courtesy NHMagazine.com
by Erica Thoits
Saturday, June 2, 2018

Drink Skinny Margarita Mix, created by Steven and Christy Cegelski in Tilton, is not to be confused with Skinnygirl Cocktails, which come with alcohol included. The Drink Skinny mix is made with natural sweeteners (stevia and in the original lime mix you’ll find a small amount of organic agave nectar), real fruit juice and does not contain preservatives or high-fructose corn syrup.

You can choose from three flavors including Pomegranate Blueberry (15 calories per serving), Original (15 calories per serving) or the slightly more indulgent Pineapple Mango (30 calories per serving).

There’s no getting around the slight “diet” aftertaste, but for those looking to replace the typical high calorie mixes loaded with “fake” ingredients, Drink Skinny is a tasty – and local – option.

There is no alcohol content in the mixes, so you can add as much or as little tequila as you see fit.

Drink Skinny
(603) 729-0082

Sold online, at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets and at a number of shops and grocery stores around the state. Visit www.drink-skinny.com for a complete list. All three mixes are $14 per 750 ML bottle.

“Nothing says summertime like an ice-cold margarita! But with traditional margaritas weighing in at 500-plus calories, many of us are opting for skinny versions instead.”

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When it comes to favorite party drinks, the margarita is hard to beat. Whether it`s frozen or on the rocks, salt on the rim or salt-free, the margarita is perfect combination of sweet-and-sour lime flavor that entices the taste buds. While other cocktails ebb and flow in popularity, the margarita has been a mainstay since its creation sometime in the 1940s.

Up until a few years ago, the delights of the margarita were unknown to Christy and Steve Cegelski of Tilton. A trip to Mexico – home of the margarita – changed all that. For the Cegelskis, it was love at first sip, but when the couple tried to replicate the lime-flavored cocktail when they got home, they met with disappointment. “All we could find were mixes loaded with junk: high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar…and the low-calorie options, with artificial sweeteners, just didn’t taste right,” says Christy.

Convinced he could do better on his own, Steve sought out all natural ingredients and started experimenting with different recipes. lt became a quest,” says Christy.

The couple looked into using stevia which comes from the plant stevia rebaudiana, also known as sweetleaf or sugarleaf. Virtually calorie free and sweeter than sugar, a little stevia goes a long way. “Whenever people came over we’d test out our recipes on them,” Christy says with a laugh. When Steve added agave nectar to the recipe. friends raved and urged them to bottle the recipe. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Why not?’”

And so the idea for Drink Skinny was born. ln March 2010 the Cegelskis tiled their LLC paperwork, and at the end of the month, Christy found herself at an entrepreneurial workshop hosted by Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm. “lt taught me everything l didn’t know that I didn’t know,” she says. “Coming out of the conference. I knew that l needed to find suppliers for the ingredients, a co-packet for the bottling, suppliers for the bottling…l learned what l needed to make it happen.”

Christy’s newfound marketing know-how helped launch the product well beyond their circle of friends. ln July 2010, Drink Skinny`s original margarita mix debuted in stores. In addition to drink-skinny.com. where they sell their products online. Christy maintains an active Facebook page and tweets and blogs about recipes and new additions to the Drink Skinny product line, which now includes a pineapple mango mix. “People love the fact that we post recipes,” Christy says. “I try to post a recipe every week or so – there are a lot of different drinks you can make with both mixes.”

Drink Skinny has an online customer base that stretches from New England as far north as Canada, as far west as California, and as far south as Texas. “Seventy-five percent of our online customers are in Texas,” Christy says. And the only complaint the Cegelskis have gotten about Drink Skinny is the fact that it`s only available in stores in New Hampshire and Vermont. “Our longterm goal is to see it in stores across the country.”

While living and working with one’s significant other day after day may make even the happiest of couples think twice, the Cegelskis – who met in high school and married right out of college – wouldn’t change a thing. “We get to spend more time together, and we have the freedom to work on our own terms,” Christy says. The couple’s flexible schedule allows them to spend more time with their children, too. “If the kids have something going on at school, we can be there. It may mean that when they go to bed we have to do paperwork, but it’s a trade-off, and we feel grateful we can do it.”

For the Cegelskis, the concept behind Drink Skinny is all about balance. “So many of us are trying to figure out how to live healthier lives without giving up all the of the things we love,” Christy says. “Our goal in starting Drink Skinny wasn’t ‘Let’s create low calorie mix people can drink more.’ It was about giving people a healthier alternative.”

And judging from Drink Skinny’s loyal and steadily growing customer base, a healthier alternative to the popular sugary and artificially flavored drink mixes is exactly what people tell you how they love it, that’s always rewarding.”

Holiday parties are right around the corner; from Halloween to Jan. 2, party occasions abound!

All those wonderful, yummy cocktails made with sugary mixers can pack on the pounds fast. Drink Skinny has a great new low-calorie margarita mix that will help keep them off and make the New Year’s diet resolution easy to stick to.

Steven and Christy Cegelski fell in love with margaritas a few years ago in Mexico.

Back home in Tilton, they unsuccessfully searched for a margarita mix that had the same freshly made flavor they so enjoyed, but bottled mixers were loaded with high fructose corn syrup, very high in calories and just not right.

Christy Cegelski said they started experimenting about a year ago, and in March, Drink Skinny started making a low-cal margarita mix.

It hit stores in June, and Drink Skinny has expanded distribution quickly; the mixers are now found in almost two dozen stores in New England.

“We just signed on with a small, regional distributor that will hopefully help us expand our reach throughout New England,” Cegelski said, “but we have customers all over the country that would like to be able to buy Drink Skinny locally. Our ultimate goal is to have nationwide distribution.”

Made with all-natural stevia extract, the same sweetener found in the Truvia brand, lime juice and agave nectar, Drink Skinny’s margarita mix clocks in at only 20 calories per 4-ounce serving. With a shot of tequila, that makes a margarita that’s about 120 calories instead of 500 or more.

Cegelski said a bottle of the no-preservative mix will last up to two years unopened; the mix has no artificial sweeteners, colors or flavoring.

Neither of the Cegelskis had formal food training or a food background, and they have plenty to keep them busy, but plans are to expand the Drink Skinny line and the business.

“We definitely have some new flavors in the works,” Cegelski said. “We’re developing a pomegranate-blueberry flavor and a pineapple-mango flavor.

“We actually expected to have the pomegranate-blueberry out by now, but we’ve had some supply issues to work out, so it looks like the pineapple-mango will be launched first, probably by the end of the year.”

Other possibilities for expansion include a line of rimmers and mixers for drinks other than margaritas.

The Manchester store A Market is currently the closest store to Nashua that carries Drink Skinny, but online purchase is available at www.drink-skinny.com. Bottles retail for $10 and make about six margaritas.

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Straight-up. on the rocks. or frozen, a good Margarita can sure hit the spot in summer. But once you’ve had the genuine drink made with fresh lime juice, like Christy and Steve Cegelski enjoyed on vacation in Mexico, you’ll decline the average Margarita made here with bar mixes full of high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors, and too many calories. So the Tilton, New Hampshire couple created a better option to enjoy a handy, healthy, south-of the-border taste anytime. Their Drink Skinny Margarita Mix is made with live simple ingredients: water, lime juice. lemon juice, and the natural sweeteners agave nectar and stevia, co-packed together for them in Maine. One serving contains 40% juice and only 20 calories, sans tequila of course. You can find Drink Skinny at select NH Liquor outlet locations, specialty food stores, or online. Pull out the shaker or blender and sample for yourself. There’s also a Pineapple Mango Mix available as well as rumblings of a Pomegranate Blueberry concoction in the works. Sounds like a good summer research project!