Healthy Buzz....

Looking for a way to keep your New Year's resolution without giving up drinking? Well, that seems to be the philosophy of a crafty crew of mixologists featured below. If you're going after the buzz, why not fill the drink with ingredients that carry some benefits? Here's to your health, bottoms up.

Pepper Delicious
3 rings sliced red bell pepper
6-8 leaves fresh mint
2 oz Aviation gin
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)

In a shaker glass, combine two pepper rings and the mint leaves and press firmly with a muddler to pulverize the peppers. Add the gin, lime juice, syrup, and ice. Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with the remaining pepper ring. This great drink comes from from Ryan Magarian, president of Liquid Relations, Portland, OR

The benefit: A diet high in vitamin C, carotenoids, and lycopene (all of which are amply supplied in red peppers) reduces the incidence of chronic disease and death, according to a Spanish study of 41,000 people.


Blue
1 Tbsp whole blueberries
½ oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz Ty Ku, an Asian-inspired liqueur made with sake
1 oz limoncello
2 oz pomegranate juice

In a rocks glass, combine the blueberries and lemon juice and muddle the berries to extract the juice. Add ice until the glass is half full, top with the remaining ingredients, and stir. Snagged this one from the Four Seasons, New York, NY

The benefit: In a Preventive Medicine Research Institute study, heart patients' health improved after they drank antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice.


The Rabbit Hole
3 oz fresh carrot juice
½ oz fresh cucumber juice
½ oz Cynar, an Italian herbal liqueur
1 oz Square One organic vodka
1 sprig sage

Combine the liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with the sage sprig. You can shake this one with Greg Best, mixologist at Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta, GA

The benefit: Lutein, which is found in carrots, can reduce your risk of cancer, says an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study.