Cocktail enthusiasts, gather ‘round! It’s time to add thyme and avocado to your list of mixers. A dry January is an excellent way to reset, yet throughout the rest of the year, why not interlace alcohol with a little health? The party doesn't need to stop to keep nutrition, health, and wellbeing as top priorities. Indeed, it’s becoming passé to not find a balance.
A healthy indulgence is the ultimate compromise. Yet imbibing is a regular part of social life for many, so enjoy some mixed drinks without the twinges of guilt.
Healthy Cocktails Recipes
Healthy cocktails can include vegetable and fruits to provide nutritional value. Anything from green apple juice to spinach to kale can be used as a cocktail base.
Types of Ingredients You Can Add to Your Home Bar
Healthy cocktails run the gamut; a wide array of ingredients are used. Below are some of the more popular choices used by mixologists:
- Avocado (We hear it’s great with tequila!)
- Kale (Kaletinis are a thing)
- Spinach (even Vitamix approves of a spinach cocktail)
- Aloe vera (making detox-while-drinking possible)
- Fresh ginger (bringing the right kick to any drink)
If you’re thinking this could look like smoothie list gone wrong, you’re right. (Just go with it.) The recipes below will have your friends pouncing on the new drinks with fervor.
Thyme & Aloe Iced Tea Tonic
First, brew a large pot of black tea with two stalks of thyme. The black tea shouldn’t be too strong in flavor, so remove the tea bags after 3 minutes, and keep the thyme inside. Add 2 oz of aloe to the tea pot and 1 oz of agave. Let the tea cool down naturally over the next hour. If you are in a hurry, then put it in the refrigerator.
Once the tea is at room temperature or chilled, add ice to a glass and pour 1 oz of gin inside. Pour the iced tea over, stir to combine, and garnish the glass with a sprig of fresh thyme and lavender.
Avocado Margarita
Drinking avocado is a love-it-or-hate-it experience. When you love avocado and tequila, then give it a shot.
In a blender, combine 2 oz of tequila, 1/4 avocado (can add more if you want a thicker consistency), 1.5 oz of melon liquor, 1 oz of orange liquor, ½ lime, 1.5 oz of agave nectar, and ice. Coat the rim of the glass with the juice of a lime, and then dip it in hibiscus salt for a tangy, salty flavor and the pretty color. Pour it up and enjoy!
Pomegranate Pineapple Basil Summer Smash
Muddle ½ cup of diced pineapple and 5 basil leaves in a cocktail shaker until it’s become a pulpy paste. Add 1.5 oz of vodka or tequila (pick your poison!), ½ oz pomegranate juice, and ice to the cocktail shaker and shake for 20 seconds. Once the drink is well chilled, fill a glass with ice, strain the liquid over, and garnish with a fresh basil leaf and pineapple slice.
The Healthy Cocktails Trend Started with the Culinary Cocktails Trend
We can thank the fearless mixologists of the 2000s for bringing cooking elements from the kitchen behind the bar. By 2009, the National Restaurant Association was listing culinary cocktails as the second hottest restaurant trend of the year. It has since blossomed into hybrid categories of bartending.
On one side, there is a group of mixologists inspired by Michelin chefs and their cooking innovations. Modern processes like fat washes (to manipulate the taste of combined ingredients) and sous vide treatments (one way to infuse flavor) made their ways into cocktails, like a chorizo cocktail or mint julep with mint simple syrup. Technology has allowed for unusual combinations; charred cinnamon in blood orange vodka, herb-infused liquors, and billowing puffs of liquid nitrogen are customary sightings.
Fine-dining establishments have encouraged the crafting of unique cocktails, and bar menus are no longer simple lists. Instead, they feature winding descriptions of ingredients. At a quick glance, it might even be easy to confuse the drink list for the dinner menu.
And on the other side, there is an established movement of mixologists that can be found among more casual establishments. These bars focus on serving classic favorites with inventive twists, as well as locally sourced, wholesome ingredients.
So, the next time you are cooking, ask yourself, can I transform this dish here into my next cocktail?
