Fall Mocktail: Grape & Thyme Fizz
/An adult, elevated fall mocktail celebrating the surprising pleasures of fresh grapes and savoury thyme
It’s harvest time for grapes, and along with wine and the trendy verjus, we often forget about grape juice.
Non-alcoholic wine gets a bad rap for tasting like grape juice. But here’s a twist: what if we’ve been underrating grape juice all along? We all have those childhood memories of guzzling grape juice in a sunny backyard, but when did we grow up too much to enjoy something so purely delicious? We’re so programmed to equate grapes with wine but I say it’s time to embrace having some fun with nature’s candy. This red grape and thyme mocktail will bring you back to that summer backyard but elevated to a new standard as a grown-up grape juice.
Benefits of grapes in a mocktail
Wine drinkers may be familiar with the fact that resveratrol is a nutrient found in the skin of grapes, and one of the main arguements many will say is the reason to continue drinking wine. But, you can get a lot of nutrients from grapes without having to drink wine! Crushing and muddling red grapes in a mocktail infuses it with vitamin C, manganese plus polyphenols that are antioxidants protecting you from stress and inflammation.
Save your leftover non-alcoholic or alcoholic wine
I guess you could call this mocktail a wine spritz, as it’s got sparkling water, flavour and still wine. Adding regular wine or non-alcoholic wine to the thyme and the grape juice adds a nice complexity and mouthfeel (as well as adding liquid volume) bu it’s only a small amount for each drink, so don’t go and open up a fresh bottle unless you want to. In our house, there’s always some leftover non-alcoholic wine because it’s hard to finish a bottle before it starts to oxidize the next day. If you know you’re not going to finish it, pour the leftover wine in an ice cube tray and make wine cubes. One cube will be enough for this recipe, so you can use them as needed!
What kind of grapes should I use?
For this recipe, it’s better to use a red skinned grape - we just used the standard ‘celebration’ grapes from the grocery store. But if you have access to young, fresh concord grapes….well, we’re jealous. Use those because they have so much flavour!
Fresh thyme or dried thyme?
For any drink recipe, try and stay away from dried herbs as they just don’t serve the same purpose as fresh herbs. Dried thyme is so pungent, it would make this mocktail taste terrible. Instead, use fresh thyme to add a nice herbal note to the glass. To remove the thyme, just pinch the stem with your thumb and forefinger and slide it down the stem to pull off the thyme sprigs. You can also use some thyme and sugar as a garnish on the side of the glass, if you’re fancy.
Sparkling water matters
There’s a reason that Topo Chico is everyone’s favourite. Some sparkling water brands just have a better mineral flavour than others, especially if it comes in a glass bottle rather than a tin can. Especially in mocktails, every ingredient matters, so if you can use Topo Chico, it’s highly recommended. But if you don’t have access to it, regular sparkling water is totally fine. It won’t ruin your drink.
Ingredients:
6 red grapes
Pinch of fresh thyme leaves
½ oz agave syrup
1 oz leftover red wine (regular or non-alcoholic)
Juice from half a lime
Topo Chico
Preparation
Muddle: add the grapes and thyme in the bottom of your glass, and using a cocktail muddler or a wooden spoon, gently press up and down to express the thyme oils and to crush the grapes.
Build the drink: Add in the agave, red wine and ice and stir to combine.
Add bubbles: Fill almost to the top with Topo Chico sparkling water.
Add your citrus: Squeeze the lime juice on top of the liquid, and top up again with sparkling water.
Stir gently to combine and then enjoy!
Grape & Thyme Mocktail
Ingredients
- 6 red grapes
- Pinch of fresh thyme leaves
- ½ oz agave syrup
- 1 oz leftover red wine (regular or non-alcoholic)
- Juice from half a lime
- Topo Chico
Instructions
- Add the grapes and thyme in the bottom of your glass, and using a cocktail muddler or a wooden spoon, gently press up and down to express the thyme oils and to crush the grapes.
- Add in the agave, red wine and ice and stir to combine.
- Fill almost to the top with Topo Chico sparkling water.
- Squeeze the lime juice on top of the liquid
- Top up with sparkling water.
- Garnish with a fresh lime slice or some sugar on the rim.
