If you’ve recently enjoyed a surfeit of bubbly and wine, maybe it’s time to discover some new cocktails instead. Every Thursday night Quaglino’s hosts a Q Cocktail Club, with a range of cocktails available for £6.50, rather than the usual £9. January’s cocktail theme is “healthy living”.

The Artful Diner headed down to Mayfair and caught up with senior bartender Mirka Gregora, whose “healthy” cocktails, luckily, aren’t so purist they have forgotten the alcohol. The first is a Bloody Maria made with tequila, the second is Tango Vagabondo, made with a healthy kick of chilli, and finally she shared her Forbidden Fruits cocktail, made with a wealth of berries, gin and dash of vanilla schnapps.

Perfect for the morning after… Bloody Maria

“Bloody Maria is known as ‘the bartender’s breakfast’,” explains Mirka. “You get vitamin C from the tomato juice, while the tequila provides a real earthy flavour that works well with the horseradish.”

Mirka’s version contains Jose Cuervo Tradicional tequila, lemon, horseradish, Tabasco, Worcestershire Sauce and tomato juice. See the recipe for Bloody Maria.

Tasting notes: Crushed pepper around the rim of the glass added to the heat of this cocktail, which has a real kick. After the first sip you’re hooked. Tequila has an earthiness that works really well with horseradish and the thickness of tomato juice makes it feel like a substantial drink to have if you’re in need of pepping up.

With chilli to kick-start the metabolism… Tango Vagabondo

This is a cocktail Mirka created with a focus on excluding sugar and making use of chilli. Sweetness comes instead from a spoonful of honey and small splash of rose lime cordial. Definitely the dieters drink.

The recipe also includes Smirnoff Black vodka, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice and chilli vodka.

Tasting notes: Fruitiness comes from the cranberry and grapefruit juices, while heat from the chilli vodka comes through last. This feels like it would be perfect for a sore throat, because of the honey and chilli.

Full of berries containing vitamin C… Forbidden Fruits

This cocktail is in many ways the opposite of Tango Vagabondo, as it is full of sweetness from the berries and vanilla schnapps. It also has a touch of sugar syrup. It has been included in the healthy list simply because of its fruit content – sipping this cocktail seems a bit like having a very fruity dessert.

Mirka uses a collection of berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries…), Bombay Sapphire gin, Teichenné vanilla schnapps, fresh lime juice and a dash of sugar syrup.

Tasting notes: This is very easy drinking with plenty of sweetness. The berries have been well-crushed, but the texture is thick – a bit like a smoothie. A final hint of botanicals from the gin comes through.

Further information:

Q Cocktail Club takes place every Thursday and follows a theme – January is healthy living, February is love & lust and March is literary-related cocktails. On Thursday evenings you can enjoy live music along with the monthly selection of cocktails available at £6.50 instead of £9.

Every third Thursday in the month Quaglino’s hosts a Q Cocktail Club Masterclass, where for £20 you will learn how to make your favourite cocktail, plus get another one to drink and 10% discount off a meal in Quaglino’s that evening.