Quarantini, anyone? Following 18 months of on/off lockdowns and plenty of downtime spent indoors, many Brits have gotten rather skilled at creating carefully crafted cocktails, in lieu of our favourite bars being open and to prevent cabin fever setting in.
But just because restrictions have largely been lifted shouldn’t mean that you stop honing that newly minted mixologist prowess (hey, they did say everyone should learn a new skill during lockdown, right?). Instead, why not diversify your domestic drink mixing game with some fantastic vegan cocktails?
Indeed, some mixers and tonics are unsuitable for a vegan diet, so we’ve decided to create a 2021 vegan cocktail recipe guide using high-quality mixers that boost flavours, but with none of the animal products thrown in.
That’s right; whether it’s egg white in your Amaretto Sour, cream in your White Russian, Worcestershire Sauce in your Bloody Mary, ester gum in your soda or cochineal in your Campari, many common cocktail ingredients aren’t actually suitable for vegans.
With the number of vegans jumping by 40 per cent last year, and with more people opting for a plant-based or flexitarian diet, it’s nice to have vegan options where possible if you’re keen to be an accommodating, attentive host.
With summer coming to an end, let’s see the season out in style with these 5 boozy, end of summer vegan cocktails to try today.
REFRESHING GRAPEFRUIT PALOMA
Grapefruit can be an acquired taste, but in a cocktail, it is refreshing and light with a little fizz – perfect for these hazy, lazy last days of summer and a rather sunny September.
Mixing this drink also creates a beautiful light pink hue that looks brilliant in the sun. Similar to a margarita cocktail, the paloma is a popular drink in Mexico.
Ingredients:
- 45ml tequila
- Fentimans soda water
- 60ml squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Kosher salt
- Cubed or crushed ice
Method:
- Run a wedge of grapefruit around the rim of a margarita glass and then dip the glass in salt. Fill the glass with ice to keep it cool.
- Mix and stir the grapefruit juice with the sugar and then add the juice and tequila to a cocktail shaker filled half with ice. Shake the cocktail shaker vigorously.
- Pour into the margarita glass and top off with Fentimans soda water to taste. Stir and garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
Strawberry lemonade
Full of fruity flavours and with the perfect kick of alcohol, this cocktail might go down just a little bit too easily. The Fentimans Victorian Lemonade has the juice of one and a half lemons in each bottle and is botanically brewed for a unique kick – it is certainly more than just your typical lemonade, which makes this drink extra special.
Ingredients:
- 35ml berry vodka
- Dash of sugar syrup
- 2 strawberries, diced
- Fentimans Victorian Lemonade, to top up
- Fresh mint
- Lemon wedge
Method:
- Muddle the strawberries in the sugar syrup. Then, add mint and vodka, and stir.
- Add ice and top up with Fentimans Victorian Lemonade. Garnish with mint, lemon, and strawberries.
If you want a smooth sip rather than one with bits in, shake all the ingredients apart from the lemonade in a cocktail shaker and strain into the glass.
Indian summer cup
Having a few people over? Impress them with this aromatic, sweet cocktail that they can help themselves to. Packed with a riot of different flavours but perfectly balanced, this drink is sure to get the party started.
Ingredients:
- 1 litre bottle London dry gin
- 1 litre bottle of vegan-friendly sweet vermouth
- 240ml elderflower liqueur
- 240ml peach liqueur
- 710ml lemon syrup
- 460ml apple juice
- 1000ml chilled vegan tonic water
- 460ml chilled vegan sparkling water
- Ice
- 1 sliced green apple
- 2 sliced peaches
- 6 long and thin cucumber slices
- 30g torn mint leaves
Method:
- In a large bowl, combine the gin, vermouth, elderflower, peach liqueurs, lemon syrup, and apple juice. Refrigerate for about four hours until it is chilled.
- When chilled, stir in the tonic water and sparkling water.
- Add ice and garnish with the apple, peaches, cucumber, and mint leaves.
Black cherry bourbon cola
Sweet, simple and a real crowd-pleaser, it’s well known that cola and cherries go well together. Just add bourbon and you’ve created the perfect sundowner style drink for enjoying as dusk falls. If cola makes the whole thing a little too sweet for you, ginger beer or soda water are a more than viable stand-in to change up the flavours.
Ingredients:
- 30ml bourbon
- 15ml cherry brandy
- 3 black cherries, pitted
- 1/4 a lime, juiced (and optional wedge to garnish with)
- Chilled Cola
- Vegan ginger beer and vegan soda water, optional
Method:
- Muddle the cherries and then mix in a cocktail shaker with the cherries, bourbon, brandy, lime juice, and ice.
- Strain the cocktail over a glass with ice in.
- Top up with cola (and ginger beer and soda water, if desired, to taste) and serve with a wedge of lime.
Raspberry mojito
Everyone loves a mojito, and the best thing about this recipe is that you can simply change the fruit for different flavours in accordance with the seasons – right now, blackberries and figs are both abundant and oh-so delicious!
Easy to drink and super refreshing, this cocktail is one of the easiest to make.
Ingredients:
- 60ml white rum
- Vegan soda water
- 5 raspberries
- 1 lime, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp sugar
- Small handful of mint leaves
- Ice
Method:
- Muddle the raspberries, mint, and sugar together in the juice that you have freshly squeezed from the lime.
- Pour the cocktail over ice into a tall glass.
- Add the rum while stirring with a spoon. Top up with soda water to taste and serve with mint.
Celebrate the end of summer right with our vegan cocktail recipes, using the finest mixers and tonic that complement the spirits and give them a kick of flavour.