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This Year, I’m Participating In “Damp January“
It’s been a long, stressful two years (and counting). I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been drinking too much generally, and WAY too much over the holidays. I thought about doing Dry January, but given my track-record with dieting, I knew that was unrealistic. Enter: Damp January.
Instead of cutting out booze cold-turkey for one month and then going back to my old habits for other 11, I set out to form more moderate drinking habits that will last all year long… and Haus is my secret to success.
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In an effort to cut calories, reduce my alcohol intake, and cure my hangxiety, I switched from hard liquor to Haus’s low-ABV aperitifs. After two weeks, I may never switch back to the harder stuff. And I’m not the only one — the California-based, sophisticated farm-to-bottle apéritifs are beloved by the likes of Bon Appetit, GQ, and The New York Times too.
What Makes Haus Different?
There’s a reason big liquor companies don’t really tell you what’s in the bottle: they hide sub-par ingredients behind an unnecessarily high percentage of alcohol and sugar. That’s why Haus is changing the status quo. They’ve ditched the fake stuff and excess sugar for naturally-fermented, high-quality fruits, herbs, and botanicals.
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Haus blends, bottles, and ships all of their products straight from their vineyard in Sonoma, CA. The farm-to-bottle aperitifs fall mid-way between a wine and liquor in terms of alcohol volume, and contain only half the calories of just straight liquor. Plus, the unique blends are so flavorful on their own that I don’t have to add any sugary sodas or syrups to my cocktails.
How Do I Drink My Haus?
All eight flavors are delightful straight-up, over ice. I’m a self-proclaimed master mixologist though, so I had a ton of fun substituting them in for heavier booze in my favorite cocktail recipes.
I started out with the Deluxe Cocktail Kit to try six of Haus’ best-selling flavors, and after an extensive, scientific analysis, here are my favorite ways to indulge:
The Haughty Toddy
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When it’s cold out, I love a nice hot-toddy to warm up and calm down after work. I usually prefer mine on the sweeter side, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Ginger Yuzu aperitif adds enough sweetness that I don’t need any honey. To make it, just brew a cup of earl-grey tea, add a squeeze of lemon, and a hefty splash of the aforementioned aperitif. Oh, and a dash of cinnamon on top, of course!
Lemon Lavender Grin Fizz
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Lavender Bee’s Knees are all the rage this year. Usually made with gin, lemon, lavender and simple syrup, it’s a real crowd pleaser. So this was a no-brainer for me when I saw the Lemon Lavender flavor from Haus.
This one starts out with a shot of Haus, then squeeze of lemon and a dash of lavender bitters for smell (and color). Then, I top it with soda water and garnish with an edible flower and lemon peel. This drink makes me smile from ear-to-ear, so I’m calling it the Lemon Lavender Grin-Fizz.
The Pomegranate Rosemary Bold-Fashioned
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Pomegranate Rosemary is my absolute favorite flavor to drink straight-up. So, my bold-fashioned recipe is simple, delicious and served in a rocks glass. All you need to do is pour the herbaceous blend straight from the bottle over ice, add a few dashes of angostura bitters (although this isn’t even necessary), and garnish with an orange peel for the aroma. The apéritif speaks for itself!
The Spicy Noloma
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Now I know Mexican food isn’t doing me any favors around the waist, but I said I’m cutting back on booze, not nachos… and everyone knows that nachos go great with margaritas, or my favorite: palomas (basically a grapefruit marg).
For this, shake up a shot of Grapefruit Jalapeño with lime juice and a dash of salt. Then simply pour into a salt-rimmed glass filled with ice and top with a splash of soda water. I like to garnish with lime and jalepeño. Boom: The Spicy Noloma.
The Rosé Faux-Secco
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I don’t believe in labels… so classifying rosé as a summer drink simply won’t fly with me. It’s rosé any day for me. The Rose Rosé flavor from Haus is so easy to drink that I usually enjoy it chilled, straight up — like a glass of wine — but sometimes I’ll top it with soda water for a low-calorie Rosé Faux-Secco.
The Fighting-Irish Coffee
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The Irish Coffee is such a staple in the after-dinner drink category that I didn’t wait too long before giving it a try. I found the New Fashioned flavor to be the most whiskey-like of the bunch, so that’s the base of this cocktail. All you need to do is add some almond milk, top it with whipped cream and voila: you have the low-ABV Fighting-Irish Coffee.
I’m Still Learning, But Already Loving Haus
With Haus, I’ve been able to easily cut out hard liquor from my life, and I don’t see any reason that I can’t keep it up all year round. My favorite part of Damp January so far is that I’ve had virtually no hangovers (thanks to Haus’ quality ingredients). I’m also having such a blast creating these low-ABV cocktails and can’t wait to keep exploring the endless possibilities!