In the summertime, most of us remember to drink plenty of water during outdoor activities.
However, we are often less mindful of hydration when summer fades to autumn and the temperatures start to dip.
Head mixologist at Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront Melrick Harrison notes that despite autumn’s lower temperatures, it’s essential to continue consuming water, beverages, and foods that include vitamins and minerals.
Harrison says warm drinks, smoothies, juices, and hydrating foods are just a few tools that can be used to keep dehydration at bay.
Below, he shares some of the ways to stay hydrated and his hydrating, nutrient-rich cocktail recipe named ‘Balance and Change’ to symbolise the changes that take place in autumn.
Eat your way to vitamin-rich hydration
In the colder months, nature has provided us with seasonal fruits and vegetables that are hydrating and rich in nutrients. After all, it isn’t called ‘soup season’ for no reason.
An all-year crop, spinach, for example, contains a whopping 91% water, emphasising that nature has been providing us with water-dense ingredients in the winter months for centuries.
Other vegetables like cauliflower, bell peppers, and pumpkin are hydrating and delicious ingredients for winter dishes.
Whether steamed, roasted, or juiced, it is important to eat extra veggies in the colder months to give your body a boost of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that simple water on its own might not provide.
All-in-one remedies
Fats, proteins and other nutrients help to keep our bodies strong and healthy. Meals and drinks that include as many of these nutrients as possible are all-in-one remedies for the added boost we require.
Adding fresh bean sprouts, water-rich lettuce, sprinklings of edible seeds, or spinach or avocado as sides to dishes can help give our bodies a real boost.
Drinks with a nutritious twist
Getting creative with supplementing water intake with nutritious drinks is easy if you know what to look out for.
Keep your intake of caffeine-rich drinks to two to three per day and opt for drinks like antioxidant-rich iced rooibos and cocoa and milk, both excellent sources of magnesium, zinc, iron, and copper.
Supplements like collagen can be added to hot or cold beverages. Collagen helps boost the suppleness of our skin and promotes water storage in our cells and as a plus, it won’t alter the taste of your drink.
Melrick’s ‘Balance and Change’ cocktail
“All ingredients in the cocktail play a part in hydration. While alcohol in its own right encourages dehydration, aged spirits, and sugar, for example, just make dehydration worse. This is why I designed a low ABV cocktail that contains electrolytes to help keep hydrated,” says Harrison, explaining the ideas behind the ingredients of the recipe.
“Furthermore, over 80% of an apple contains water and the fruit is rich with natural electrolytes that can hydrate your body faster than water. Alcohol dehydrates your body of fluids, which are essential for almost every bodily function, which is why I chose a fortified wine (Bianco Vermouth). It’s low in alcohol and filled with a variety of antioxidant-rich herbs and spices. Coriander and fennel seeds encourage digestion and boost the metabolism, and lemon juice contains the primary antioxidant vitamin C. Maple syrup has many minerals to aid hydration,” he concludes.
Ingredients
⅓ of an apple, chopped into pieces
50ml coriander and fennel-infused vermouth (vermouth or red wine soaked overnight in the fridge with coriander and fennel seeds)
20ml fresh lemon juice
15ml orange blossom and maple syrup (7.5 ml of orange blossom water and 7.5 ml maple syrup mixed together)
250 ml sugar-free tonic water
Method
Muddle or smash the apple in the booth of the shaker. Add all of the ingredients except the tonic water, shake, and strain in a glass, and finally top up with soda. Garnish with fresh slices of apple and fresh coriander sprigs.