The non-alcoholic mimosa

A classic mimosa is sparkling wine and orange juice, usually in equal parts, sometimes two parts wine to one of juice, served in a flute. It's barely a recipe, which is why the ingredients matter so much. Each part has a job:

• Sparkling wine brings bubbles, acidity and a dry, slightly bready or fruity backbone. In the original, it's Champagne or another dry sparkler.
• Orange juice brings sweetness, color and nearly all the flavor.
• Cold holds it together. Warm sparkling wine goes flat the moment it meets juice.

For a zero-proof mimosa, the sparkling wine has to work harder:

• It needs acidity. Alcohol gives real sparkling wine a sharpness that balances orange juice. Look for alcohol-free sparklers described as crisp or with high acidity.
• It shouldn't be too sweet. A bottle that tastes pleasantly sweet on its own will taste sugary with juice. Brut-style bottles are the safest bet.
• It needs lasting bubbles. Juice flattens fizz. Bottles with fine, persistent bubbles hold up best.
• Less juice helps. With a very dry sparkler, equal parts is fine. With a sweeter one, go two parts bubbles to one of juice.

Our catalogue doesn't list a pre-mixed non-alcoholic mimosa in a can. The closest thing is Curious Elixirs No. 4, a blood orange Sicilian spritz made with non-alcoholic prosecco, American ginseng, tulsi and turmeric. It's bittersweet and lightly fizzy, more of a brunch spritz than a mimosa, but it scratches the same itch with no pouring.

For groups, single-serve bottles are the easiest shortcut. Gruvi Dry Secco comes in 275 ml bottles, so there's no half-flat 750 left over. It's semi-dry, floral and a little tart, and good in a mimosa. One bottle makes two drinks.

This is the choice that matters. Here's the catalogue's range, grouped by how sweet each one tastes, from driest to sweetest.

Dry: the best non-alcoholic champagne for mimosas

These taste closest to a brut Champagne and make the most grown-up mimosas. Use equal parts with juice.

• Giesen 0% Sparkling Brut from New Zealand is our everyday pick: pear, grapefruit and lemon, peach on the palate, crisp and dry. It's the bottle in our recipe.
• Bolle Blanc de Blancs is fermented again after the alcohol comes out, which gives it natural bubbles and a toasty, bready edge. Dry, with 2.8 g of sugar per bottle. The one to pour when you want it to taste like Champagne.
• Lautus Sparkling Brut is a South African Chardonnay made in a Champagne style: white peach, citrus blossom and apple, with lively bubbles.
• Missing Thorn Sparkling White Riesling is tart and very crisp, with citrus, green pear and melon and a long, dry finish.
• French Bloom Le Blanc is an organic sparkling Chardonnay with orchard and tropical fruit, a little spice, and enough acidity to taste dry. It's the special-occasion pick.

Off-dry: the easy middle

A touch of sweetness, balanced by acidity. Good if you like a softer mimosa, or if your orange juice is very tart.

• Surely Sparkling Brut is Californian, with a little Sauvignon Blanc and peach blended back in: apple, pear, lemon and a hint of honey, with full acidity and a dry finish. It has 2 g of sugar per glass, and it's our pick for punch.
• Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Sparkling Riesling has green apple, pear and a slate-dry finish, with a little residual sugar balanced by acidity.
• Kylie Minogue Alcohol Free Sparkling Blanc is light and floral, with jasmine and a clean finish.
• Kally Golden Sparkler is a sparkling wine alternative made from pear and California verjus with chamomile and thyme: lightly sweet up front and dry at the end.

Sweeter: the budget mimosa

These are the cheapest and easiest to find, and they're fine for a big batch. Use two parts bubbles to one of juice, and add a squeeze of lemon.

• Freixenet 0.0 Sparkling White is Spanish, with tropical fruit and citrus and a noticeably sweet finish (38 g of sugar per liter). It's an easy, cheap mimosa base, as long as you go lighter on the juice.
• Mionetto Alcohol-Removed Sparkling is made from Glera, the Prosecco grape: peach and apple, a little sweet, with lasting bubbles. It's the best non-alcoholic prosecco stand-in if you like a prosecco mimosa.
• Fre Sparkling Brut is one of the cheapest bottles in the category: green apple, pear and strawberry, with a dry-ish finish. Fine for mimosas and a toast.
• Wölffer Spring in a Bottle is a floral sparkling Airén: white peach, cantaloupe, a creamy mousse and a touch of sweetness at the end.

Rosé mimosas

Pink bubbles and orange juice make a sunset-colored mimosa that's great with grapefruit or blood orange juice. Wölffer Spring in a Bottle Rosé (peach, raspberry and a dry, mineral finish), Surely Sparkling Rosé (strawberry, peach and raspberry) and Acid League Proxies Brut Rosé (tart raspberry and lemon with a dry sparkle) all work.

For something less expected, NON1 Salted Raspberry & Chamomile is a sparkling wine alternative rather than a dealcoholized wine: sweet and salty, with raspberry up front and chamomile giving it gentle tannin and a floral finish. The salt keeps a mimosa from tasting like juice. Use it with blood orange or pink grapefruit.

Yes, and plenty of people do. Here's how the common swaps compare:

• Sparkling cider. A non-alcoholic mimosa with sparkling cider tastes of apple as much as orange, and it's sweeter. Use a dry, unsweetened sparkling cider if you can find one, and add a squeeze of lemon.
• Ginger ale. A non-alcoholic mimosa with ginger ale is sweet and gently spicy, and kids love it. Use half ginger ale and half soda water, such as Fever-Tree Premium Club Soda, to keep it from being too sugary.
• Sprite or lemon-lime soda. The sweetest option. A virgin mimosa with Sprite is basically orange soda, but it's cheap and easy for a crowd. Again, cutting it with soda water helps.
• Sparkling tea. Tost Sparkling White Tea is dry, with white tea, white cranberry and ginger. It makes a lighter, more interesting mimosa than soda, and it isn't made from wine at all.

For the closest thing to a real mimosa, though, an alcohol-free sparkling wine is worth it.

Our fauxmosa is simple: dry bubbles, fresh orange juice, both as cold as you can get them.

If it tastes too sweet, use more sparkling wine and less juice, or add a squeeze of lemon; if you like it fruitier, go equal parts.

Non-alcoholic mimosa punch

For showers and big brunches, a punch bowl is easier than pouring flutes all morning. A little grapefruit and a splash of Lyre's Italian Spritz make it taste less like juice.

A mimosa bar is the easiest way to serve a crowd, and it's perfect for a baby shower, where a good non-alcoholic mimosa lets everyone drink the same thing. Here's the setup:

• Bubbles. Plan on one 750 ml bottle for every three or four guests. Mix a dry bottle and a sweeter one, and label which is which. Single-serve Gruvi bottles save waste.
• Juices. Orange is essential. Add two or three more: pink grapefruit, blood orange, pineapple, peach nectar, cranberry or mango. Serve them in carafes with labels.
• Fruit. Berries, orange slices, pomegranate seeds and mint.
• Something bitter. A bottle of Lyre's Italian Spritz or a bitter aperitif lets guests make a spritz-style mimosa.
• Ice buckets. Keep every bottle and every carafe on ice. Warm juice and warm bubbles are the main way a mimosa bar goes wrong.
• Flutes or small wine glasses. Plus a card with the rule: bubbles first, juice second, don't stir.

These are the catalogue's best bottles for a non-alcoholic mimosa, dry to sweet.

• Bellini. Peach purée in place of the orange juice, topped with a prosecco-style sparkler like Mionetto.
• Poinsettia. Cranberry juice and a squeeze of orange, for the holidays.
• Grand mimosa. Add a teaspoon of Dhos Orange, a sugar-free triple sec alternative, for a stronger orange flavor.
• Spritz mimosa. Add half an ounce of Lyre's Italian Spritz to a regular mimosa for a bittersweet edge.
• French 75. Swap the juice for lemon, a zero-proof gin and a little syrup, topped with dry bubbles.

Most brunch spots will make a virgin mimosa, though some just use sparkling cider or soda. Zero-proof bars are more likely to pour an alcohol-free sparkling wine. These are worth a visit: