MINDFUL MIXOLOGY

Better-for-you beverages served shaken or stirred

BY ALISON KENT

Photo courtesy of Chotto Matte

if the COVID-19 pandemic has had any redeeming factors, perhaps it would be that it has contributed to a surge in people thinking more about their personal wellbeing than ever before. This, in turn, has prompted a reassessment of daily routines and a shift toward a more active and healthful approach to food and drink selections.

Enter, functional cocktails. These better-foryou beverages may help prevent or deter certain conditions. It’s thought that these beverages with benefits may contribute, in part, to supporting and maintaining certain body functions due to their active ingredients. Think turmeric, kombucha, matcha, apple cider vinegar, ginger and carrot juice (to name a few). Meanwhile, a few factors addressed may include boosting mental performance and enhancing immune system function.

For instance, take coconut water–a natural, electrolyte-filled drink that aids in hydration without the added sugars, colours and flavours found in many bottled sports drinks. It’s also high in potassium and low in calories. Serve it chilled over ice in a tall glass stirred with a shot of vodka, along with orange and cucumber slices, and you’ve got yourself a refreshing cocktail with functional benefits. Reduce the alcohol to half an ounce? Even better. Replace the vodka with a non-alcoholic spirit such as herbaceous Seedlip Garden 108? Better still. Watch for cocktail mixers with the addition of collagen, extra protein, vegetable juices and even vitamins or minerals–all are growing areas of interest. Many of us were already enthused about such drinks, and the pandemic has only served to strengthen this demand, as seen on an ever-growing number of cocktail menus, in take-home cocktail kits and on supermarket shelves.

Specializing in authentic Nikkei cuisine, Toronto’s Chotto Matte features more than merely exceptional Japanese-Peruvian food. Their innovative cocktail offerings include such fan favourites as the Nikkei Negroni–a twist on the classic Negroni with the addition of green tea and the juice of ají amarillo (a Peruvian yellow chili pepper). While the restaurant’s take on Flor de Manzana includes passion fruit and apple juice added to the elderflower and sake mix. On the non-alcoholic cocktail side, the popular Akai Maru is a vibrant, antioxidant and vitamin-packed blend of carrot juice, fresh ginger and chia seeds.

Speaking of carrots, immunity-boosting carrot juice features prominently at Vancouver’s Honest Cocktails, where fresh cocktail kits are custom-crafted to be experienced at home via curated virtual cocktail classes. Their cocktail kit offerings all include vegan, organic, locally sourced ingredients. Beyond cold-pressed carrot juice, there’s also cucumber, BC blueberries, coffee…even nutrient-rich cold-pressed red cabbage juice, with all its anti-inflammatory and gut health benefits.

Why Honest Cocktails? Founder, Andrew Fletcher, explains. “Honest Cocktails was born [from] a lack of focus on the benefits of wholesome, organic produce as the base of menu ideation. Bringing cold-pressed juice to our cocktails allows us to offer something new, nutritious and health-focused.” Their deliciously popular The Doctor’s Orders cocktail kit includes cold-pressed carrot, orange, lime and ginger juices, along with gin and zingy ginger syrup. Blended, shaken, poured over ice and garnished with dehydrated orange wheels and ginger candy, this is one fetching refresher, and is a functional cocktail with benefits galore.

Garden Booch

Makes: 1 non-alcoholic cocktail

This fizzy beverage’s benefits are thanks in part to its fruity kombucha mixer. It’s refreshing, alcohol-free and flavour filled.

• 1-1/2 oz Seedlip Garden 108 • 5 oz passion fruit kombucha (or another favourite kombucha), chilled • Mint sprig

Stir Seedlip and kombucha over ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and enjoy.