Summer Mocktails

Sweet drinks are miserable when it's hot. Everything here leads with acid and salt instead, which is why they're refreshing rather than cloying.

Blackberry Basil Smash

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

5 min · Easy

Coconut Lime Cooler

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

4 min · Easy

Cranberry Orange Spritzer

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

3 min · Easy

Cucumber Mint Cooler

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

5 min · Easy

Elderflower Cucumber Spritz

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

4 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

Homemade Ginger Ale

Real ginger, lemon and soda. Once you've made it, the shop-bought kind tastes like sugar water.

15 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

Horchata

Rice, cinnamon and milk, blended and strained. Sweet, cooling, and the best thing to drink with spicy food.

15 min · Easy

Lavender Lemonade

Floral, tart and pale purple. Restrained lavender is the difference between a drink and a bar of soap.

10 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

Mint Lemonade

Blended rather than muddled, which is what makes it green, cold and far more intense than the stirred version.

6 min · Easy

Peach Iced Tea

Real peach and real tea, not syrup from a bottle. Makes a jug that disappears fast.

15 min · Easy

Pineapple Ginger Cooler

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

4 min · Easy

Pink Lemonade

Coloured with real fruit rather than syrup, and sharp enough to actually be refreshing.

10 min · Easy

Southern Sweet Tea

The method matters more than the recipe — sweeten it hot, cool it fast, and never boil the leaves.

15 min · Easy

Strawberry Lemonade

Real macerated strawberries rather than syrup, and sharp enough to be worth drinking.

12 min · Easy

Strawberry Mint Cooler

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

5 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 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 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 Pimm's Cup

The English summer drink — fruit, cucumber, mint and lemonade in a jug. Built for a garden and a crowd.

10 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