Top 10 Reasons Not to Associate “Mocktail” with Health or Wellness

Matthew Kourie
Jun 17
5 min read

Updated: Jul 3

Definition: What is a “Mocktail?" Coined in the 1970s, the term "mocktail" was created by blending the words "mock" and "cocktail." By definition:

"A non-alcoholic beverage that imitates / 'mocks' the appearance or format of an established alcoholic cocktail."

Its only real requirement is the strict absence of alcohol. There is no standard for nutrition, function, sourcing, or health benefits. It was never designed with wellness in mind. In 2025, where clarity, transparency, and efficacy matter, "mocktail" is misaligned with consumer expectation and a wellness focused intent.

Bartender preparing a colorful wellness cocktail at a modern bar filled with natural light and greenery, representing the future of health-conscious mixology

Top 10 Reasons Not to Associate “Mocktail” with Health or Wellness

“Mocktail” Has No Health Definition or Standards
It holds zero official or cultural linkage to health. It implies nothing about ingredient integrity, wellness benefits, or sourcing transparency. In a world where conscious consumers scan labels and expect proof of benefit, "mocktail" provides zero framework.
Ambiguity Breeds Consumer Mistrust
"Mocktail" means something different to everyone. It could be sugary soda with mint or a botanical infusion. For the health-literate, ambiguity signals danger. In a precision-led wellness culture, unclear terms erode trust. It also erodes trust in the knowledgable bartender and continues consumer skepticism at home.
Associating Imitations as Health-Forward Rewinds Progress
Mocktails have historically been sugary, empty imitations. Associating them with health undermines true functional advancement. Only “Wellness Cocktail” aligns with a movement grounded in biology, sourcing, and purpose. Anchoring thoughts like “at least it’s better than alcohol” rewires perception—conflating what health even is.
The term"mocktail" itself is becoming old fashioned. (Pun intended.)
“Mocktail” Is outdated slang from the 1970s—Misaligned with Modern Wellness Culture Created before we understood metabolism, cortisol, or microbiome health at the consumer level within the already established wellness movement. The 2025 wellness wave demands a new lexicon rooted in self-optimization and intentionality. Mocktail is a relic. We're in the future and yes, it's exciting.
Not a Sustainable Term
Mocktail lacks the depth to thrive in a wellness-driven culture. It's too vague, too dated. Meanwhile, "Wellness Cocktails" easily joins the established wellness lifestyle movement—where sourcing, science, and transparency matter. It also provides the umbrella term that clearly correlates to functional ingredients in a health context. Wellness cocktails bring about a new culture in the bar world as well. Even the term "functional cocktail" leaves much to the imagination, with nightmare stories of bar world nights of receiving a functional ingredient in ones drink , while you weren't looking. We want to reduce the type of functional cocktail that doesn't support wellness, so that bardom is recognized as a space for community, shared knowledge, and a common wellness language—one that elevates and refines the entire category. This is why using wellness language and terminology is essential—not just for marketing, but for long-term sustainability.

"Wellness Cocktails anchors a new category built for refinement, safety, intention, and alignment with human health. It is not an imitation , extension, it is the full 360 back to how mixology began, in the pharmacy, but this time with an entire new natural framework in its own right. Very, VERY COOL."
Mocktail Culture Breeds Complacency—Wellness Cocktails Demand Refinement
1. In high-pressure bar environments, bartenders often default to basic non-alcoholic mixes—like a quick pineapple-limeade topped with ginger beer. It's fast and familiar, but does "no alcohol" mean it's healthy? That confusion is exactly what Wellness Cocktails aim to dispel.
  This article marks a long-overdue shift—toward a movement beyond mocktails. Even the most creative N/A drinks often overlook key factors: ingredient purpose, nutrient preservation, sustainability, and holistic waste reduction.
  While refined N/A cocktails are gaining traction, the space still lacks clarity. The mocktail mindset promotes lazy assumptions: “No alcohol? Must be healthy!” Wellness Cocktails reject this. They follow a Good > Better > Best model—emphasizing education, intention, and functional benefits. This isn’t imitation—it’s a new universe of mixology rooted in awareness, connection, and constant refinement.
Mocktail Prevents the Building of Wellness Ecosystems
Wellness mixology integrates with nutritionists, herbalists, and scientists. The language must match the mission. In 2018, bartenders and CBD producers began working together during the cannabinoid boom. These collaborations mirrored those traditionally held with spirit brands, showing how beneficial functional ingredients could redefine the bar landscape. That moment was a prototype for what Wellness Cocktails now formalize: scientific partnerships, foundational & sophisticated health effects, and a new standard of purpose-driven mixology and signifigantly different universe of hospitality all together. The Wellness Cocktail Community is, the game-changer.
"Mocktail” Cannot Sustain the Weight of the Mixologist Title
The longtime both loathed & loved term from bartenders. Only “wellness mixology” justifies the term “mixologist” today. It allows for intentional learning, scientific advancement, independant generational wellness knowledge transfer, and diverse ingredient systems & matrices. Wellness mixologists aren’t imitating—they’re innovating. They explore bioavailability, synergistic ingredients, and the connection between the human biology and a wide array of applications. This level of thoughtfulness and integration simply cannot be achieved under a label rooted in imitation and mockery.
There Will Never Be New Classic Mocktails
The Wellness Cocktail Era Is Just Beginning. The classic cocktail canon is complete. No new “mocktail” will be added to that legacy because the term itself signals imitation—not innovation.

Meanwhile, Wellness Cocktails are untamed territory. They allow bartenders and wellness professionals to reshape ratios, rethink ingredients, glassware, vessels, bar tools & techniques. Build drinks entirely based on flavorful balanced purpose: endorphin-based menus, gut-health boosters, cognitive elixirs, or calming magnesium blends.

Wellness Cocktails shift the feeling of the bar. Instead of relying on nostalgia, they redefine it—with new traditions rooted in feeling good, healthy experience, expanding what is in the glass well beyond alcohol as the only functional ingredient the guest can look to in their day to day. While we were inspired by the second cocktail renaissance and lean on it's foundations, wellness cocktails are no doubt the frontier and the future ever-forward and upward.
The Rise of the Wellness Bar—And the Cultural Revolution
A wellness bar isn’t a mocktail bar—it redefines what bars can be. It becomes a trusted health hub where post-workout visits lead to recovery drinks crafted by experts in wellness and cocktail science—accessible and intentional. It’s a place where going out supports your health, not ends with a hangover.
Wellness cocktails don’t imitate—they innovate. They offer excitement, new horizons, and care. Bartenders shift from pouring shots to meeting real needs: maybe it’s not two ounces of liquor, but a calming tincture or an uplifting botanical.
This movement blends the heritage of the pharmacy with the art of bartending, introducing a new culture of nourishment, intentional recreation, and authentic connection. Wellness bars foster community, turning nightlife into a source of growth, clarity, and collective well-being.

Inevitable Outcomes:
With the Golden Era of Distilling upon us and cocktail culture in full swing, spirits have never been confined to the glass. These rare, crafted liquids will inevitably cross more & more into culinary arts, & home cooking—adding depth to dishes, complexity to flavor profiles, and precision to preparation. Additive free trends are more promising in this regard.

Alcohol, long misunderstood and misused, will evolve in wellness mixology—as a functional solvent, botanical carrier, and clinical tool. It will be measured, atomized, micro-dosed—not to intoxicate, but to activate, with new understandings and frameworks.