With this tomato cocktail recipe, you can now make an amazing and refreshing beverage at home.
You only need a few simple ingredients that may already be available in your kitchen. And it takes barely any effort to make this drink and clean up afterwards.
Before we start, let’s learn some interesting facts about cocktails.
What Is a Cocktail?
The cocktail is a type of alcoholic beverage. The art of making cocktails is to find the perfect balance between the alcoholic base, fruity ingredients, and garnishes.
A cocktail is made by mixing alcoholic spirits (usually distilled alcohol such as gin, rum, vodka, etc.) with various ingredients. Besides distilled alcohol, beer, wine, or liqueurs can be used alternatively as a base.
Other ingredients in a cocktail recipe can be fruit juice, peels or pieces of fruit, herbs, condiments, etc.
Can Cocktails Make You Drunk?
One of the purposes of mixing alcohol with fruit juice is to ease the harsh taste of the alcohol. That way, the drink is more pleasant and enjoyable to light drinkers.
Although cocktails may seem lighter and easier to consume than unmixed liquors, they can still make you drunk.
When mixed into a cocktail, the alcohol may be diluted, but you’re still consuming all of it. So, pay attention to the amount of alcohol to avoid excess drinking or you may get drunk.
Is Tomato Cocktail Healthy?
Alcoholic drinks are often linked to various health conditions, including liver damage and depression.
We follow USDA’s dietary guidelines and reduce the amount of alcohol in today’s cocktail. This makes the drink less harmful to the body.
Our tomato cocktail contains only 1 fl oz of 80-proof distilled spirit per serving.
Keep in mind that this is the recommended amount of alcohol; don’t consider this a “healthy” dose.
Apart from alcohol, this drink does contain some healthy ingredients, specifically, tomato and spearmint.
1. Tomato
Tomato is the star of today’s beverage.
It is a powerful dietary source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. This little red fruit is truly a natural wonder when it comes to promoting health.
It helps improve the skin, eyes, blood pressure, and gives significant body-detoxifying effects.
Tomatoes also contain lycopene, an incredible phytochemical. It is known as a beneficial and cancer-preventative carotenoid pigment.
If you’re a tomato lover, we have a collection of Top 10 Tomato Juice Recipes just for you. This article has all the interesting facts about tomatoes and how to turn these juicy fruits into delicious, refreshing beverages.
2. Spearmint
Besides tomatoes, spearmint lends a fresh, herbal taste to this cocktail. This herbaceous plant is a great accompaniment thanks to its scent and high concentration of mentholated flavor.
It is also believed that spearmint may bring positive effects on treating a sore throat or common cold. And its soothing fragrance can be beneficial for stress relief.
Tips for Making
If you want to take this cocktail to the next level, we have some suggestions:
- Use muddler to mash some of the apples: This will release the apple juice into the drink. The sweet taste of apple will enhance the overall taste of the cocktail.
- Be creative with the garnish: Besides mint, you can put a slice of apple and/or lime on the edge of the glass to give it more character.
- Awaken the powerful scent of spearmint: This just means to gently slap a bouquet of spearmint against the palm of your hand. Slapping the herb will release its natural oil and become fragrant.
How Long Does It Last?
Tomato juice can last for days in the refrigerator, but this tomato cocktail may not keep that long. We estimate this cocktail can stay good for 2 hours once mixed.
You can keep it for longer if you want, but we cannot guarantee the quality will remain. Here’s why:
- If you add ice too soon before serving, the ice melts and dilutes the drink, making it bland and tasteless.
- This cocktail contains lime juice, which tends to become bitter after a few hours. Your drink will be left with an unpleasant bitterness given enough time.
- This drink also contains fresh apples. Although their taste won’t be affected, they will oxidize and lose their golden color.
If you plan to make this tomato cocktail in advance, we suggest leaving out the lime juice, apples, ice, and mint. This will keep them from losing their colors and flavors.
You can mix the tomato juice with rum and sugar first because the flavor will not change over time. However, make sure you keep it in an airtight bottle or container to prevent the alcohol from evaporating.
And that concludes today’s guide on how to make a delicious tomato cocktail. Now let’s start making it.
Tomato Cocktail Recipe
This tomato cocktail recipe is perfect for lazing on a weekend over brunch. It's simple and takes only 10 minutes to make. Let's begin.
- prep TIME 10 mins
- total TIME 10 mins
- COURSE Beverage
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 139 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 4 fl oz 80-proof white rum
- 2 tbsp white granulated sugar (optional)
- 2 cups ice
- 7 oz apples (seeds and core removed, diced)
- 4 tbsp spearmint (about 30 leaves)
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix the drink: In a large bowl or pitcher, combine 2 cups tomato juice, 2 tbsp lime juice, 4 fl oz white rum, and sugar to your taste (maximum 2 tbsp). Mix well to dissolve.
Divide the drink: Pour the drink into four glasses.
Garnish and serve: Add ice to the drink. Top 7 oz diced apples on top of the ice and garnish with a few sprigs of spearmint.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary ConsultantLuna Regina
Writer, AuthorNatalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer- Denise Browning
What a great spinoff. I am so glad you and your friends enjoyed this Brazilian cocktail. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Cheers!
- Natalie Ellis
Hi Denise,
Thanks so much! Have a great weekend too 🙂