After the indulgence of the festive period, you’d be forgiven for thinking cocktails were off the menu. Not so. Cool bars are embracing the ‘healthy’ cocktail, stirring superfoods and botanicals into drinks that are more forgiving for your waistline and allege to give you less of a hangover. Here are five of our favourites…
Words Hannah Hopkins
First Aid Box, Herne Hill
At the Shrub & Shutter’s little brother bar in Herne Hill cocktails are ‘prescribed’ in intravenous fluid bags, as liquids in syringes or in botanical infusions. Check out the (nearly) holier-than-thou quinoa vodka cocktail…
The Lido Café, Herne Hill
Brockwell Park’s The Lido Café is the perfect place to hole up on a cold January day, virtuous cocktail in hand. We recommend the Green Goddess, made from a base of Kamm & Sons liqueur containing ginseng, echinacea and manuka honey. It also involves superfood kale.
Redemption Bar, Shoreditch
Seek a little redemption from booze at this aptly-named, alcohol-free bar. Our favourite sin-free tipple has to be the Beet-O-Tini: beetroot and orange juice, lime and coconut water.
Tredwell’s, Covent Garden
Marcus Wareing’s restaurant Tredwell’s caters to the healthy crowd with cold-pressed cocktails, created in collaboration with Bob’s Juicery. Try the strength-giving Gimlet with gin, ginger, pineapple and wheatgrass and the Hail Mary – a more virtuous take on the classic.
Farmacy, Notting Hill
Farmacy’s emphasis on clean indulgence carries into their bar, where the likes of flaxseed oil, cayenne pepper and even cannabis oil are stirred into juices and cocktails.
And for healthy cocktails at home…Try Rocktails – detox-friendly drinks with low sugar, less than 90 calories per serving and botanical ingredients.
