Looking for refreshing summer drinks that aren't overly sweet? Sip your way around the world with these 36 non-alcoholic beverages, including fruity mocktails, agua frescas, bubble teas, iced teas, coffee drinks, coolers made with fresh fruit and wholesome ingredients.
Hop on the new alcohol-free drink trend! It's more than a passing fad. More people are looking for fun summer drinks but without a hangover or all the excess sugar. These poolside and party ready beverages are thirst quenching, zero-proof and often made with fresh seasonal fruits, natural ingredients, and less sugar than many restaurant-style virgin drinks.
Join Healthy World Cuisine and several other talented food creators as we share refreshing summer sippers to keep you cool all summer long. So, let's get started!
Jump to:
- What's Your Summer Sip Style?
- Tips for Naturally Sweet Summer Drinks
- Fruity Summer Mocktails
- Tropical Mocktails and Island-Inspired Drinks
- Fruity Mocktail Flavor Guide
- Agua Frescas and Fruit Coolers
- Refreshing Iced Tea Drinks
- Iced Coffee and Latte Drinks
- Bubble Teas and Specialty Drinks
- Sparkling Summer Drinks
- How to Make Any Mocktail Look Fancy
- Tips for Serving Summer Drinks
- Inquiring Minds Need to Know (Frequently Asked Questions)
What's Your Summer Sip Style?
| If You're Craving… | Try… |
| 🍓Bright & Fruity | Berry mocktails and sparkling drinks |
| 🍍Tropical Escape | Mango and pineapple favorites |
| 🍉Light & refreshing | Agua frescas and citrus coolers |
| 🧊Cool & Creamy | Fruit lassis and iced lattes |
| 😊Afternoon Pick-Me-Up | Coffee drinks and iced teas |
| 🎉Fun & Chewy | Bubble teas |
| 🌺Floral & Elegant | Lavendar and lychee sippers |
Tips for Naturally Sweet Summer Drinks
- Fresh fruit purees - Blending fresh in season fruit is the sweetest but you can also use frozen fruits or even canned fruits.
- Date paste - Try this in coffee, tea and latte drinks. Date paste adds a natural caramel flavor to drinks.
- Cinnamon - This spice is a sneaky way to trick your brain into thinking that the beverage is sweet even when it is not. Our brains interpret this warm spicy flavor of cinnamaldehyde as sweet. Seriously, it's the best trick ever! What do you think of when you smell cinnamon? It's generally something sweet and cozy like warm cinnamon swirl buns or grandma's sweet apple pie. Try it in a beverage and let us know what you think.
- Unsweetened tea - Allows you taste the full flavor of the tea without masking its flavor with sugar.
- Coconut water - naturally sweet, tropical and a delicious way to hydrate.
- Vanilla or Almond extract - Delicious way to trick your taste buds that something is sweet and almost caramel like without adding any sugar. We love adding almond extract to cherry drinks, it's like a match made in heaven.
- Fresh citrus - Oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, clementines, Meyer lemons, limes, yuzu, pomelo, kaffir limes, kumquats, huang pi and more add a little tart flavor, freshness and some natural sweetness depending on the type of citrus.
- Pinch of salt - Try adding a pinch of salt to fruit smoothies, agua frescas, or watermelon drinks. It won't make your drink taste salty. Instead, it helps bring out the fruit's natural sweetness so you may need less added sweetener.
- Homemade fruit syrups - These can be made with sugar alternatives of choice, and you can choose how much sweetener is added. Try Foodie Affairs raspberry and vanilla syrup in your next mocktail.
- Reduced-sugar substitutions - Options like real monk fruit and stevia have zero calories and are a lower glycemic option.
- No refined sugar options - like honey and maple syrup are natural sweeteners. If you can reduce or eliminate natural sweeteners or alternatives from your diet, the better off you are going to feel.
Fruity Summer Mocktails
Beat the heat with a fun thirst-quenching fruity summer mocktail or Cuban mojito. These zero-proof virgin drinks are perfect for poolside, baby and wedding showers, graduation parties, holiday parties, casual gatherings and for those adopting a no/low alcohol lifestyle. From kids and teens to grandparents and designated drivers, everyone can enjoy these alcohol-free beverages.
Tropical Mocktails and Island-Inspired Drinks
Escape to a tropical island holiday in your own backyard BBQ. One sip of these sun-kissed non-alcoholic summer beverages and you are well on your way to a virtual Caribbean Island or Asia. They are vibrant, light, playful and downright delicious without all the guilt.
Fruity Mocktail Flavor Guide
| If you like… | Try… | Great For |
| Sweet | Mango, peach | Family picnics, brunch |
| Tart | Grapefruit, lime | BBQ’s, beach |
| Tropical | Pineapple, coconut | Pool parties |
| Refreshing | Watermelon, cucumber | Hot summer days |
| Floral | Lavender, lychee | Garden parties |
| Cool & creamy | Coffee, tea, black sesame | Rainy dog days of summer |
Agua Frescas and Fruit Coolers
Say Hola (hello) to your new favorite refreshing Mexican summertime beverage - The Agua Fresca! They use naturally fresh fruit, limes and water to make the most refreshing zero proof drink you have ever tried. The best part is you have complete control of how sweet you make the drink and, in most cases, no sweetener is necessary.
Refreshing Iced Tea Drinks
Awaken your senses with these crisp, fruity and naturally sweetened iced tea drink sensations. From cold brew chillers to copycat restaurant style drinks, these refreshing iced tea drinks are going to be your favorite summertime beverage.
Iced Coffee and Latte Drinks
Need an afternoon caffeine boost? These specialty iced coffee drinks and lattes are just what you need to power the rest of your day at home or in the office.
Try something new from the Asian coffee culture or try these rich and creamy lightened up recipes from your favorite coffee houses. If you are an adrenaline junkie like us, have the kids home for summer vacation or just trying to meet a deadline at work - you deserve one of the iced coffee or latte drinks straight away.
Bubble Teas and Specialty Drinks
Embarrassed to say but we have been drinking bubble tea (boba tea, tapioca tea, milk tea) long before it was cool to do so. Invented in Taiwan, this trend quickly caught on in the rest of Asia and on to the rest of the world. Traditional bubble tea was originally made with black milk tea and brown sugar boba balls.
Today's recipes use jasmine, matcha and even fruit teas. Be adventurous with fruity additions, try popping boba balls or add fun toppings. One thing that separates these delicious bubble tea recipes from the rest is their ability to lightly sweeten using natural ingredients and unique flavor combinations. Stay cool and comfortable this summer with a one of kind bubble tea experience.
Sparkling Summer Drinks
Sparkling bubbles make these non-alcoholic drinks fun, fizzy and fabulous for sharing at your next summer gathering. When those bubbles hit your tongue, it's like a party in your mouth. Not only are these beverages fruit forward but the club soda and sparkling water add the delicious fizz without any extra calories or carbs.
How to Make Any Mocktail Look Fancy
Hosting a summer party or gathering? Let's have a little fun. Garnish the drinks with the fresh ingredients you used to make the non-alcoholic beverage. For example, if we are making a cantaloupe agua fresca, we place melon balls and lime slices on a short wooden skewer for serving. As we eat and drink with our eyes first, it makes summer parties and gatherings extra fun.
- frozen fruit or edible flower ice cubes
- herb garnishes
- citrus wheels
- fruit garnishes on a stick
- edible flowers
- salt rims
- colorful reusable straws or fancy paper umbrellas
Tips for Serving Summer Drinks
- Chill glasses before serving.
- Use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes so it does not water down the drink.
- Garnish with herbs and citrus.
- Adjust sweetness to taste.
- Create a drink station for guests complete with glasses, bucket of ice cubes, and a pitcher filled with your favorite premade mocktail. Leave out extra lemon and lime slices, extra sweetener options, and prepared garnishes so they can refill their glasses just the way they like it.
- Serve alcohol-free for everyone or let adults customize individual glasses if they choose. Adults can always add a splash of their favorite spirit to an individual glass. We won't tell a soul!
Inquiring Minds Need to Know (Frequently Asked Questions)
Beverages that contain the most amount of still, carbonated water or coconut water are hydrating. Many fruits like watermelon, pineapple and grapefruit not only have a high-water content but also have vitamins, electrolytes and minerals that your body needs to function. Avoid caffeinated beverages as these are least hydrating.
Hydration is just one portion of quenching your thirst. The other important job is to replace vitamins, electrolytes and minerals that we lose every day with both sensible and insensible loss. Sensible loss is simply sweating like you do with activity or just on a hot and humid day standing still. Another loss that people do not think about every day is the insensible loss of fluids with basic body functions like breathing. Water is great to hydrate with, but you also need to replace electrolytes.
Yes, you can make summer non-alcoholic drinks ahead of time. Mocktails with fresh mint or basil leaves are best made the same day as you are planning on serving. Agua frescas can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and refrigerated, if prepared with still water. Here are a few tips to make summer entertaining with non-alcoholic drinks a breeze.
1. Hold the ice until you are ready to serve.
2. Make the mocktail in a pitcher, cover and store it in the refrigerator until your guests arrive.
3. Stir the mocktail mixture before serving to your guests. Sometimes the fruit and other components of the drink settle to the bottom of the pitcher.
4. Assemble the garnishes in advance but don't add them to the drinks until you are ready to serve.
5. If sparkling water, soda water or kombucha are required in the recipe, hold adding this until you are ready to serve so it does not go flat.
6. Bubble tea is best made and served on the same day as the boba balls get firm as they sit.
Brenda says
We were stressing trying to come up with a couple of easy and not too sweet mocktails for the 4 th of July festivities. Your helpful fruity mocktail guide was just what we needed to narrow it down to 2 recipes. Watermelon agua Fresca and going to make the cucumber lime agua Fresca- both sound so refreshing and our expectant moms are going to love it.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Brenda! We are delighted you found our fruity mocktail guide helpful. It's sure going to be a hot and steamy one this week. Your selection of both watermelon and cucumber lime agua fresca are going to be welcomed thirst quenchers this holiday weekend. Stay cool and take care