IZZE Esque - The Perfect Pride Beverage

We've tried IZZE Sparking Juice before and loved the various flavors, but placed it as a beverage in the "special occasion" category. Yes, it's light and refreshing and delicious. Yes, it's made with real fruit juice and no refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. But that didn't make it low-calorie, and since we're constantly on a health kick we would only bust it out for brunches or dinners where we were willing to splurge a little.

Then we tried IZZE Esque, the low-calorie version, and suddenly our world opened up a bit. The new watermelon is a burst of subtly sweet flavor, and along with limon, mandarin and raspberry you've got four incredible varieties that upgrade any party. The individual bottles are fun to serve and make the event feel a little more special, and as we discovered at our LA Gay Pride brunch last week the drinks also make perfect mixers; they fit anyone's diet and present tastier options than your usual "vodka/cranberry" cocktail.

So we did some digging and found a few recipes you'll definitely want to try out over the summer.

Sparkling Orange
An unbelievably refreshing summer cocktail.

Ingredients
3-5 oz IZZE Esque Mandarin
2 oz orange-flavored vodka
Splash of tonic or soda
Lime wedge

Directions
Combine IZZE Esque Mandarin and vodka with a splash of tonic or club soda to taste. Add a squeeze of lime and enjoy.

The Refresher
Turn any party into a fiesta.

Ingredients
3 oz IZZE Esque Watermelon
2 oz Tequila
Splash of IZZE Esque Limon

Directions
Pour the IZZE Esque Watermelon and tequila over ice (crushed ice will make it seem even more like a margarita). Finish with a splash of Sparkling Limon.

IZZE Royale
A drink fit for a queen!

Ingredients
5 ½ oz IZZE Esque Raspberry
5 ½ oz sparkling white wine
1 oz chambord
Fresh blackberries

Directions
Pour IZZE and wine over ice with a splash of chambord. Garnish with fresh blackberries.