I've been sober curious for a very long time and over the past 2 years I have significantly reduced the amount of alcohol I consume. When you start to drink less and begin to become deeply in-tuned with your body, drinking just doesn't do it anymore.
For this reason, I'm reading a lot about herbal mocktails right now, and I'll say this — most of the recipes out there are missing the point. They're just juice with a sprig of mint shoved in the glass. Pretty? Sure. But there's so much more you can do with herbs in a drink when you actually know what they do for your body.
As an herbalist, summer is my favorite season to play with herbal drinks. My garden is full, the plants are at their peak, and the idea of a cool, floral, herb-infused drink that also does something for your nervous system or your gut? That's the herbal dream mocktail.
This blog is for the sober-curious women who want their drink to taste like they tried AND feel like they took care of themselves. It's also for anyone who has a garden and doesn't know what to do with half of it.
The five herbs below are ones I grow or always keep on hand. They're approachable, they're available at most grocery stores or farmers markets, and they layer beautifully into mocktails, simple syrups, and infused waters.
Before we get into it: grab my free How to Make Loose Leaf Tea — it covers exactly how to steep, strain, and use loose herbs (including how to make a strong tea infusion for use in drinks and cocktails).
Why Herbs Belong in Summer Drinks
The history of herbal beverages goes back further than kombucha trends and wellness Instagram. Shrubs, flowers, bitter tonics are just the tip. Humans have been adding plants to drinks for thousands of years, and not just for flavor. Each plant brought a purpose. Settle the stomach. Cool the blood. Calm the nerves.
Herbal mocktail recipes are built on this principle are a genuinely useful thing. You're not just hydrating. You're getting the medicinal benefit of the plant in a form that's easy, delicious, and sustainable enough to make a habit of.
In Ayurveda, summer is pitta season — the season of heat, fire, and intensity. The herbs that do the best work in this season are the cooling, anti-inflammatory, and nervine plants. Lavender, rose, lemon balm, mint. All of them calm excess heat in the body. All of them belong in your glass.
The 5 Herbs for Herbal Mocktail Recipes
1. Lavender
Lavender is the one most people think of first, and for good reason. It's aromatic, slightly floral, and has a sedative quality that settles the nervous system almost immediately. Studies on lavender aromatherapy and ingestible lavender preparations both point to the same mechanism: it acts on GABA receptors, the same pathway your brain uses to shift from alert to calm.
In a mocktail, lavender is best used as a simple syrup (steep dried lavender buds in hot water for 10 minutes, strain, simmer with equal parts sugar or honey until dissolved, cool completely). A tablespoon of lavender syrup in sparkling water with fresh lemon is one of the best summer drinks there is. It's also stunning in a lemonade spritz or a grapefruit fizz.
Flavor profile: Floral, slightly herbaceous, sweet
Best paired with: Lemon, grapefruit, peach, elderflower
Medicinal benefit: Nervous system calm, cortisol reduction, mild sleep support
Dosage note: A little goes a long way — too much lavender can become soapy. Start with 1 tablespoon of syrup per drink and adjust.
2. Lemon Balm
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is one of the most underused herbs in the kitchen and one of the most useful for the nervous system. It's a member of the mint family — which means it's easy to grow, prolific, and slightly take-over-the-garden aggressive, but in a way you'll be grateful for.
Not to mention, lemon balm is SO easy to grow and grows abundantly.
Lemon balm directly lowers cortisol. A 2004 study published in *Psychosomatic Medicine* found that lemon balm supplementation significantly reduced cortisol in stressed participants. If your mind races at bedtime, or if the summer heat makes you more anxious than usual, lemon balm is the herb to reach for.
For mocktails, lemon balm is incredible as a cold infusion. Pack a jar with fresh leaves, fill with cold water, and refrigerate overnight. The result is a bright, lemony, slightly floral water that tastes far more complex than it has any right to. Use it as your base for spritzers.
Flavor profile: Bright lemon with mild herbaceous undertone
Best paired with: Cucumber, ginger, peach, sparkling water, mint
Medicinal benefit: Cortisol reduction, nervous system calm, digestive support
Recipe idea: Lemon Balm Spritz — 4 oz lemon balm cold infusion + 4 oz sparkling water + splash of tart cherry juice + fresh cucumber. Zero alcohol, all the chill.
3. Rose
Rose isn't just for Valentine's Day. It's one of the most therapeutically rich herbs you can add to a summer drink. Rose petals lower cortisol, support the liver (which processes emotions and stress hormones in Ayurveda), and have a cooling, anti-inflammatory quality that makes them ideal for pitta season.
Rosewater is the easiest way to use rose in drinks — a teaspoon added to sparkling water or lemonade gives you the medicinal benefit without any prep. You can also make a rose simple syrup with dried food-grade rose petals the same way you'd make lavender syrup.
One thing to note: if you're buying rose for culinary or herbal use, make sure it's labeled food-grade and grown without pesticides. Roses from a grocery store florist are not the same as culinary roses.
Flavor profile: Floral, slightly sweet, subtle
Best paired with: Raspberry, hibiscus, lemon, watermelon, peach
Medicinal benefit: Cortisol support, anti-inflammatory, liver support, mood elevation
Recipe idea: Rose Hibiscus Cooler — steep hibiscus flowers and dried rose petals together, strain, chill, serve over ice with sparkling water and a fresh mint sprig. (this one is a MUST!!)
4. Mint
Mint is the workhorse of summer herbs, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But what most people don't know is why mint actually belongs in a summer mocktail beyond just tasting good.
Mint is a cooling herb. In Ayurvedic practice, mint reduces pitta — it lowers inflammation and heat in the body, supports digestion, and soothes the nervous system. After a hot day, the cooling effect of mint on the digestive system is real and noticeable. If you've ever had a cup of peppermint tea after a heavy meal and felt immediate relief, you've experienced this firsthand.
For mocktails, mint is best used fresh and muddled (gently pressed to release the oils) rather than steeped into a hot tea, since heat diminishes some of the volatile compounds that make it so refreshing.
Flavor profile: Cool, bright, clean
Best paired with: Lime, cucumber, watermelon, ginger, pineapple
Medicinal benefit: Cooling, digestive support, anti-inflammatory, nervous system soothing
Recipe idea: The Herbalist's Mojito — muddle fresh mint with lime juice and a touch of honey, top with sparkling water over crushed ice. Add a splash of chlorophyll water if you want to make it extra green and dramatic.
5. Chamomile
Chamomile in a cold drink is underrated. Most people only know it as a hot tea, but a chamomile cold brew is one of the most beautiful, mildly floral drinks you can make in summer — and it doubles as a genuinely medicinal drink.
Apigenin, the active compound in chamomile, binds to GABA receptors in the same way as mild anti-anxiety medication. It's gentler, slower, and there's no dependence — but over time, regular chamomile consumption has been shown to reduce anxiety symptoms and improve sleep quality in multiple studies.
For a cold brew: steep 2 tablespoons of dried chamomile flowers in cold water for 8–12 hours in the fridge. Strain. Serve over ice. Add honey and lemon. It's one of the most soothing drinks you will ever make on a hot day.
Flavor profile: Mild, apple-like, slightly sweet
Best paired with: Honey, lemon, peach, lavender, ginger
Medicinal benefit: Nervous system calm, sleep support, anti-inflammatory, digestive aid
Recipe idea: Chamomile Peach Sparkler — 4 oz chamomile cold brew + peach juice + sparkling water + fresh lemon. Perfect for an afternoon on the porch.
How to Use These Herbs in Mocktails
There are four main methods for getting herbs into a drink:
1. Simple syrup — steep herb in hot water for 10 minutes, strain, simmer with equal parts sugar or honey until dissolved. Stores in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Best for: lavender, rose, chamomile, lemon balm.
2. Cold infusion — place fresh or dried herbs in cold water, refrigerate for 4–12 hours. Gentler on volatile compounds. Best for: mint, lemon balm, rose petals, chamomile.
3. Muddling — press fresh herbs with a muddler or wooden spoon to release oils. Best for: mint, basil, lemon balm leaves.
4. Herbal tea concentrate — brew a double-strength tea (2 tablespoons per cup instead of 1), strain, cool, and use as the base of a mocktail. Best for: any dried herb. Works well when you want medicinal potency without added sugar.
One More Thing Before Summer Arrives
I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new summer blend — something designed to be sipped cold, by the pool, on a long afternoon when everyone finally slows down a little. It's floral. It's herbal. And it's the kind of drink you'll make a batch of on Sunday and have all week.
It's coming in June as the monthly subscription blend. If you want first access:
Join the monthly subscription here!
If you're more of a "let me try it once" person, check out what's available now:
Browse Sol Bloom teas
