THC Mocktails: How to Make Them at Home (3 Recipes and the Dosing Math)

A mocktail is a cocktail with the alcohol taken out. A THC mocktail is a mocktail where the buzz got put back in, from THC instead of liquor. That’s the whole definition, and it’s also why people get them wrong: they treat the THC like a garnish, when it’s the part that needs measuring.

This is the home version. Three ways to make a THC mocktail, the one we’d actually recommend, the dosing math nobody puts at the top of the page, and three recipes you can make with one can and whatever’s in the crisper drawer.

Three ways to make a THC mocktail

1. Start with a THC drink (the easy way)

Use a ready-made THC drink as the base and build the mocktail on top of it: juice, herbs, citrus, ice. The dose is printed on the can, the THC is already dissolved evenly through the liquid, and the drink was made to taste good on its own, so it doesn’t need much. A can of San Buzi is 12 ounces of lemonade with 10mg of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and 5mg of CBG, zero calories, zero sugar, zero alcohol. That’s a glass, a mixer and a measured dose in one object. All three recipes below work this way.

2. Drop a THC tincture or “mocktail enhancer” into a plain mocktail

Water-soluble THC drops exist for exactly this. They work, with two catches. The dose is on you: you have to read the dropper, do the math per glass, and keep track across a pitcher. And oil-based tinctures don’t mix into a cold drink; they float, so the first sip and the last sip aren’t the same dose. If you go this route, use a water-soluble product, measure per glass rather than per pitcher, and never add drops to a drink that already has THC in it.

3. Make an infused syrup yourself

Possible, and we’re skipping it. A homemade infusion has no label, so nobody at the table knows what’s in their glass, including you. Recipes that can’t be dosed aren’t recipes we’ll put a number next to.

The dosing math

This is the section that should be at the top of every THC mocktail post, so here it is near the top of ours.

• Count cans, not glasses. One can is 10mg no matter what you add to it. Pour a can over a big glass of ice and it’s still 10mg. Split it between two glasses and each one is 5mg. A pitcher is “however many cans went in,” divided by the glasses that came out.
• Give it the hour. A THC drink usually takes 10 to 60 minutes to kick in and lasts roughly one to three hours. Everybody’s different, and the second drink poured because the first “isn’t working yet” is the classic mistake. Details in the onset and dosing guide.
• New to this? Start at 5mg. Half a can, or a can split with someone. 5mg vs. 10mg, explained.
• Don’t stack sources. No tincture in a THC drink, no THC drink as the chaser for an edible.
• Keep alcohol out of it. A THC mocktail is non-alcoholic by definition, and that’s not just a style choice. Mixing alcohol and THC makes the effects harder to predict.

Do THC drinks give you a buzz like alcohol?

A buzz, yes. Like alcohol, not really, and it isn’t a “lighter beer.” Many people describe a gradual, relaxed or lighter mood that builds over the first hour, while some feel very little and others feel stronger effects than they expected. It comes on slower than a drink, which is why the timing rule above matters so much. It is a real psychoactive effect, it varies a lot from person to person, and it is absolutely not a thing to drive after. Our guide to THC drinks vs. alcohol goes through the differences properly.

Three THC mocktail recipes, one can each

Every one of these is a cold can plus two or three things. Strawberry Lemonade is the Social Lifesaver: bright, classic, a little chaotic. Blueberry Lemonade is the Couch Command: jammy, laid-back, deeply unbothered. Pick the one that matches the evening.

The Strawberry Basil Smash

Serves 1 — one can, 10mg.

What you need
1 can San Buzi Strawberry Lemonade, cold
4 or 5 fresh basil leaves
1 lime wedge
Ice

What you do
1. Drop the basil in an empty glass and press it a few times with the back of a spoon. Bruise it, don’t shred it.
2. Squeeze the lime in, then fill with ice.
3. Pour the can over slowly. Stir once.

Strawberry and basil is the pairing every restaurant discovered at the same time, for good reason. The lime keeps it from going dessert on you.

The Blueberry Ginger Mule

Serves 1 — one can, 10mg.

What you need
1 can San Buzi Blueberry Lemonade, cold
A splash of non-alcoholic ginger beer (check the label; a few are boozy)
1 lime wedge
A few fresh blueberries
Ice, ideally in a copper mug if you own one, a glass if you’re normal

What you do
1. Ice, then the ginger beer. A splash covers the bottom of the glass, no more.
2. Top with the can.
3. Squeeze the lime over, drop the blueberries in.

The ginger gives it a back-of-the-throat bite the blueberry doesn’t have on its own. This is the one for people who say they don’t like sweet drinks.

The Spiced Cranberry Sparkler

Serves 1 — one can, 10mg.

What you need
1 can San Buzi Strawberry Lemonade, cold
2 oz unsweetened cranberry juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 orange peel, twisted
Ice

What you do
1. Ice, cranberry juice.
2. Top with the can.
3. Cinnamon stick in as the stirrer. Twist the orange peel over the top so the oil hits the surface, then drop it in.

This is the November one. We built a whole table’s worth of these for the holiday: six Thanksgiving mocktails, one can each, including a zero-THC pitcher for everyone who isn’t partaking. For the warm version, there’s the non-alcoholic hot toddy. The recipes page has the rest.

Hosting with THC mocktails: the short list

• 21+ only, and tell people what’s in the glass before they drink it. A THC mocktail looks exactly like a mocktail.
• Label the pitcher and keep it apart from anything a kid or a designated driver might pour from.
• Make a zero-THC version of the same drink with plain sparkling lemonade, so nobody feels like the odd one out and nobody gets dosed by accident.
• Nobody drives. Sort rides before the first pour, not after.
• Keep cans away from kids and pets, skip them if you’re pregnant or nursing, and remember any THC can show up on a drug test.

THC mocktail questions

What are the best THC mocktails?

The ones where you know the dose. In practice that means starting from a labeled THC drink and adding one or two fresh things, which is what the three recipes above do. Anything that needs a syrup, a blender and a dropper is more work and less certain.

How do you make a THC mocktail?

Ice in a glass, a splash of juice or a squeeze of citrus, a cold THC drink poured over the top, a garnish. One can per drink, one drink per person, and give it the hour before deciding anything.

What non-alcoholic drinks are infused with THC?

Seltzers, sodas, lemonades, teas and ready-to-drink “mocktails” in a can, most of them made with hemp-derived THC so they can be sold outside dispensaries in states that allow it. Our guide to what THC drinks are covers the categories, the doses and how to read a label. San Buzi is a lemonade: 10mg THC + 5mg CBG, 12oz, lab tested with public results.

Where can I buy THC drinks for mocktails?

Online, in the states that allow it, and at licensed shops. We ship to adults 21+ in these states; the buying online guide walks through the age check and the address check. Our last shipping day of 2026 is December 10.

That’s it. A cold can, a lime, something green. Close the tabs in your brain and go find a glass.