Raise a glass to the tea mocktail renaissance
Here’s one thing we love about cocktails—they revere botanicals. Unlike so many other beverages, bar drinks revel in bitter and savory. They tap things like gentian root and burdock, sharp citrus zest and rosemary. The flavors span the globe, and touch on nearly every taste available to us. And the world’s laboratory of botanicals has yielded thousands of cocktails, with new ones conjured every day.
For us, many cocktails just sing of summer. They’re cold, bracing and ridiculously refreshing—and positively packed with flavor. We don’t always want the booze, however. Maybe we’re driving somewhere. Or we don’t drink. Or we are working, or just not in the mood for tipple.
Time for mocktails. And tea, too. No other beverage category on the planet encompasses so many botanicals. With summer here, let’s continue our adventure in using tea to craft flavor-forward, cocktail-like drinks—mocktails.
Bold flavor, no hangover—just deep sips of herbal joy and bracing refreshment
Classic tea, Camellia sinensis, brings a huge diversity of flavors to the bar. Just as tomato incorporates hundreds if not thousands of different-tasting varieties, the same goes with tea. But there’s much more to tea than Camellia sinensis. For one thing, over the years artisans have combined it with many other ingredients, including jasmine blossoms, bergamot oil, calendula, popped rice, barley and so much more. Mixtures of traditional tea with these botanicals are classic blends.
But herbal goes extremely broad, minus Camellia sinensis. If it’s an edible plant, chances are it’s been incorporated into tea. This palette makes tea an ideal mocktail—and cocktail—partner.
For the summer of 2025, let’s dive deep into the deep, cool, oh-so refreshing world of tea-forward mocktails.
Summer Mocktail Recipes: Rhapsody of Berries Spritz
This tea celebrates one botanical in particular—elderberry. The fruit is a superfood, used by naturopathic doctors around the world, and also commonly found in over-the-counter cold and flu formulations. The fruit can boost immune systems, detox and cleanse the body and help mitigate cold and flu symptoms. This is all excellent news, but you know what makes it even more compelling? The flavor! This health powerhouse also happens to convey rich fruit flavor. The blend also contains raisins and hibiscus, for depth, zip and color. Here’s a wonderful recipe using this special tea.
Ingredients:
- 4 oz brewed Rhapsody of Berries tea, chilled
- 1 oz pomegranate juice
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 oz honey syrup (dissolve 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey in 1 1/2 teaspoons of warm water, to loosen the honey for the cocktail)
- 2 oz sparkling water
- Lemon wheel or berry skewer for garnish
To make: Shake tea, juices, honey and lemon with ice. Pour over fresh ice, top with sparkling water. Garnish.
Summer Mocktail Recipes: Desert Rose Mirage
This mash-up of Provence and the desert West brews as summer in a mug. The rose—it grows wild all over in the West—adds such floral notes to both the flavor and aromatics. The rosemary and sage—so earthy and savory, and such a stirring surprise. Then comes tantalizing lavender and powerful lemon balm. All of these botanicals bring health benefits. But they also conjure moods—maybe hanging out behind a New Mexico casita on a summer evening, watching the crows soar over the sagebrush.
It’s a beaut, and so is our cocktail—Desert Rose Mirage
Ingredients:
- 4 oz brewed Desert Rose tea
- 1 oz rosewater lemonade (just add 1/4 tsp of rose water to 1 oz of lemonade)
- 1/2 oz honey syrup (see above)
- Dash of grated cardamom (optional)
- Dried rose petal rim or twist or orange peel (or both)
To make: Pour all in a pint glass of ice and stir. Strain into a coupe.
Summer Mocktail Recipes: Purple Haze Dreamer
The cocktail is such a package. Wine is all about flavor and aromas. Beer hinges on textures and balances of things like hops, barley and other botanicals. Presentation? The head on the pint is the main visual cue.
But cocktails? Bartenders light them on fire! They speckle the rims with everything from Tajin to chipotle to the OG salt. They garnish with spears of celery, with wheels of orange, with mint leaves and berries and even bacon. And the drinks themselves broadcast a huge range of colors. There’s nothing visually dull about the world of cocktails.
Which brings us to this drink, Purple Haze Dreamer, based on our wonderful Purple Haze tea. This indigo vision contains flavor bombs like ginger, lemon, pineapple, apple and basil. That combination alone—chef’s kiss. Tropical and Mediterranean. Fruit and spice. Citrus sour and herbal. And then it’s got butterfly pea flower, a novel botanical that turns liquid bold blue when the liquid contains acid.
We don’t encounter many blue drinks in our world, unless they are dense with awful industrial dye. But this—this!—blue comes from nature. And it’s divine.
Ingredients
- 4 oz brewed Purple Haze tea (chilled)
- 1 oz lavender syrup (easy to find in many grocery stores and shops, and rampant online)
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- Sparkling grape juice or soda
- Crushed ice + edible flowers like violas, pansies for garnish
To make: Shake tea, syrup and lemon. Pour over crushed ice in a tall glass, and top with soda.
Summer Mocktail Recipes: Matcha Mojito
‘Nuff said here, don’t you think? The mojito may be the most iconic green drink—that, and the grasshopper. Its emerald comes from the mint in the cocktail. But we can make it even greener, with matcha. The classic Japanese powdered tea, which gets its hue from the tea shrubs time spent in shade, gets used by chefs, pastry champs and, yes, bartenders to create bold green color. It also lends fetching grassy notes to the things it colors.
This outstanding mocktail broadcasts vivid green—and enchants people with every sip.
Matcha Mojito
Ingredients
- 1 tsp ceremonial-grade matcha, sifted
- 2 oz hot water (not boiling—around 170°F)
- 6–8 fresh mint leaves
- ½ oz lime juice (about half a lime)
- ½ oz honey syrup or simple syrup (adjust to taste)
- Sparkling water to top (plain or lime-flavored)
- Crushed ice
- Lime wheel + mint sprig for garnish
To make:
- Whisk the matcha: In a small bowl or shaker, whisk matcha with hot water until smooth and frothy. Let cool slightly.
- Muddle mint: In a shaker or tall glass, gently muddle mint with lime juice and honey syrup. Don’t shred the mint—just press to release oils.
- Build it: Add the cooled matcha. Fill the glass with crushed ice and top with sparkling water.
- Garnish & serve: Stir gently. Garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.
Optional twists
- Creamy version: Add a splash of coconut milk or oat milk for a matcha-lime colada vibe.
- Spicy version: Muddle in a slice of fresh ginger or jalapeño.
- Bar-style: Shake matcha, lime, syrup and mint with ice, strain into glass, then top with bubbles.
