Return of the Mocktail

The word "mocktail" won't go away, is it time to embrace it or leave it behind?

Photo by kofookoo.de on Unsplash

When you’re in my line of work, it comes up a lot.

Julia Bainbridge wrote about it in 2016, asking us to imagine a future where they’re taken seriously. Another Julia––Julia Momose––wrote a manifesto in 2017 imploring us to change the word itself, which she felt “evokes negative feelings.”

I wrote about it in my book, Mindful Mixology: A Comprehensive Guide to No- and Low-Alcohol Cocktails in 2019. There was also the time last fall that I had a conversation about it with Dr. Nzinga Harrison, author of Un-Addicted: 6 Mind-Changing Conversations That Could Change a Life.

Bill Gamelli from Mocktails Uniquely Crafted called me about it a few weeks ago. And, finally, John deBary wrote about it last week for Punch.

As I said, it comes up a lot.

With all that, you’d think I was talking about something gravely serious that could impact millions of lives. And, in a way, I suppose it can. But it already exists in our repertoire as a prefix for slightly shorter turtle-neck necks and birds that we intend to buy for our progeny in nursery rhymes. I’m talking about the word “mock” and specifically its use in the compound word, “mocktail.” As in, a mixed drink without alcohol.

The way deBary writes about it, you’d think that a decision has already been made: “…what the word ‘mocktail’ does have going for it is the fact that everyone seems to know what it means.” But it’s not so simple. The word can be well-recognized, a shorter syllabic solution than “non-alcoholic cocktails,” and even malleable in its definition. Heck, the second definition for “mock” is already listed as: to create an imitation without the intention to deceive. But it’s still controversial. (And it’s not even the only controversial word debate in non-alcoholic drinks.)

New article written about the “mocktail” by John deBary for Punch.

Yet, I have a simple solution. Let’s not adopt or reject it. Why don’t we just sit with it for awhile? That’s what I do when I can’t make up my mind. I recognize some things just take time and no amount of debate, for or against, will change that.

The word cocktail itself took a while to take hold. Though we have the first mention of it as a drink in 1798, we were still debating its meaning in 1806. By the 1860s, it was a definite style of drink, ten of which were listed in the first bartending guide, only to have the word expand a century later to become an entire array of mixed drinks, swallowing up more specific terminology for drinks like sours, juleps, and highballs.

It may take 200 years or more to resolve whether the word mocktail is the appropriate word for non-alcoholic mixed drinks, especially adult sophisticated ones. I don’t know about you, but I’m in no hurry. In the meantime, Gamelli made an excellent point. Also, intimated by deBary in his discussion on how language changes. You can evolve the term to mean delicious, well-crafted drinks. There’s nothing holding anyone back from using the word mocktail to mean something good.

So, I call a truce and insist that we let these word games play out rather than dredge them up again and again in an endless string of debates. I promise to stop insisting we call them non-alcoholic cocktails, though I’ll probably still use the term myself (there’s a reason for that). And if you want to use the term mocktail or not use it, that’s up to you. I certainly won’t stop you.

While we wait for the verdict of a few centuries, perhaps it makes sense to turn our attention to a less controversial linguistic debate like “biweekly”?

Every other week, right? Or is it twice a week?

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Derek Brown is an author, award-winning bartender, NASM-certified wellness coach, and founder of Positive Damage, Inc.

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