Unnaturally blue cocktails are always a hit. But what about the non-drinkers? We created the Blue Shoe mocktail so they too could enjoy a bright blue drink with no alcohol.

The main ingredient is a blue variety of Hawaiian punch called Polar Blast, which tastes like a blend of berry and orange flavors.

Some readers have reported being unable to find it. It’s usually available on Amazon (see above link), but you can also substitute Kool-Aid’s Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Drink Mix.

Or you can use any type of blue soda you can find. The Kool-Aid works well in this, but you do have to make it in advance yourself.

Of course, the taste will vary if you end up using a different blue soda. But as long as the soda tastes good, so will the drink. That’s where most of the flavor comes from.

The ingredient that can be most hard to find is the white cranberry juice. You can order white cranberry juice on Amazon.

The reason it needs to be white is to preserve the blue color of the drink from the Polar Blast. The usual reddish cranberry juice would turn the drink a sort of dark purple.

I’ve been asked if you can substitute white grapefruit juice. You can, but be aware this will change the flavor of the drink a lot.

The overall taste of the drink is berry and citrus. Using grapefruit juice would tip the balance heavily toward citrus and away from berry.

But will it taste good? If you like a really tart citrus drink, yes. If it’s too tart, you may need to add some simple syrup to it.

This makes for a really beautiful drink. It actually looks like a drink that features Blue Curacao. 

And that was my goal: to create a delicious drink that really looks like a cocktail, so non-drinking guests don’t have to feel like they’re standing around with an obvious, boring non-cocktail.

You can also mix up a big batch of it in a pitcher in advance of a party and keep it chilled in the fridge.

If you don’t have time to chill your ingredients before mixing this one, put some ice in a mixing glass, add the punch and cranberry juice to it and stir until the glass is very cold to the touch. Pour that into a chilled martini glass and then add the 7-Up.

The recipe doesn’t call for any garnish, but garnish will make it look even more like a cocktail. Plus, it’s fun for guests to have some fruit to munch on.

An orange slice is great. Or lemon. Also pineapple or cherry. You can make a whole spear of fruits to go in this and really make it look like a party in a glass.

If you need more non-alcoholic cocktail recipes, we have plenty of recipes for mocktails you should take a look at.