The Best New Year's Eve Non-Alcoholic Mocktails

When planning a New Year's Eve party, it is always a good idea to have a few appealing non-alcoholic drinks on hand for designated drivers, pregnant women, children, and other non-drinkers. These festive mocktails will help your non-drinking guests feel like they aren't missing a thing by not drinking.

Sparkling Pom-Apple Cocktail: Fill a champagne glass with sparkling apple cider and top with a splash of pure pomegranate juice. For garnish, add a few whole pomegranate seeds to the glass. Recommended brands: Martinelli Sparkling Apple Cider and POM Pomegranate Juice.

Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Make a pot of your favorite hot chocolate according to the packages directions and make it extra special by topping it with a dollop of cinnamon flavored whipped cream. To make cinnamon whipped cream, add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to one pint of heavy whipping cream, beat the cream with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon or a few shavings of chocolate bar. Recommended brand: Ghirardelli hot cocoa mix.

Appletini: Add 2 ounces of good quality apple juice, fresh pressed if you can find it, ½ ounce of simple syrup, and ¼ ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice to a cocktail shaker. Shake well. Rim a martini glass with sugar and strain the cocktail into it. Use a tiny star shaped cookie cutter to cut star shapes out of apple slices to float in the cocktail. The lemon juice in the cocktail will keep the stars from browning.

Vienna Soother: Add 4 ounces of strong coffee, 2 ounces of cream, a hearty drizzle of chocolate syrup, and a couple of dashes of cinnamon to a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with plenty of ice and shake well. Strain the cocktail into a clear coffee mug or highball glass and top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. This is a great drink for designated drivers before they head home.

Cranberry Twist Mix equal amounts of cranberry juice or cran-raspberry juice with lemon-lime flavored soda. Garnish with a slice of starfruit. (Recommended brands: Ocean Spray cranberry juice and 7up)

Mock Champagne In a punch bowl, mix 3 quarts of ginger ale, ½ cup of grenadine syrup, ½ cup of strained fresh lemon or lime juice, ½ cup of fresh strained grapefruit juice, and 2 cups of club soda. Chill all ingredients before mixing and combine all ingredients just before serving. Serve chilled. For a slightly sweeter flavor, use club soda instead of tonic water substitute 1 cup of apple juice for the grapefruit juice.