Mocktails: six flower recipes for a party.

Six flower mocktails

These recipes are our own, born from the preparations on our plant pages. Each one fills a jug of about a litre, enough for four to six glasses.

• Sparkling rose. A good handful of rose petals in 25 cl (about 1 cup) of water at 85 °C, 7 minutes, covered. Strain and dissolve 150 g of sugar in it: the syrup keeps a week in the fridge. In each glass, 3 cl of syrup, the juice of half a lemon, very cold sparkling water.
• Lavender lemonade. A teaspoon of lavender flowers in 25 cl (about 1 cup) of water just off the boil, 7 minutes, covered. Strain; once the infusion is lukewarm, two spoonfuls of Melipona honey, the honey of the Maya bees. The juice of three lemons, 75 cl of cool still or sparkling water, ice. Lavender likes a light hand: a little more and it turns to soap.
• Iced chamomile with pear. Four teaspoons of noble chamomile in a litre of water just off the boil, 7 to 10 minutes, covered. Leave to cool, add slices of pear, a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of honey. Serve over ice.
• Rose cacao. For winter and the eves of celebrations. A pinch of rose petals in water at 85 °C, 7 minutes, strain, leave to cool below 60 °C. Whisk in 20 to 30 g of grated ceremonial cacao per cup. For the foam, pour from one bowl to another, as the Maya did.
• Yauhtli anise cooler. Four teaspoons of Yauhtli, the Mexican tarragon of the Aztecs, in a litre of water at 80 °C, 5 to 10 minutes. Its flavour recalls anise, sweet, close to liquorice. Chill, and serve very cold with a twist of orange zest: an anise aperitif to share.
• Three-flower punch. A teaspoon of lavender, one of chamomile and a pinch of rose petals in 50 cl of water at 80 °C, 7 minutes. Strain, cool, then 50 cl of apple juice, orange wedges, ice. The bowl in the middle of the table, and everyone helps themselves.

The calendar of alcohol-free months

Whole countries give themselves a month, or a few weeks, to raise a glass differently. Here are the campaigns we found, with their sources at the bottom of the page.

In Japan, the word kyūkanbi reads “liver rest day”: there, people count days within the week.

Where the toast and the mocktail come from

The toast comes from a 17th-century English custom: a piece of toasted, spiced bread flavoured the drink, and the name of the person being honoured was meant to flavour it in the same way. The word passed to the raised glass (Dictionary.com). The mocktail, from mock, “imitation”, and cocktail, appears in 1930s English (Dictionary.com).

Long before these words, people were already raising alcohol-free drinks. Sharbat, from the Persian, “a drink of sugar and water”, is often scented with rose; the Mughals carried it to India (Wikipedia). In Mesoamerica, cacao was drunk hot or cold, with chilli, honey and flowers, poured from a height to foam (Penn Museum).

Precautions

Chamomile: if you are allergic to the Asteraceae family (ragweed, daisies, chrysanthemums), leave it out; its safety during pregnancy and breastfeeding has not been established, and it can interact with warfarin (NCCIH). Lavender: the European Medicines Agency does not recommend it during pregnancy and breastfeeding, for lack of data (EMA). Yauhtli: avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and if you are allergic to the Asteraceae family; its anise flavour is for moderate use. Rose: if you are allergic to the Rosaceae family, leave it out. Cacao contains natural stimulants: moderation during pregnancy. If you take any medication, ask a doctor before any plant.

Sources

• Dry January (United Kingdom): Alcohol Change UK. Sober October: Civil Society. Dry July: Wikipedia. Ocsober: Wikipedia.
• France: dryjanuary.fr; Le Quotidien du Médecin. Switzerland: Horizont.
• IkPas: ikpas.nl. Tournée Minérale: VRT NWS. Suchej únor: suchejunor.cz.
• 7 Wochen Ohne: evangelisch.de. Month of sobriety: Episkopat.pl.
• День трезвости: Foma. 休肝日: e-ヘルスネット, Japanese Ministry of Health.