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Our Journal

The Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Ingredients to Have in the Kitchen

You may be surprised to hear us say it, but sometimes spirits, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike are not the be-all and end-all of a delicious drink. These are the base spirits on which you add other ingredients, known to bartenders as modifiers. If you love making cocktails, having a few of these basic, additional ingredients will allow you to mix up a delicious cocktail recipe at home, whenever the moment takes you.

As well as a good selection of non-alcoholic spirits such as Seedlip and Æcorn, you need a range of glassware, premium tonic in a few different flavours, soda, ice and, as we mention below, a range of garnishes that will add that final flourish.

 

Shrubs and syrups are also useful to have ready in the fridge for when you want to experiment and move beyond making classic cocktails. In the list below we’ve added a few more of our store-cupboard favourites. Nothing overly complicated, simply a few basic tins, bottles and jars to give your cocktail creations a flavour boost.

Here’s our guide to the non-alcoholic pantry. The ingredients every at-home bartender should have stocked in their kitchen cupboard.

Is there a store cupboard ingredient you love to use in your cocktail creations? Let us know at hello@seedlipdrinks.com

Aquafaba

This is the viscous liquid in which legume seeds, such as chickpeas, have been cooked. Due to having similar functional properties to egg whites, aquafaba can be used as an egg white replacement in some cases – a dairy-free options for sours such as our Seedlip Garden Sour. Deliciously sharp, it’s a one of the best cocktails to make on a hot summer’s day.

SEEDLIP GARDEN SOUR

Ingredients
Seedlip Garden 108: 50ml
Fresh Lemon juice: 15ml
Apple juice: 1oz
Aquafaba: 20ml
Apple cider vinegar: Bar spoon

Glass & Garnish
Coupe
Rosemary sprig or Apple fan

Method
Build ingredients in a cocktail shaker
Add ice
Shake Strain into a coupe glass

 

Garden Sour

Cold Brew

Coffee

Coffee is a key ingredient in our Espresso MartiNO recipe. A non-alcoholic take on a classic Espresso Martini, this Seedlip cocktail can be an elegant end to a meal or mark the beginning of a luxurious night in. Coffee is also key to making cold brew, which we use in our Cold Brew cocktail.

COLD BREW

Ingredients
Seedlip Spice 94
: 50ml
Fresh Pink Grapefruit juice: 15ml
Favourite Cold Brew Coffee: Top

Glass & Garnish
Highball full of ice 
Pink Grapefruit zest

Method
Build

Tinned Fruit in syrup

So 70s. So good. Peaches, Pineapples and Pears, to name a few, are some of our favourites and we always make sure to have a can or two of each in the cupboard in case we want to mix-up a quick Seedlip cocktail using a dash of the fruity syrup. Here’s a quick, easy recipe to try making at home.

Pour 50ml Grove 42 into a highball glass full of ice. Add 20ml tinned Peach syrup and top with soda. Garnish with a Peach slice.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one of those ingredients that you wouldn’t think of adding to a cocktail, but when you do, the game changes. Acidity gives a sense of your thirst being quenched and it’s essential for balancing a drink. It’s also a key ingredient when making shrubs; a vintage cocktail mixer that makes use of seasonal ingredients. You can read more about here.

We suggest you keep a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar in the cupboard but do check out specialist vinegar brands such as CULT, who make vinegars from the waste of quality wine.

Kombucha

A tart & refreshing sparkling drinks made from fermented tea. Kombucha has 80 other names worldwide, including Zaubertrank, which is German for ‘magic potion’. We use it in our refreshing Rosemary Booch recipe.

Rosemary Booch

Ingredients
Seedlip Garden 108: 50ml
Kombucha: Top

Glass & Garnish
Rocks glass 
Rosemary Sprig

Method
Build

Rosemary Booch

Jam & Marmalade

These are really useful to have in for a super easy sweetening agent for shaken Seedlip cocktails. Even better if you made them yourself from fresh fruit! This is one of our favourites – a tribute to Madam Eliza Cholmondeley whose 1677 recipe book featured one of the earliest marmalade recipes.

ELIZA

Ingredients
Seedlip Spice 94: 50ml
Marmalade: 1tsp
Soda: top Ice: cubed

Glass & Garnish
Jam jar 
Grapefruit peel

Method
Add Seedlip Spice 94 & marmalade to a cocktail shaker with ice Shake for 30 seconds Strain into a jam jar Top with soda

Eliza

Fresh garnishes

Mint, Rosemary, Thyme and citrus fruit are always our go-to when it comes to choosing garnishes, so having these to hand is important, but, dried spices such as Cinnamon sticks, Star Anise and coffee beans are good to have in too.

Fresh herbs are the best but if you don’t have any outside space to grow herbs in pots, you can grow them inside on a windowsill. If you can’t get to a garden centre or don’t have any seed to grow herbs from scratch, why not buy a few potted supermarket herbs? If you’re looking for a bit more advice and growing tips, there’s a handy guide here.

Ice

There are three basic kinds of ice: Cubed: the regular ice you find cut into cubes Hand-cut block ice: This is a large block of ice cut into bigger cubes or columns Crushed/pebble ice: small pieces of crushed ice

You want to make sure you always have a good stock of ice in the freezer.