Brace Yourselves: Bone Broth Cocktails Are Here, And They’re Good

Molly Shea
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Tomato juice, celery stick, and… bone broth? (Photo: Skyhorse Publishing)

You might add spinach to smoothies and chia seeds to oatmeal, but would you ever think to add bone broth to cocktails? At first, the savory stocks might seem out of place mixed with alcohol. The beverage is better known as a healing soup, believed to foster gut health and boost your immunity, consumed more for its benefits than taste. But consider the Bloody Mary: mixed with tomato juice and spices, most of the ingredients seem better fit for a meat dish than country club cocktail. What’s the harm, then, in adding a little broth? Exactly.

At least, that’s how Ariane Resnick, author of The Bone Broth Miracle, sees it. “When I started reading about bone broth cocktails, I started just feeling like it was the perfect way to ease up on the seriousness of something like bone broth,” she tells Yahoo Health. “It’s a way that you can kind of lighten it up and say hey, you can still have fun while being healthy.”

She’s not the only one. Aaron Melendrez, bartender at the trendy LA restaurant Pistola, has been turning heads for including broth in a $22 scotch cocktail. “It’s really a hard sell. It’s definitely not the Friday night ‘getting wild’ cocktail,” Melendrez tells Yahoo Health. That said, “once people try it, they love it. When paired with the correct spirit and ingredients, I think the sky is the limit.”

Plus, Resnick points out, once you try bone broth in a cocktail, you might find that it makes the alcohol more drinkable. “I found that this scotch that I loved in theory but had a hard time drinking was actually easier once I added bone broth. It mellowed it out and gave it a [food-like taste].”

Related: Bone Broth: 4 Reasons Wellness Experts Are Obsessed (Plus Recipe!)

So you’re interested — or at the very least, intrigued. Where do you start? “I began with the classics,” Resnick says — the Bloody Mary, or, as she calls it, the Mary Had A Little Lamb. Worried it’ll taste like, well, meat? Don’t be. “You could put two ounces of almost anything into a Bloody Mary and you’d never know,” Resnick says. “I was happy to discover pretty quickly that when you mix it into drinks, it’s pretty mellow.”

Melendrez has a slightly different take. He uses bone broth in hot cocktails, such as his signature Pistola drink, rather than cold ones. “I’m not a fan of cold bone broth,” he says. “Savory meat flavors aren’t as appealing to me as hot ones (i.e. this leftover cold chicken I’m eating), so I think we can expect more in the colder months.”

“Before [you] go adding alcohol to bone broth, perfect the bone broth recipe, Melendrez says. “After that, assess which liquor pairs best with the protein you select. Some pair better with others.”

If you’re not quite up for the challenge of crafting your own broth cocktail, try this tried-and-true recipe from Resnick.

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces lamb broth

  • 2 ounces vodka

  • 2 ounces tomato juice

  • Juice of ½ lemon

  • 2 dashes hot sauce

  • 1 dash Annie’s Naturals Organic Worcestershire Sauce

  • ½ teaspoon grated horseradish root

  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt

  • Freshly grated black pepper (to taste)

  • Garnish: celery stalk, piece of beef jerky, or pickled vegetable

Directions:

  • Heat bone broth in a small pot just until room temperature and no longer gelled.

  • Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until well combined. Serve over ice in a highball glass.

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