New Year. New You! Low Carb Cocktails You’ll Love From The Mixer!

By The DivaGals | January 26, 2023 | Lifestyle

When the year kicks off, we all think about ways to eat and drink healthier. Low-carb cocktails are a great place to start. Our friends at The Mixer share some fantastic ideas to get your libation on… without all the carbs!

If you don’t fancy a dry January this year but would like to make healthy tweaks to your lifestyle, the good news is that you can still drink cocktails that follow the ketogenic diet. Most spirits, such as vodka, rum and tequila don’t actually contain carbs, it’s the sweet mixers that clock up the calories. The key is to use low-carb mixers like diet tonics, soda water and unsweetened juice for low-carb cocktails that’ll really hit the spot!

Carb-Clever Bloody Mary

As a savory cocktail, the Bloody Mary is carb-clever straight out the gate. However, most commercial tomato juices contain a fair amount of sugar, so keep an eye out for unsweetened tomato juice and check to see that the other sauces and flavoring you add don’t contain sugar.

Ingredients per person

2 Oz SKYY Vodka
4 Oz Good quality unsweetened tomato juice
2 Teaspoons horseradish
3 Dashes of Tabasco sauce (or your preferred hot sauce)
2 Dashes of Worcestershire sauce (or vegan alternative)
2 Dashes of pickle juice
1 Pinch of salt (or celery salt if you prefer)
1 Pinch of cracked black pepper
1 Pinch of smoked paprika (optional)
1 Lemon wedge
1 Celery stalk and 3 stuffed green olives to garnish
Old Bay seasoning to rim your glass
Ice

How to make:

Add some Old Bay seasoning to a plate
Run a lemon wedge along the outer rim of your glass, then dip it into the seasoning, fill it with ice, and set aside
Build all the ingredients in a large mixing glass and add ice, pour it into your cocktail shaker, and then back into your glass. Repeat, and then once it’s back in the cocktail shaker, strain the Bloody Mary into your prepared glass
Add the lemon wedge to the drink, pop in a celery stick, and balance three skewered stuffed olives on top.

Sugar-free Lime Margarita

Typically, margaritas include a splash of Grand Marnier but liqueurs contain quite a bit of sugar. Instead, use orange extract and a natural sweetener.

Ingredients per person

2 Oz Espolòn Tequila Blanco
0.25 Teaspoon of orange extract
1 Oz Lime juice, freshly squeezed
0.5 Oz stevia
Lime wheel and salt to garnish
Ice

How to make:

Add the tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and stevia to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, and shake until well chilled
Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice
Place the salt in a saucer, wet the rim of the glass, and dip it to salt the rim
Garnish with a lime wheel, and serve

Whiskey Highball

Keto whiskey drinks don’t have to be complicated to be delicious; a Whiskey Highball is one of the easiest two-ingredient cocktails.

Ingredients per person

2 Oz Wild Turkey whiskey
5.25 Oz ginger ale or club soda, to taste
Ice

How to make:

Fill a highball glass with ice
Pour in the whiskey
Top with ginger ale or club soda, and serve

Vodka Martini

The vodka martini is the darling of the low-carb cocktail crew: the drier the better! Vermouth does contain a small amount of sugar, so the sweeter you go, the higher the carbs will be.

Ingredients per person

2.5 Oz SKYY Vodka
0.5 Oz Cinzano Extra Dry Vermouth
olive or lemon peel to garnish
Ice

How to make:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice
Add the vodka and vermouth and stir (or shake) until chilled
Strain into a martini glass
Garnish with an olive or lemon peel and serve

Keto Old Fashioned

If an Old Fashioned is your drink of choice, you can tweak it a little bit. Instead of sugar, use a natural sweetener to bring down the carb count.

Ingredients per person

2 Oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon Whiskey
0.50 Oz stevia
A few dashes aromatic bitters
Orange peel to garnish
Ice

How to make:

Add the bourbon, stevia and bitters to a large mixing glass along with a few ice cubes
Stir the Old Fashioned cocktail ingredients until properly chilled (about 30 seconds)
Strain into a tumbler over ice
Garnish with orange peel and enjoy