Mocktails: Kombucha Wine Spritzer

Drinking toasts to that hood with the hooves and the horns.

Let me put this out there: If you drink "light beer" you neither like beer nor are you really serious about your health.

Diet beer, and it's evil cousin, diet malt liquor beverages like Chekov Lite Ice Lime-a-Rita, are not drinks that any person of drinking (much less voting) age should drink with anything less than a guilty conscience.

There are "diet" cocktails of note. The Presbyterian is a cocktail that takes some of the sugar out of the standard whiskey and ginger (or cola, or lemon-lime soda). A shot, chased with bitters and soda, is a low-calorie alternative to a beer and a shot.

The noble VSS is pretty ubiquitous, and my variation, the Shirley Temple of Doom is delicious (and likely lower calorie than a typical Rose Kennedy).

Last week The Kombucha Man stopped over -- an event heralded by the unmistakable beep-beep-beep of his white delivery van backing up into my driveway -- and left me with a case of Lev's (in exchange for a quick stop in my bathroom and a cup of coffee, which is a pretty sweet deal for me I have to say).

Kombucha's health utility is a matter of some debate, but it is a fact that the beverage is packed with beneficial acids like glucuronic acid and B vitamins from yeast.

Naturally I have frequently acknowledged the alleged health benefits of kombucha by heartily saying "fuck it" and adding either vodka or whiskey (pro-tip: Lev's Ginger Berry Kombucha + rye = love).

However in an attempt to "take it easy" I've been toning down the liquor consumption whenever I can, so when I read our Masthead's adult beverage of the week last week (wine spritzer) I figured I'd try that with a bottle of Lev's in lieu of lemon-lime soda or seltzer.

Kombucha may not be for everyone, but if you are a fan of a cold glass of the crisp, tart brew you should try it on ice with a little white or red wine.

For the purposes of this experiment I went with a cheap bottle of Ravenswood Shiraz (about $12). I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Kombucha Wine Spritzer:

• Pint glass of ice.
• 3 ounces of Shiraz.
• 3 ounces of Lev's Original Ginger Green Tea Kombucha.

I'll make no claims about the health benefits of this concoction, but it beats the hell out of the rice-malt-beer-like-artificially-fruit-flavored mass marketed GMO crap that passes for a light summer aperitif these days.

Don't ice me, bro. Seriously. Don't.