The temperatures in summer are usually the highest in the year, so due to the heat, people perspire more, feel thirsty and increase their beverage consumption significantly to quench their thirst. Cocktails which are a mixture of several liquids and fluids are one of the most popular beverages which are consumed by people all over the world, especially on holidays and other occasions.

However, the cocktails can contain a lot of sugar, with a high calorie count. Consuming these cocktails frequently will result in rapid weight gain. Hence it is important to keep the summer cocktails skinny, reduce their calorie count to the extent possible. Some ways to keep your summer cocktails skinny are discussed below

Skinny Cocktails

Cocktails are made by combining a wide range of liquids like liquors, alcohol beverages like gin, vodka, rum and fresh juices such as lime juice, ginger juice, apple juice, beetroot juice. Hence the calorie count for a single cocktail can vary significantly and can be very high if it is a sweet cocktail containing a large amount of sugar. A cocktail is considered to be skinny if the calorie count is less than 200 calories, usually 170 calories or less. Depending on the combination used, the calorie count in the cocktail could be less than 100 also.

Minimize Sugar Content

Sugar is very rich in calories, so any cocktail containing a large amount of sugar is likely to have a lot of calories, increasing the calorie count significantly. To keep the cocktail skinny by reducing the calorie count to the minimum, minimize the amount of sugar or calorie rich sweeteners like glucose in the cocktail. Often liquors and additives are used in the cocktail which increase the sugar content. Hence it is important to check the calorie count of the liquors, especially the sweet liquids that may be used to make the cocktail.

Use Fresh Juices

Fresh fruit juices like lime juice, ginger juice, apple juice, cucumber juice and other fruit juices are very low in calories. Hence a cocktail containing mainly fruit juice will have lesser calories compared to a cocktail that combines fresh juices with alcoholic beverages, which may contain a lot of calories. Hence it is advisable to make the cocktails using fresh juices of lemon, lime, cucumber, vegetables, water melon and citrus fruits which are low in calories to keep the calorie count to the minimum. In contrast juices made from sweet fruits like mangoes, pears and bananas are rich in calories and using these juices for making the summer cocktail is likely to increase the calorie count.

Avoid Malts, Liquors

Many alcoholic beverages are made by fermenting barley, grapes and other high carbohydrate fruits and cereals. Hence they are likely to increase the calorie count of the summer cocktail if the proportion of the alcoholic beverage is high. To keep the summer cocktail skinny, it is recommended the proportion of the malts, liquors, rum, vodka, gin and other alcoholic beverages is minimized to the extent possible. There are some cocktails which are almost exclusively combination of low calorie juices such as lime juice, ginger juice and cucumber juice, which are both tasty, refreshing, with a calorie of less than 100 calories, making them ideal skinny summer cocktails.