Cheers to Happy and Healthy Holidays! In the spirit of enjoying festive spirits to celebrate the joys of seeing (quality not quantity right?) family and friends, here are a few delicious details on how to lighten up while you brighten up your holiday cocktail game. Thanks to the Distilled Spirits Council, I learned a lot this week on what was certainly a pretty zippy Zoom call with the Liquor Lab. Ready to pour over the notes?

First let’s get to know ABV. This stands for Alcohol by Volume and it’s listed on alcoholic beverages to let you know how much punch is in your punch.

Low ABV beverages are going to be lower in alcohol and therefore a smart way to stretch out that dietary health recommendation that limits us to one ‘drink’ of alcohol a day.

What’s a “drink”?

According to the US Dietary Guidelines, a “drink-equivalent” contains 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol and is defined as:

1.5 fl ounces od 80-proof distilled spirits such as rum, vodka, gin and whiskey

5 fl ounces of wine (12% alcohol)

12 fl ounces of regular beer (5% alcohol)

If the cocktail, highball or other concoction you make for your adult beverage is lower in the alcohol content of a defined “drink” then you can drink more! Dilute even further if you wish with sparkling sodas, for instance, and you can drink even more and you’re hydrating at the same time. This is something I have learned to do this year!

A great way to enjoy mixing drinks is to upgrade your mixers. I really love Fever Tree tonics and other mixers such as ginger beer and THIS JUST IN Fever Tree makes a refreshingly light tonic water with only 30 calories in each little bottle perfect size for a tall highball.

To read more about the trend toward low and no alcohol beverages born of this pandemic, enjoy quenching your thirst for knowledge by reading this article in US News written by Janet Helm. Apparently there’s a new drinking crowd called the “sober curious”. You will find more terrific tips on avoiding the tipsy in Janet’s comprehensive article!!!

Cheers!