Go Alcohol Free With a Festive Christmas Mocktail

Chef Kate with Young Living Essential Oils shares her six personal festive mocktail recipes for Christmas.

Chef Kate (aka: The Flavour of Joy) is a culinary oil ambassador for Young Living Essential Oils, she is a chef to the stars and creates delicious recipes which benefit your inner health, helping you feel good inside and out.

Christmas is a time of celebration. No matter what is happening in your city, or around the world. It’s a time to be with your loved ones, whether that be face to face or through digital technologies.

It’s a time to share the joy of just being here, and thankful for what we have – and to share that thanks with those who need it most of it.

Depending where you are living right now, parties may or may not be on the cards for Christmas. For Sydney-siders, parties are on (with some restrictions ), which means it’s time to start organising some healthy alternatives for your traditional Christmas recipes.

And mocktails (alcohol-free cocktails) should absolutely be on the menu.

These recipe by Kate, are the perfect solution for celebrating this holiday season without alcohol.

They are delicious and full of healthy ingredients, like Young Living’s NingXia ZyngTM NingXia Red® and a few drops of culinary essential oils to make the flavour really pop! If yo do not have any NingXia ZyngTM on hand, substitute with your favourite sparkling juice.

Cran-Raspberry Spritzer

Ingredients:

• 11⁄2 cups 60 ml 11⁄2 cup 1⁄4 cup 1 drop 1 drop 2 tbsp.
• Sparkling apple or sparkling cranberry juice NingXia Red®
• NingXia ZyngTM
• Raspberry puree (reserve 1 tbsp.)
• Young Living Lemon essential oil
• Young Living Orange essential oil
• Caster or coconut sugar (to rim glasses)
• Ice, to chill
• Fresh raspberries, strawberry slices or pomegranate arils (for serving)

Method:

1. To make the raspberry puree, blend 1⁄4 cup raspberries with water (30 ml) and strain seeds. Reserve 1 tablespoon for rimming the glasses.
2. In a glass jug, mix the sparkling juice, NingXia Red®, NingXia ZyngTM, raspberry puree and the culinary essential oils together. Add some ice and stir well to chill.
3. To rim the glasses for a festive look, place the reserved puree on a flat plate. On another plate, place 2 tablespoons of caster sugar. Dip the rims of the glasses in the puree, and then into the sugar, creating a festive rim. Coconut sugar can be used instead, but the colour will be darker.
4. Carefully pour the mocktail into the glasses, then add a few raspberries, strawberry slices or pomegranate arils and serve.

Lime Zynger

If you’ll be celebrating the holidays late into the night, here’s a drink to get you through the evening. This fizzy delight contains wolfberries, white tea leaf extract, and green tea extract for a boost of crash-free energy. Whether you’re staying up to wrap presents or ringing in the new year, throw back a couple of these zesty zingers to feel instantly refreshed.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup NingXia Red
• 1 drop Lime essential oil
• 1 can NingXia Zyng
• Lime wedges

Method:

1. Pour 1 cup of NingXia Red into a highball or other tall glass full of ice and add Lime essential oil.
2. Fill the glass to the top with NingXia Zyng. Squeeze a lime wedge into the glass.
3. Garnish with another lime wedge.

NingXia-Rosemary Mule

Based on the trendy Moscow Mule, this refreshing mocktail is sure to be a crowd pleaser at your next holiday dinner party. Ginger beer, which is a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage similar to ginger ale, lends the drink a snappy flavor with a hint of spice. If you’re hosting a large group of people, you can easily multiply the recipe to make a big batch. For a quick conversion that serves eight, use cups instead of ounces for the first two ingredients and add eight drops of Rosemary essential oil for an herby kick.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces NingXia Red
• 6 ounces ginger beer
• 1 drop Rosemary essential oil
• Rosemary sprig

Method:

1. Pour all ingredients into a copper mug full of crushed ice.
2. Stir well to mix.
3. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Bloody Mary

In need of a drink that goes well with Christmas brunch? Try our twist on the classic Bloody Mary! Boosted with culinary essential oils and easily customisable to different palates, our version is fun for the whole family. Serve it up with a variety of trimmings so everyone can garnish to their heart’s content. Some of our top picks are celery sticks, olives, lemon wedges, pickles, and jalapeños.

YL tip: The toothpick method allows you to get a more subtle flavour with culinary essential oils. Simply dip a toothpick in the oil and swirl through your ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Lemon wedges
• Sea salt
• 6 ounces tomato juice
• 1 drop Black Pepper essential oi
• Toothpick swirl of Lime 
• Toothpick swirl of Celery Seed 
• Toothpick swirl of Lemon 
• 1 drop hot sauce
• Celery stick (optional)

Instructions:

1. Salt the rim of a highball or old-fashioned glass by running a lemon wedge around the rim then rolling the outer edge of the glass in sea salt. Fill glass with ice and set aside.
2. Squeeze a lemon wedge into a shaker and drop it in. Add tomato juice, culinary essential oils, a dash of hot sauce to taste, and ice to the shaker. Shake gently to mix.
3. Strain into prepared glass.
4. Garnish with celery or your favorite Bloody Mary toppings.

NingXia Red Punch

Don’t want to be mixing up mocktails all night? Skip the hassle and break out the punch bowl instead. The beauty of this big-batch drink is that you can make it ahead of time, leaving you free to mingle with guests. Our fruity drink packs a *punch* in antioxidants and essential oils. Sweet, fruity, and delicious, our recipe gets your party going with a bang!

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle NingXia Red
• 4 cups apple cider
• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• ¼ cup honey or simple syrup
• Sliced apples
• Pomegranate seeds
• Cinnamon sticks

Method:

1. In a punch bowl, pour NingXia Red, apple cider, pomegranate juice, and honey. Add fruit and cinnamon sticks. Mix well.
2. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve. The longer the fruit soaks in the liquid, the more the flavors will combine.
3. Serve in short glasses garnished with more apple slices, pomegranate seeds, and cinnamon stick stirrers.

Spiced Cinnamon Cider

Another batch drink that’s easy to prepare is hot apple cider. In this recipe, we used culinary essential oil instead of dried spices for stronger and purer flavour. Fun fact: A steaming mug of cider is the perfect remedy to cold, wintry days. Serve it after a day of sledding or an evening of caroling to warm up guests from the inside out.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups apple juice or cider
• 4 cups orange juice
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 9 drops Cinnamon Bark essential oil
• 6 drops Cardamom essential oil
• 4 drops Clove essential oil
• 4 drops Nutmeg essential oil
• 3 drops Citrus Fresh essential oil
• Sliced oranges
• Cinnamon sticks

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a large pot and stir to combine. Heat until simmering. Simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Serve warm in a mug.
3. Garnish with sliced oranges and cinnamon sticks.