Summer is coming, and with the warmer weather comes nights out with friends. Sure, you can have all kinds of recipes for keto cocktails at home, but how do you get something at a bar without sounding, well, extra? When we were in Mexico, I got tired of the low carb beer, but ordering something low carb with the added pressure of a language barrier was tricky. I put my thinking cap on, and came up with some options. Here are a few!
What Can You Drink on Keto?
You are safe with hard liquor. There are many that do not have any carbs in them. Just a note, they do have calories, so you aren’t going to lose weight when you indulge in a night out. However, these options will keep you happily in ketosis. Vodka does not have any carbs, including most of the flavoured options. Whiskey, rye and scotch are also carb-free. Tequila has no carbs – that was handy in Mexico. Gin and rum are also safe bets.
If you can drink them straight, good for you. For most of us, we want to mix them with something. You can order diet Coke or Pepsi. Pretty much any bar will have one or the other. You can also often get diet Sprite or 7-Up. If they have carbonated water, like Bubly, that’s a great option. Sparkling Ice is another brand name that has no carbs. Or, you can mix one of the above liquors with soda water or seltzer water.
The Basic Keto Cocktails
If you want a keto cocktail, you can simply order a hard liquor with a mixer listed above. Rum and Diet Coke is an easy one. Likewise, you can have whiskey and diet soda (either a cola or a lighter soda like Diet Sprite). Gin and soda water is also a good option, or see if they have lemon gin and spice it up a little.
The Fancier Keto Cocktails
In Mexico, I started off with Ranch Water as a mixed drink. This is tequila, lime juice, and seltzer. It was a bit strong for me, and I’m not a huge tequila drinker, so I moved on. Next I tried vodka and seltzer. It was better, but still a little strong. Then, I saw that they had raspberry vodka. I excitedly asked for a raspberry vodka and soda water with a splash of lemon juice. One bar also had cherries. Now, they are not usually keto friendly, but I was only having one and it was mostly pickled in my vodka, so I splurged. It was delicious!
Martinis are also a good keto option. They don’t have the syrups or juices most other cocktails have in them, so they don’t have many carbs. You can have them made with either vodka or gin, depending on your preference. And, hey, the olive is also keto-friendly!
You can also make a wine spritzer keto-friendly. If you use a dry wine, like Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chardonnay, you will only have a couple of grams of carbs in a drink. Add club soda or Diet Sprite to your wine and you have a tasty wine spritzer.
The Really Fancy Keto Cocktails
If a bar happens to have low carb simple syrup, your options just got a whole lot bigger. Some of the keto friendly cocktails you can make with this include a mojito and a Tom Collins. A mojito is a rum drink with simple syrup (or sugar), lime juice, soda water, and mint. A Tom Collins is gin, lemon juice, simple syrup (or sugar), and carbonated water. Just make sure they mix with the low carb simple syrup and don’t add any extra sugar.
Things to Watch When Ordering Keto Cocktails
So, some servers and bartenders are great and may even make you a drink they make up. The last time we went to The Keg restaurant, they made me a vodka drink with muddled berries in it. It was completely sugar free, and it was delicious.
One thing you need to know before ordering a keto cocktail is that tonic water has carbs. Make sure your mixer is soda water or seltzer water – not tonic. A 12 ounce can of tonic water has a whopping 32 grams of carbs!
So, there you go. You don’t have to stick with beer all the time. You can still get fancy when you’re out. And don’t hesitate to talk to the server or bartender. Sometimes they are a bit bored of making the same old things all the time. Your dietary condition might offer them the opportunity to get creative and do something different and special.
Wendy
