Green Drink + Booze? I know you’ve seen them! And you wonder…what the heck? Who’s putting kale in a cocktail and why would they do that?

In the spring of this year, I launched my first Green Cocktail, the Lean Green SkinnyTini Machine, as an Earth Day inspired cocktail. I’ve used the recipe at a few other social mixers and it always gets rave reviews. And most recently, to my fantastic surprise, it won the Smirnoff Go Green Cocktail Challenge and was featured on their FaceBook Page this week. And it looks like the Smirnoff fans were in awe as well.

This bad boy got more Likes and Shares than Sandra Lee’s Green Cocktail…not that anybody is counting

I’ve changed the alcohol  base of this cocktail a few times over, but the mix is always fresh cucumber juice, fresh lime, fresh mint, sweetened with Stevia and topped off with soda water. It’s all natural, artificial sweetener free, low calorie and may have other detoxifying health benefits.

So to Answer the Original Question

Why would somebody put kale in a cocktail? Why mix the wonder and alkalizing health benefits of the green drink and douse them in acidifying alcohol? I don’t know why others do it. Maybe its a marketing trick because the green juice industry is blowing up. It didn’t take the booze hounds long to figure out that energy drinks created a larger buzz (both socially and physiologically), so why not try the next best thing? I can’t speak for them.

Fancy green cocktails are popping up everywhere!

Why I Created My First Green Drink Cocktail

I can however tell you why I created my first Green Drink Gone Wild and why I’ll probably make a few more. Alcohol does indeed have an acidifying affect on your body’s PH. That means it’s harder to get nutrients inside your cells and toxins out. When your blood is slightly alkaline, things work better. Fresh green juice is one of the most alkalizing tonics on earth. So my logical mind tells me this…I may not be getting the full health benefits of the green drink by shaking it with booze, but isn’t it then likely that perhaps I’m not acidifying my body either? Can’t they cancel each other out?

Don’t you feel healthier and more sophisticated by just looking at it?

And guess what? At the end of the day, health benefits aside, this Lean Green SkinnyTini Machine just tastes good! I do think we’ll see more and more of them pop up in specialty restaurants and bars soon. So give one a try. It may not be proven to cure cancer, but at the very least will be refreshing, reviving and relaxing!

And a Word of Caution

Just because it’s green, in NO WAY implies health benefits of any kind. Most traditional liquors that are used to color our glasses green are not skinny or healthy. Apple Pucker, Creme de Menthe, Midori and Sour Apple Schnapps are a health minded, dieters’ worst nightmare. They are loaded with excess sugar and can easily run you 100 calories per ounce for 20% booze (clean vodka is 64 calories per ounce and 40% booze). Read or ask the bartender for ingredients if you’re looking for a potentially healthy tonic and look for things fruit and vegetable juice bases. The murkier the better

Here are a few more Green Drink Cocktails for you,  your pallet and your ph to explore…

• The City Sage: Fresh + Healthy Green Juice Cocktail
• Lil Green Dress: The “Glowworm”
• Crave Local: A Healthy ‘Green’ Cocktail – Kiwi Blackberry Cooler

Do you have a different green drink gone wild cocktail you would like to share? I’d love to hear about and feature your recipe…but only if it’s tasty

Cheers!

The post Green Drink Cocktails appeared first on Eat. Drink & be Skinny!.