This Blood Orange Whisky Sour Mocktail is a flavor-filled non-alcoholic cocktail with a vibrant color. Enjoy any time, especially during citrus season.
I started to experiment with making mocktails a few weeks ago went so well that I decided to make more. The truth is that it's a lot easier (for me at least) to develop mocktail recipes compared to developing cocktail recipes.
Because there's no alcohol in these recipes, I can drink as much of the mocktail recipes I create at any time of the day without worrying about accidentally getting drunk while I'm testing.
I actually don't drink much alcohol at all these days, but I do still enjoy drinking something fancier than water, or even sparkling water on occasion. So making these non-alcoholic drinks (mocktails, if you will) has been a lot of fun. Should I keep making more?
How to make a Blood Orange Whisky Sour mocktail:
Like my Non-Alcoholic Lime Margarita, making this Blood Orange Whisky Sour with no alcohol starts with brewing some lapsang souchong tea. This smoky tea replicates some of the flavors in smoky spirits like tequila and whisky.
In this case, I add a little vanilla extract to the lapsang souchong once it's cooled to add even more flavor.
If you plan to make a lot of mocktails that use lapsang souchong over the next few days, feel free to double the batch that you steep. The amount you make for this recipe (a total of one cup) will make 4 mocktails, but you can make extra and keep it in the fridge for a few days if you want.
The same goes for the simple syrup. I like to make a 1 pint jarful, which I use in mocktails and even lemonade for my kids over the next week or so.
Once you have the lapsang souchong and simple syrup made and cooled, this mocktail comes together in only a couple of minutes. It's as simple as adding the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and giving it a good shake (twice - once without ice, and once with if you're using aquafaba).
Serve this whisky sour mocktail in a small glass, like a coupe, without ice. Garnish it with a slice (dried or fresh) of blood orange.
Blood Orange Whisky Sour Mocktail Ingredients:
- Lapsang souchong tea: This is a smoked black tea that, after steeping, has an intensely smoky flavor. It's great at replicating some of the flavors from smoky spirits in non-alcoholic cocktails.
- Boiling water: Use whatever water you normally drink. Tap water is fine.
- Vanilla extract: This adds some more flavor layers to the lapsang souchong to help create a non-alcoholic whisky substitute.
- Freshly squeezed blood orange juice from 1-2 blood oranges: Note that blood oranges are in season and available in the winter (December to April)
- Simple syrup: Make this by dissolving sugar in an equal amount of water (eg. dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of hot water). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, and cool completely before adding the syrup to your drink.
- Aquafaba: Aquafaba is the water from canned chickpeas, or the water in the pot after boiling chickpeas. It is used instead of egg whites in some cocktails and recipes. In cocktails, it helps to create a foamy layer on the top of the drink and gives the cocktail a slightly thicker mouthfeel. It does not affect the flavor of your drink or make it taste like chickpeas. Using it is optional.
- Sliced blood oranges: Use these to garnish your mocktail.
Want more mocktail recipes?
Blood Orange Whisky Sour Mocktail Nutrition Notes:
This mocktail (along with most other mocktails) is significantly lower in calories than the alcohol-containing version of a similar cocktail would be.
This drink does contain a small amount of caffeine from the lapsang souchong tea, but is otherwise safe for kids and pregnant women to drink.
This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan as written.
Blood Orange Whisky Sour Mocktail
Equipment
- Tea Infuser or small strainer
- Coupe glass or rocks glass
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon lapsang souchong tea or 1 lapsang souchong teabag
- 1 cup boiling water
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice from 1-2 blood oranges
- 1 ounce simple syrup see note
- 1 Tablespoon aquafaba optional - see note
- sliced blood oranges optional, to garnish
Instructions
- Steep 1 teaspoon lapsang souchong tea in 1 cup (237 ml) boiling water in a mug, small teapot or measuring cup. Transfer the mixture to the fridge to chill. Once the mixture is cooled, strain out the tea leaves or remove the bag. Stir in ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract. This is your "non-alcoholic whisky".
- Add ¼ cup of the lapsang souchong ("non-alcoholic whisky") mixture, ¼ cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed blood orange juice, 1 ounce (30 ml) simple syrup, and 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) aquafaba to a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for about 10 seconds. Fill the shaker about halfway full with ice, and shake vigorously again, until the outside of the shaker is very cold, about 10-15 seconds longer.
- Strain the cocktail into a coupe or rocks glass, and garnish as desired with a slice or wedge of blood orange.
Notes
Nutrition
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