After taking almost a year hiatus, today I’m making my return to The Recipe Redux! I put my Reduxing on hold because my time to blog has been a little limited due to other projects, and my blog dedicated to helping couples was starting to turn more into a recipe blog than lifestyle focused. But when I saw this month’s theme was to create a probiotic cocktail, I simply couldn’t resist! Today also marks the return of Mr E’s Cocktail Corner with our combined effort to bring you the Kombullet Kocktail.

Many people assume because I’m a yogi that I have an IV hooked up to me 24/7 full of kombucha. The truth is I didn’t even try my first “booch” until about a year ago when I was preparing to do a talk about gut health for a local natural foods market, Dean’s. They wanted me to talk up the kombucha brands they sell, so I had to do some first-hand research so I could weigh in and know what the heck I’m talking about.

RELATED: GO WITH YOUR GUT: HEALTHY FROM THE INSIDE OUT

KREEPY HISTORY WITH KOMBUCHA

I was actually a little creeped out by kombucha when I first learned about it. A friend of mine in grad school was writing her thesis on a homemade kombucha that she and her husband were trying to bring to market. When she told me what kombucha is, and then showed me the actual product, I couldn’t take my eyes off the gooey wad of bacteria sitting at the bottom of the bottle. I refused to take a shot of it. Something about cold tea with bacteria didn’t seem super appealing to me at the time. Fortunately, kombucha has come a long way since my friend’s homemade version.

Health-Ade is the first brand I tried that made me really like kombucha. I guess you can call it my Gateway Kombucha. My fridge gets stocked big time anytime there’s a sale happening at my local store,. Their Cayenne Cleanse is a must-have anytime I’m starting to feel a cold coming on – the spicy burn feels so good on a sore throat!

RELATED: SPICY JALAPENO MARGARITA

KICK SODA TO THE CURB

For those who like fizziness in their cocktails, kombucha makes a great alternative to soda, tonic, or even the plainness of seltzer. Compared to 39 grams of added sugar (or the equivalent of almost 10 teaspoons!) that’s found in soda, kombucha contains 5 grams. Yes, kombucha has sugar in it to help with the fermentation process (similar to sugar that gets added to wine, beer and spirits).  Plus, you won’t find gut-healthy probiotics in sugary soda.

Subscribe to my 52 Weeks to Your Happily Health-fully Ever After weekly email series for more ways to keep your relationship sweet.

KRAFTY KOCKTAIL

The Kombullet Kocktail was originally intended to be a spin-off of a mule. I thought the Health-Ade Ginger Lemon flavor could make a change-up for ginger beer that’s traditionally used in a mule. Mr E had recently been to Mexico City for a work trip and came home with a few bottles of mezcal (something we’d noticed recently was missing from our liquor collection). We had wanted to do a version of the Mezcal Mule cocktail from a local favorite spot, 10^thAvenue Burrito (famously featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. But for some reason we just couldn’t get the flavors to mesh well between the smokiness of this particular mezcal and lemony sweetness of the kombucha.

We scrapped that idea and instead decided to amp up the flavor profile of the kombucha by changing up the starring liquor to a brown spirit. While bourbon is typically my go-to brown spirit, we decided rye would be the way to go for this drink. Bulleit Rye has notes of vanilla, honey and some spiciness, which compliments the ginger and lemon flavor of the kombucha. Despite kombucha containing some sugar, it doesn’t have an overly sweet flavor. Simple syrup was added to balance out the rye and ginger combo. This was the winning combo!

REGISTRY RECOMMENDATION: Jigger, Collins glass set,plastic squeeze bottle

Enjoy this refreshing Kombullet Kocktail out on your porch, deck, or anywhere you and your significant other have cocktails together outdoors this summer. Cheers!

HAVE YOU GOTTEN ON THE KOMBUCHA TRAIN YET?

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED KOMBUCHA IN YOUR COCKTAILS?

MAKE THIS PROBIOTIC COCKTAIL CREATION AND SHARE YOURS WITH ME BY TAGGING YOURS TRULY (@mandyenrightRD) ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND USING #NUTRITIONNUPTIALS!

 PIN FOR LATER –>

DISCLAIMER: I am not compensated by Health-Ade or Bulleit for mentioning them in this post. All mentions are brands I truly love and support the integrity of the recipe and this blog. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Please refer to my full Disclosure statement.