Jules Aron - Zen and Tonic: Savory and Fresh Cocktails for the Enlightened Drinker

I love good, wholesome food.
Especially when paired with a fresh, crisp cocktail. Nothing warms my heart like a table full of my favorite people sharing a flavorful meal and a few delicious drinks. I love it so much, that I do it for a living. I am a lifestyle and nutrition coach and The Healthy Bartender. By combining my years of food and beverage industry experience with my passion for healthy ingredients, I create fun, simple, and delicious ways for you to live your best life ever. Like infusing nutritious ingredients back into your life one delicious drink at a time. And thats what this book is all about.

So you can go ahead, grab some friends and loved ones, share a great meal, and actually drink to your health! Spirited history Drinking to good health might sound like an oxymoron, but a closer look at the history of spirits shows that alcohol has been used for over 1,000 years as the most efficient medium for delivering the medicinal properties of plants into our bloodstream. Healing ailments has always been at the root of cocktail culture. In fact, restorative cocktails were originally created in early pharmacies and apothecaries as early as the 16th century. The earliest-known pharmacist-prepared tinctures, bitters, elixirs, and tonics were made with herbs, flowers, fruits, and yes, even vegetables laced with alcohol, which preserved their healing properties. These potions were custom made, using botanicals grown right in the apothecaries to ensure freshness and potency, then shaken or stirred and given to the patient as a prescription. These restorative cocktails served people well, curing ailments ranging from an upset stomach to scurvy.

In fact, what is simply known to modern cocktail lovers as a gin-and-tonic was first introduced by the British East India Company to prevent malaria among its soldiers in India. It wasnt until 1906 that the government got involved and began to move alcohol-based cocktails out of pharmacies and into the cocktail bar, where their curative qualities became an afterthought. Zen and tonic I grew up drinking some very distinctive tonics every morning, thanks to my dad. He brewed herbal concoctions regularly to help strengthen my immunity. Although I didnt care much for them at the time, I did develop a strong appreciation for the health benefits of nutrient-rich herbs, spices, fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Since then, Ive been playing hard to combine nutritious foods and boozy concoctions to create delectable recipes for health that keep food and life fun.

So, get ready to experience the healing art of the cocktail that I like to call Zen and Tonic. Stocking your home bar should be a fun and exciting venture. After all, youll be using it to make many delicious libations from this book and beyond. For that reason, Ive kept my suggestions and recommendations easy, affordable, and readily available. In The Fundamentals ( , I offer an introduction to the highly nutrient-dense foods we call superfoods. There are also discussions of ice and garnishes, and because there is no bigger buzz kill than artificial ingredients, all the products I choose have no artificial colors or flavors, high-fructose corn syrup, or refined sugar.

Be sure to check out my sections on natural sweeteners, flavored syrups, and infused liquor recipes, which well use in the beverages. And then its on to the cocktail recipes! Youll also find a Resources section at the back of the book with a more comprehensive list of websites to help you source all the extras you might not find locally. Say YES to:OrganicLocalSeasonalFreshPureFunSimpleDeliciousMade with loveSay NO THANKS to:GMOsProcessed or packagedMicrowaveableBland or boringUnpronounceable ingredientsArtificial colors or flavorsHigh-fructose corn syrup or refined sugar The equipment needed to mix a cocktail can be simple to master, and you dont need a lot of it. Here are the essentials: BAR TOOLS AND KITCHEN EQUIPMENT Bar spoon Muddler Jigger Cocktail shaker Strainer Ice cube trays Because well be using more fruits and vegetables, its also essential to have a juicer, a blender, and a muddler, so that you can squeeze, blend, and mash all your delicious ingredients. ESSENTIAL GLASSWARE To keep things simple, Ive narrowed down your glassware to five essentials: The Collins (812 ounces) The rocks glass (68 ounces) The champagne flute The martini glass (45 ounces) The wine stem You only need four to eight of each of these types. Confused about all the different shapes of glasses?Stemware is designed to keep fingers from warming up the glass.

The wider the mouth, the more the drink comes in contact with oxygen, affecting the taste. The narrow opening of champagne flutes keeps champagne sparkling, while the wider bowl of martini glasses keeps the ingredients from separating . Spirits of choice:
Why buy organic alcohol? The alcohol you drink should be organic for the same reasons youd buy organic food: to avoid artificial additives, and to help promote sustainable farming practices and environmentally friendly packagingand because it tastes amazing, and its absence of chemicals lessens hangovers. If youre going to eat healthy, nutritious foods, your alcohol and mixers should be a pure, high-quality product as well. Because no drink can ever rise above the quality of its ingredients, below are my 25 top picks for spirits, including wine, sak, and mixers for your home bar, with special attention given to small-batch, organic, and artisan producers that maintain sustainable practices and are impeccable with their ingredients. Top 25 organic liquors and mixers to get you shaking1. Top 25 organic liquors and mixers to get you shaking 1.

Square One Vodka Square One helped pioneer organic hard-alcohol production when it released vodka made with certified organic American-grown rye in 2006. The company now has a few flavored varieties with a great one with infused organic cucumbers.2. Rain Organics Vodka Made from 100 percent organic white corn sourced from a single farm in Illinois and distilled in Kentucky, earning a Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2010.3. Prairie Organic Vodka