Summer is the time of the year for backyard BBQ parties and enjoying the simple fruits, herbs and produce that are now in season. In many cases, they may already be growing in your own backyard garden. With that in mind, the Distilled Spirits Council has partnered with registered dietitian, Joy Dubost, and spirits author, Amy Zavatto, on tips to create slimmed down cocktails using fresh, locally grown ingredients. The goal was to create refreshing cocktails that taste good and that can also help to cut down on the number of calories in some cocktail recipes.

“Enjoying a cocktail at a barbeque or summer garden party is one of the season’s simple pleasures,” said Joy Dubost, a registered dietitian and food scientist. “For those adults who are counting calories, there are several ways to create a slimmed down cocktail and it can be as easy as using fresh ingredients from your local farmer’s market or backyard garden.”

Amy Zavatto, spirits writer and author of “Forager's Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients,” suggests using homegrown or locally grown ingredients as an alternative to bottled mixers. “The beauty of this time of the year is that there are a wide variety of from-the-garden ingredients that are fresh and vibrant — a combination that will help you craft delicious, one-of-a-kind cocktails,” said Zavatto.

For example, Zavatto and Dubost came up with a remarkably simple cocktail recipe for a Wild Blue Daiquiri that consists of 1 1/2 oz white rum, 3/4 cup fresh blueberries, 1/2 oz fresh lime juice and 2 sprigs of mint. Place blueberries in a shaker and muddle thoroughly. Add in the rum and fresh lime juice, and fill halfway with ice. Shake well. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a few fresh blueberries and mint. The result? Pure summertime perfection.

These summertime cocktails are not fresh and festive - they also contain fewer calories than cocktails made with bottled mixers and other ingredients. That’s an important concern if you’re still trying to maintain your figure during swimsuit season. Dubost added that it’s important to keep in mind the different calorie counts for beer, wine and spirits and standard drink sizes.

“While a drink-equivalent of beer, wine and spirits all have the same amount of alcohol, they do not have the same number of calories,” said Dubost. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a 1.5 ounce of 80-proof spirits (40 percent alcohol) is 98 calories; 12 ounces of regular beer (5 percent alcohol) is about 150 calories; and 5 ounces of wine (12 percent alcohol) is about 120 calories.

Thus, making the switch from wine or beer to spirits can be a way to cut down on calories. If you’re consuming two drinks at a garden BBQ party, for example, you would be consuming 200 calories with a drink containing a spirit like rum or vodka, but a whopping 300 calories with just two beers. And those calories can quickly add up. “For calorie-conscious consumers in search of flavorful summer libations, spirits are a great option,” said Dubost. “Just be mindful of your mixers.”

“The beauty of this time of the year is that there are a wide variety of from-the-garden ingredients that are fresh and vibrant — a combination that will help you craft delicious, one-of-a-kind cocktails,” said Zavatto. So it may be time to check out what’s growing in your garden - simple herbs or produce, even something as simple as a sprig of mint, can provide a real boost to any summer entertaining activities.