Skinny Sips
Lighter cocktails for a new year
Try to forget the sea of mulled wine and eggnog you consumed over the holidays.
It’s a new year — time to stick to that sip-skinny resolution and choose cocktails that are at least a little less naughty. Lucky for you, low-proof cocktails have been the rage at, for example, San Francisco’s Bay Area bars and restaurants for a few years now. Using naturally low-calorie aperitifs, bitters and shrubs at home has never been easier.
The rest is common sense, according to Jacob Kardon, bar manager at Berkeley’s Gather restaurant, where the “root to shoot” mantra extends to cocktails. When selecting a cocktail, opt for a simple drink with just a few ingredients. Instead of fruit juices, think fruit infusions, such as Gather’s Persimmon of Interest, a seasonal martini.
Kardon soaks persimmons in vodka for a week then strains the mixture and adds a bit of Napa’s Lo-Fi Dry Vermouth, which he prefers for its low sugar con-
tent and aromatic warming spices. The result is a gorgeous, light-orange cocktail that has “lovely, subtle sweetness and a round mouth feel,” Kardon says. In other words, you don’t miss a thing.
Over at Leo’s Oyster Bar in San Francisco, bar manager Casandra Salazar is always getting requests for skinny cocktails. Her Skinny Dip, an Aperol and vodka-based drink made with fresh watermelon juice, cucumber and lime, was required sipping over the summer. Right now, everyone’s ordering the Senorita, a mezcal cocktail that gets its fruitiness from Jardesca Rouge, a blend of Sonoma red wines and botanicals, and a muddle of orange and pineapple wheels.
“Everyone’s looking to lose a few pounds after the holidays, so I try to offer a few options,” Salazar says. She might make you her “spa water,” a refreshing mix of vodka, soda, mint and peach bitters. She’ll also recommend agave instead of simple syrup, freshsqueezed juice over bottled mixes, and soda water instead of tonic, which has 124 calories per 12-ounce bottle.
Owner Ray Tang of Los Gatos’ The Catamount recommends choosing dry spirits, like gin and vodka, which lack residual sugar. At La Rinconada, the stylish bar inside the Catamount, Tang’s staff uses small quantities of inventive, housemade shrubs to add complexity to cocktails, such as the vodka-based Seasonal Mule, which gets its zest from cranberry hibiscus shrub. At home, Tang loves drinking margaritas and recently came up with a tart, skinny version for himself. He cuts the Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge in half and uses fresh lime juice, instead of bottled mixers.
Like the rest of the cocktails shared here, it’s light and highly quaffable.
Seasonal Mule
INGREDIENTS
2 ounces Tito’s Vodka ½ ounce cranberry-hibiscus shrub
6 ounces diet ginger ale or soda with ginger puree INSTRUCTIONS
For the shrub: Simmer 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan, stirring until dissolved. Add 1½ cups cranberries and ½ cup dried hibiscus leaves; simmer until the juice has blended into the syrup. Cool completely. Strain out solids. Stir 1 cup vinegar into the syrup. Cool completely. Store in a well-sealed jar in fridge. Recipe yields 3 cups.
For each cocktail: Mix 2 ounces vodka and ½ ounce shrub in a shaker. Pour into an ice-filled copper mug and top with ginger ale. — RAY TANG, THE CATAMOUNT, LOS GATOS
Ray Tang’s Skinny Margarita
INGREDIENTS
1½ ounces blanco tequila ½ ounce Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
¾ ounce fresh lemon or lime juice
1 lime wheel to garnish INSTRUCTIONS
For each cocktail: Combine tequila, Grand Marnier and citrus juice in a shaker filled with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with lime. — RAY TANG, THE CATAMOUNT
Persimmon of Interest
INGREDIENTS
6 fuyu persimmons, cut into eighths (plus more to garnish) 750 ml bottle vodka Lo-Fi Dry Vermouth INSTRUCTIONS
For the vodka: Place cut persimmons in a large jar; add vodka. Close lid and allow to sit for one week. Strain into a clean bottle.
For each cocktail: Mix 2 ounces persimmon-infused vodka with ½ ounce vermouth. Serve in a martini glass, garnished with a fresh persimmon sliver. — JACOB KARDON, GATHER, BERKELEY
The Señorita
INGREDIENTS
2 pineapple and 2 orange wheels 1½ ounces Mezcal Union 1 ounce Jardesca Rouge ½ ounce Drambuie ½ ounce honey 1 ounce lemon 2 dashes Old-Fashioned bitters
3 viola flowers or an orange peel twist to garnish INSTRUCTIONS
For each cocktail: Muddle orange and pineapple wheels in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients. Shake and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with flowers or orange peel. — CASANDRA SALAZAR, LEO’S OYSTER BAR, SAN FRANCISCO