Summer Sips: Low Calorie Cocktails
With the summer heat at an all-time high, why not cool off with some of these fruity cocktails? Margaritas and daiquiris are often loaded with sugar and unnecessary calories that leave you hungover or bloated, so we’ve searched for the best of the best low calorie, low sugar and low-carb drinks. Whether your poison is a mojito or sangria, one of these is sure to tantalize your taste buds!
White Sangria
adapted from NYTimes.com
Combine fresh fruit and chilled wine to create a lighter version of traditional sangria, perfect for a hot summer afternoon.
1 small green pear or green apple
1 small navel orange
1 bottle cava, moscato d’Asti or other sparkling wine
1 3/4 cups apple juice
1 1/3 cups Cointreau
1 cup club soda
Slice fruit into thin bite-size pieces. Place in large pitcher. Pour in sparkling wine, apple juice and Cointreau. If possible, refrigerate an hour or two to draw out sweetness and floral aromas of fruit. Add club soda, and stir. Spoon some fruit pieces into glasses filled with ice, and pour.
Berry Dream
Created by The Cocktail Guru, Jonathan Pogash
Enjoy creamy drinks like pina coladas but are watching your calories? This drink perfectly blends coconut, berries and milk together with a fitting Acai-Blueberry vodka.
2 oz. Van Gogh Açai-Blueberry Vodka
1 scoop sugar-free raspberry sorbet
1 tsp. coconut cream
3 oz. skim milk
Add to blender and blend. Pour into hurricane or tall glass. Garnish with coconut flakes and fresh seasonal berries.
Low-Carb Cosmopolitan Cocktail
By Laura Dolson, About.com Guide: Low Carb Diets
Take a spin on the classic cosmo by making it with diet cranberry juice and fresh lime juice instead of that sugary bottled stuff!
1 jigger (1.5 oz or 3 tablespoons) Citron vodka or regular vodka
1 oz (2 tablespoons) diet cranberry juice (NOT “light” — it must say diet)
OR 2 teaspoons unsweetened cranberry juice and 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lime juice (fresh preferred)
2 to 3 drops orange extract
2 to 4 teaspoons sugar equivalent in artificial sweetener (to taste), liquid preferred
Put the ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-full of ice. Shake well. Taste for sweetness if using unsweetened cranberry juice, which is highly variable. You may need to add sweetener. Strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a small lime wedge or curl of lime peel.
BLUE Skinny Lemonade
Lemonade has always been a summer staple, and Crystal Light has a portion of the sugar and calories as other mixes, so stir some up and add a splash of vodka to make this childhood drink more adult-friendly.
2 oz of Van Gogh BLUE Vodka
4 oz of Crystal Light Lemonade
Combine ingredients and shake vigorously in shaker with ice. Strain into glass and enjoy!
Blueberry-Lime Margarita
From Eating Well, as seen in Fitness Magazine
Instead of making a margarita out of syrupy mix, take a cool approach by blending frozen blueberries and limeade for a unique refreshing drink.
2 cups ice
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup blueberry nectar
1/4 cup seltzer
2 tablespoons frozen limeade
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 ounces tequila, optional
1 lime wedge, coarse salt
Combine ice, blueberries, blueberry nectar, seltzer, limeade, lime juice and tequila, if using, in a blender and blend until smooth. Rub rim of 2 glasses with lime wedge and dip in salt. Divide the margarita between the prepared glasses and serve.
Watermelon Gin Fizz
From Eating Well, as seen in Fitness Magazine
When you think of the summer, watermelon usually comes to mind. This delicious drink combines fresh watermelon with gin, lime juice and ginger ale for a sweet and sour cocktail.
5 cups diced watermelon, divided
6 ounces gin, divided
8 tablespoons lime juice, divided
1 1/3 cups ginger ale, divided
Lime wedges, for garnish
Freeze 1 cup watermelon for garnish. Puree the remaining 4 cups watermelon. Strain; divide the juice among 4 ice-filled glasses. Top each with 1 1/2 ounces gin, 2 tablespoons lime juice and 1/3 cup ginger ale. Garnish with the frozen watermelon and lime wedges.
Strawberry-Citrus Vodka Cocktail
as seen in Fitness Magazine
Made just like a mojito, this cocktail branches out from the original combination of rum, mint, lime juice and simple syrup to take on a fruitier approach. Made with strawberries, citrus vodka, lemon juice and mint, you still have some of the same flavors but with a sweet twist.
2 strawberries
1 sprig of mint
3/4 ounce light agave nectar, such as Wholesome Sweeteners
1 3/4 ounces citrus vodka
3/4 ounce lemon juice
In a shaker, muddle together mint and strawberries, then add the remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously with ice for 20 seconds. Pour entire contents of shaker into a tall glass. (Include all of the mint and strawberry pulp.)
Bombshell X
Created by Kevin Baker at the Isla Cantina in West Hollywood, California
This unique liquor is flavored with blood orange to be both sweet and tangy. By blending it with cucumber and grapes, you’re sure to have a fun drink that’s healthy at the same time.
2oz X-Rated Fusion Liqueur
2 slices of Peeled Cucumber
12 Red Seedless Grapes
Blend all ingredients with ice in a blender. Garnish with slices of cucumber.
Exclusive Interview With Dita Von Teese
PageDaily caught up with Dita Von Teese, burlesque star, actress, model, make-up enthusiast, spokesperson for Cointreau liqueur and now, perfumière. Read on to see what’s new in the world of Dita.
Caitlin Osborne: Your skin always looks so flawless; do you have a favorite sunscreen?
Dita Von Teese: Lets see, I like the Dior, like Dior has one that I can’t remember the name of it; but it’s a make-up based product Dior makes.
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Buy Now, Hydra Life Protective Crème SPF 15, $56
CO: How do you get the perfect red lips?
DVT: Oh, you have to have patience. You have to have a lip-liner; I prefer MAC Beet, it’s my favorite, and you have to have a really good lipstick. My favorite is DIOR Roulette Red or Dolce Vita Red.
Buy Now, MAC lip liner in Beet, $16.25
Buy Now, DIOR Rouge Dior Lip Color in Dolce Vita Red, $30
CO: Do you have a favorite liquid eyeliner?
DVT: I love the Guerlain Divinora liquid liner and I also use MAC Blacktrack with a brush.
Buy Now, Guerlain Divinora liquid eyeliner, $35
Buy Now, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, $18.99
CO: So this is your second cocktail launch with Cointreau?
DVT: Yes
CO: What’s been fun about being the face of Cointreau?
DVT: Well, I guess I’m going on like almost 5 years. I think what I love most is that when they approached me they really had a great understanding of what I do; and there would be a controversial tagline obviously about what I do and how I live my life. And, it’s like a classic French brand; Cointreau is like I don’t know, 200 years old or something, and I like the history of it. I also love that working with Cointreau opened up my eyes to how wonderful it is to be able to mix your own cocktails and how we’re so conditioned to think we can’t do it and we have to be a bartender to do it, but it’s so simple really.
CO: Do you like to entertain?
DVT: I do.
CO: Do you make up your own cocktails?
DVT: I do. It’s mostly margaritas, so I asked them, do you want to do a margarita and call it a “MargaDita”?
(Cointreau MargaDita: 1 oz Cointreau, 1 oz Silver Tequila, 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice, Bar spoon (0.5 oz) of Monin Rose Syrup, 1 pinch Chipotle Spice)
Buy Now, 1 oz Cointreau, $31.99
Buy Now, 1 oz Silver Tequila, $85
Buy Now, Bar Spoon of Monin Rose Syrup, $9.99
CO: I wanted to ask you too, do you have a secret to staying in shape?
DVT: I do Pilates and take ballet classes, and don’t eat too much bread. My rule is, I only eat carbs, well, I only eat bread when I’m in Paris.
CO: That’s a good rule. What’s your next big project coming up?
DVT: Well, I’m in the process of creating a perfume.
CO: I was going to ask you what scent you were wearing actually.
DVT: I’ve been working a lot in Paris, involving noses, and I guess apparently when you do celebrity fragrances, they just say, “these are the most popular fragrances, sign here”; well I didn’t want to do that. I wanted something I’d really like and would want to wear myself, so I’ve been a real pain in the ass for them in trying to find the right fragrance, so I’m in the process of testing things they’ve made for me based on what I’ve asked them to do.
CO: Well without ruining the surprise, what kind of scents do you like?
DVT: I really want something that evokes glamour, and is about big, beautiful, luscious, sexy flowers but with a little bit of a dangerous twist. I don’t want something too sweet or that smells like candy or fruit because a lot of fragrances do, but I want it to be about the glitz and glamour, something that sets you apart from everyone else.
During the month of July you can see Dita perform her variety show “Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray!” at the House of Blues in New Orleans, Dallas and Houston. For more info visit www.dita.net.
Image © Sheryl Nields
