The cocktail tradition is largely founded on alcoholic mixed drinks but more people are looking for great drinks that don’t contain alcohol.

Not drinking alcohol is a perfectly valid choice for any number of reasons but I know that as a bartender I haven’t always been respected that choice when presented with an order for a non-alcoholic cocktail. It’s easy enough to make something that tastes passable without too much effort and then you can get back to obsessing over Manhattans or whatever you’d rather be doing.

But, if someone who isn’t drinking alcohol has taken the time to come into my bar where the majority of people are drinking alcohol, shouldn’t I give them as much effort and attention as someone who’s ordering the painstakingly crafted cocktail with the homemade syrup and carefully infused spirit? Why would they be owed any less for their money?

So rather than just throw top up some fruit juice with soda water and garnish the hell out of it, I started trying to build up some solid, tested recipes for nonalcoholic cocktails, and the Coco Fresca was one of the first.

Coco Fresca

40 ml / 1 ⅓ oz coconut water
15 ml / ½ oz elderflower cordial
20 ml / ⅔ oz lime juice
Top with grapefruit soda

Pour all the ingredients into a highball glass over cubed ice, and garnish with a wedge of lime.

The basic template here is a Collins and I wanted this serve to be quite light and elegant. The coconut water serves almost as a substitute for a gin or a vodka but I found this is one of the rare occasions where the subtlety of its flavour when combined with other ingredients actually worked in its favour. For the grapefruit soda, something like Ting or Jarritos works fine but I’m lucky enough that company I work for collaborated on a salted pink grapefruit soda with Bon Accord that’s perfect for this.