Worried about your drinking? Our experts reveal the simple tweaks to super-charge your favourite cocktail, boost your fibre intake and protect yourself from inflammation

We’ve reached that part of the festive period when many of us are feeling overfed, over-boozed and in need of some respite. But there’s one more event we have to get through: New Year’s Eve.

Is it possible to still drink alcohol but give it a healthy twist by including one of your five-a-day?

In fact, there is research to suggest combining fruit with alcohol can enhance its health benefits.

In one 2007 study, in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, researchers found that having strawberries with alcohol (such as in a daiquiri) boosted its antioxidant properties, helping neutralise free radicals – harmful oxygen molecules linked to conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

‘Overall, no one would claim that drinking cocktails is healthy,’ says Emer Delaney, a dietitian based in London. ‘But if you are going to sip a few celebratory cocktails this New Year’s Eve, including fruit or veg is better than adding sugary mixers that have zero nutrients.’

Here, mixologist Rupam Talukdar, from Babur restaurant in London, creates four simple at-home cocktails that incorporate one portion of fruit or veg, with Emer Delaney’s expert comment.

POMEGRANATE MARGARITA 

SERVES 1

• Himalayan pink salt, for the rim
• 25ml white tequila
• 20ml Cointreau
• 25ml freshly squeezed lime juice
• 60ml pomegranate juice (no added sugar)
• 40g pomegranate seeds

Run a lime wedge around rim of a chilled tumbler and dip rim in the salt. Add the pomegranate seeds to a cocktail shaker and gently muddle to release some juice. Add ice, tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and pomegranate juice and shake for 20 seconds. Pour into glass and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

EXPERT COMMENT: Pomegranates are rich in fibre, which is not affected by alcohol unless you drink in excess. Fibre can help mitigate alcohol’s negative impact by slowing down how quickly it gets absorbed into the bloodstream. There are around 2g of fibre in this cocktail alone. Just make sure you include all the seeds to get the fibre benefits – so don’t strain.

HOT APPLE WITH HONEY APPLE PIE CORDIAL

SERVES 1

• 75ml cordial (see below)
• 150ml pure apple juice (no added sugar)
• 50ml Calvados
• 15ml fresh lime juice, to taste
• Thin apple slices and a cinnamon stick, to garnish
• For the cordial:
• 500ml apple juice
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 bay leaf
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 200ml runny honey
• 150ml lime juice

For the cordial, combine apple juice, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, peppercorns and ginger in a saucepan. Infuse on a gentle simmer for ten minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the honey (start with 150ml, then add to taste), then lime juice. Cool and strain into a clean jar. Store in the fridge for up to one week.

For the cocktail, combine 75ml of the cordial with the apple juice in a saucepan and gently heat over a low-medium heat, until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the Calvados and lime juice. If it tastes too intense, add a splash of water or extra apple juice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slices.

EXPERT COMMENT: Using seasonal fruit such as the apple here generally means it’s fresher, tastier and more nutritious; not travelling as far helps to max-out its nutritional benefits. This cocktail has the added benefit of being warm, which could help cold symptoms. A 2008 study in the journal Rhinology noted that a hot fruit drink provided immediate and sustained relief from sore throat, cough, sneezing, runny nose and tiredness.

BLUEBERRY BERRY BLAST

SERVES 1

• 60g frozen blueberries
• 2 strawberries (20g), chopped
• 35ml Absolut Blue Vodka
• 15ml Cointreau
• 10ml lychee liqueur
• 10ml crème de cassis
• 20ml fresh lime juice

Add the blueberries and strawberries to a cocktail shaker – gently muddle to break them. Add other ingredients, fill with ice, then shake for 20 seconds. Strain over fresh ice in a short tumbler. Garnish with a strawberry on the rim.

EXPERT COMMENT: Vodka is one of the better spirits – clear spirits such as vodka, gin and tequila, have fewer congeners (compounds produced during fermentation that can worsen hangovers) than darker spirits. Frozen berries are generally flash-frozen within hours of being picked, which will minimise any nutrient loss. To maintain the fibre content (2.4g per 100g), puree the fruit before adding it to the cocktail shaker and pour it straight into the glass (don’t strain).

SPICED DECCAN MARY

SERVES 1

• Green chilli
• 50ml Absolut Blue vodka
• 150ml tomato juice
• ½ tsp tamarind paste
• Pinch of cumin powder
• Pinch of chaat masala
• Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Muddle a piece of chilli in a cocktail shaker – how much depends on how spicy you want it. Add the other ingredients, shake well, then pour into a salt-rimmed tumbler with ice.

EXPERT COMMENT: Along with using one of the ‘healthier’ spirits, the chilli in this cocktail contains capsaicin – this is anti-inflammatory and can also help with winter colds. It does this by increasing the flow of mucus, aiding congestion (though it could give you a runny nose, too). Chillis are also full of vitamins A and C, which help fight off infections.

• For more of Rupam’s cocktails see Babur: Forty Years of Flavour (£25).