The concept was controversial: a pop-up bar offering bellinis and spritzes that, while non-alcoholic, were served in chilled cocktail glasses in the capital of teetotalling Saudi Arabia. 

But although customers were initially wary of the experiment -– which coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and forbearance -– the bar ended up doing brisk business.

Its success highlights the widening acceptance of more daring non-alcoholic fare even as booze itself remains strictly off-limits in the Gulf kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites. 

"To be honest, we were skeptical about it, but at the end of the day it worked out," said Evans Kahindi, brand manager for Blended by Lyre's, which organized the pop-up. 

In Saudi Arabia's main cities, upscale restaurants are unveiling extensive virgin drink menus and seasoned mixologists are relocating from more freewheeling towns like Dubai and Berlin to pour for deep-pocketed customers, as mocktail mania takes root. 

Saudis say the trend is consistent with a broader push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform his oil-dependent nation into a foreigner-friendly business, tourism, and entertainment hub. 

Yet the speed of the changes is surprising, said Abdullah Raslan, marketing manager for Blended by Lyre's, which recently partnered with a food hall in Riyadh's Kingdom Centre to serve mocktails including a spiced date sour and a "no-groni". 

"I'm not going to lie to you, Saudi is a bit of a religious country, but we're seeing how it's becoming more adaptable with what's happening in the world," said Raslan, a native of the eastern city of Khobar. 

"Have we had a lot of pushback in the past? Yes, we have. Do we still need to educate a lot of people about these drinks?… Yes, we do. But step by step, that's all we're asking for." 

Trouble for tipplers

King Abdulaziz enacted Saudi Arabia's alcohol ban in the early 1950s, not long after an incident in which one of his sons got drunk and, in a rage, shot dead a British diplomat.