4 Drinks to Pep You Up Post-Christmas

Digestive-helping? Liver-friendly? Anti-inflammatory? Sip this way.

Food Editor at Kitchen Stories

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This article is part of our monthly issue "A Culinary Christmas Carol," in which we explore traditional and modern takes on holiday dishes from around the world. Using the framework of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, we'll share fun recipes, last minute gift ideas, tips for cooking a small feast in case you're social distancing, and plenty of light-hearted holiday content for you to unwind with. Check out this link to find an overview of all our weekly topics, stories, recipes, and more.

The post-Christmas digestive slump—evidence every year that our eyes are far bigger than our stomachs. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere like us, trudging through winter, it’s particularly, as the kids say, “real.”

I do always find this a particularly strange time of year. I’m from Australia where the end of year holidays fall in summer, so there’s plenty to do outside between Christmas and New Year—and the sense that you roll into January feeling refreshed and ready to take on something new. Or at least it seems so, looking back with rose-tinted glasses—I’ve never actually been a get-up-and-go in the New Year kind of person.

Regardless, in Northern Europe, the 1st of January feels like watching one spongy, grey cloud roll into another. Weirdly though, the upcoming New Year feels momentous, as if the clock ticking over to 2021 could spark a collective exhale. As abstract as a calendar system may seem and as much as we know nothing will change in an instant—we’re human—we love a carte blanche and with this new year, we’re clinging to the hope that better things are on their way. Resilience, I think they call it? Certainly a quality we’ve honed this year.

It’s time to drink—vibrantly

So—drinks anyone? I’m proposing various (non-alcoholic) libations to bring some fully-saturated color to “Betwixtmas”. Let me give you a disclaimer, this is not a juice cleanse. I’m a big believer in balanced, no-guilt eating—if you’re lucky enough to have a table full of food at Christmas, that’s something to celebrate. But that’s not to say there isn’t something undeniably feel-good about sipping on zingy, vibrant juices post-stuffing your face.

Here are some recipes to bring you up—with power ingredients like turmeric, ginger, beet, fennel, and mint in the mix—hailed respectively for anti-inflammatory, liver-friendly, and digestive benefits.
If you don’t have a juicer (I don’t!), worry not. You can use a stand or immersion blender and strain the liquid afterwards, or drink them—nutritious, fibrous grit and all. You can also add coconut milk or yogurt to turn it into an instant smoothie. For more tips, check out our guide to every which way to juice at home, which includes tips for how to use up juice pulp!

4 fresh drink recipes

The ‘because greens are good for you’ juice

1 bunch celery, trimmed and chopped into pieces
3 green apples
10 g (0.25 oz) ginger
juice of 1 lemon
Even looking at a fresh, vibrant green juice makes me feel like I’ve done something good for myself. Though the jury’s out on whether celery juice is a cure all (in my experience, as in food and as in life, no one thing is going to solve all your problems), I love it for its grassy flavor. You could also throw a cucumber into the mix, or any other greens your heart desires. If your juicer or blender can take it, don’t peel your apples!

The ‘red as a beet’ juice

1 large beet
2 carrots
2 apples
10 g (0.25 oz) ginger
juice of 2 limes
Earthy beets are said to help out our detoxifying livers—and add a deep hue and savory notes to your juice. I’ve been a long-time fan of it blitzed up with carrots, apples, punchy ginger, and lime to add some zing.

The ‘drink more than once in a blue moon’ tisane

2 pinches butterfly pea flower tea powder or 2 tsp petals
2 bags fennel tea (you can also steep and strain 2 tbsp roughly crushed fennel seed)
2 cups boiling water
2 squeezes of lemon
a slice of ginger
3 sprigs of mint
Whether you buy the dried flower itself, or have a jar of the powdered stuff as we did, here’s a natural blue tinge to beat the blues themselves. Steep with a double-bag of fennel tea, ginger, and sprigs of mint—both of which do wonders for digestion. Drink hot and add a big squeeze of lemon, or pour into a glass with ice and squeeze the lemon on top to be treated to a fuschia-float on top! Science!

The ‘at least I’m sunny on the inside’ juice

10 g (0.25 oz) fresh turmeric or 2 tsp powdered
5 g (0.25 oz) ginger
2 carrots
2 oranges
freshly ground black pepper
Actual sunshine in a glass and my favorite of all these drinks. I like to pack in a lot of spicy turmeric (if using fresh, which makes a world of difference to the flavor, try gloves) and ginger into this little tonic for a real wake-me-up drink, but feel free to experiment to your liking.