Non-alcoholic drinks to make at home

The easiest non-alcoholic drinks to make at home need only soda water, citrus, a simple syrup and something with a strong flavor: ginger, herbs, tea or fruit. A lime and ginger highball, a rosemary grapefruit spritz, an iced tea "Arnold Palmer" or a cold-brew tonic each take under five minutes and nothing you'd have to order online.

Below: the three base recipes that make most drinks taste finished, 12 measured recipes for one glass with their sugar, a formula to invent your own, batch drinks for a party, warm drinks for winter evenings, and how to use them on the nights you're drinking less.

Why homemade drinks taste flat, and how to fix it

Alcohol does three things in a drink: it adds a bite, it carries smell, and it gives body. Take it out and juice with soda tastes like juice with soda. Put those three back another way:

• Bite: fresh ginger, black pepper, chili, strong tea, tonic or grapefruit.
• Smell: a citrus peel twisted over the glass, fresh herbs slapped between your palms, a sprig of rosemary.
• Body: a little syrup, a splash of tart cherry or pomegranate juice, or lots of ice in a heavy glass so it stays cold and slow.

And serve it like a drink: the right glass, plenty of ice, a garnish. It's the ritual you're replacing as much as the taste.

Three bases to make once a week

A 1:1 syrup holds roughly 15–17 g of sugar per ounce (our maths: 200 g of sugar ends up in about 12 ounces of syrup). Most recipes below use half an ounce, about 8 g, which is a quarter of a can of soda. Use less if you like it drier; you can always add.

12 non-alcoholic drinks to make at home

Each recipe makes one drink. Sugar is the added sugar plus juice, rounded.

1. Lime and ginger highball

Tall glass, ice. ¾ oz ginger syrup, ½ oz fresh lime, top with 5 oz soda water. Lime wedge. About 13 g sugar. Spicy and slow to drink; the best all-round "after work" drink.

2. Rosemary grapefruit spritz

Wine glass, ice. 2 oz fresh grapefruit juice, ½ oz simple syrup, a rosemary sprig slapped and dropped in, top with 4 oz soda water. About 13 g. Note: grapefruit interacts with some medicines (some statins and blood pressure drugs among them). If your prescription label warns about it, use blood orange instead.

3. Iced tea and lemonade (the Arnold Palmer)

Tall glass, ice. 4 oz strong cold black tea, 1 oz fresh lemon, ½ oz simple syrup, 2 oz water. About 9 g. Use decaf tea after 3 p.m. if caffeine keeps you up.

4. Cold-brew tonic

Tall glass, ice. 4 oz light tonic, then pour 2 oz cold brew coffee slowly on top. Orange peel. About 5–10 g with light tonic. Bitter and grown-up; it has caffeine, so it's a daytime or early evening drink.

5. Cucumber mint cooler

Muddle 4 slices of cucumber and 6 mint leaves with ½ oz simple syrup and ¾ oz lime. Add ice, top with 5 oz soda water. About 9 g. Fresh and light; good for a hot evening or while cooking.

6. Tart cherry fizz

Rocks glass, ice. 1½ oz tart cherry juice, ½ oz lemon, 4 oz soda water, a dash of vanilla. About 7 g. Deep color and some body; it looks like a real drink.

7. Shrub and soda

Tall glass, ice. 1 oz fruit shrub (above), 6 oz soda water. About 12 g. Sour and sharp, like a cocktail's first sip. Berry and peach shrubs are the easiest to start with.

8. Pomegranate and orange "Negroni-ish"

Rocks glass, one big ice cube. 1 oz pomegranate juice, 1 oz fresh orange, 2 oz strong cold rooibos or black tea, a pinch of salt, orange peel twisted over it. About 7 g. The tea gives the dry, bitter edge; it's for people who miss a slow stirred drink.

9. Spicy "no-garita"

Rim a glass with salt. Shake 1 oz lime, ½ oz simple syrup or agave, 1 oz orange juice and 2 thin jalapeño slices with ice; strain over fresh ice and top with 2 oz soda water. About 12 g.

10. Virgin Mary

Tall glass, ice. 5 oz tomato juice, ½ oz lemon, 2 dashes Worcestershire, 2 dashes hot sauce, pinch of celery salt and black pepper. Celery stick. About 6 g natural sugar. Savory and filling; good before a meal. Most tomato juice is salty; choose low-sodium if you watch salt.

11. Hop water shandy

Pint glass. 8 oz hop water or a light NA beer, 3 oz lemonade. About 10 g. Tastes like a summer shandy with a fraction of the calories.

12. Sparkling tea

Brew strong green or jasmine tea, cool it, add ¼ oz simple syrup per glass and top with soda water in a wine glass. About 4 g. The closest homemade thing to a dry white wine at dinner. Green tea has some caffeine.

The formula to invent your own

Most good drinks follow the same pattern. Build one glass at a time and taste:

Too sweet: add sour or soda. Too sharp: a few drops of syrup. Flat: more bite, or a peel twist. A pinch of salt makes almost any citrus drink taste rounder.

Batch drinks for a party or a weekend

• Ginger lime punch (10 glasses): 1 cup ginger syrup, 1 cup lime juice, 2 cups cold black tea, and 4 cups soda water added just before serving. Lots of ice and lime wheels.
• Sparkling cranberry punch (10 glasses): 2 cups unsweetened cranberry juice, 1 cup orange juice, ½ cup simple syrup, 4 cups soda water, orange slices and rosemary.
• Iced tea jug (8 glasses): 6 cups strong tea, 1 cup lemon juice, ½ cup simple syrup, mint. Keeps 2 days.

Mix everything except the fizz ahead; add soda water at the last minute so it stays bubbly. Put the alcohol-free jug where the drinks are, not in the kitchen, and label it. People take it if it looks like the main event.

Warm drinks for winter evenings

• Spiced apple: warm apple cider with a cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, a strip of orange peel. About 25 g natural sugar in 8 oz; use half cider, half hot water to cut it.
• Ginger lemon hot toddy (no whiskey): hot water, ½ oz ginger syrup, ½ oz lemon, a spoon of honey, cinnamon stick.
• Mulled grape: red grape juice and water half and half, warmed with star anise, cinnamon and orange slices. Feels like mulled wine at a party.
• Rooibos chai: caffeine-free and spicy; a good "couch drink" for the hour you'd usually pour a glass.

What to keep in the kitchen

1. Soda water (a case, or a home soda maker)
2. Limes, lemons and an orange or two
3. Fresh ginger and mint or rosemary
4. Black tea, green tea and a caffeine-free one
5. Tart cherry, pomegranate or cranberry juice (unsweetened)
6. Light tonic and ginger beer
7. A jar of simple syrup and one of ginger syrup
8. A few good glasses you only use for these

If you'd rather buy than make, our guide to sober curious drinks covers non-alcoholic beer, wine, spirits and hop water with prices per serving. For a night out, see non-alcoholic drinks to order at a bar.

Using these drinks to drink less at home

A good drink in the fridge is what makes a dry night easy. A few ways to use them:

• Have it ready for your moment. If you usually pour wine while cooking, have the cucumber cooler or sparkling tea made before you start cooking.
• First drink alcohol-free. Make the highball first; often the first drink was thirst and the wish to mark the end of the day.
• Alternate. On nights you do drink, every other glass from this list halves the alcohol.
• Make the last one alcohol-free. The evening's last drink does the most harm to sleep. Our guide to alcohol and sleep quality explains why.

Most people drink at home at the same time and for the same reason each day. The free 2-minute drinking pattern quiz finds yours, so you know which drink to have ready and when. Our guide on how to cut back on drinking alcohol covers the rest of the routine.

A word on bitters and kombucha

Many mocktail recipes use cocktail bitters or homemade kombucha. Both contain alcohol: Angostura bitters is 44.7% alcohol (a few dashes is a tiny amount), and home-fermented kombucha can rise past 0.5%. Home-brewing also carries a contamination risk if it's not done cleanly. If you need zero alcohol, for pregnancy, medicine or recovery, leave them out; every recipe above works without them.

Questions people ask

What can I drink at night instead of alcohol?

Something cold and fizzy with a bite, like the lime and ginger highball or a shrub and soda, or something warm like rooibos chai or a ginger lemon toddy. Avoid caffeine and lots of sugar late at night.

How do you make a mocktail taste like a cocktail?

Put back what alcohol adds: bite (ginger, chili, tonic), smell (a twisted citrus peel, herbs) and body (a little syrup, tart juice, a heavy glass with lots of ice).

What's the healthiest non-alcoholic drink to make at home?

Soda water with fresh lime and herbs, sparkling tea, or a Virgin Mary are low in sugar. Most recipes here have 4–13 g, less than half a can of soda.

Can I make these without sugar?

Yes. Use less syrup, a sugar-free sweetener, or rely on bite and smell: soda water, lime, a slapped mint sprig and a pinch of salt is a good drink with no added sugar.

How long does homemade simple syrup last?

About 3–4 weeks in a clean, closed jar in the fridge. Throw it out if it turns cloudy or smells off.

More on drinking less: all our drink-less guides.

Sources: USDA FoodData Central (sugar, tonic water, grapefruit juice, tart cherry juice, pomegranate juice, tomato juice, apple cider). US Food and Drug Administration, "Grapefruit juice and some drugs don't mix". House of Angostura, Angostura aromatic bitters (44.7% ABV). Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), kombucha guidance. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR 1995, illness possibly associated with home-brewed kombucha. This guide is about habits and is not medical advice.