One of our favorite topics this summer has been skinny drinks. As the temperature goes up, and we wear less and less, we tend to eat healthier, fewer calories, and think more about fresh ingredients and cooling options for food and drink.
We had the recent pleasure to make introductions with Christy Cegelski, founder and creator of the popular skinny cocktail brand Drink Skinny. Drink Skinny is a great new cocktail mixer line made with Reb A, a stevia based sweetener that has zero calories, zero carbs, and the end result: a mixer with less than 30 calories! So much better for you than that 400 calorie margarita!
Christy was kind enough to send us a couple bottles to try as a sample, and we challenged the team at CraveLocal to come up with a unique and refreshing option for a summer cocktail using Drink Skinny’s Mixers!
The first cocktail we created was a wine based drink recipe. We wanted to use fresh fruits and something different for flavors, and ended up with a cilantro pineapple mango sangria that was a hit!
Drink Skinny Cilantro Pineapple Sangria
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (we used a vino verde- it’s lower in alcohol content, and has a tiny bubbles that perks up nicely in a cocktail!)
- 1/4 cup Drink Skinny Pineapple Mango Mixer
- 1/4 oz agave nectar
- 3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 1 lime wedge
- White grapes, kiwi, lime slices
- 1 shaker, with bar spoon
- Highball glass
- Ice
Cut the lower stems off the cilantro, and pour in the agave nectar, and squeeze in one lime wedge. Pour in half the Drink Skinny margarita mix, and muddle in the cilantro well in the bottom of the shaker. Add ice, and pour in the rest of the mix. Shake well for about 1 minute, to mix the flavors. Pour in the wine, and use a bar spoon to mix (we’re trying not to kill the bubbles here).
Either strain, or pour all ingredients into a tumbler glass with ice. Add the chopped fruit, and stir in. Add a sprig of cilantro on a lime wheel, and enjoy!
The next cocktail we wanted to create was a twist on the caipirinha. The caipirinha cocktail is made traditionally with the Brazilian spirit, cachaça (pronounced Ka-Shah-Suh). Cachaça is made from sugarcane, and comes from the brandy family. Typically a margarita would call for tequila and either Grand Marnier, or Cointreau. For this cocktail, we wanted to give it a twist, so we’ve added Veev Acai liqueur.
Drink Skinny Acai Caipirinha
- 2 oz Cachaça, we use a quality brand like Sagatiba or Leblon
- 1/4 oz Veev Acai Liqueur
- 1/4 cup Drink Skinny Lime Margarita Mix
- 1/4 oz agave nectar
- 1/2 a lime, cut up
- Highball glass
- Ice
Muddle the lime sections, the cachaça, and the agave nectar in a shaker, and shake vigorously with ice.
Pour over ice into a highball glass, and stir in the Veev Acai spirit. Garnish with a lime.
- 1/4 cup grapefruit vodka
- 1/2 cup Drink Skinny Margarita Mix
- 1 tangerine, halved (one half sliced)
- Raw sugar
- Ice
- Martini Glass
Run a slice of tangerine around the rim of a martini glass, and dip it into a little raw sugar. Pour ice, Drink Skinny, vodka, and half the juice of the tangerine into a shaker, and shake well. Strain into the martini glass. Garnish with a tangerine segment.
Drink Skinny Cucumber Basil Martini
- 1/4 cup Belvedere vodka
- 1/4 cup Drink Skinny Lime Mixer
- 1/8 cup simple syrup
- 1/2 an organic cucumber, peeled
- 8 basil leaves
- 1 lime
- Ice
- Martini glass
Muddle the basil and the cucumber in a martini shaker with the vodka. Add Drink Skinny, simple syrup, and the juice of the lime, and ice. Shake vigorously counting backwards from 21, twice. Strain and pour into a martini glass garnished with a basil leaf, and a thin slice of cucumber.
*You can create a lemon basil martini by substituting lemon for the lime, and leaving out the cucumber. Or, strawberry basil martini by substituting fresh strawberries for the cucumber.
If you want to go sans alcohol, Drink Skinny easily mixes with seltzer water for a very low calorie refreshing beverage you can take anywhere.
You can find more information on Drink Skinny, including where to buy it, at DrinkSkinny.com.
Here’s to a healthy, low calorie summer!
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