Quick Mocktails

No shaker, no syrups to make in advance, no shopping trip. These are the drinks for a Tuesday when you want something better than a soda water and have five minutes.

Apple Cider Mule

A mule with cider in place of the vodka. Autumn's best drink and it takes three minutes.

3 min · Easy

Arnold Palmer

Half iced tea, half lemonade. Two ingredients, and the ratio most people get wrong.

5 min · Easy

Blackberry Basil Smash

Muddled fruit and herbs, sharp with lemon. Looks impressive and takes five minutes.

5 min · Easy

Cherry Limeade

The American drive-in classic — tart lime, real cherry, plenty of ice.

4 min · Easy

Coconut Lime Cooler

Creamy without being heavy, and dairy-free. A piña colada's lighter, less sweet cousin.

4 min · Easy

Cold Brew Tonic

Smoother and less acidic than espresso tonic, and you can make it without a machine.

3 min · Easy

Cranberry Orange Spritzer

Tart, bright and barely sweet. Two minutes, and it looks like an occasion.

3 min · Easy

Cranberry Rosemary Spritz

Tart, herbal and festive. The drink to make when you want something that looks like an occasion.

5 min · Easy

Cucumber Mint Cooler

Clean, cold and barely sweet — the drink to make when everything else on offer is sugary.

5 min · Easy

Egg Cream

New York's soda-fountain classic. No egg, no cream — and the pouring order is the entire recipe.

3 min · Easy

Elderflower Cucumber Spritz

Delicate, floral and clean. The most elegant drink here and among the simplest.

4 min · Easy

Espresso Tonic

Bitter, bright and genuinely one of the best non-alcoholic drinks going. Two ingredients and one bit of technique.

3 min · Easy

Ginger Turmeric Tonic

Sharp, warming and barely sweet. The one to make when you want something that feels like it's doing you good.

5 min · Easy

Grapefruit Rosemary Soda

Bitter, herbal and barely sweet — for people who don't want a sweet drink at all.

4 min · Easy

Honey Citrus Cooler

Three citrus fruits and honey over ice. Nothing exotic, and one of the best things on this list.

4 min · Easy

Hot Toddy Mocktail

Honey, lemon and spice in hot water. What to hold at a winter party, and genuinely soothing when you're ill.

5 min · Easy

Lemon, Lime and Bitters

Australia's default non-alcoholic order, and the most-ordered mocktail in the world. Three ingredients, one technique.

2 min · Easy

Mango Chilli Cooler

Sweet, hot and salty at once. The most interesting thing you can make from a frozen bag of mango.

5 min · Easy

Moscow Mule Mocktail

Ginger, lime and bite. The mule loses less to going alcohol-free than almost any other classic.

3 min · Easy

Nogroni

The most convincing zero-proof classic there is, because bitterness survives losing the alcohol better than anything else.

3 min · Easy

Pineapple Ginger Cooler

Sharp, tropical and warming at once. The ginger stops the pineapple from being merely sweet.

4 min · Easy

Pomegranate Ginger Fizz

Deep colour, real bite. The most grown-up-looking drink on this list and one of the quickest.

3 min · Easy

Roy Rogers

The cola counterpart to the Shirley Temple, and the easiest drink on this list.

2 min · Easy

Shirley Temple

The original mocktail. Ginger ale, grenadine and a cherry — plus how to make it taste like a real drink instead of a sugar bomb.

3 min · Easy

Spiced Apple Fizz

Autumn in a glass, and the most reliable crowd-pleaser at a holiday party.

5 min · Easy

Strawberry Mint Cooler

Sweet, sharp and cold. Uses up strawberries that are slightly past their best.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Bellini

Peach and sparkling, two ingredients. The easiest thing to hand someone at a brunch or a toast.

3 min · Easy

Virgin Bloody Maria

A Virgin Mary with smoke and heat. Better than the original if you like chilli.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Cosmopolitan

Cranberry, lime and orange, shaken hard and served up. Looks the part and tastes sharp rather than sweet.

4 min · Easy

Virgin Daiquiri

Lime and sugar in balance. The simplest sour there is, and a good test of whether your lime is fresh.

4 min · Easy

Virgin Hurricane

Passion fruit, orange and lime — New Orleans' loudest drink, minus the rum that made it dangerous.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Mai Tai

Almond, lime and orange over crushed ice. Tiki's best drink, and the almond is what people actually taste.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Margarita

Lime, orange and salt, built so it tastes sharp and structured rather than like limeade.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Mary

A Bloody Mary without the vodka — which loses almost nothing, as long as you season it properly.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Michelada

Savoury, spicy and citrus-sharp, with a chilli-salt rim. The most interesting savoury drink you can make without alcohol.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Mimosa

Orange juice and sparkling, in the right ratio and properly cold. The default brunch drink, done well.

2 min · Easy

Virgin Mojito

The classic Cuban highball without the rum — mint, lime, sugar and soda, and the technique that stops it tasting like lawn clippings.

5 min · Easy

Virgin Paloma

Grapefruit, lime and salt over ice — Mexico's real everyday drink, and better than a margarita.

4 min · Easy

Virgin Piña Colada

Pineapple, coconut and ice, blended properly so it comes out creamy instead of watery.

5 min · Easy

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Blended watermelon, lime and a pinch of salt. The most refreshing thing you can make in summer, in four minutes.

5 min · Easy

Watermelon Juice Cooler

Three ingredients, no equipment beyond a blender, and the best thing to drink in real heat.

5 min · Easy