Bringing flavor to Mocktail Month
By John Fladd
You might not expect the New Hampshire Liquor Commission to be a supporter of “Dry January” — the trend of abstaining from alcohol for the month. But 2025 marks the Commission’s fifth year of partnering with area bars, restaurants and liquor brands to promote New Hampshire Mocktail Month.
“Mocktail” refers to a sophisticated adult beverage that is also alcohol-free. According to Mark Roy, the Liquor Commission’s Director of Marketing, alcohol-optional drinking has been growing in popularity.
“It’s been a growing movement, the idea of entertaining or celebrating responsibly,” Roy said. “[Mocktail Month] gives patrons and consumers the ability to go into [participating bars and restaurants] and enjoy alcohol-free or non-alcohol options along with their wives or spouses or friends who choose to responsibly imbibe that evening, but they can enjoy it along with the same great flavors and the same look without that alcohol involved.”
Roy said Mocktail Month has grown, “from a handful of restaurants the first year to 70 restaurants this year. A lot of restaurants are getting on board, and it’s from every corner of the state … They all feature mocktails on their menus. We highly recommend that you look for these on the menus and enjoy some of these great concoctions.”
Kristen Hancock is the Beverage Director for Copper Door restaurants (in Bedford and Salem). She said Mocktail Month provides an opportunity for her restaurants to highlight something they do regularly.
“We always have mocktails available,” Hancock said. “We have them on the menu all year long, but we [like] letting people know that we have these available. We try to stay seasonal with our flavors and be innovative with flavors but also be approachable.”
So who comes up with these new drinks? “Well it’s mostly me,” Hancock said. “I generally come up with the mocktails and cocktails and then I take input from other bartenders or servers who come up with ideas. We try them out, and if the staff likes them we go for it.”
She said seasonal ingredients are a source of inspiration. “We actually had a cocktail on our menu that I created that used some blueberry simple syrup and I just thought that it would be lovely with our homemade lemonade. It would be a really nice seasonal combination of fun flavors. And it’s been a huge hit. It was nice to carry over something that we use in a cocktail to then also use it in a non-alcoholic drink.”
Hancock said her staff is extremely receptive to suggestions from customers.
“In addition to the mocktails that we feature on the menu, we’re always open to do anything the guests want,” she said. “We make our homemade bloody mary mix, so we can always do a virgin bloody mary. We always have mint in-house, so I have a lot of times that people want to have a virgin raspberry mojito type of thing, and obviously our answer’s ‘Yes, so happily!’ Sometimes a customer will ask, ‘Oh, do you have any raspberries to add? Can I do that with lemonade and some soda water?’ So if we have ingredients that the guests want to play around with, we’re happy to do it.”
New Hampshire Mocktail Month
The Liquor Commission has recipes for zero-proof drinks posted on its website at explore.liquorandwineoutlets.com/live-free-and-host-responsibly.
Amethyst Night
A mocktail recipe from the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, invented by the 7-20-4 Lounge in Londonderry
2 ounces hibiscus tea
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce grapefruit juice
0.75 ounce hibiscus simple syrup
0.75 ounce orgeat
0.5 ounce ginger syrup
Splash of lime juice
Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker, shake, and serve in a rocks glass, with a dried tangerine wheel for garnish.
