How do I make non-alcoholic drinks that actually taste good?

Most disappointing non-alcoholic drinks are sweet and one-dimensional, because sweetness is all that remains once the spirit is removed. Building back the bitter and aromatic elements is what makes a drink feel like a drink.

What you'll need

• Fresh citrus
• Ice
• Strong tea or coffee (optional)
• Ginger, herbs or spices (optional)
• Soda water (optional)

Step by step

1. Add bitterness deliberately.Strongly brewed tea, cold coffee, grapefruit juice, or a small amount of citrus pith. Bitterness is what stops a drink reading as squash.
2. Build body with syrup or a thicker juice.Alcohol gives weight in the mouth. Sugar syrup, apple juice or a small amount of cordial replaces some of that texture.
3. Add warmth with spice.Fresh ginger, black pepper, chilli, cinnamon. These recreate the slight burn of alcohol more convincingly than anything else.
4. Use plenty of acid.Fresh lemon or lime, or a splash of vinegar-based shrub. Acid stops sweetness dominating and makes the drink refreshing.
5. Use the same technique as an alcoholic drink.Shake it with ice, strain it, use a proper glass, garnish it. Presentation and temperature matter as much here as anywhere.
6. Top with soda for length and lift.Carbonation carries aroma and stops the drink feeling heavy. It also makes a small amount of flavour go further.
7. Infuse rather than sweeten for interest.Rosemary, basil, cucumber, cardamom in a syrup or steeped in juice gives complexity without more sugar.
8. Serve it in the same glassware as everyone else's drink.It matters more than it sounds. A good glass and a real garnish changes how the drink is received.

Tips

• A shrub — fruit, sugar and vinegar steeped together — gives the acidity and complexity that non-alcoholic drinks most often lack, and it keeps for weeks.
• Cold-brew coffee or strong cold tea is an excellent base for a bitter, adult non-alcoholic drink.
• Non-alcoholic spirits vary enormously. Some work well in a long drink and are thin when served short.

Common mistakes

• Just removing the spirit from a recipe — What is left is sweet and flat. The bitterness, body and warmth alcohol contributed have to be replaced deliberately.
• Over-sweetening to compensate — Sweetness is already the problem. More acid and bitterness is what balances the drink, not more sugar.
• Serving it as an afterthought — Same glass, same ice, same garnish. Presentation is a large part of why a drink feels like a proper one.

Questions people ask