�����ԹϺ���

The holidays are a time for family, merriment, fun—and perhaps a little more drinking than usual. While there’s no such thing as a completely healthy cocktail, there are ways to make even the most caloric��holiday beverages (eggnog, we’re looking at you) less rich. “Cocktails can just be a tad healthier if you’re conscious of the sweeteners and modifiers,” says��, author of the new holiday-beverages��book ��($14, Dovetail). We asked four��bartenders across the country for healthy(ish) cocktail recipes to make at home this season.

Eggless Avocado Nog

This large-format��cocktail, created by Los Angeles bartender Jason Eisner, is featured in Goldfarb’s new book. “One reason I love holiday cocktails so much is because they can be a bit indulgent,” Goldfarb says. “You don’t drink these heavy, creamy, super-desserty cocktails any other time of the year.” This vegan version of classic eggnog is a healthier alternative, using avocado and coconut milk to provide texture instead of heavy cream and eggs.

Ingredients

• 2/3��cup almonds
• 1��1/2��cups granulated sugar
• 5 cups unsweetened whole coconut milk
• 1 cup vanilla hazelnut milk
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 lemon rind, pith removed
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4��teaspoon baking soda
• Flesh of half an��avocado
• 6 ounces blanco tequila
• 2 ounces mescal

Directions

In a food processor, combine almonds and two tablespoons of��sugar. Pulse on medium until ground into a fine paste. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, hazelnut milk, cinnamon sticks, lemon rind, vanilla, and baking soda, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15��to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard cinnamon sticks and lemon rind, and let cool. Mash avocado and whisk into coconut-milk mixture, then add ground almond paste and remaining sugar. Return pan to stove, and cook over low heat, stirring and scraping the bottom for five��to seven��minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Pour into a pitcher and stir in tequila and mescal. Serve in highball glasses. Makes ten��cocktails.��

We Got the Beet

Las Vegas is known for excess, but at farm-to-table restaurant��,��the focus is on ingredients and composition. Such is the case with this light holiday cocktail, created by Victoria Levin, a��beverage-industry veteran and director of project management at��, which operates Honey Salt.��The antioxidant-rich beet juice provides a dose of vitamins A and C, while the ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and can help control blood sugar. “This drink has a gorgeous color for the holidays, and it’s festive��with the sprig of rosemary,” Levin says. “It packs a punch of nutrients and tastes like an earthy, whimsical dream.” The recipe for cardamom honey yields three and a half quarts and is good for��up to one month.����

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces��Hendrick’s Gin
• 1 1/2 ounces��fresh beet juice
• 1/2��ounce��fresh lemon juice
• 1 ounce��infused cardamom honey (directions below)
• 2 ounces��Fever Tree Ginger Beer

Directions

To make cardamom honey: In a saucepan over��medium-high heat, lightly crack 30 cardamom pods open with a muddler. Toast for two minutes to release aromatics. Add two quarts of��water, and bring to a simmer. Then pour two tablespoons of��ground cinnamon into water and whisk while adding two quarts��honey. Turn heat off, and let steep for 30 minutes. When cool, strain with a fine-mesh strainer to remove solids. Transfer to an appropriate-size container, and cover tightly.

For cocktail: Pour all ingredients—except ginger beer—into a shaker, add ice, and shake vigorously. Add ginger beer to shaker, then strain over fresh ice into a rocks or��collins glass. Swirl a sprig of fresh rosemary around the edge��of the glass, and garnish. Makes one drink.��

Gramercy Riffs

This low-ABV version of a holiday punch is a��lighter��option to serve at parties, according to Alex Jump, bar manager of Denver cocktail bar��. “It uses a little wine and aperitif��to bring the proof down, allowing your guests to have a few without feeling the effect of a full-proof cocktail,” she says. “Let’s face it, none of us really like having all of our friends getting trashed at our house.”��

• 6 ounces��Spring44 vodka
• 3 ounces��Svol Aquavit��or a similar, dill-flavored aquavit
• 3 ounces��Cocchi Americano
• 3 ounces��Leopold New York Sour Apple Liqueur
• 3 ounces��Riesling
• 3 ounces��cane-sugar syrup
• 3 ounces��lemon juice
• 6 ounces��sparkling wine

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin, and shake well with ice. Strain into wine glasses and top with more sparkling wine. Garnish with��lemon wheels. Makes six drinks.

Vegan Buttered Rum

Hot buttered rum is a classic holiday cocktail. But this version, created by Ky Belk, bar director for Denver’s��, is a vegan iteration��that replaces the butter with cashew milk and uses chai tea as a base. “Using the cashew milk to create a hot ‘buttered’ chai delivers a healthier version that’s plant-based and dairy-free,” says Belk, adding that the combination of flavors is also more complex than the mix of butter, ice cream, and sugar in the classic drink. Another perk: “The chai tea��and MCT oil provide��an energy boost, unlike the nap-inducing classic hot buttered rum,” he says.

Ingredients

• 5 ounces��strong, spicy chai tea, heated
• 1 1/2 ounces aged rum
• 2 ounces cashew milk, heated
• 1 tablespoon coconut or MCT oil
• 1 cinnamon stick

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender until oil is fully incorporated. Pour into a glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Makes one drink.��