🗂️Keep in Mind ‘The Mocktail Club’ Recipe Book Can Take Dry January to the Next Level

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Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.

It may be halfway through Dry January, but I think a mocktail book is still in order. Alongside the folks who desire a once-per-year cleanse are those that skip the booze year-round. In which case, this week’s cookbook, The Mocktail Club, is right on time.

Personally, I enjoy an adult beverage from time to time, but there are many social occasions where I find myself looking at the cocktail menu like it’s the last thing I want near me. But when the mocktail finally got a foothold in the industry and began to gain popularity, I gladly pulled up a stool.

A bit about the book​

There’s always been a feeling, strong or lingering, that social drinking requires alcohol. While that’s fine if it fits your lifestyle, it can simultaneously exclude others if there are no other options. Enter: The mocktail. For those of you that might be unfamiliar, a mocktail (besides being a clever play on the word “cocktail”) is a non-alcoholic drink that combines two or more components.

The Mocktail Club comes to us from Derick Santiago, a certified mixologist who has poured his knowledge into non-alcoholic libations that are just as complex and delicious as the booze-infused. This petite hard cover was published in 2024, and has 75 non-alcoholic recipes in it, including alcohol-free spins on classics like the piña colada, or B&T (botanicals and tonic).

A great book for those who won't settle for juice​

The challenging thing about mocktails, especially in the early years, is that many of the smaller ingredients or components would include alcohol too—liqueurs, bitters, vermouth. Achieving the complexity of cocktails without these smaller additions led to one-dimensional drinks, or sometimes just fancy juices. In the past, being alcohol-free meant your options were rather limited, and not everyone wants six Diet Cokes or waters when they’re at their wife’s birthday party.

These days, the options have opened up. Now there are plenty of brands and businesses in the alcohol-free space, brewing up non-alcoholic tequilas, whiskeys, bitters, and more. The Mocktail Club uses the full range of what is available so now you don’t have to settle for soda or juice if you don’t want to. You can make beautiful, nuanced drinks that don’t feel like a replacement or a disguise; they are actually sophisticated drinks you want to enjoy.

This is a book for someone who wants to truly dive into the world of NA mocktails with gusto. It’s not for someone who wants to make an easy mocktail out of regular ol’ ingredients from the refrigerator. You’ll need supplies, non-alcoholic spirits, and to do a little pre-work with syrups and shrubs.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The recipes you can expect​

Part of the reason I chose to feature The Mocktail Club is because of how thorough the front matter is before the “real” recipes start. Santiago takes the time (but not too much space) to explain what a mocktail is, important terminology, how non-alcoholic versions of spirits are made, and what flavors they mimic.

Santiago gives you a full section of simple syrup recipes, shrub recipes, and accoutrements that add that “little something” to push the drink over the edge. You’ll learn different types of shaking methods, including one that can help you replace alcoholic bitters with a simple orange peel.

The recipes are organized by the primary non-alcoholic spirit in the recipe, chapters like Gin-inspired Mocktails or Rum-inspired Mocktails, lead the way. Aperitifs and completely Spirit-free Mocktails close out the book.

Each recipe has a headnote that briefly explains the flavor profile of the drink and how the ingredients work together. Most of the measurements are for single servings, or occasionally two, so I can see batching these drinks for a party might be cumbersome with the math. But not impossible.

The drink I made this week​

I made the General Giuseppe mocktail this week. I’ve been musing about a trip to Italy for next year and this bright orange drink seemed to match my mood. At first, I was irritated because I wanted to already have all the components it needed, but I did not. Then I realized that a good mocktail is going to require a little work on my part. The mocktail ingredients have to be different from what I have because my home bar is an alcohol zone.

Luckily, finding a “non-alcoholic Italian red aperitif” is not as hard as I thought. You can buy a pack online (this stuff is actually pretty tasty on its own), or check out any Italian specialty stores you have in the area. You might be surprised that some Italian restaurants will sell these items too. I bought my bottle from an Italian sandwich shop in my neighborhood. The same goes for non-alcoholic or zero-proof orange bitters. Check out stores that sell mixers, bougie liquor stores, or buy them online.

The drink was only three ingredients, and easy to prepare; a dry shake before adding ice. The delicious, brightly hued beverage that I poured into my rock glass surpassed expectations. I was worried it would be too sweet, maybe too juicy, or just boring, but it was nothing like that. The sweetness of the orange juice was met head-on with the bitter aperitif. While the light addition of orange bitters added an aromatic depth to make it taste “cocktail-y.”

What's more, I didn’t have to pour it out for once. Whenever I make alcoholic cocktails for work, it’s usually 11 a.m., and that is not for me.

How to buy it​

The Mocktail Club is available online, naturally, and in real life at a number of Barnes & Noble bookstores. Remember, you can support your local brick and mortar bookstores by asking them to order it to their location if they don’t have it in stock. While I did not try batching any mocktails from the book, I think I will for the next get-together I attend. If you do it before I do, let me know how it goes, and enjoy your Dry Whichever-month.


The Mocktail Club: Classic Recipes (and New Favorites) Without the Booze
$17.99 at Amazon
$19.99 Save $2.00
Shop Now


Shop Now
$17.99 at Amazon
$19.99 Save $2.00
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