Your Guests Switch Between Cocktails and Mocktails All Night. Plan for Both.

Here is a statistic that reframes the whole cocktail-versus-mocktail question for your party: 92% of people who buy non-alcoholic drinks also buy alcohol. Your guests are not picking one or the other. Many will enjoy both, sometimes in the same evening.

It is called zebra striping, alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks across the night, and 47% of bar guests now do it regularly. It is not a quirk of one age group. It is simply how most of your guests will move through your event.

Why Your Guests Alternate

The old way of thinking split a guest list into two camps, drinkers and non-drinkers. Your real guest list is more fluid:

• Pacing: a guest enjoys a cocktail during the cocktail hour, then switches to a craft mocktail at dinner so they are not three drinks deep before dessert.
• Driving: the designated driver has one drink early, then stays on NA the rest of the night. They still want something better than a Shirley Temple.
• Heat: at an outdoor Oklahoma summer event, dehydration is real. A guest might start with a gin and tonic, then move to a craft lemonade when the heat sets in.
• Moderation: 49% of Americans planned to drink less in 2025. They are not abstaining, they are simply being intentional about when and how much.

What This Means for Your Bar

If half your guests are switching back and forth, your bar needs to serve both tracks at the same quality. A craft cocktail followed by a can of Coke is a letdown. A craft cocktail followed by a craft mocktail, with the same care in presentation, flavor, and service, keeps your guests' night feeling consistent and special from start to finish.

That is why every Scissortail cocktail has a mocktail version. The non-alcoholic option is never an "alternative," it is a second track that is just as good.

So Your Non-Alcoholic Menu Is Half the Bar

A lot of bar planning still treats non-alcoholic as an afterthought: grab some Coke and Sprite and call it done. But when 47% of your guests move between tracks, the mocktail menu is not a side program. It is half of your bar, and it deserves the same attention.

For your event, that looks like:

• Every signature cocktail has a mocktail counterpart
• The NA drinks come in the same glassware, with the same garnishes
• Your bartender presents both menus with equal enthusiasm
• Hydration options (infused water, sparkling) are always within reach
• A dirty soda or coffee mocktail station gives guests a fun third track

How Scissortail Handles It

"Every cocktail we make has a mocktail version," says Bar-Key founder Patrick Wilson. "We always keep tonic water, club soda, and ginger ale on hand too, so there is something good for the drinkers and the non-drinkers alike."

We built Scissortail for the guest who wants a beautiful drink in hand whether or not it has alcohol. When the quality holds steady across both tracks, your guests never have to choose between feeling included and getting something they actually enjoy. They just drink what they want, when they want it, and your party feels welcoming to everyone in the room.