14 Bright and Refreshing Lemon Mocktails 

Pucker up to a lemon mocktail with a quick muddle, shake, or stir. Sink into a nonalcoholic lemon drop martini or sail away with a lemon mojito mocktail. Build yourself a flight of sweet and sour virgin lemon drinks, or settle in with one outstanding lemony libation. Whatever your approach, pick out a lemon mocktail or four to mix up and enjoy.

Lemon Drop Martini Mocktail

The sober life doesn't mean a life without the classic lemon drop martini mocktail, thank goodness.

Ingredients

• Lemon wedge and sugar for rim
• 1¼ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• Ice
• Club soda, plain or lemon, to top off
• Lemon ribbon for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a martini glass or coupe.
2. To prepare rim, rub the rim of the glass with the lemon wedge.
3. With the sugar on a saucer, dip either half or the entire rim of the glass in the sugar to coat.
4. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
5. Shake to chill.
6. Strain into prepared glass.
7. Top off with club soda.
8. Garnish with lemon ribbon.

Nonalcoholic Lemon Drop Martini

Rely on nonalcoholic spirits to shake your way right into the arms of a lemon drop martini mocktail using the familiar ingredients but none of the alcohol.

Ingredients

• Lemon wedge and sugar for rim
• 1½ ounces nonalcoholic vodka
• 1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• ½ ounce nonalcoholic orange liqueur
• Ice
• Lemon slice for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a martini glass or coupe.
2. To prepare rim, rub the rim of the glass with the lemon wedge.
3. With the sugar on a saucer, dip either half or the entire rim of the glass in the sugar to coat.
4. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, nonalcoholic vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, and nonalcoholic orange liqueur.
5. Shake to chill.
6. Strain into prepared glass.
7. Garnish with lemon slice.

Lemon Spritzer Mocktail

A three-ingredient mocktail with lemon as the star? This might just become your Tuesday afternoon beat-the-slump drink.

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce vanilla syrup
• Ice
• Berry club soda to top off
• Lemon wheel and mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, lemon juice, and vanilla syrup.
2. Shake to chill.
3. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Top off with berry club soda.
5. Garnish with lemon wheel and mint sprig.

Afternoon in the Garden

Muddle fresh ingredients, with or without a nonalcoholic spirit, to achieve what tastes exactly like a garden on a sunny afternoon.

Ingredients

• 2-3 cucumber wheels
• 1-3 fresh basil leaves
• 1½ ounces nonalcoholic silver rum, optional
• ¾ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• Ice
• Club soda to top off
• Basil sprig, lemon wheel, and cucumber ribbon for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle cucumber wheels with simple syrup.
2. Add ice, lemon juice, basil leaves, and, if desired, nonalcoholic silver rum.
3. Shake to chill.
4. In rocks glass, add cucumber ribbon, pressing to sides.
5. Strain the drink into prepared rocks glass over fresh ice.
6. Garnish with basil sprig and lemon wheel.

Lemon Fauxjito

Steer away from the lime flavors and into the realm of sunshine yellow lemon for your citrus fauxjito mojito.

Ingredients

• 3-4 fresh mint leaves
• 2 ounces nonalcoholic silver rum
• ¾ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ½ ounce simple syrup
• Ice
• Club soda to top off
• Lemon wedge and mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle mint leaves with lemon juice.
2. Add ice, nonalcoholic rum, and simple syrup.
3. Shake to chill.
4. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
5. Top off with club soda.
6. Garnish with lemon wedge and mint sprig.

Rosemary's Lemon Highball

This mocktail can run anywhere from a two-ingredient drink to four ingredients - it's all about how aspirational you're feeling. It's the choose-your-own adventure of lemon mocktails.

Ingredients

• ¾ ounce rosemary simple syrup
• 1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice, optional
• ¾ ounce nonalcoholic spirit (rum, gin, bourbon, or vodka), optional
• Ice
• Lemonade to top off
• Rosemary sprig and lemon slice for garnish

Instructions

1. In a highball glass, add ice, rosemary simple syrup, and optional ingredients if desired.
2. Top off with lemonade.
3. Stir to mix.
4. Garnish with rosemary sprig and lemon slice.

Lemon Mocktail Margarita

You have a few ways to make a virgin lemon margarita. Suppose you don't have a stock of nonalcoholic ingredients. In that case, your alternative recipe is two ounces of homemade margarita mix with a half ounce of orange simple syrup and a splash of agave syrup. Boom, two delicious mocktails in two different ways. Garnish as the recipe below calls for.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces nonalcoholic silver tequila
• 1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce nonalcoholic orange liqueur
• ½ ounce agave syrup
• Ice
• Lemon slice for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, nonalcoholic tequila, lemon juice, nonalcoholic orange juice, and agave syrup.
2. Shake to chill.
3. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Garnish with lemon slice.

Lemon Ginger Smash Mocktail

Smash a bit of lemon and ginger together for a cocktail that's reminiscent of a savory whiskey smash. No bourbon is needed here, just a little bit of chilled black or earl grey tea.

Ingredients

• 2-3 slices fresh ginger, peeled
• 2-3 lemon wedges
• 2 ounces chilled black tea
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• Crushed ice
• Lemon wedge for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle ginger and lemon wedges with simple syrup.
2. Add ice and black tea.
3. Shake to chill.
4. Strain into rocks glass over crushed ice.
5. Garnish with lemon wedge.

Virgin Lemon Drop Spritz

Skip the easy-to-spill martini glass and enjoy a lemon drop in a trusty and reliable rocks glass instead. No need to worry about elbows or spilling a single drop of this mocktail. Go ahead and use two ounces of nonalcoholic vodka and a half ounce of nonalcoholic orange liqueur instead of orange bitters if you have the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

• Lemon wedge and sugar for rim
• 1 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ounce lemon simple syrup
• 1-3 dashes orange bitters
• Ice
• Lemon club soda to top off
• Mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. To prepare rim, rub the rim of the glass with the lemon wedge.
2. With the sugar on a saucer, dip either half or the entire rim of the glass in the sugar to coat.
3. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, lemon juice, lemon simple syrup, and orange bitters.
4. Shake to chill.
5. Strain into prepared glass.
6. Top off with lemon club soda.
7. Garnish with mint sprig.

Sour Cranberry Bog

Don't get stuck in Cape Cod traffic this summer (or any time of the year) with this tart cranberry mocktail that's a riff on the Cape Codder.

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces lemon simple syrup
• 4 ounces cranberry juice
• Ice
• Lemon-lime soda to top off
• Lemon peel for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, lemon simple syrup, and cranberry juice.
2. Shake to chill.
3. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Top off with lemon-lime soda.
5. Garnish with lemon peel.

Strawberry Lemonade Mocktail

Part traditional and tasty strawberry lemonade, part riff on a nonalcoholic strawberry lemon daiquiri, you'll be over the moon for this lemon mocktail.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 ounces nonalcoholic silver rum, optional
• 1 ounce strawberry syrup
• Ice
• Lemonade to top off
• Strawberry slice and mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, lemon juice, strawberry syrup, and, if desired, nonalcoholic rum.
2. Shake to chill.
3. Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Top off with lemonade.
5. Garnish with strawberry slice and mint sprig.

Faux 75

There's no kickback from this faux French 75. You can sip this on any given Thursday when you're getting ready for work, on a self-care facemask night for a little bit of bubbly hydration, or Sunday morning when you're solving the Sunday crossword.

Ingredients

• ¾ ounce rosemary simple syrup
• ¾ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• Ice
• Nonalcoholic sparkling wine or club soda to top off
• Lemon ribbon for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a Champagne flute.
2. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, rosemary simple syrup, and lemon juice.
3. Shake to chill.
4. Strain into chilled glass.
5. Top off with nonalcoholic sparkling wine.
6. Garnish with lemon ribbon.

Virgin Lemon Whiskey Smash

Lean on nonalcoholic bourbon to bring your classic lemon whiskey smash to life.

Ingredients

• 2-4 lemon wedges
• 2 ounces nonalcoholic bourbon
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• 2-3 fresh mint leaves
• Crushed ice
• Lemon slice and mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle lemon wedges with simple syrup.
2. Add ice, nonalcoholic bourbon, and mint leaves.
3. Shake to chill.
4. Strain into rocks glass over crushed ice.
5. Garnish with lemon slice and mint sprig.

Virgin Tom Collins

The classic Tom Collins uses gin as the base spirit. You can use two ounces of nonalcoholic gin or skip it entirely.

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ounce rosemary simple syrup
• Ice
• Club soda to top off
• Lemon wheel and cherry for garnish

Instructions

1. In a highball or Collins glass, add ice, lemon juice, and rosemary simple syrup.
2. Top off with club soda.
3. Stir to mix.
4. Garnish with lemon wheel and cherry.

Lemon Mocktail Mixers

You're certainly not limited to lemonade when you're building lemon mocktails. With just a bit of lemon juice and one of these mixers, you're more than halfway to a drink.

• Cranberry juice
• Pomegranate juice
• Plain club soda
• Flavored club soda, such as vanilla, mango, berry, coconut, or raspberry
• Coconut water
• Ginger beer
• White grape juice
• Passion fruit juice

Game-Changing Lemon Mocktails

Fresh lemons, lemonade, or even ready-made lemon juice makes for an excellent start to any lemon mocktail. As a faux martini or in a rocks glass, these lemon mocktails will have your lips puckered and ready to kiss the glass for the next sip.