Secco Spritz: A Bubbly Pomegranate Holiday Mocktail
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Non-alcoholic prosecco shines in this unique global twist on a spritz
This recipe generously sponsored by St. Regis Non-Alcoholic Wines
There’s something about minty fresh flavours and seasonal fruit that really sets the tone for the holidays. Although mint and pomegranate is an unusual combination for North Americans, it’s a common combination in global cuisines, especially when paired with grapes. This mocktail recipe is a festive red colour, and super fun to drink.
The best thing about this non-alcoholic cocktail is that you can find everything you need for it in the grocery store, and it doesn’t require a fancy syrup or special ingredients (unless you want to add bitters).
Making This Easy Holiday Mocktail
St. Regis Non-Alcoholic Prosecco
St. Regis Secco is a non-alcoholic prosecco-style wine. It’s easy to find in grocery stores and thankfully it’s also wallet-friendly, so you can be a savvy spender when planning your holiday entertaining! It’s on the sweet side with a tiny bit of dryness, and doesn’t quite taste like prosecco, but has really nice bubbles and it’s a fun experience to drink. Because of it’s flavour profile, the slightly bitter pomegranate juice and savoury mint create a nice balance for this dealcoholized bubbly!
Tips for using mint in a non-alcoholic cocktail
It’s better to use fresh mint and muddle it in a shaker, rather than a mint syrup which will always be too strong and overpower your non-alcoholic liquids. In this recipe, we’re using only a few mint leaves and muddling them gently with the lemon juice, just to express a little bit of their oil. If you muddle mint too roughly, you’ll have bits of mint leaf in your drink and nobody wants that. If you notice mint pieces in the shaker after you’re finishing building the drink, use a fine mesh strainer over the glass when pouring to catch the bits. This is called a double strain.
Swapping out pomegranate for cranberry juice
You can absolutely use another red juice like cranberry or lingonberry juice for this mocktail. Cranberry juice has a similar bitter-sweet quality to pomegranate, although it is slightly more bitter. Lingonberry is about the same level of sweetness. Both juices are a perfect match with mint!
Using Bitters - Regular bitters vs non-alcoholic
We had Top Shelf Spiced Cranberry bitters on hand, and a few dashes in the finished drink definitely added some depth to it. You don’t have to do this. If you do want to add bitters, but don’t want to add bitters with alcohol, you can use All The Bitters non-alcoholic bitters. A few dashes of their New Orleans bitters would be fantastic in this recipe!
Preparing this holiday mocktail
Ingredients:
1 stem of mint (about 5-6 leaves)
1 ½ oz pomegranate juice (unsweetened)
½ oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 oz St. Regis Secco
4-5 dashes of cranberry bitters or Peychauds bitters OR All The Bitters New Orleans (optional)
Directions:
The first step is to juice the lemon and add it to a cocktail shaker or mason jar with the mint leaves.
Gently muddle the mint leaves, as mentioned above, without tearing them too much.
Add in the pomegranate juice, bitters (if using) and ice and shake for about 10 seconds to chill.
Double strain with the help of a fine mesh strainer into a mid-sized coupe glass.
Top with very cold St. Regis Secco. You want to make sure you’re using a glass that can hold at least 4 ounces of St. Regis on top of the liquid in the shaker. The other ingredients are meant to just be complementary to the Secco and not completely overwhelm its gentle taste.
Secco Spritz
Ingredients
- 1 stem of mint (about 5-6 leaves)
- 1 ½ oz pomegranate juice (unsweetened)
- ½ oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 4 oz St. Regis Secco
- 4-5 dashes of cranberry bitters or Peychauds bitters OR All The Bitters New Orleans (optional)
Instructions
- The first step is to juice the lemon and add it to a cocktail shaker or mason jar with the mint leaves.
- Gently muddle the mint leaves, as mentioned above, without tearing them too much.
- Add in the pomegranate juice, bitters (if using) and ice and shake for about 10 seconds to chill.
- Double strain with the help of a fine mesh strainer into a mid-sized coupe glass.
- Top with very cold St. Regis Secco. You want to make sure you’re using a glass that can hold at least 4 ounces of St. Regis on top of the liquid in the shaker. The other ingredients are meant to just be complementary to the Secco and not completely overwhelm its gentle taste.
