Countdown: The Top Ten Best No-Alcohol Drinks

There are plenty of reasons to enjoy an interesting and delicious non-alcoholic drink. You can be the designated driver for the night and still join in the fun. Maybe you just want to look like you're drinking and avoid having a hangover the next day while your friends suffer.

And of course, you can mix and enjoy these fun drinks with your younger family members--without breaking the law.

Order one of these the next time you're the designated driver and see if you can stump your bartender!

Finally, if you're not the designated driver, hop on over to our Top Ten Alcoholic Drinks of Summer post!
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10) The Designated Driver
Perfectly named, delicious, and guaranteed to earn extra points with your drinking friends, since they now know they can have a ride home with you.

2 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces orange juice
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces grapefruit juice

Combine in a tall glass with ice. Garnish with optional cherry or orange wedge.


9) The Rail Splitter
A drink that contains no alcohol, but it sounds like it should. Not to be confused with the Third Rail, a cocktail made with rum and either orange or apple brandy.

1 ounce lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar or sugar syrup, to taste
Ginger ale

Combine lemon juice and sugar in a tall glass, fill with ginger ale.


8) Tomato Cooler
Both tangy and tart, this drink could also make a great base for a savory vegetable smoothie.

8 ounces tomato juice
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice

Combine in a tall glass filled with ice and top off with tonic water. Garnish with a wedge of lime and an optional dill sprig.


7) Lime Cooler
The extra advantage of this simple and refreshing drink is that it looks just like a gin and tonic. If you're holding one of these in your hand, no one will be the wiser!

1-2 Tablespoons lime juice
Tonic water

Add lime juice to a tall glass filled with ice. Fill with tonic water and garnish with a lime wedge.


6) The Virgin Mary
A non-alcoholic take on the Bloody Mary, and known in England, amusingly, as The Bloody Shame. This drink can be made most easily by using store-bought Bloody Mary mix, but for the purists out there, here is a more traditional recipe:

Tomato juice
1 dash lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
optional 1/4 teaspoon horseradish

Fill a glass with ice and tomato juice. Add all other ingredients. Garnish with a stalk of celery. Optional: garnish the rim of the glass with kosher salt.


5) The Pac Man
Not to be confused with the energy drink of the same name. A fun drink and a likely bartender-stumper.

2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grenadine
1 dash bitters
Ginger ale

Combine grenadine, lemon juice and bitters to a mid-sized glass filled with ice. Top off with a generous few splashes of ginger ale. Garnish with a cherry.


4) The Unfuzzy Navel
More colorful and more flavorful than the alcohol-based version.

3 ounces peach juice or peach nectar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3 ounces orange juice
1 dash grenadine

Combine with ice and strain into a wine glass. Garnish with optional cherry or orange slice.


3) Safe Sex on the Beach
An alcohol-free version of the well-known beach drink. You'll look like you're drinking just like everyone else when you're holding one of these, only this drink will never give you a hangover.

2 parts cranberry juice
2 parts orange or grapefruit juice
1 part peach juice or peach nectar

Combine in a tall glass filled with ice.


2) The Arnold Palmer
There are two stories about the birth of this drink: one says that it became famous in the 1960s when the golfing legend said it was his favorite; the other says that Palmer got angry at a clubhouse bartender for refusing to mix lemonade into his iced tea and browbeat him into relenting. Either way, there are few drinks more refreshing on a hot day.

4 ounces Lemonade
4 ounces Ice tea (sweetened or unsweetened)

Combine lemonade and iced tea into a tall glass with ice.


1) The Shirley Temple
Is there any drink that reminds you of childhood more than this one? Named after the adorable child star-turned diplomat, this perfect concoction isn't just for kids. It's for anyone who wants to be happily reminded of their childhood.

Ginger ale
Splash of grenadine, or juice from a jar of maraschino cherries

Add grenadine or cherry juice to a glass filled with ice. Fill with ginger ale. Garnish with optional cherry or orange slice.


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Readers, which of these are your favorites, and what other drinks should I have included?

Related Posts:
How to Start a Casual and Inexpensive Wine Tasting Club
27 Themes and Ideas for Wine Tasting Club Meetings
Countdown: The Top Ten Alcoholic Drinks of Summer
Countdown: Top Ten Low Alcohol Drinks



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4 comments:

Janet C. said...

I started drinking Arnold Palmers long before I knew that was what they were called. I just thought they tasted good....I was just a little disappointed the day I asked a waiter "can I have a glass filled half with lemonade and half with iced tea?" and he said "oh, you want an Arnold Palmer!" I thought I had made up the drink...:-)

Daniel said...

That's a good story Janet! Thanks for sharing.

DK

CreditShout said...

This is really great! I love the play on names to make them non-alcoholic!

Basset Certification said...

This is really great! But the recipe that my eyes were glued was Safe Sex on the Beach! I'll definitely try this at home!