Episode #117:

Shrub-Infused Mocktails: The Ultimate Gut-Friendly Party Drinks with Lisa Bullion

Are you looking for a fun and healthy way to celebrate the holidays without alcohol? What if I told you that you could enjoy delicious, festive drinks that are actually good for you? Joining me for this episode is Lisa Bullion, founder of Other Mother Vinegar, to share some amazing mocktail recipes that will be the hit of your next party.

Get ready to wow your guests with four delightful mocktail recipes featuring Lisa’s flavored shrubs (drinking vinegar). From a berry-licious Mockarita to a fresh and tangy Beet-Cucumber cooler, these drinks are sure to impress. We’ll also dive into the slow food movement and the importance of being intentional about what we put into our bodies. So grab your favorite glass and let’s toast to a happy and healthy New Year!

Tune in this week as Lisa and I discuss the importance of having non-alcoholic options at gatherings, especially for designated drivers and those who choose not to drink. We believe that everyone should feel included and have something special to sip on. Plus, these mocktails are packed with health benefits from natural ingredients like probiotics, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatories.

WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER

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How to create delicious and healthy mocktails using flavored shrubs.

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Why it’s important to have non-alcoholic options at gatherings and celebrations.

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The health benefits of various shrub ingredients, including probiotics, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatories.

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How the slow food movement encourages us to be more intentional about what we consume.

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Tips for making small, positive changes in your life and sticking to your New Year’s resolutions.

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The role of gut health in overall wellness and how to support it naturally.

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How to elevate your mocktails with simple garnishes and rim treatments.

FEATURED ON THE SHOW

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Come find us on YouTube for the Dr. Crockett Show and subscribe today.

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Other Mother Vinegar: Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Ep #58: Mother Knows Best with Lisa Bullion

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Alyssa Beltempo

TRANSCRIPT

Everybody always talks about resolutions and what I have found is mine last for about three days and then I forget about them. And so what I want to encourage people to do is to think about just taking small steps, maybe one party, substitute a mocktail instead of a cocktail.

Welcome to Becoming Virtuosa, the podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Susan Crockett. You are listening to episode number 64, Holiday Mocktail Madness. Are you cutting back or cutting down on alcohol this holiday season? Perhaps you’re the designated driver. It doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun and delicious grownup drink. We welcome back Lisa Bullion, the owner of Other Mother Vinegar with four easy and yummy mocktails for your Happy New Year’s. Happy New Year’s, you all, and be safe. We will see you in the new year.

Female Announcer: Welcome to Becoming Virtuosa, the podcast that encourages you to become your best virtuosa self. Each week, Dr. Susan Crockett goes where the scalpel can’t reach, exploring conversations about how to be, heal, love, give, grow, pray, and attune. For the first time ever, she’s bringing the personal one-on-one teaching that she shares with individual patients to you on this broader platform, a weekly source of inspiration and encouragement designed to empower you.

By evolving ourselves as individuals, we influence and transform the world around us. Please help me welcome board certified OB GYN specializing in minimally invasive GYN surgery, internationally in the top 1% of all GYN robotic surgeons, a certified life coach and US News top doctor, your host Susan A, Crockett MD.

Susan: This is such a fun episode for you all today. We are doing holiday mocktail madness with my lovely guest, yay, Lisa, welcome back.

Lisa: Thank you, it’s great to be back.

Susan: Lisa Bullion, the founder of Other Mother Vinegar in Fredericksburg.

Lisa: Excited to be back. Thank you for having me.

Susan: You’re welcome. If you guys haven’t checked out her previous show, it aired in early November. We’ll put a little link down below. But we have got such a fun episode today because she is going to share with us how to make four different kinds of mocktails. And so tell us a little bit about how you came up with the idea for actually doing mocktails instead of cocktails and why is this important for us to be thinking about?

Lisa: Great question. Well, we need to have options. We need to have options.

Susan: I like that.

Lisa: It’s lovely gathering together, family, friends, we celebrate. Now, think about the reasons we gather. Sometimes they’re happy, sometimes they’re not, but it’s a social event. It’s a social event and we want to come together and nobody wants to be left out.

Susan: Not even the designated driver, right?

Lisa: Especially the designated driver. They’re doing us a service.

Susan: And those of us who are drinking less or being responsible or on call.

Lisa: Right, exactly. So what we want is we want something special for everyone. We want something special for all of our guests and no one to be left out. So we do have four different lovely combinations we’re going to look at so do we want to just grab one and dive in?

Susan: Yeah, let’s start by talking about what these are, because these are shrubs. So we talked a little bit about it on a prior episode.

Lisa: We did talk a little bit about shrub.

Susan: It’s not a floral is it? It’s just a shrub.

Lisa: Well, no, I mean, they’re flavored, so they’re more than one shrub.

Susan: These are flavored vinegars that Lisa introduced me to a couple of months ago. She distills them from wine and they’re all flavored. We call them slow processed. We’re into slow cooking, slowing down. Taking our time, enjoying the process. And today, as you all know, before every shoot we have a meal with our guests and today we featured…

Lisa: Fantastic.

Susan: It was fun today, wasn’t it?

Lisa: Fantastic, it was fantastic.

Susan: We featured all different types of sauces and vinaigrettes and marinades using her shrub. So I’m going to make sure there’s a link below for you so that if you’d like to purchase some of her flavored vinegars or for your mocktails or for cooking. And then, new, I am starting to post recipes online at drcrockett.com.

Lisa: Fantastic. Great idea because she is an amazing cook and you’re going to want to try these recipes, they’re so good.

Susan: Thank you so much. This is a developing thing. I used to never cook, ask my son.

Lisa: It’s fun to be in the kitchen though.

Susan: It’s kind of like doing chemistry.

Lisa: It is a little bit, well, and this is my job with the vinegars is a little chemistry based too, so it is.

Susan: It is. So I’m so excited. Let’s dive in today. The first one we’re doing is a fruit based one.

Lisa: Yeah, we’ll do the fruit base first, absolutely.

Susan: And this one is a mocarita or mocatini.

Lisa: I think we’re going to do our flair on a margarita. So we’re going to call this one a mocarita.

Susan: And then this one?

Lisa: This one is turmeric based, so it’s a little smoky. So this is hot and smoky because we’ve got a little jalapeno in that one.

Susan: A nice little bite. And then the last one is the?

Lisa: And the final one is beet and we’re going to add some freshness with a cucumber in now.

Susan: This is going to be my ladies luncheon kind of go to.

Lisa: So let’s do this. So one thing to remember is easy, a one to three ratio. What do I mean by that? We’re going to do one ounce. We’re going to start, I’m just going to grab this pretty little glass. And this is my tart raspberry. Now, this is going to be the one, one ounce of this guy to three ounces of the add-in. So one ounce in this pretty glass, nice and deep.

Susan: This is so healthy for you too.

Lisa: We didn’t talk about that. So these vinegar drinks, which we call shrubs and we did not come up with that on our own, but it is an olden days type.

Susan: Like Martha Washington.

Lisa: Exactly. So this one’s got to be a little taller because this is the one and a half line.

Susan: Cool. So these are great for your gut health. So not only are we skipping the negative effects of alcohol, which are numerous on our bodies and our health. But we’re also feeding our gut health and natural probiotics and lots of antioxidants.

Lisa: All of the good stuff, all the good stuff. So you’re right, not only is it not detrimental, it is beneficial and that’s what we’re going for, flavor and function.

Susan: And options.

Lisa: And having some options, so let’s have a little raspberry in there. Alright, so it’s totally berry-ific. I know, that was terrible. Alright, my dear, so give that a little…

Susan: It smells so fresh. So a side note, I do a shot of her shrub in the morning, just straight. So having it mixed with something like a juice and a berry is something completely different.

Lisa: So, yes, probiotic rich, good for the gut. This is a good start to a healthy gut.

Susan: This is delicious, tart, a little bubbly, which I didn’t expect.

Lisa: That’s from the kombucha, a little bit in there, little bubbles.

Susan: It’s got a little kombucha in it. It’s very easy to drink and I feel like I’m a grown up having a drink.

Lisa: And it’s pretty.

Susan: It’s pretty.

Lisa: And we want a pretty glass as well.

Susan: Because you know what? That’s part of the celebration and the tradition is creating beauty in the options that we have. Okay, this is the home run, this is great.

Lisa: You like that one, okay.

Susan: I love this one a lot, thank you.

Lisa: Yay, alright.

Susan: Okay, what’s next?

Lisa: What’s next? Let’s see. I’m just going to go down the line. So what we’re going to do next is I’m going to actually do two of these pretty babies. And to start, I’m going to take a little lime.

Susan: This is the margarita one, the mocarita one.

Lisa: Exactly, this is our mocarita. And we’re going to just dampen the edge, the rim with that lime, not too much lime, although there will be lime juice in it as well.

Susan: So this one’s going to be really popular with our local listeners because we’re from central Texas.

Lisa: Now I’m going to put, it’s not a secret ingredient and it is a little bit spicy, but it’s not salt on the rim, it’s actually tahini.

Susan: And for our viewers who don’t know what that is, it is a Mexican spice. It’s kind of salty, kind of got a little bite to it.

Lisa: And a little bit citrusy as well.

Susan: They put it on candy.

Lisa: They use it in an assortment of ways.

Susan: Yeah, we’re using it for this.

Lisa: Alright, we’re going to go the same route. So one ounce of the shrub. And this is my ginger and honey shrub.

Susan: This is one of my favorites to just drink straight and it’s so good for you. I love ginger anyway.

Lisa: I do too, and ginger does have its own little bite in there.

Susan: And lots of health benefits. So how did you come up with all of this? This is really creative.

Lisa: When you’re asking people to drink vinegar for health benefits, you need to be creative because it can sound very challenging. And so we want to give you options. We don’t want to make it, and you’ve already done that by taking them and creating sauces so you can use them in culinary concoctions as well as beverages. And so it’s lovely to be able to do that.

Susan: And apple cider vinegar is so popular right now. This is what you would use instead of apple cider vinegar if you are using that as a product in your diet routines. This is an upper level of distillery.

Lisa: Next level. And that’s because we barrel age the vinegar. So it isn’t apple based, your apple cider vinegar started life as an apple and then it was fermented into cider and finally into that being a secondary fermentation. Now it’s apple cider vinegar. Ours on the other hand was a grape based. So grapes, first, and then wine and then now the wine, our wine goes into a series of barrels, takes about a year to get the flavor and the smokiness and the aroma, all of that in that vinegar about a year in a barrel.

Susan: It’s a really slow process.

Lisa: It’s a slow process, we can’t get in a hurry.

Susan: We can’t get in a hurry, but I’m learning that in so many things, there’s a YouTuber that I follow on fashion and her name is Alyssa Beltempo. And she does closet wardrobes, the capsule wardrobes for travel and she’s brilliant. But her thing is slow fashion, which is conserving, not just having disposable clothing, being more environmentally aware. And so as I’ve started cooking, what I’ve realized is having the things that take a couple of days of forethought or things that have to be canned ahead of time. They really make the recipes…

Lisa: Come alive.

Susan: Amazing. You can’t do it fast.

Lisa: No. And you can’t rush down and buy it that way either.

Susan: You can’t because it doesn’t preserve on the shelf that way. And as an OB GYN, we are the worst about fast eating. I mean, it’s a joke within medicine, you all. There’s all kinds of stereotypes, but you never know how much time you have to eat when a baby’s coming.

Lisa: Because you’ve got to grab it while you can.

Susan: Grab it and go. And so I’ve accumulated these horrible habits over the years of not caring what I’m eating. And so I really appreciate what you’re doing and bringing with your product. But also just it’s a chance for us to sit down and have a discussion about new traditions, about thinking about slowing down our processes. And when we do that, it gives us time to actually think about the people that we’re enjoying at the holidays, thinking about the people we’re serving with all of this.

Lisa: And it gives us an opportunity to be more, have more forethought and be more intentional about what we’re putting into our bodies as well. I think in our fast-paced, fast food environment, we’re very quick to just do that, take the quick way out. But there’s so much more to life, and there’s beauty in slowing down.

Susan: There is. There is.

Lisa: We are so close on this one. So we’re missing, we’re going to have, actually we’re going to do a little squeeze of lime in there.

Susan: And can I do mine?

Lisa: Yes, please. And then we’re going to…

Susan: This is just so fun.

Lisa: This is fun. And then it’s all about garnish. So we’re going to get a little lime garnish on there as well.

Susan: And make it look pretty.

Lisa: So there’s one for yours. There’s one for mine.

Susan: And is this tahini going to be spicy? Is it going to hurt my tongue?

Lisa: I like spice, so I am not afraid of it. If you’re not too excited, just go to the side, but yeah, so catch the nose.

Susan: Oh, wow, the lime with it is amazing.

Lisa: It’s completely different, alright, and give it a taste. So I’m going to have a sip with you.

Susan: Oh, man.

Lisa: Okay, that one was a little sweet. And this one’s not sweet.

Susan: This is not sweet. This is delicious and it’s not that spicy. And I like the tahini instead of salt. I love salt on the rim. That is great. Okay, yes, please.

Lisa: I’m going to finish that here in a minute. That’s number two.

Susan: So good. That’s number two. Number three is the really spicy one.

Lisa: Okay, this one is spicy. So what we’re going to do is, this is my little cocktail here. We’re going to wrap this beauty and we’re going to start with turmeric and honey. And it has honey in these three roots, but not a great amount. You’re not going to notice a sweet, sweet taste to this. You will notice the upfront nature of the turmeric, which is more earthy.

Susan: Well, turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory which inflammation is just the enemy of all disease. So I appreciate having this.

Lisa: So the turmeric goes in first followed by three ounces. So this one get to fill to the top, add the sparkling water. So you notice it’s that one ounce of shrub each time, and then to three ounces of, and you can use still water, sparkling water. It’s really your choice.

Susan: I like the bubbles. It’s pretty.

Lisa: I do too. I like the bubbles. Alright, now this one, we’re going to do a little bit extra. We’re going to cheat on him, not really cheat but we’re going to get a little spice on this rim. And we’re going to leave that there. Now, there’s not going to be a lot of heat in the drink, but you will get a tiny bit off the rim, but you’ll get it in the olfactory. You’ll get it in the nose.

Susan: That’s so subtle.

Lisa: And that’s what you want. So you don’t want it to knock anybody out. And of course, if you love heat, pop a slice in.

Susan: I can smell the jalapeno.

Lisa: And you may not be too keen on that.

Susan: Oh, that’s so good.

Lisa: It’s completely different. I think it’s surprising because the smokiness of the turmeric comes through.

Susan: Goes great with the jalapeno. And then you get just the aftertaste of the flavor on the rim, which is not too hot for me. The other thing I really like and I want to talk about this a little bit is the simplicity of your ingredients. We’re not making drinks that you have to do 20 different ingredients or even five. It’s just very simple.

Lisa: Well some of it’s pre-done for you because the shrub comes with the vinegar, for instance this one, the fresh turmeric root, a little bit of raw honey and our vinegar. So some of it’s kind of pre-mixed in there. And then you’re just adding a tiny bit to that, the sparkle from the sparkling water and then the jalapeno to give it just a little bit of, I mean, when you’re at a party, you want to be walking around with something that’s pretty just like everyone else.

Susan: Absolutely. Yeah. So home runs, three out of three. And then we’ve got the last one, the fourth one, which is a little fruitier.

Lisa: Okay, so this one’s really interesting, very fresh. so we’re going to use the beet and honey for this one. Now, beets, I know, I know what you’re thinking.

Susan: I love beets, but not everybody does.

Lisa: They’re very polarizing. So you either kind of love them or you kind of hate them. We’re going to hope to change that. So we like to tell people this is not your grandmother’s beets.

Susan: It’s really good.

Lisa: So we’re going to do that one to three again, going to do one ounce of the beet.

Susan: So while you’re doing this, I want to talk about New Year’s resolutions. Because the whole reason we’re doing all of this is to give people options as we’re heading into the new year. And everybody always talks about resolutions. And what I’ve found is mine last for about three days and then I forget about them. And so what I want to encourage people to do is to think about just taking small steps, maybe one party substitute a mocktail instead of a cocktail or just one day at a time. And then in those little steps, that’s how we make the bigger changes.

Lisa: I totally agree. As a matter of fact, it’s not the size of the step, it’s the direction you’re taking them in. So take little steps, but just make sure you know which way you want to be going.

Susan: You know what? I think that’s a really important part. So the intention behind making a resolution is the first step, the thought that there may be something different. And then maybe I could do that in this small way. So it may not be alcohol or mocktails. There are probably other things in your life that you’re thinking about making changes in. This is a great time to do that with this. I haven’t mentioned it lately, but we take the audio off of this show and we attach it to our previous show, which is a podcast.

You can find it on Apple and Google and Spotify and all the podcast places, it’s called Becoming Virtuoso. And that means becoming the best version of yourself. So thank you for helping us to do that today. And I love that it’s in such a simple way and that we’re slowing down. It’s almost like we’re undoing all the craziness and revealing the real beauty that’s underneath, which is a different way for me to think about becoming virtuosa is becoming the not virtuosa.

Lisa: Stripping away. Stripping away some of the things, maybe some of the facades we put up, some of the barriers that have, and sometimes those barriers are the biggest hindrance we have.

Susan: To anything. Stripping away all the artificial junk and then just in a good natural.

Lisa: Alright. Now try this one.

Susan: Okay, this one’s?

Lisa: So nothing in it but the two ingredients.

Susan: This is going to be my favorite summer drink.

Lisa: Do you think? And that cucumber.

Susan: That’s amazing. I love how you pair what’s on the rim.

Lisa: Well, and this is really just half of your taste comes through the nose. And so you smell before you taste and so don’t you even taste a little cucumber in there even though there isn’t any?

Susan: Yeah, it’s so fresh.

Lisa: I think that one’s my favorite these days. And why beets? Beets are super for your heart. So this vinegar has got that naturally occurring probiotic, good bacteria for gut. But on top of that, beets address your heart health. Turmeric, as she mentioned, is my inflammation fighter. Ginger, anything digestion related, a little bit of ginger is a help there, also a good immune booster. And then berries are wonderful antioxidants so all good stuff. So what we’re trying to have is flavor with function.

Susan: Okay. So since I am a doctor and this audience is about wellness, just for our audience if you wouldn’t mind, can you just go through the health benefits of each of the different shrub?

Lisa: Of course, I’d be happy to. First and foremost, it is a probiotic forward vinegar, unpasteurized, that happens in the barrel. We talked a little bit about that. So you get that in all of them. But on top of that, we’ve been very mindful about what we paired it with. So this is our beet and honey. Beets are super for the heart and cardiovascular system. Turmeric, great anti-inflammatory.

Susan: I love that.

Lisa: My ginger, it addresses digestion, but is also a good immune booster, super popular during the cold and flu season. And then finally, raspberry, and that is my antioxidant. Fruits are great on that department. And this is just super important, as we’re very intentional about the choices, but there’s reasons behind that. We face so many things these days and the gut is the first line of defense. So the more naturally occurring probiotic we can get in there as opposed to a pill or some kind of serum, that kind of thing, the better because then the body has an opportunity to heal from the inside out.

Susan: It can heal itself.

Lisa: And this is a blessing. Our bodies are blessings, they are God given, and we need to treat them with care and feed them good fuel. So this is fuel with flavor and function.

Susan: Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Lisa: Totally, my pleasure.

Susan: It was so much fun, I think we should toast.

Lisa: I appreciate you having us back. I think we should. Okay, I’m going to go with this.

Susan: I’m going to go with this one too.

Lisa: Alright, darling. Cheers.

Susan: Here’s to a Happy New Year.

Lisa: Happy New Year.

Susan: Alright. Bye, you all. See you next week. Have a Happy New Year.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Becoming Virtuosa. To learn more, come visit us at drcrockett.com. That’s D-R Crockett with two T’s .com. Or find us on YouTube for The Dr. Crockett Show. If you found this episode helpful, or think it might help someone else, please like, subscribe and share. This is how we grow together. Thanks, and I’ll see you next week. Love always, Sue.

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