New Recipe – Cocktails for Kids: Non Alcoholic drinks even adults like!

Link: http://www.slashfood.com/2010/08/04/cocktails-for-kids-lenell-it-all/

Recipe: http://www.slashfood.com/2010/08/04/cocktails-for-kids-lenell-it-all/

Several years ago I was asked to add some fun drinks to a girl’s slumber party — the parents weren’t quite sure whether cocktail shakers and muddlers were appropriate for a party for minors. Loaded with everything from kiwis to kumquats, I proved that kids can create some pretty tasty libations with no alcohol involved.
Dark Invader
9 black berries plus 2 for garnish
40 ml (about 1.3 ounces) organic pineapple juice
20 ml (little less than .75 ounces) vanilla syrup (Make sure this isn’t corn syrup)
Muddle the 9 berries with the pineapple juice and vanilla syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with two blackberries, sliding one onto the glass rim and the other on the opposite side. Also fun to add a small black straw.

The Shirley Temple is still a favorite. The original recipe of two parts ginger ale, one part orange juice and a teaspoon of grenadine has been simplified to just dashing some grenadine into ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Any bartender working in an establishment that allows families inevitably gets asked to make a drink for a youngster. If not a Shirley Temple, the other culprits are virgin frozen daiquiris or piña coladas. However, serving alcohol free drinks can involve more thought than simply leaving out the alcohol from your frozen daiquiri mix. Once the booze component is gone, often what’s left behind is out of balance and overly sweet. It takes a bit more thought to balance out flavors.

I had the pleasure of working with Dutch bartender Timo Janse in Amsterdam last year when I discovered he had written a cocktail book for kids called “Shake It!” (You won’t find it in English, but if you read Dutch it’s a must have.) Timo prefers his Dark Invader saying the blackberries remind him of happy treats his mom made from their garden when he was a child.

Recipes after the jump…

Whether a kid big or small, serving up tasty beverages without alcohol is a responsible part of service at any party, whether it’s an underage gathering or not.

Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be authored by my friend Natalie Bovis, a.k.a. The Liquid Muse, is a great mocktail reference. One of Natalie’s favorites for kids is the Watermelon Cooler.

Watermelon Cooler
6 mint leaves
1 heaping teaspoon organic powdered sugar
½ ounce organic lemon juice 
Lemonade ice cubes (simply freeze your favorite lemonade in your ice cube trays)
1 cup seeded organic watermelon chunks (to make approx. 4 ounces juice)
2 ounces Hansen’s Key Lime twist soda 
1 small watermelon wedge, garnish

Gently muddle mint, sugar, and lemon juice in the bottom of a sturdy wine goblet type glass or other fun kid friendly cup. Fill with lemonade ice cubes, add watermelon juice, and top with lemon-lime soda. Garnish with a watermelon wedge on the rim of the glass.

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she’s been called many things — most recently, the proprietress of Casa Cóctel with partner Demián Camacho Santa Ana. She’s owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.