All guides Guide · no alcohol

Easy mocktails for Diwali

Diwali means a full house, and many guests will not want alcohol. These 19 drinks contain none, and they still look and taste like an occasion. Saffron, cardamom, rose and pomegranate do most of the work. Some are jugs you can have ready before the first guest rings the bell: Thandai, Rose Sharbat, Anar Sharbat and Shaadi Fruit Punch. Others, like Malai Kesar Doodh, are for a smaller group after dinner. They go well with mithai and namkeen, and none of them needs more than a jug, a pan or a blender.

The drinks

Questions

How much do I make for 12 guests?

The jugs serve 4, so make three. For Rose Sharbat that is 360 ml rose syrup, the juice of 3 lemons and 2.4 litres of chilled water. For Thandai it is 2.4 litres of milk and 360 ml thandai syrup.

What can I make before guests arrive?

Thandai needs 15 minutes in the fridge, Thanda Masala Doodh 30 minutes and Virgin Sangria at least an hour, so all three can wait for you. Keep the ice, soda and lemon soda aside, and add them only when you pour.

I have no thandai syrup or saffron. What now?

Rose Sharbat, Anar Sharbat and Rose Milk use neither. In the Thandai, the saffron goes in at the end, so the drink still works if you leave it out. Thanda Masala Doodh lists saffron as optional and needs no syrup.

More guides

Please drink responsibly. Never drink and drive. Photos are illustrations. Recipes are a guide: taste and adjust, and check for allergies, as some use nuts, dairy or raw egg. Your shelf stays on this phone. Visits are counted anonymously. Ratings need no sign-in: a random code for this phone and Cloudflare's bot check keep them honest. Recipes and ratings you send are used only to run Your Next Drink and credit you.