The Paloma represents the Mexican cocktail tradition at its refreshing best: grapefruit-forward, perfectly balanced, and endlessly drinkable. Creating quality non-alcoholic versions should be straightforward, yet most Paloma mocktails fail spectacularly by drowning authentic citrus character in excessive sweetness or artificial flavoring. Many mocktail enthusiasts chalk the failures up to palomas just not being a good fit for mocktail crafting. Really though, the fact is that almost every cocktail can be made as a mocktail, when the right balance is achieved. Paloma mocktails are not impossible to create, they just take a little more patience to perfect than others. A patience...

The Margarita Mocktail That Doesn't Taste Like Juice The mocktail revolution promised sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages that could satisfy adult palates. Instead, most restaurants and bars serve glorified fruit punches masquerading as grown-up drinks. Sticky-sweet concoctions that taste more like kids' party beverages than the elegant cocktails they're supposed to replace. For people choosing not to drink, this represents a frustrating compromise. You want to participate in celebratory moments, enjoy complex flavors, and feel included in social drinking culture. What you get instead are beverages that announce your abstinence through their obvious artificiality and juvenile sweetness. The problem isn't with the...