Martini Bar

Summer is full of parties! With graduations, the 4th of July, and plain old bar-b-ques, you'll probably be hosting a few parties of your own in the upcoming months. While alcohol is often a major staple of these parties, what about the under-21, designated drivers, and non-drinking guests? Here are the top ten recipes for delicious alcohol free mocktails that everyone will enjoy.

DRIZZLE CRAN
2 oz cranberry juice, 2 oz grapefruit juice, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 oz honey to taste, Mix together and serve chilled. Add a maraschino cherry, orange slice and grapefruit skewer for garnish.
BERRY SWEETHEART
3 oz red cranberry juice, 3 oz apple juice, 1 oz honey. Mix together and serve chilled. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a fresh mint leaf.
VIRGIN MARY
3 oz tomato juice, tabasco sauce to taste, celery salt to taste, dash of worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, ½ oz lemon juice. Mix all of the ingredients together and serve cold.
WATERMELON SLUSH
6-8 ice cubes, 2 cups seeded watermelon, sugar or honey to taste. Place ice cubes in a blender, pulse until crushed. Add the watermelon and honey, blend together until slushy (or smooth for a more cocktail feel). Garnish with watermelon wedge and serve.
CHERRY FIZZ
½ cup cherry juice from concentrate, ½ cup ginger ale, fresh cherries and other fruits for a garnish. Mix ginger ale into the juice slowly in a blender, add ice if desired, serve in tall glass with fruit kabob.
UNFUZZY NAVEL
3 oz peach nectar, 3 oz orange juice, 3 oz pineapple juice, 1 tsp. lemon juice, dash of grenadine. Combine in shaker half filled with ice.
SCREWLESS DRIVER
1 1/2 oz ginger ale, 5 oz orange juice. Mix and add ice.
VIRGIN STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI
1/4 C. strawberries, 1 oz orange juice, 1 oz lime juice, 2 tsp. sugar. Dash of Grenadine
Combine in blender with ice.
QUIET PASSION
3 oz white grape juice, 3 oz grapefruit juice, 1 oz passion fruit juice. Combine in shaker half filled with ice.
TEQUILA MEADOW
2 oz orange juice, 2 oz pineapple juice, 1/2 oz cranberry juice, 2 oz lemon/lime soda, 1/4 oz grenadine, Combine everything but soda in shaker half filled with ice, strain into glass & add soda.

How To Make Mocktails

Things You’ll Need:

• Fruit juices of your choice
• Fizzy beverages, such as lemon-lime soda, tonic or ginger ale
• Garnishes, such as paper umbrellas, colorful straws, maraschino cherries or fruit wedges
• Various cocktail glasses, such as martini or highball glasses
• Ice
  

Step1
Stock up on fruit juices, which are the base for many mocktails. Orange juice, lime juice or cranberry juice are great ways to start out a refreshing mocktail. Tropical mocktails are delicious with blended juice drinks such as peach-cranberry, or for more exotic drinks, try blends such as banana-mango. For a mocktail with real zing, try some lemonade or grapefruit juice.

Step2

Make fizzy drinks by adding some ginger ale, tonic water, club soda or lemon-lime soda. Try mixing them with different combinations of fruit juices for a mocktail cooler.

Step3

Buy a small bottle of grenadine syrup if you want to make mock cocktails such as a tequila sunrise, Singapore sling or pink lady. Grenadine will add sweetness to your mocktails, along with a rosy red glow to orange or pineapple juice blends.

Step4

Make a tomato-juice-based mocktail that imitates the Bloody Mary by simply leaving the alcohol out. Put the tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and other ingredients in a highball glass with plenty of ice, and you've created a Virgin Mary.

Step5

Garnish your glasses for a festive finishing touch. Plastic toothpicks skewered with pineapples or cherries, colorful straws, tiny umbrellas or even just slices of lemon, orange or kiwi will finish your mocktails in style.

Qs & As

CHANTIL DAVIES
SENIOR
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "mocktail"?
"Some Indian culture."
If you were to make your own mocktail, what ingrediants would you have? "Rasberry syrup with seven up & lemon juice and mint garnish."
What do you think about our underage drinking?
"If they want to drink then I guess let them drink, but after they started they don't really have anything to look forward to when you turn 21. But I'd rather not have anyone under the age 21 drink."
Honestly, would you rather have a mocktail or a cocktail? Why?
"Mocktail, because I would rather not be able to taste the alcohol."

Research on Underage Drinking

Alcohol is the drug of choice among young teenagers. Many young people are experiencing the consequences of drinking too much, at too early an age. As a result, underage drinking is a leading public health problem in this country. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings. As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Teenagers want to be accepted and they want to experience the "fun" and breakthrough the curiosity of being a rebel. But teenagers are not only starting to drink but are also drinking dangerously.