
50 gm chopped mint leaves
Juice of one lime
6 cups sparkling water
Sweetener of your choice

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend well. Pour it in a glass and garnish it with mint sprig, lemon and cucumber slices.
Serve chilled.

Gold in Colada: Twist on Classic Pinacolada with Rose flavour by Sherine John, Corporate Beverage Manager, Tresind

Ingredients: 

150 ml fresh pineapple juice
20 ml coconut syrup
10 ml rosewater
20 ml cream

Method:

Combine all the ingredients together and shake them well to ensure they are mixed perfectly.
Serve in a glass over ice.
Garnish with pineapple leaves or a slice of fresh pineapple. Edible gold can be sprayed on the leaves or the slice for garnishing.

Recipes by Srishti Sethia, Sommelier, ITC Grand Central

Ice Apple Thandai

Ingredients:

2 ice apples
100 ml toned almond milk
1 tsp sugar
Dash of vanilla essence (optional)

Method:

Clean the ice apple and roughly chop.
Drop the cleaned fruit in a blender with some ice. Add the toned almond milk, sugar and a dash of vanilla essence. Blend for 30 seconds.
Strain your cooler in a frosted martini glass.
Garnish with chunks of ice apple.

Kitschy Jamun

Ingredients:

10 ml watermelon juice
50 gms Jamun pulp
½ a tsp Himalayan pink salt
A pinch of asafoetida
Red paprika, chilli – as per your taste
Ice

Method:

De-seed some watermelon chunks and throw it in a blender. Add the Jamun pulp. Strain the juice.
Now add ice, Himalayan salt, asafoetida and paprika powder to the strained juice to the spice levels of your likings.
Blend at speed for about 10-12 seconds.
Pour the mix in a frosted tulip glass, add a sweet cherry and a lime rind for garnish.

Jungle Bird by Saad Ullah, Bartender, Fairfield by Marriott Kolkata

Ingredients:

30 ml pineapple juice
45 ml coconut milk
2 -3 pieces kaffir lime leaves
8 – 10 fresh pineapple chunks
30 ml soda water
Sweet cherry for garnishing

Method:

Put all the ingredients (except soda) into a blender and blend with some ice.
Straight pour into ice-chilled Pilsner glass and top up with soda.
Garnish with kaffir lime leaves, cherry and pineapple slice.

Recipes by Mohan Barkola, Design- Senior Bartender, TORI

Mr Dihydrater

Ingredients:

Highball glass
6-8 ice cubes
Sliced watermelon for garnishing
4 leaves of parsley (muddled)
150 ml fresh watermelon juice
30 ml fennel root syrup
20 ml lime juice
Soda water to top up

Ingredients to make the fennel syrup:

250 gm sugar
A dash of salt
20 gm fennel root with leaves
205 ml water

Method to make fennel syrup:

Roughly chop the fennel into small chunks. Add sugar and water to a medium saucepan.
Heat to a boil, making sure sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.
Add in fennel, allow to steep for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Strain out fennel pieces. Keep it aside.
(This syrup can be stored in a covered container in a refrigerator for up to 2 weeks).

Method to make the drink:

Add the parsley to the highball glass, muddle them gently with lime juice and fennel syrup.
Add the rest of the ingredients except soda water into a highball glass with ice and stir briefly to combine.
Add soda water to complete the cooler.
Garnish with a watermelon slice.

Great basil

Ingredients:

Highball glass
6-8 ice cubes
Mint sprig
Handful of basil (muddle)
10 ml lime juice
60 ml cranberry juice
10 ml sugar syrup
Soda water to top up

Method:

Take a highball glass and add basil leaves and muddle it gently to release its aroma and flavour.
Add lime juice, cranberry juice and sugar syrup. Put ice cubes and stir everything to mix well. Then add the required soda water. Garnish with a mint sprig of basil leaf.

Triple Citrus by Akhilesh Sheoran, Bar Manager, SAGA, Gurgaon

Ingredients:

20 ml fresh fennel cordial
One spray orange blossom
45 ml citrus blend (a blend of orange, grapefruit and sweet lime juice)
House orange soda or regular soda (to top it up)

Method:

Add all ingredients one by one in a tall glass or a wine glass. Add some ice and top up with soda. (If you don’t have orange soda, plain soda works as well).
Garnish with fennel flower.

Smoked Cucumber Buttermilk by Vindhya Karwa (@Vinsplate), Culinarian & Food Stylist

Ingredients for the drink:

1 cup of plain yoghurt
3 cucumbers, chopped
Handful of coriander leaves
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 green chillies chopped
Salt as per taste
2 tsp chaat masala
Handful of mint leaves
2 glasses of chilled water

Ingredients for tempering:

1 tsp of mustard and cumin seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1 pc charcoal for the smokey flavour

Method:

Chop the cucumber, green chillies, garlic and coriander leave roughly.
In a blender, grind them to a paste.
Now add the yoghurt, salt and chaat masala and blend completely. Transfer this to a jar.
Add the remaining water. Blend thoroughly. Refrigerate it for an hour.
Just before serving, give the tempering and the smokey flavour to the spiced cucumber drink with the charcoal.
Just before serving, give the tempering and the smokey flavour to the spiced cucumber drink with the charcoal:
Keep the charcoal on the fire. When it’s hot, place the charcoal on a small plate in the flask or container that has buttermilk.
Add a few drops of ghee/ oil and cover it with a lid. After few seconds remove the cover. After 3 to 4 minutes, remove the charcoal. The charcoal will give a smokey flavour to the buttermilk.
For the tempering: Heat the 1 tsp of ghee in a small wok. Add asafoetida (hing), mustard and cumin seeds. When the seeds crackle, remove them from the fire and pour the tempering in the buttermilk flask.
Garnish the drink with mint leaves and a sprinkle of chaat masala.

Recipes by Chef Harpal Singh, Tata Sky Cooking

Lemongrass Coconut Pepper Lassi

Ingredients:

2-3 stalks of lemongrass (chopped into large pieces and bruised)
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp of coconut cream
1 cup curd
Half a tsp crushed black pepper
1 lemon
1 green coconut with cream
Ice as required
Salt to taste

Method:

Put 2-3 stalks of lemongrass in a mixer jar. Add 2 tbsp curd and 4 tbsp sugar and put some ice (as required).
Grind all the ingredients in mixer and blend until the lemongrass grinds to a paste.
Now add the remaining curd, crushed black pepper, salt, lemon juice and coconut cream.
Pour water from one green coconut and the cream from the shell in the mixer jar. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
Strain and serve chilled in bottles or glass or the coconut shell.

Spicy Watermelon and Guava Mocktail

Ingredients:

250-300 gm of watermelon cubes
1 cup guava juice
10 to 12 mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp black salt
1 tsp salt
½ tsp red chili powder
2 green chilies
2 lemons
10-12 ice cubes

Method:

Take a grinder jar and add watermelon, guava juice, mint leaves, sugar, black salt, salt, red chilli powder and green chillies (break them in halves) in it.
Squeeze a lemon and add a few ice cubes to it. Now, grind it well.
Take a plate and pour some salt and red chilli powder in it and mix them to make the ‘chilli-salt rim’.
Cut 2 wedges of lemon for garnish and slit the lemon wedges.
Take the glasses, rub the rest of the lemon on the rim of the glasses and coat the rim with salt and chilli powder mixture. (Chili-Salt rim)
Pour the mixture into the glasses and serve. Garnish with lemon wedges

You may also like:

Cool it off with these mixologists’ favourite, easy-to-make summer cocktails

The best places that home deliver premium, organic mangoes