Written By Heather McGinley
According to the staff of six popular Virginia bars, summer drinks can be healthy. Whether you are mixing drinks to enjoy with friends or looking for options to help maintain your summer bod, you can quench your thirst with their recommendations.
Over the past few years, people have become more health conscious, paying more attention to what they put into their bodies, explains Elaina Trafny, bartender at Roger Brown’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Olde Towne Portsmouth.
Many restaurants and bars have added healthier drink options to keep up with the trend, she says. Roger Brown’s added skinny cocktails to their drink menu, and a year ago, they began using fresh juices in mixed drinks, she says. “With fresh juices it makes it a little easier to be health conscious.”
Trafny, recommends her newly concocted and customer approved, Lemon Basil Martini as a healthy summer drink option.
The drink incorporates lemon, lime and orange juices; agave nectar; basil leaves and two citrus varieties of Absolut vodka. Citrus juices are always a summer favorite while many have basil growing in their summer gardens, Trafny explains.
Agave nectar is 60 calories per ounce, Trafny explains. And at 45 to 55 calories per ounce, vodka has one of the lowest calorie counts.
Fresh ingredients make the Lemon Basil Martini a healthier option than drinks with premade mixes, she says.
“It’s coming straight from the lemon and straight from the basil leaf,” she says. “It’s lower calorie, so it will help you out at the beach.”
In summer, people are looking for drinks that are crisp, light and refreshing, explains Rodrigo Barana, manager of Guadalajara in Virginia Beach.
He explains that Guadalajara’s version of the Skinny Girl Margarita fits this bill while it is also a lower calorie alternative to the traditional margarita.
Made with Silver tequila, agave, an orange, a lime, soda water and Splenda, the drink has fewer calories than many other summer favorites made with premade sour mix.
Silver tequila has fewer calories than any other type of tequila, citrus juices have few calories, and agave nectar, which has the consistency of honey, serves as a healthy alternative to simple syrup, Barana says.
Guadalajara uses local produce when it is available making the drink that much healthier, he explains.
People often drink sugar-filled drinks quickly and order more which gets them drunk quickly, Barana says. Customers drink Guadalajara’s Skinny Girl Margarita slowly because it is not full of sugar, and Silver tequila has a lower proof than many other types alcohol, he says.
“It’s a drink to enjoy not to get drunk,” Barana says. “After you’ve had the first one, that’s what you’ll keep drinking.”
With its low calorie count and use of fresh, local summer vegetables, The Hyland Rose was a clear choice for Tony Patterson, manager of the Can Can Brassiere in Richmond.
“It’s not loaded with calories, but it’s full of flavor,” Patterson says. “There aren’t any concentrated juices and no false flavoring.”
Can Can Brassiere bartenders are encouraged to create their own drink combinations. Can Can bartender Melissa McGoniagle crafted the Hyland Rose using Hendrick’s Gin Cucumber Infusion, cucumber, lime, rose water, bitter and Splenda, Patterson says.
The bar and the restaurant use ingredients purchased from local farms and picked from their own herb garden. Can Can has a rotating cocktail list that incorporates seasonal ingredients and changes with what people are drinking locally. “We are very into local culture. We use a lot of local ingredients,” he says.
In Greenbrier section of Chesapeake, Glen Fler, bartender at Eagle’s Nest Rocking Country Bar recommends the Naked Mary as a healthy alternative to sugary drinks.
A variation on more traditional Bloody Mary recipes, the Naked Mary is made with pickle-flavored Naked Jay Big Dill vodka, lime and award-winning Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix.
Zing Zang is made with 14 different vegetables, has zero fat and cholesterol and has only 20 calories for three fluid ounces, Fler says. “It’s a vegetable drink that’s lower in fat…it’s a drink you can add more vegetables to if you’d like.”
At 60 proof, the vodka is not overpowering, he adds.
The Naked Mary goes well with any meal even with omelets, he says. If you like your drink a little more spicy, add horseradish.
In Gloucester Point, Jyillean Smith, River’s Inn Restaurant and Crab Deck manager with more than 8 years bartending experience, created a summery potato flavored mojito—the Potato Vodka Mojito, using vodka from a Richmond distiller—The Parched Group, fresh mint leaves, lime and Splenda.
Atypical of traditional mojitos, this drink is not made with sugar or rum.
Mint leaves from a local garden and fresh limes give it a fresh, light taste, without breaking tradition. Not using simple syrup helps keep the sugar and calorie count down, she says.
“It’s a local twist on a classic drink,” she explains.
In Virginia Beach, Croc’s 19th Street Bistro manager and occasional bartender, Kate Coutherut recommends her creation, the Blackberry Mint Mojito as a healthy handcrafted summer drink.
The restaurant tries to use organic and locally grown materials in all of their food and drink preparation. Some of these ingredients they pull from their garden or purchase from the farmer’s market that meets at the restaurant every weekend.
“The fresh fruit aspect makes it healthier than anything else you can get in my opinion,” Coutherut explains as she muddles blackberries from the farmer’s market, lemon balm mint from the garden and four lemon wheels and two lime wheels with homemade simple syrup.
“Adding blackberries from a local farmer adds a little bit of character to it,” Coutherut says.
Not only are the mint leaves and fruit local, but so is the alcohol. Coutherut uses organic Chick’s Beach Rum from the Chesapeake Bay Distillery to create this drink. “We try to keep it fresh and local,” she says.
Croc’s does not have a menu with every drink combination they make, she says. The menu changes with what is in season and the bartenders are encouraged to create new drink combinations based on customer requests and the available fruit and vegetable options.
Lemon Basil Martini Created by Elaina Trafny (Roger Brown’s, Portsmouth, Va.)
- Roll two basil leaves and slice them into strips.
- Place them in the shaker tin
- Juice one lemon, and add its juice to the shaker.
- Pour 1 oz. of agave nectar into the shaker.
- Muddle the basil leaves and agave nectar with the juice from the lemon.
- Add 1 ½ oz. Absolut Ruby Red Vodka.
- Add ¾ oz. Absolut Citron Vodka.
- Add ice.
- Shake hard.
- Strain into martini glass.
- Add a few basil leaves to the glass and garnish with lemon wheel.
Guadalajara’s Skinny Girl Margarita Recipe provided by Rodrigo Barana (Guadalajara at Town Center, Virginia Beach, Va.)
- Place ice in shaker.
- Add 2 ½ oz. of Silver tequila.
- Add 1 oz. of agave nectar.
- Add the juice from one full lime to the shaker.
- Add the juice from one full orange to the shaker.
- Shake.
- Strain into a margarita glass and garnish with club soda to fill to the top.
*If the drink is not sweet enough add half a package of Splenda.
Naked Mary Recipe provided by Glen Fler (Eagle’s Nest)
- Place ice in the shaker.
- Add 1 ½ oz. of Naked Jay Big Dill pickle flavored vodka to the shaker.
- Add 8 oz. of Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix and the juice from half of a lime.
- Shake in tin.
- Strain into Mason jar wine glass.
- Serve over ice.
- Add green olives or lime if desired.
- Add a stalk of celery to garnish.
*Add horseradish to the initial mix if you want the drink to be spicier.
Hyland Rose Recipe provided by Tony Patterson (Can Can Brassiere, Richmond, Va.)
- In Shaker, muddle 3 cucumber wheels, a few pieces of bitter and a packet of Splenda with 2 oz. of Hendrick’s Cucumber Infusion Gin.
- Add ¾ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Add ½ oz. rosewater.
- Shake.
- Pour into martini glass.
Potato Vodka Mojito Recipe by Jyillean Smith (River’s Inn Restaurant and Crab Deck, Gloucester, Va.)
- In a shaker, muddle 2 lime wheels, 3 large fresh mint leaves and a packet of Splenda.
- Add 1 ¾ oz. of Richmond’s Cirrus Potato Vodka.
- Add 3 or 4 ice cubes.
- Shake.
- Add triple sec and a splash of soda water.
- Pour contents into rock glass.
Blackberry Mint Mojito Created by Kate Coutherut (Croc’s 19th St. Bistro, Virginia Beach, Va.)
- Muddle 5 blackberries, 4 lemon wheels, 3 lemon balm mint leaves and 3 lime wheels with a splash of homemade simple syrup in a glass.
- Pour 4 counts or 1 ½ oz. of Chick’s Beach Rum from the Chesapeake Bay Distillery into shaker tin.
- Add the contents of the rock glass to the shaker tin.
- Add a slash of Sprite and a splash of soda water.
- Shake with ice.
- Reverse pour the contents into a footed pilsner glass.