Hard to believe January is almost over! We’re digging out from under a mountain of snow here in DC, and as I shovel snow for the umpteenth time my thoughts go, naturally, to warmer destinations and Tiki cocktails. Since we’re still on the subject of mocktails this month, we created an Apricot Tiki Mocktail recipe to share with all of you. Can we all agree to #TikiTheSnowAway? – Andrew

Apricot Tiki Mocktail

1 1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Falernum Syrup
1/2 oz Coconut Chai Tea
1 tbsp Apricot Preserves
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice and shake well. Finely strain – using a Hawthorne strainer with a tight coil (like this one) or a tea strainer to remove any solids from the apricot preserves – into a glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with mint and enjoy!

Tiki cocktails enjoy a deep bench of flavors – tart citrus, grassy sugarcane, sweet tropical fruits, nuts and flowers, exotic spices, you get the idea – which makes them an ideal source of inspiration for mocktails. You don’t need to worry as much about losing depth of flavor when you take alcohol out of the picture when you have all these layers of flavor playing out in your mocktail.

Apricot is a flavor that, somewhat surprisingly, also shows up in quite a few Tiki drinks, including classics like the Zombie. Here, it adds a bit of summery fruit, but the preserves also help to thicken the drink and give it a more convincing mouthfeel. (The last thing you want is for your mocktail to feel like a glass of sweetened lime juice.)

We included tea in our mocktail, which adds spice and, more importantly, an astringency that mocktails tend to lack. A coconut chai tea is something you can probably make at home, but Owl’s Brew makes a really tasty one you can get by the bottle.

(Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, where we’ve been posting our experiments before they make their way onto this column!)

Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper