Kava mocktails: 4 easy recipes with canned kava

By The Softer Hour Editorial Team

Our pickKava Variety 12-Pack$102 · 12 cans

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Every kava flavor in one box, so you can match the can to the recipe. 21+. One can is one serving. Never with alcohol.

A kava can already tastes like a finished drink, so a kava mocktail is mostly about the glass, the ice and one or two fresh things. Each recipe below uses one can of Botanical Brewing Co. kava per glass, so one glass is one serving, and none of them gets alcohol. Looking for recipes without kava? Our Dry January mocktails include two with no botanicals at all.

1. Orange Dream ginger mule

Creamsicle citrus with a ginger bite, in a copper mug if you have one.

• 1 can Kava Orange Dream, chilled
• 2 oz ginger beer (check the label: some ginger beer is alcoholic)
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• A mint sprig and a lime wheel

1. Fill a mug or rocks glass with ice and add the lime juice.
2. Pour in the can, then top with the ginger beer.
3. Stir once and garnish with mint and lime.

2. Tutti Frutti pineapple cooler

Mixed fruit and pineapple for a warm afternoon or a movie night.

• 1 can Kava Tutti Frutti, chilled
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• A squeeze of lime
• A pineapple wedge

1. Fill a tall glass with ice.
2. Add the pineapple juice and lime, then the can.
3. Garnish with the pineapple wedge.

3. Cranberry rosemary spritz

A holiday-looking glass for Thanksgiving through New Year's.

• 1 can Kava Orange Dream, chilled
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• A rosemary sprig and a few fresh cranberries

1. Add ice and the cranberry juice to a wine glass.
2. Pour the can over the top slowly so it layers.
3. Garnish with rosemary and cranberries.

4. Tutti Frutti mint-lime smash

Muddled mint and lime make it taste like a bar drink.

• 1 can Kava Tutti Frutti, chilled
• 6 mint leaves
• 2 lime wedges
• 1/4 oz simple syrup (optional)
• Crushed ice

1. Muddle the mint, lime and syrup in a rocks glass.
2. Fill with crushed ice and pour in the can.
3. Stir and top with a mint sprig.

5. A kava mocktail station for guests

Hosting? Set out the cans in a bucket of ice and three mixers in small jugs (ginger beer, pineapple juice, cranberry juice), with limes, mint and rosemary. Guests build their own, one can per glass. Put a small card on the table: "One can per glass. No alcohol in these." For a group, the Kava Variety 12-Pack gives people a choice of flavors.

Kava mocktail rules

• One can per glass. One glass is one serving. Wait before opening a second.
• Never add alcohol. Kava doesn't mix with alcohol, so these are mocktails only.
• Leave Sucker Punch out of mocktails. It's BBCo's double-strength kava, for people who already know kava.
• Don't drive after.
• Adults 21+. Keep the cans away from the kids' drinks.

Why mix it at all?

Traditional kava tastes earthy, and canned kava is flavored to cover most of that. Ice, citrus and a mixer push the flavor further toward fruit, which helps if you're new to the taste. Why kava tastes the way it does.

Related: Dry January mocktails · Kanna mocktails · Your first kava night at home · Alcohol-free Thanksgiving drinks