Summer is prime time for entertaining, but as a considerate host you need to know the dietary preferences of your guests.

Those with alcohol sensitivities and restrictions will find Liz Scott's new book, Zero-Proof Cocktails, to be a highly useful resource in whipping up exciting mocktails.

Liz was kind enough to share some essential non-alcoholic cocktail pointers with us:

Liz Scott: Here are my key tips on preparing and serving alcohol-free drinks:

1. Don't offer beverages to non-drinkers that they can get from a vending machine. To feel like part of the celebration or party, nondrinkers deserve a lot more creativity on your part. Search for ideas online or in special alcohol-free drink books that go with your theme.

2. Stay away from recipes that say "leave out" the alcohol. The result is too often overly sweet and far from refreshing. A truly successful mocktail accounts for the missing alcohol by replacing it with something else. Flavored club sodas and seltzers, bitter lemon, flavored teas and other ingredients can fill in nicely for the booze you are omitting and add another dimension of flavor.

3. Serving alcohol-free drinks in traditional cocktail glasses is always festive. However, always be aware of the reasons your guests may be shunning alcohol. For recovering alcoholics, the visual trigger of a martini glass could be problematic while they are trying to remain sober, especially if they have only recently quit drinking. Some individuals may find certain beverages remind them of drinking (such as tonic water) so its important to know your guests in order to be a good host.

4. So-called "alcohol-free" beers and wines actually contain a small percentage of alcohol. For those who must strictly abstain, these products are not appropriate. The same goes for many cocktail ingredients like Angostura bitters which are quite high in alcohol content. For those who don't mind a small amount of alcohol, splashes of different-flavored bitters or ingredients like triple sec can add an authentic taste to a mocktail.

5. Keep a plentiful and varied supply of ingredients in your drink-making arsenal to make mocktail concocting easier and more interesting to the palate. Flavored syrups, unusual sodas and fruit juices, as well as attractive and fun garnishes will help bring alcohol-free offerings to a whole new and exciting level. Trendy flavors to incorporate include elderflower, hibiscus, all Italian sodas, and acai juice. Don't be afraid to create your own drinks by experimenting. If you're thrilled with the result, everyone else will be too!

Helpful resources to make your alcohol-free entertaining a success:
-Visit sober-celebrations.com for ideas on holiday entertaining and drink making.
-Look for Stirring's completely alcohol-free Blood Orange Bitters.
-Find unusual syrups at torani.com and monin.com.
- Check out San Pellegrino's Italian sodas and their alcohol-free Campari version of Campari called San Bitters at bevmo.com.
- Order elderflower syrup at lepicerie.com, and hibiscus flowers in syrup at wildhibiscus.com.