Diet fads may come and go, but healthful habits tend to always be on trend\u2014and they became particularly relevant during the pandemic. \u201cI believe that the last couple of years and the frailty of the unknown has made people much more aware and mindful of what they\u2019re putting in their bodies,\u201d says Leah Carricato, senior operations manager for Captivate Hospitality Group, which owns the Solstice restaurant concept in Newtown, Pennsylvania and Irvine, California. \u201cBeing more health-conscious is really an overarching cultural shift in thought process that has also extended to cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth Corr, beverage director for Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, agrees, noting that while the early days of lockdown resulted in a lot of indulgence, this shifted over time. \u201cThere was a trend of drinking more early on in 2020, and once people realized the effects of drinking more frequently they adapted to creating cocktails that didn\u2019t make them feel as bad the next day,\u201d he says. \u201cI do think this trend was coming about before the pandemic, and Covid-19 brought it to the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But healthful drinking doesn\u2019t have to be dull, as Michelle Morgan, owner of the vegetable-forward restaurant TLK in New York City, points out. \u201cHopefully more people are learning how easy it is to take the healthier options,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s possible to have fun in a healthier way with the right decisions, opting for ingredients that are good or better for your body without compromising flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the biggest trend in drinking over the last several years that also happens to be more healthful is the movement away from overly sweet and sugary drinks. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen the overall consumer market becoming more health-conscious when it comes to cocktails with less sugar and cocktails that are naturally flavored, which is why we produce our own house-made syrups for our cocktails at Avli on The Park,\u201d says Blake Leonette, bar manager at the Chicago restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polina Jourbina, beverage manager at The Mermaid Inn Oyster Bar in New York City, also notes that guests are frequently seeking drinks with little or no sugar added. \u201cA classic Moscow Mule would usually be with ginger beer, but I prefer to make mine with ginger syrup,\u201d she says. \u201cInstead of almost a full serving of ginger beer, mine has less than an ounce of ginger syrup. The flavor isn\u2019t skimmed, but the sugar and calories are\u2014plus ginger has tons of benefits to the immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201d Her Moscow Mule ($16) features Tito\u2019s vodka, 1883 Maison Routin\u00a0Ginger syrup, lime juice, club soda, and Angostura bitters.\u00a0\u201cZero sugar and zero calorie sodas are becoming more frequently used in cocktails\u2014it\u2019s an easy alternative to keep the same flavor as a traditional soda mixer but without the sugar,\u201d TLK\u2019s Morgan says. \u201cWe use different flavors of Sanzo soda water to add bubbles and flavor\u00a0without sugar or calories to make refreshing cocktails.\u201d Created for TLK by consulting bartender Channing Centeno, the Passion Flower ($17) features Del Maguey Vida mezcal, Aperol aperitif, St-Germain liqueur, passion fruit pur\u00e9e, house-made ginger syrup, and Sanzo Mango sparkling water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe also like using natural ingredients, such as loose leaf hibiscus tea, to create powerful and naturally flavored cocktails that are still health-conscious. The natural sweetness of hibiscus tea is a wonderful replacement for high-sugar drinks\u2014it creates a sweet, yet slightly earthy and cranberry taste perfect for crushable summer cocktails.\u201d His Spill The Tea ($16) blends Tito\u2019s vodka, Skinos Mastiha liqueur, chilled loose-leaf hibiscus tea, and lemon juice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Diet fads may come and go, but healthful habits tend to always…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themes.webswaala.com\/CMS\/WW34\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}