THE FUTURE OF FOOD 6: Vodka Shots Become Sooo Old School, as Ginger and Beet Root Take Over

“Let’s do some shots!” – when you heard that in a bar or restaurant until very recently, it meant one of these things: tequila, gin, schnapps, or vodka. And often it also meant: fun at night, headache in the morning… But times have changed and shots now can be a very, very healthy thing – with absolutely no side effects involved.

Ginger shots in tiny bottles are a new superfood trend: they are loaded with health benefits and spicy, herbaceous ingredients. They have a natural energizing effect thanks to ginger’s circulatory-enhancing and stimulating qualities. Each shot is based on entirely natural ingredients and very low in calories. The health boosters can be consumed pure – or also used for teas, smoothies, fruit bowls, or soups. Lots of recipes are found online already.

The highly concentrated mini-bottle drinks started as a trend in the USA, but have now reached Europe. In Berlin, Germany, for example, the company Berlina Shot produces new functional drinks and sells them online or in supermarkets and other stores.

Among their shot products is Ginger: filled with ginger, apple, lemon, and cayenne pepper. Kurkuma: with Curcuma, ginger, apple, lemon, and Tellicherry pepper and Glow filled with beetroot, raspberry, apple, ginger, and timut pepper, arare spice from Nepal.

Meanwhile, the mini-drinks in 60ml-bottles, which are vegan and are produced with an ayurvedic home-made formula, have found a huge response at VIP events such as the Berlin Fashion Week, the Berlin Film Festival, the Skiing Welt Cup at Garmisch in the Alps and elsewhere – before corona came. Berlina alone sells about five million shots per year.

The brand-new thing in shots is highly concentrated espresso: One 60ml bottle contains 5 times the caffeine of regular espresso. Berlina-CEO Nico Gehn highlights the ecological benefit: „The shots save transportation and stocking space as well as raw material and other materials.“ And they can be recycled with few amounts of plastics. Gehn compares the new coffee or ginger shot trend with protein bars – a quick response for the little hunger or thirst while on the road, without having to sit down for a full meal or to have to find access to a coffee machine.

By the way: If you want the fun in your health shot, you can. Mix it with vodka, tequila, or rum – and you’ll have a tasty cocktail!

Written by Marika Schaertl, freelance journalist, Munich, Germany.