Mocktails are not just any drinks they are drinks with a
capital `D’, especially for those who have gone off alcohol as it is becoming
fashionable to be a teetotaler. Given the statistics of drunken driving or the
effects of alcohol in pregnant women and their babies, more and more people are
switching to non-alcoholic drinks.
But at parties when a chosen few are nursing heady
cocktails the rest too like to look cool and chilled out with a different drink
in their hands rather than a plain soft drink filled with empty calories.
Mocktails are special drinks, garnished and decorated. Mocktails can be bitter,
sour and sweet competing with any cocktail and yet they are without any side
effects.
This maybe for the party scene but for us lesser mortals
bearing the blazing summer, we need to cool off with age-old recipes to reduce
body heat. Oldies would swear on the chilling out properties of traditional *Mango
Panna, Jal Jeera or the humble Butter Milk.* Let me share my special recipe
for Mango
Panna-
Raw mango
Cummin Seed powder
Sugar
Black Salt
Common Salt
Mint Leaves
Boil the mango and remove the pulp, add the other
ingredients, crushed mint leaves, strain through a colander, add lots of water.
Serve chilled, garnished with fresh mint leaves. She swears that this is the
ultimate cooler to beat the summer heat.
The ubiquitous Buttermilk too can be spiced up with
a dash of lime, ginger curry leaves, coriander, and pepper and cumin powder. I
have many recipes up my sleeve. Instead of serving plain soft drinks, it is
more inventive to serve a Sprite with a Strawberry cordial, making it
magenta coloured and adding fizz at the same time. Khus syrup in green can
be served chilled with a lime cordial. A nutritious and cool drink that one can
take daily is a carrot and cucumber juice blended with mint and ginger. It is
low in calories too as there is no sugar added.
Mocktails can be spruced up and look really cool by the
presentation itself. It is almost an art. Serve the drinks in long stemmed or
tall glasses. Garnish them with a variety of fruits and accessories. Fancy
straws, drink umbrellas and stir sticks are a few embellishments to start with.
Depending on the drink one can garnish the drink with carrot sticks, pineapple
slices, lemon wedges, orange wheels, bunch of grapes, a kiwi slice sprigs of
mint or basiland even with sticks of cinnamon. It is said that we drink
with our eyes before we do with our mouth and so it is mandatory that we make
the drink look appetizing and tempting. Here is a nice tip to frost the glasses
before serving- Dip the rim of the glasses in water and then dip it in either
sugar or salt, depending on the drink and freeze the glasses before pouring the
drink.’
My favourite drink in summer is Iced tea. `Hot tea in
summer is very difficult to drink but then there is a choice of iced tea for
all those addicted to the dark beverage’.
Take a tall glass, pour crushed ice into it at the base,
then pour some lemonade or even sweet lime juice and top it with tea decoction
that is cooled and mixed with mint leaves. Garnish the glass with a lemon ring
on the glass along with a sprig of mint. ` It is the ultimate cooler and shaker
to beat the heat.’ Lipton sells ready to drink iced tea in tetrapacks but that is also very tasty but Nestle’s powder mixes with different flovours like peach, lime,
etc are slurpicious.
Blending and pureeing or mixing innovative drinks just takes
a little imagination and can easily be done with easily available fruits and
ingredients. One can combine lemon juice and cool pomegranate juice or even
strawberry juice and `Viola!’ you have a colourful and cool drink ready in a
jiffy to appease the thirst of summer guests or even your own family.
A Pina Colada is an all time favourite
mocktail and I follow this evergreen recipe……
3 glasses pineapple juice
3 cups of coconut milk
3 cups of ice vanilla cream
Sugar to taste
Blend all the ingredients well, chill the drink and serve it
in tall cocktail glasses, dressed with pineapple wedges and a paper umbrella.
`We all have this notion that these drinks only come out of a five star lounge
but just a little effort and we can churn it out in our humble homes.’
Watermelon Juice
Melon wedges
Piece of ginger
Mint leaves
Sugar to taste
Lime juice
Ice
Blend all the ingredients together and serve chilled.Garnish with a sprig of mint leaves.You won;t be disappointed!
Tip-To make the mocktails more chic one can pour the drink into
an ice tray and top the drink with these cubes to add a dash of colour and
taste to the ice cubes too.
Don’t gulp these drinks but sip them slowly and savour every
sip, relish it and cool off with these zing things. Giving them interesting
names too adds to their tang.Names like Double Trouble, Green with Envy,
Pineapple Fizz, Lemon Iced Tea, Summer Cooler, Creamy Milk, Fruit Punch or
Mango Merry to name a few.
Cheers! Hic! Hic!