There’s nothing to mock about a good mocktail. You can order them at a restaurant, buy canned mocktails, or make your own.

The surge in mocktail popularity goes hand-in-hand with the growing sober curious movement.

Being sober curious can mean avoiding alcohol for personal or wellness reasons, or just experimenting with decreasing alcohol consumption in your life.

Regardless of whether you identify with the sober curious movement, mocktails can be a great way to enjoy a drink. So, with that in mind, what’s the best way to have a mocktail?

I tried three different methods — from restaurant-style to in-a-can — and noted the:

  • price
  • time invested
  • quality of the social experience

If you live in a sprawled city or a suburb, driving may be one of your only options when it comes to going out. Mocktails can be the obvious answer to the age-old question: who’s the DD?

I recently went to a restaurant to celebrate a birthday. Asking about the availability of mocktails wasn’t awkward at all, but because we weren’t drinking anything with alcohol, our options were limited. We had three choices from the full list of nine.

They each tasted very similar to their alcoholic counterparts. The only difference was that they were missing the bitter aftertaste of the alcohol—which was a very welcome change, in my opinion.

Each drink cost around $7 – around half the price of an alcoholic cocktail. We also opted against a rideshare service, so a lot of money was saved that night, and we still had great conversations. A win-win-win all around.

Many people describe seltzers as “someone thinking about a fruit next to a glass of water.” But this pineapple Spindrift tastes like real pineapple, perhaps due to its use of real fruit juice.

A pack of eight cans is $7, which comes out to around $1.14 each. It’s a much more economic option compared to buying drinks at a bar, and you can take them anywhere — in the car, on a walk, or just at home.

You could also pour your seltzer into a festive glass and garnish with some fresh fruit.

DIY mocktails are easy to make and sure to impress. Consider trying this frozen strawberry daiquiri mocktail.

Frozen strawberry daiquiri mocktail

To make this mocktail, you will need:

  • 2 cups frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup lemon-lime soda
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1/2 cup strawberry juice
  • fresh strawberries for garnish

Blend all of the ingredients together and pour into cups. Garnish with fresh strawberries and enjoy!

For two drinks, the total came to around $2.50 each.

This is definitely the most labor-intensive option out of the bunch. Accounting for ingredient shopping, actually making the drink, and cleanup, the whole process took around an hour.

There are lots of different ways to enjoy a mocktail, but these three methods provide enjoyment for distinct reasons.

Grabbing a mocktail while out at a bar provides the least labor-intensive experience. Staying in and enjoying one yields an inexpensive time of refreshing. And making your own mocktail with ingredients of your choice presents an inventive and overall rewarding time.