Have a “Healthy” New Year

Fifty Pounds Gin — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 14:15:29 +0000

Isn’t it funny how so many of us use the New Year as the impetus to start a new healthier life – and then wake up feeling terrible, with the mother of all hangovers?

The answer is, of course, to drink in moderation but we also know the temptations of New Year’s Eve. We’re also not going to claim that anything involving drinking is going to be a healthy option but there are a few tricks that can reduce that thumping head, nausea and feeling of dehydration and, perhaps, the calorie intake.

As it happens, gin isn’t terribly calorific – a good 50ml measure will only add around 120 calories to your daily intake. So keep an eye on your tonic water’s sugary additives – or switch to slimline – and you’re already making steps in the right direction. Learn more about the latest trends in Tonics or visit our Gin Cocktail section for more Ginspiration.

Also, check your juices. Juice drinks have added sugar, freshly squeezed juices – while still containing natural sugars that you have to be aware of – are a little better for you, bringing fibre and vitamins to the party. Dilute with soda water and you’ll get flavour, fizz and a little hydration too.

If you’re in a cocktail-making mood, consider replacing simple syrup with a mix of two parts good honey to three parts warm water. That could, at least, up your antioxidant levels.

Oh, and if you decide to “tie one on”, try switching every third drink for a glass of water… You can thank us on January 1.

Staying healthy doesn’t have to be a compromise on taste either, as these cocktail suggestions might prove…

Gin Gimlet

It’s one of our favourites and a genuine classic. This version removes the cordial and ups the Vitamin C.

Ingredients:

50mls Fifty Pounds Gin

The juice of two limes

Simple honey syrup to taste

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a glass with ice. Add simple syrup to taste – optional, of course. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Gin Thoreau

One advantage of Christmas is it’s one time of the year you might have cranberries in the house. They’re packed with Vitamin C, aside from their other health benefits.

Ingredients:

50g of cranberries – or cranberries and other berries, if you prefer

200mls Fifty Pounds Gin

50mls water

250mls cranberry juice

Juice of one lime

Lemon or orange slices

Simple honey syrup to taste

Method:

Muddle the berries, in whatever combination you’ve chosen – for the record, blueberries work very well with cranberries. Add the gin, stir thoroughly and leave for a few minutes.

In the meantime, bring the water, cranberry and lime juice to a gentle boil, then add to the muddled berries and gin. Taste, adding simple honey syrup if required. Pour into two mugs, garnish with orange or lemon slices.

Cucumber Gin Lemonade

Cucumber and lemon? Why this is virtually a salad. Cough. No, no it’s not, obviously, but you know what we mean.

Ingredients:

75mls fresh lemon juice

75mls fresh cucumber juice

50mls Fifty Pounds Gin

Simple honey syrup to taste

Club soda.

Method:

Peel and blitz half a cucumber in a blender, strain 75mls into a glass. Add the lemon juice and gin and stir. Taste, and add simple honey syrup if required. Add ice, and lengthen with club soda. Oh, and a cucumber slice makes it all look rather pretty too.

Mar-Tea-Ni

Yeah, we’re better at drinks than we are puns. As tempting as it would be to drink gin all the time, even we can’t do that. Tea is a popular choice at Fifty Pounds Towers, particularly the lighter, healthier varieties such as The Rare Tea Company’s Silver Tip White Tea. Happily, it also goes rather well with gin…

Ingredients:

50mls brewed tea – we used Rare Tea Company’s Silver Tip white tea, but a good jasmine or other such light tea is also delicious. (If freshly made, chill in the freezer for a few minutes to cool)

50mls of chilled Fifty Pounds Gin

15mls of dry vermouth

Olive brine to taste

Green olives

Method:

Add the tea, gin and vermouth into a large glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, until it’s super chilled. Add olive brine to taste. Strain into a chilled martini glass, add olives.

Keeping it light….

Fifty Pounds Gin — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 12:40:05 +0000

It’s summer, where everyone starts talking about “beach diets” and “bikini bodies”. Yeah, that’s not really our thing. We side more with those who argue you don’t need to look like a model to go to the beach or “got a body and a bikini? Congratulations, that’s a bikini body.”

Saying that though… while we’d never advocate gin as one of your five a day, or as being the healthy alternative to water – there are laws against that sort of thing plus, you know, we’d be lying – having the occasional gin-based drink isn’t a reason to beat yourself up for falling off the diet wagon. We’re not even going to quote the Latvian study that suggests that juniper can up your metabolic rate because, well, that seems a little too good to be true.

But, the fact remains that, a shot of gin is around the 90-100 calorie mark. Compare that to a cocktail like a Mojito – or anything involving sugar syrup, a splash of Coke or other overly sweet mixers – where the calorie content is touching 300 per drink, and you’re already ahead of the game.

That, of course, is for a straight up shot, which is probably not the greatest way forward. But, look at it another way: that does mean you could have a couple of Gimlets or Martinis and not have deviated massively from any diet you’ve imposed upon yourself. And if you want to talk “clean” drinks, then in the case of Fifty Pounds, the spirit has been distilled four times for our trademark smoothness, which makes it a pretty pure experience as far as alcoholic beverages are concerned.

Add a tonic and you’re going to roughly double the calorie content. You’re still probably beating the cocktail drinker’s intake, but you can improve upon that. If the aforementioned Gimlet and Martini don’t appeal, switching out to diet tonic will improve the calorie count dramatically. You can also add something that’s genuinely a “five a day” item as garnish. Cucumber is increasingly popular, or perhaps an orange wedge instead of the classic lemon/lime slice? Pink grapefruit segments also work well and here’s a tip: they freeze brilliantly, so can double as garnish AND an ice cube.

Alternatively, gin and soda? Or gin and a splash of juice? Again beware the sugar content but a little hint of light cranberry juice or orange juice might make it a little more palatable and lengthen the experience. The same applies to low-calorie lemonades, of course, and we’d probably plump for the traditional/cloudy varieties just for that extra lemony kick.

Gin & Tonic: low calorie cocktail

One of the big downfalls of drinking while dieting is the snacking. If you feel the munchies developing, try and ignore the crisps, and head for the olives. If you must have nuts, perhaps go for a small handful of almonds rather than the big bag of dry roasted: you can always argue they have a good GI figure. Check out the baked crisp options too.

And if you still feel the need for balance, the Fifty Pounds bottle is pretty heavy and makes a fine dumbbell…

skinny – Fifty Pounds Gin.

Have a “Healthy” New Year

Gin Gimlet

Ingredients:

Method:

Gin Thoreau

Ingredients:

Method:

Cucumber Gin Lemonade

Ingredients:

Method:

Mar-Tea-Ni

Ingredients:

Method:

Keeping it light….