Easy Guava Mocktails With Lemon

By The Mindful Mocktail on May 13, 5:21am

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 3 tablespoons guava nectar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 6-8 mint leaves
• 1 cup of your favourite sparking kombucha

Method

1. Place guava nectar and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker or mason jar.
2. Clap the mint together in your hands and add to the mixture. Press gently a couple of times with a muddler.
3. Add some ice and shake ingredients together until combined.
4. Fill a glass with ice and pour guava mixture in. 
5. Top with kombucha. 

For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram

Orange Ginger Mocktail

By The Mindful Mocktail on May 13, 5:10am

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/3 cup orange juice 
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 8 mint leaves
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup ginger ale

Method

1. Clap the mint in your hands to release the scent, then place into a cocktail shaker. 
2. Add orange juice, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to the shaker.
3. Add a few ice cubes to the shake and shake until combined. 
4. Pour into an ice-filled glass and top with ginger ale. 
5. Garnish with orange slices and mint. 

For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram

Strawberry Mojito Mocktail

By The Mindful Mocktail on May 13, 4:54am

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 3 strawberries, sliced
• 10 mint leaves
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp sugar or sweetener of choice
• 1 cup soda water
• Extra mint and strawberries to serve

Method

1. Muddle strawberries and sugar/sweetener in a glass to release the juices. Try to get the strawberry pieces small enough to fit through a straw. You can use a blender for this step if preferred.
2. Add the lime juice and stir to combine. 
3. Clap the mint together in your hands to release the scent (you'll know it's worked when your hands smell minty!).
4. Fill your glass with ice and soda water. Stir to combine.
5. Garnish with extra mint and strawberry slices. 

For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram

Watermelon, Strawberry & Lime Mocktail

By The Mindful Mocktail on May 3, 2:27am

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 cups watermelon 
• 8 strawberries
• 1/2 cup lime juice

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until combined. 
2. Pour into an ice filled glass and garnish. 

Tip: Add some mint for extra kick! 

For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram

Pomegranate Fizz

By The Mindful Mocktail on Apr 27, 5:03am

Ingredients

• 60 mls pomegranate juice
• Half a lime cut in wedges
• 6-8 mint leaves
• 250 mls diet ginger ale

Method

1. Place lime wedges and pomegranate juice in a tall glass. Muddle until all the juice has been pressed out of the lime. If you don’t have a muddler, use the back end of a wooden spoon or similar.
2. Clap mint leaves together in your hands a few times to release the scent and add to the glass. Give the mint a gentle press a couple of times with the muddler.
3. Add plenty of ice to the glass and top with ginger ale. Stir well.
4. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, mint and lime.

For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram

Having fun and socialising without drinking alcohol

By ABC Everyday / By Patrick Wright on Apr 26, 3:56pm

Jahin Tanvir doesn't drink.

It doesn't stop him from having a good time with his friends, but there comes a certain point in the night where he's forced to explain himself.

At his first university party, the 20-year-old student says he had "like five beer bottles" shoved in his face.

"I went outside because I couldn't handle it," he says.

"[My friend] spoke to me and I was able to open up and tell her that I don't drink. She was empathetic, and told everyone, and it became more welcoming."

There are plenty of reasons why people might not drink alcohol. Jahin is Muslim, and drinking is against his faith.

Other people might choose to avoid alcohol for health reasons, or simply because they don't like the taste or effects.

It's becoming...

Why do our friends want us to drink?

By Simon Lenton on Apr 26, 11:26am

Anyone who has ever tried to give up drinking, or goes somewhere and says they’re not drinking, knows people encourage us to drink and are unhappy when we don’t. Why is this? Is it uniquely Australian? What can we do about it?

The phenomenon of people experiencing pressure to drink in social situations has been identified in many countries around the world, not just in Australia. 

Research on negative reactions to non-drinking and non-drinkers has been reported in countries including the USA, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Japan, African countries, and Finland. Within countries, drinking norms also often vary from one social or cultural group to another..

Doing what our mates do

In some groups, heavy drinking might be normal. In these...

Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine? No you won’t says new study

By Kai Hensel on Apr 21, 11:37am

Plenty of us have been there: waking up after a night out with a thumping headache, feeling sick and swearing never to touch alcohol again. If only there were a way to prevent these terrible hangovers.

It isn’t uncommon for us to mix our drinks, maybe a beer in the pub before moving on to wine. Folk wisdom has something to say about this: “Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine; wine before beer and you’ll feel queer.” This idea is very prevalent and versions of it occur in many languages. In my native country, Germany, for example, we say: “Wein auf Bier, das rat’ ich Dir—Bier auf Wein, das lass’ sein.” This translates as: “Wine on beer, I’ll advise you to drink beer on wine.” 

But it turns out that there is no truth to these...

Why alcohol makes you feel warm – and other strange effects it has on the brain

By Claire Roston on Apr 13, 9:04am

Alcohol: why do we drink it? People have been consuming alcohol for at least 10,000 years. And when drinking water was rather risky, alcohol seemed a much safer bet. Amaldus of Villanova, a 14th-century monk, even wrote that alcohol “prolongs life, clears away ill humors, revives the heart and maintains youth”. 

Today people will give you many reasons for their decision to drink and most of these reflect the effects it has on mind and brain. But before you get too sozzled, one thing is for sure: it is certainly not a safer, healthier bet than water.

1. It tastes nice

It depends on what you are drinking (some drinks like alcopops contain more sugar) and people obviously have different taste preferences. The fact that ethanol is...