Watermark, Asbury Park
Bar manager and mixologist Lindsey Diana says she keeps six to eight mocktails on the drink menu, including the spicy Prohibition Punch. “I had two pregnant ladies who tried the whole [mocktail] menu because they were having so much fun,” she says. “They said they were bored with juice and soft drinks and wanted something special.”
Prohibition Punch
2 oz apple cider
1 oz lemon juice
½ oz cinnamon syrup
ginger ale
Fill glass with ice, add first three ingredients, top with ginger ale. Garnish with an apple slice.
Ho-Ho-Kus Inn, Ho-Ho-Kus
“You don’t want [mocktails] to be sickly sweet or childish,” says Rob Lipkin, beverage director and director of operations. “You can’t just replace alcohol with sugar—you have to replace it with flavor.”
Coco Key Lime Mocktini
2 ½ oz limeade
2 ½ oz coconut milk
powdered sugar
fresh lime juice
vanilla extract
coconut flakes
Mix limeade and coconut milk. Add a squeeze of fresh lime and a couple drops vanilla extract. Shake with a glass full of ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with coconut flakes and powered sugar.
Adara, Montclair
“We decided to add mocktails to our menu at Adara because we like the idea of creating an entire dining experience that reflects our outside-the-box approach,” says chef/owner Tre Ghoshal, a proponent of the style of cooking known as molecular gastronomy. “We’re artists, and the drinks on our mocktail menu are our medium.”
Nude Buddha
¼ cup club soda
½ cup Asian pear juice
7 ginger mint leaves (or substitute regular mint leaves)
2 tbsp fennel simple syrup
3 tbsp Monin jasmine syrup (available from online merchants)
2 tbsp water
1 tsp egg white powder (available from online merchants)
Ninety Acres, Peapack-Gladstone
“At Ninety Acres, we evaluate mocktails or cocktails like wine,” says beverage director Brooke Sabel. “You need to have sweetness, acidity and spice to have a balanced drink.”
The Resolution
1 oz pomegranate juice
½ oz rosemary syrup
splash of lime juice
ginger ale
Combine first three ingredients in a flute glass, top with chilled ginger ale.
Preview Bar at the Reserve Steakhouse at Bally’s, Atlantic City
Chris Barnett, the fine-dining manager, says unorthodox ingredients are
“the new wave of mixology.” In this colorful drink, “When you shake all ingredients, it looks like a firecracker exploded in the glass.”
The Firecracker
2 oz pineapple juice
2 oz sour mix
1 oz Sprite
1 tsp Komodo mix (equal parts chili paste, minced garlic, minced cucumber)
Shake all ingredients together, pour into a glass filled with ice.
NOTE: Full instructions for Nude Buddha and cinnamon and rosemary syrups at njmonthly.com/mocktails.