how
low
can you go?
Lower-Proof and Lower-Calorie Beverages Gain Traction
By Robert haynes-peterson
W
hile it seems a new cask-strength whisky or high-octane
tequila is launched each week, there is an opposing—if
not equal—trend featuring beverage alcohol designed to
not blast your socks off.
“There is definitely a trend toward including non-alcoholic and lower-alcohol
cocktails on bar menus around the U.S.
and beyond,” says Natalie Bovis, cocktail consultant and author of the mocktail bible Preggatinis. “While we all enjoy
a good, strong classic cocktail, there are
moments when driving home, health or
fitness take priority.”
Bovis is working with a hotel group
to create low-alcohol options for its
restaurants and bars. Her client is not
alone: Steakhouse chains like Morton’s
and Fleming’s each offer low-cal/lowproof options. At Saltbox, a new bar and
gastropub in San Diego, “Zero Proof”
and “Low Cal” categories are listed
alongside full-strength original and
classic cocktails.
“There is a growing cocktail culture in
San Diego,” says Erin-Elizabeth Williams
of Hush Cocktails, which created the
Saltbox cocktail menu. “But San Diego is
also a driving city. The designated driver
shouldn’t miss out on all the flavor, so we
added the Zero Proof menu.”
Calorie Counting
Of course, step one in assessing the “skinny” trend in beverage alcohol is to remember that alcohol contributes calories;
the simplest way to make a low-calorie
drink is to lower the percentage of alcohol. At the same time, low-proof and lowcal don’t necessarily equate: An 80-proof
shot of tequila is lower in calories than the
same amount of a 30-proof Irish cream liqueur. But the target audience may be the
same: young drinkers, particularly women,
concerned with fitness.
Bethenny Frankel’s pre-mixed Skinnygirl cocktail drinks (now owned by
Beam Inc.) have spawned an entire subculture around low-cal drinks that tend to
be lower in alcohol content (Skinnygirl
White Cranberry Cosmo, the latest flavor
in the portfolio, clocks in at about 10%
ABV).
“Skinnygirl is definitely a lifestyle
brand,” says Senior Brand Manager Melanie Hellenga. “It’s all about balancing everything in her life.” Most “skinny” cocktails run under 100 calories, 200 to 300
less than their traditional counterparts.
“We don’t really focus on the ABV for the
brand,” notes Hellenga, “But the readyto-sell segment is definitely low proof.”
While Skinnygirl may have kickstarted the low-cal cocktail movement,
it’s hardly alone. One of the most buzzedabout seminars at the 2011 Tales of the
Cocktail involved “H2O cocktails” from
Liquid Kitchen’s Kathy Casey—essentially water freshly infused with fruit and
herbs and blended with vodka, creating
refreshing, 80-calorie low-proof cocktails.
Opting for ingredients like fresh fruit over
prepared mixers instantly cuts the calorie
count, as do low-proof base ingredients,
like wine, saké or soju.
LIME LYTE
1½ oz. Voli Lyte
2 oz. Club Soda
2 Lime Wedges
Serve over ice. Squeeze and drop limes into drink and stir
Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Lime
Approx Calories: 75
“Soju is distilled, but also has the
koji [mold] presence in saké,” says Tara
Fougner, director of marketing for Ty Ku
Spirits, whose soju comes in at 24% ABV.
“So it has more flavor than vodka, without the strength.” Saké and soju are also
often available to venues holding a beer/
wine license “so they can bring a cocktail
culture in.”
When it comes to spirits, to some degree a distiller’s hands are tied: Most distilled spirits, like bourbon and vodka, have
a minimum legal ABV of 40%. The workaround may be changing your spirit’s category. “There’s nothing magic about the
80 proof cutoff,” says Adam Kamenstein,
CEO of Voli Spirits, which positions even
its core product, Voli Lyte, as a “flavored”
vodka (featuring a touch of citrus and
electrolytes). Flavored vodkas are permitted to come in at 60 proof. “At that level,
it gives you what you want out of alcohol,
along with the viscosity and mouth feel,”
he says. “It also allowed us to put in less
of the flavorings, saving calories, because
we didn’t have to worry about overcoming
the burn of 80 proof vodka.”
Like Voli, Veev Açai (officially a liqueur) runs at 30%, and touts its low-calorie health benefits (Açai berries are high
in antioxidants). On the Veev website, a
menu of Skinny Cocktails top out at 125
calories for the Skinny Açai Cosmo and
the Skinny Superfruit Margarita (which
includes an ounce of Veev and ½ oz. of
blanco tequila). Health-consciousness is
also a key selling point for PAMA liqueur;
this pomegranate-based liqueur is buoyed
not only by its antioxidants, but also its
lower alcohol content (17% ABV, 34
proof alcohol).
Another surefire route to lowercalorie cocktails is to focus on the mixer
rather than the spirit itself. American
Beverage Marketers’ Master of Mixes Lite
line features three flavors—Margarita,
Strawberry and Sweet N’ Sour—made
from real fruit juice and featuring 20
calories or less per serving. A proprietary
blend of ingredients (but no sugar) helps
the Master of Mixes Lite mixers deliver
mouthfeel and flavor that can hold their
own in cocktails.
Variations on
Established Themes
Even “normal” distilled spirits are touting low-cal benefits. Partida Tequila promotes its on-premise Partida Margarita as
lower in both alcohol and sugar content,
in part by ditching the Triple Sec and
adding water.
Courvoisier recently released a new
lower ABV (18% instead of 40%) iteration called Courvoisier Rosé, a blend of
Cognac and red wine. According to Jay
Matthew, general manager, “The lighter,
lower-proof liquid enables easy drinking
for any occasion. It’s also a smooth alternative to the traditional flavor profile
of Cognac.”
In December, ArKay Beverages, a new
company, began selling ArKay, an alcohol-free whisky flavored drink designed to
target those who can’t drink alcohol for
health or religious reasons. The low-proof
trend may also be stronger in the U.K.,
where low- and no-alcohol wine sales are
low P r o o f
the rise, perhaps in the face of stringent
anti-abuse ad campaigns, according to
Nielsen data.
Many American winemakers and
marketers have also reported an increased
interest in wines in the 11-12% range,
as opposed to 15-16%, in part because of
their ability to pair better with meals. Lou
Capitao, managing partner at Touchstone
Wines, which produces Ricossa Moscato
d’Asti, credits alcohol content in part for
the incredible recent popularity of Moscato: “When we held focus groups, we found
that everyone knew Moscato d’Asti has a
lower alcohol content [about 5.5%], and
many knew the rough percentages. And
I’ve heard that often people will drink
Moscato at the end of the evening, because they don’t want a strong drink.”
When it comes to menu options, determining calorie count or total proof requires some thought, says Hush Cocktails’
Williams: “It’s our job, not the customer’s,
to sort out what works and what doesn’t
by taking the time to look at the proofs,
how many calories are in each ounce, and
balancing these elements.” n
Robert Haynes-Peterson covers wine and spirits for a variety of publications and is co-editor of the American Sommelier Association’s 24-week Vinification and Viticulture
program. He lives and drinks in New York City.
a s el ec t i o n