Alcohol on keto – Best and worst drinks

Alcohol can be consumed on a keto diet, but the same basic rules apply. You need to make sure you don’t go over your carb intake. A lot of alcoholic drinks contain carbs and it’s much easier to drink your daily allowance than it is to eat it!

Check out the rest of the article to find out what are the best and worst alcoholic drinks to have on a keto diet.

Keto-friendly alcohol

It can be difficult to know how many carbs are in an alcoholic drink as there is often no nutrition label you can check. This can make enjoying a night out a bit difficult for first-time keto people. Luckily, there are a whole range of drinks that you can enjoy and that won’t kick you out of ketosis.

Spirits

Spirits are probably one of the safer keto-friendly alcohols. Rule of a thumb is to look for spirits that have about a 40% alcohol content. If it has a sweet taste (like Amaretto) then it’s probably not OK on keto.

Some keto safe spirits include (avoid the flavoured varieties):

• Gin – Roku / Hendrick’s / Bombay Sapphire
• Vodka – Smirnoff / Absolut / Grey Goose
• Whiskey – Haig Club / The Glenlivet / Jameson
• Rum – Kraken / Dead Man’s Fingers / Lamb’s
• Brandy & Cognac – Soberano / Courvoisier / St-Remy
• Tequila – Patrón / Olmeca Altos / Jose Cuervo

However, you’re probably unlikely to be drinking a lot of those spirits neat and will use a mixer. Be very careful with which mixer you choose, as they often contain a lot of carbs. Check out the keto-friendly mixers section later in the article.

Wine

It may be made from grapes but yes you can have some wine on keto! Though just not too much as it still contains some carbohydrates.

Dry wines are more suitable as all the grape sugar has been converted to alcohol during fermentation. Sweet wines and semi-dry still contain residual sugar, which greatly impacts the carb count.

Example keto-friendly dry and medium wines include:

* approximate nutritional values, check individual product nutrition label where possible.

Sparkling Wines

Champagne and other sparkling wines often contain around 1-3g of carbs per glass, so can often be had on keto. Although, they have a lower alcohol content so you may end up drinking more.

Look for the driest versions (often referred to as Brut) and avoid sweet ones. Suitable drinks include Champagne, Prosecco and Cava. They all have around 1.45g carbs per 100ml.

Typical carb and calorie count per 150ml:

• Extra Dry – 1.8-2.6g Carbs / 98-101 Kcals
• Brut – 1.8g Carbs / 91-98 Kcals
• Extra Brut – 0.9 Carbs / 91-96 Kcals
• Brut Nature – 0.15g Carbs / 91-93 Kcals

Recommended keto wines

There are some wine brands that are targeted towards low carb diets and can now even be found in some major retailers.

Slimline Wine

Slimline Wine offers a range of wines that have been specifically crafted to be zero carbs and delicious. A typical bottle contains only 450 calories (60 per glass), 0 carbs and their alcoholic content ranges between 10 and 11 percent.

Where can you buy them? Currently, you can buy their entire range online from their website and a select range can also be found in most Tesco stores!

Check out the entire range over at SL’M Store.

You can also pick up the following wines online at Tesco and in most larger stores.

Slim Zero Sugar Sparkling White Wine

Slim Zero Sugar Rose Sparkling Wine

Furlan

Furlan is an artisan winery located in Conegliano, Northern Italy and their wines contain less than 10g of carbs per litre. They are a bit on the expensive side but perfect as a gift for a keto dieter or as a treat for yourself!

Furlan Lightly Sparkling Prosecco Brut

Available at: Amazon

Carbs per bottle (750ml): 7.5g

Furlan Prosecco Brut Dry

Available at: Amazon

Carbs per bottle (750ml): 5.25g

Low carb beers

More of the big brands are starting to sell low carb beer options. These are generally targeted and marketed towards diabetics. So keep an eye out on any new ranges.

The nutrition values vary greatly among brands and even products, so always check the label first. In addition, not everyone likes the taste of these beers and some note gastrointestinal issues after consumption. Your mileage may vary!

Recommended keto beers and lager

Some low carb keto safe beers, include (but not limited to):

As you can see, even the low carb beers still have quite a few carbs per serving. Fine as an occasional treat, but not something you want to be having too often (and not to mention the cost!).

Hard Seltzer

Hard seltzer is just alcohol-infused sparkling water and is becoming increasingly popular in the UK. What makes it perfect for keto is that it can be made with sweeteners often resulting in 0 carbs!

Kopparberg Hard Seltzer

Kopparberg has released a range of Hard Seltzer that uses stevia & aspartame as the sweetener and have practically 0 carbs! They come in three different flavours, are 5% ABV, contain 93 calories and can be found in-store at Tesco and Morrisons.

As for what kind of alcohol is used they are keeping that secret, it’s simply listed as proprietary KopparSpirit™.

Mixed Berries

Available at: Morrisons, Tesco and other stores

Nutrition per can (330ml):

Energy: 92.4 Kcal, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g, Salt: 0.01g

Passion Fruit

Available at: Morrisons, Tesco and other stores

Nutrition per can (330ml):

Energy: 92.4 Kcal, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g, Salt: 0.01g

Black Cherry

Available at: Morrisons, Tesco and other stores

Nutrition per can (330ml):

Energy: 92.4 Kcal, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g, Salt: 0.01g

DRTY Drinks

Another brand of Hard Seltzer that contains 0 carbs and is only 83 calories per 330ml can. They are available in two flavours and contain 4% ABV.

Raspberry Rosé

Available at: Amazon

Nutrition per can (330ml):

Energy: 83 Kcal, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g, Salt: <0.01g

White Citrus

Available at: Amazon

Nutrition per can (330ml):

Energy: 89 Kcal, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g, Salt: <0.01g

Alcohol to avoid

Generally speaking, unless it was mentioned in the above section, it’s probably not keto! That being said, let’s take a closer look at what alcohol should be avoided on keto.

Beer & Cider

Beer and cider are very high in carbs and should not be consumed on a keto diet. Of course, there are exceptions which I’ve mentioned previously.

Average carbs per serving (330ml) of beer can range from 3g, all the way to 14g (and above). Cider is generally higher starting at around 2g per 100ml.

Sweet / Dessert wines

Wines which still have residual sugar in from grapes are very high in carbs. That includes fortified wines such as Port, Sherry, Madeira and Vermouth.

Average carbs tend to be about 12g per 100ml for fortified wines. Sweet wines range anywhere from 5.9 to 12g of carbs per 100ml.

Wine coolers & Alcopops

These drinks that are more like fizzy soda than alcohol. Unsurprisingly, they contain a lot of sugar and should be completely avoided. The same goes for most pre-mixed drinks you can find in cans and bottles. Although, do check the nutrition label to confirm!

For instance, the popular alcopop, Smirnoff Ice contains around 26g of carbs per 330ml bottle (7.88g per 100ml).

Flavoured alcohol

Any alcoholic beverages that have added flavouring usually contain sugar. While the base alcohol is normally fine for keto like white rum or vodka. It’s the added ingredients that make them not keto-friendly. That can also include flavoured Gins like Rhubarb. It’s best to stick to a plain gin and then add the flavour yourself!

In addition, other popular drinks like Bailey’s Irish cream contain around 25g of carbs per 100ml.

Sugary mixers, syrups and fruit

While not strictly alcohol, most mixers contain sugar that can vastly increase the carb count. A 150ml of tonic water can contain around 7.4g of carbs. Of course, there are low carb / slimline alternatives which we’ll discuss in the next section.

Generally, any drinks mixed with fruit juice are not going to be OK on keto. Although, there are some no added sugar juices like Tesco’s Cranberry, that contain <1g of carbs per 100ml. So, depending on the serving size it may be fine.

Low carb mixers

So you’ve picked your favourite keto alcohol drink and maybe you want to make it into a longer drink by adding a mixer. Most mixers are full of sugar but the vast majority of brands do offer a diet alternative that is normally keto-friendly. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Coke – plenty of brands offer diet and zero versions. Most are sweetened with either Aspartame or Sucralose and are fine on keto.

Diet Coke / Coke Zero / Diet Pepsi / Pepsi Max

Tonic – look for the low calorie, light or slimline counterparts. However, some products like Fever-Tree Naturally Light still contain 3.8g of carbs per 100ml.

Britvic / Skinny Med / Schweppes

Lemonade – same as with coke, most brands offer diet versions. Although, always check the nutrition label as some can still contain a couple of grams of carbs per 100ml.

Schweppes / 7Up Free / Sprite Zero

Sparkling water – carb-free so long as it’s not got any flavouring or sugar added.

Perfectly Clear Sparkling Lemon & Lime / Kirkland / Highland Spring / S.Pellegrino

Ginger Ale – there are diet versions available, however they do still tend to contain carbs but less than 1g per 100ml.

Skinny Tonic / Old Jamaica (Beer)

Keto alcohol drink ideas

Now that you know what alcohol is good and bad on keto, let’s take a look at some great drink ideas:

• Dry red or white wine
• Champagne, Cava or Prosecco
• Spirits (Gin, Whiskey, Tequila, Rum and Vodka)

Example mixed drinks for a night out:

• Gin & Slimline Tonic
• Dry Martini
• Skinny Bitch

If you’re making a drink at home, then why not have a go at turning your favourite cocktail into a sugar-free version!

Side note – many people find that they need to consume significantly less alcohol before they feel intoxicated on keto. Be safe and limit your intake where at all possible.