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These terrific mocktails are perfect for Dry January

Giving your liver a break doesn't have to mean skimping on flavor

January is a time when some people like to take a month off from drinking to let their livers relax a little. After a holiday season packed with parties, office gatherings, and family get-togethers, a break from the booze makes sense. To make it through any of these festivities, a good, stiff drink is often necessary. The problem is that that drink quickly becomes two. Then there’s a few casual beers, a glass of champagne for the toast, and pretty soon you’re throwing up on your boss’ shoes. Come January, our bodies need a break. Cue the mocktails.

If you’ve been living under a rock, a mocktail is a mixed drink that feels celebratory and special, but doesn’t contain any alcohol. They’re wonderful for those post-holiday get-togethers when your body needs to mend, for people who don’t drink, and for parties with guests of all ages. These are a few of our favorites.

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Coconut Cream Mocktini

Art From My Table

(From Art from my Table)

This beautiful mocktail feels somehow wintery and tropical at the same time. Its snowy texture and pure white color are perfect for January, but the summertime flavor will have to ready to shed the hat and scarf.

Pink Panther Mocktail

A Farmgirl's Dabbles

(From A Farmgirl’s Dabbles)

Make a big batch of these, because everyone from Grandma to little Suzie to Boozie Betty will want seconds. Drinking like an alcohol-free pina colada, this creamy treat is sure to get you through dry January without a second glance at the bar.

Honey Blackberry Mint Mocktails

Bowl of Delicious

(From Bowl of Delicious)

This fresh and fizzy mocktail is not only beautiful and delicious, but it’s healthy, too! Containing zero refined sugar, this booze-free beverage is good for both the waistline and the liver.

Virgin Mojito Mocktail

Munaty Cooking / Munaty Cooking

(From Munaty Cooking)

If you’re missing the flavor of a more classic cocktail, this virgin mojito is the way to go. Containing all of the minty, refreshing mojito taste with none of the rum, this is a perfect drink that will carry you right on through January to the hammock-swinging, lazy days of summer.

Lindsay Parrill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
Make non-alcoholic versions of these classic cocktails for Dry January
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If you're doing Dry January this year then you don't just have to stick to water and sodas all month -- you might want to look into some of the options available for non-alcoholic cocktails too.

While there are plenty of great drinks options which use ingredients like fruit juices, shrubs, and sodas, one great option for the cocktail lover is to look into non-alcoholic spirits. Options like Fluère Spiced Cane, a rum alternative, or Damrak Virgin, a gin alternative, are distilled to have the flavor and drinking qualities of a spirit but without the alcohol. That makes it dead easy to swap these into classic cocktails, so you can enjoy a classic drink without the booze.
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Creating the perfect martini is a real art form. While there are plenty who love the classic version of the drink -- just gin, with a tiny whiff of dry vermouth, stirred together and perhaps garnished with an olive -- there are also millions of martini variations incorporating just about every flavor and liqueur you can imagine. While purists might decry drinks like the Espresso Martini as not a martini at all (which I might have to agree with -- though it is a fine drink, it isn't really a martini) there are still variations you can make which keep within the bounds of tradition.

The key to a good martini variation is understanding your base spirit. With gin, you'll find a wide range of botanicals used which give a big range of flavors to the final product. So you need to identify the key flavors of your gin, and use that to pick your vermouth and your bitters.

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With lots of people embracing Dry January, this is the perfect time to let those non-alcoholic cocktails shine. And a Chicago's Tiki-themed bar Three Dots and a Dash, they've taken up the challenge of creating complex, interesting Tiki-style drinks without the usual signature rum or other spirits.

This summer, the bar debuted its non-alcoholic riff on the classic Zombie, called the Watermelon Nombie. And now the bar has a new version for the winter, called the Honeycrisp Nombie. It uses honeycrisp apple juice plus spices like cinnamon and alcohol-free amaro Lucano Amaro Zero along with all the fun garnishes and elaborate presentation you'd hope for from a Tiki drink. So if you're looking to up your mocktail game to something truly impressive and fun this season, then the bar has also shared the recipe for its newest creation below -- and don't forget to use your best Tiki mugs!
Honeycrisp Nombie recipe
The Watermelon Nombie, another Three Dots and Dash mocktails Three Dots and a Dash

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