VP Guilty Pleasures: Cocktail Hour
It’s summer! the sun shines on our skin for hours and stretches into the night, the beaches are reopening slowly, and the warm weather has us reaching for thirst quenching refreshments. I have found myself getting a little more experimental with my beverages and reaching for smoothies rather than cooked meals. There’s something about summer that brings me alive in so many beautiful ways. It’s like waking up for the first time since fall.
I decided to share some of my favorite guilty pleasures I’ve been experimenting with. These are VP {Vibrance Protocol} certified - with my stamp of approval. For those of you who aren’t sure what the Vibrance Protocol is: it’s my creation for living life vibrantly in all areas. Vibrant health, vibrant experiences, and upleveling each individual part of the circle of life until everything is radiating with high-vibes.
In the spirit of summer, today’s VP certified recipes are: cocktails.
I love a bubbling beverage any time I feel like it. I don’t care if it’s breakfast or Tuesday or a midnight snack. Every moment of life is a moment to celebrate and, like anything in life, beverages can be used to bring joy, spark the feeling of luxury or celebration, and enhance an experience (never to numb the experiences of life).
These spirited beverages are filled with quality, VP approved ingredients will leave you feeling light and refreshed. Essential oils, monk fruit sweetener, flavored seltzer (with no added sugar), kombucha, and fresh fruit delight the senses, let you play a little dirty, and keep you vibrant.
Unfiltered Goopricot Smash:
Goop created the foundation of this delish cocktail and then I VP’ed it up
1.5 oz bourbon
1 oz lime juice
A little honey
Half of an apricot
2 mint leaves, smacked
Soda water
Muddle the apricot and mint leaves with the lime juice. Shake with the honey and bourbon. Serve over ice. Top with soda water (I suggest getting creative with flavors - like mint lime or ginger). For really deep flavor, serve unfiltered.
Vibe-y Mojito
A friend of mine @oilspa_indy shared her high-vibe mojito recipe and I decided to tweek it a bit for a zero-guilt indulgence.
1.5 oz spiced rum
.5 oz lime juice
1 drop peppermint EO (this can be intense with the mint leaves, omit if you like less mint flavor)
2 drops monk fruit sweetener
2 mint leaves, smacked
Top with sparkling water (I used mint lime elderberry)
Pour rum, lime, EO, and sweetener over ice, stir. Then top with sparkling water of choice. Smack your mint leaves and garnish.
Ginger Bucha Mimosa
I made my own homemade kombucha earlier this month and it’s just now ready to enjoy! With a spicy ginger and bright lemon tang, it was perfect except it lacked the heavy carbonation of store bought bucha. So, I fixed it - with champagne!
Champagne is light in calories and is the best beverage to enjoy while avoiding the heaviness of spirits. The perfect Vibrance Protocol drink - sparkling bubbles with just a few calories (we don’t count calories here but it’s still good to note) and a ton of bursting flavor.
This recipe is completely customizable! Try pomegranate juice and cranberry kombucha. There is nothing basic about this mimosa, so get creative and mix it up in unique ways that fit your style.
Equal parts orange juice and kombucha
Top with champagne
(Image from Sugar and Charm)
Bucha Mule
Kombucha actually makes a variety of amazing cocktails that leave you with an ultra healthy glow. Love Leaf Co curated a list of crafty cocktails infused with bucha that sound absolutely incredible: you can find them here.
What is a mule? Traditionally it’s made with vodka, ginger beer, and lime.
A bucha mule is made with ginger kombucha - I’m using my homemade ginger, lemon kombucha - instead of ginger beer and a touch of maple syrup for sweetness, if desired.
¾ c ginger kombucha
2 oz vodka
1 oz lime juice
Splash of fresh squeezed orange juice
A touch of maple syrup, sweetened to taste
Combine kombucha, vodka, lime juice, and OJ over ice. Add maple syrup to taste. Stir.
Voila! 💋
Vibrance cocktails are created to enhance the beautiful glow of the lovely lady sipping them. It brings up the question: how does the vibrant woman drink?
As I pointed out in the beginning - the vibrant woman drinks whenever the fuck she wants. There is no shame, judgement, or guilt. Spirits become an art form, a ritual, a celebration, to be savored. Turning the experience, from popping the cork to making art, into a step of the ritual. Each sip is a moment to relax and savor. The vibrant woman drinks a special beverage because it uplifts her vibe, it’s the cherry on top of a moment in her life, it’s a toast to the sacred breaths we take each day.
Sometimes it’s fun to flirt with the line of the mind. To indulge to a state of giggly silliness. But, the vibrant woman is always mindful, always aware, always respectful. There is no sloppiness, no out of control craziness, no intense mistakes*. It’s an art form of life that brings joy and beauty, if used responsibly.
*An art form of any kind takes time and practice. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and realized *woah* how did I drink that much? That’s why it is called art and practice, because there is no shame in a mistake as you figure things out. It’s important to remember that we’ve all been there and we’ve all done it - we’ve all had one to many and embarrassed ourselves or did something we regret. The vibrant woman respects herself enough to acknowledge something, learn from it, and move forward with newfound awareness and experience. The key to the vibrant experience is to sip and savor, to always remain respectful and aware. With slow sips of gratitude and awareness - there is a low likelihood of mishaps.
Enjoy your vibrant cocktails, ladies!
Love,
Emma xoxo
