There is an increasing number of people who, for reasons of health or aesthetics, take care of their diet and lifestyle. Paying attention to calorie we eat is important both for those who follow a diet and for those who do sports, but not for this we must give up an aperitif on the terrace or a trip with friends with something good to drink.
It’s true, nutritionists alert about the calorie of cocktails because between appetizers and glasses you can get even a thousand calorie, but NIO Cocktails wants to help you live it in the best way, recommending low calorie cocktails that silence any feelings of guilt.
Our list of the best 7 low calorie cocktails
In the last weeks we have seen the flowering reborn, the first sunny days and the singing of the swallows seems to remind us that the costume test is coming. So, we have chosen for you cocktails with less calorie , light and perfect for this season, also suitable in order to enjoy moments of relaxation outdoors with people you love.
Before discovering our selection of low calorie cocktails , we remind you that NIO Cocktails team includes experts of mixology, who know the cocktails very well and can provide information about their nutritional values, but none of us are professional nutritionists. It is essential to know that calorie are determined by the dosage of the ingredients used, which is why NIO Cocktails shares the data referring to the "perfect" recipes of high mixology, 10 cl, in the hope of helping to orient in your choices.
Low calorie cocktails:
- Vodka Sour: circa 160 calorie
- Gimlet : about 101 calorie
- Martini Dry: about 97 calorie
- Negroni: about 96 calorie
- Bloody Mary: about 95 calorie
- Gin Tonic: about 80 calorie
- Milano Torino: about 80 calorie
7. VODKA SOUR – about 160 calorie
Included among the summer cocktails par excellence, the Vodka Sour is the cocktail with less calorie perfect for those looking for a fresh and light drink. The sour category is one of the oldest in the history of cocktails, indeed it can be said that it represents the starting point for the art of mixology: the first to codify the recipe was in fact the great Jerry Thomas. Sours are based on a very simple but delicate balance: a sweet part (usually sugar syrup), a more bitter part given by lime or lemon juice and, of course, a distillate that gives character to the mix. With the Experience Backpack you can bring your Vodka Sour by NIO Cocktails wherever you want, even on a boat trip, to enjoy your perfect cocktail like at the bar.
6. GIMLET - about 101 calorie
Gimlet is a classic mix of Tanqueray gin and lime. A quote from 1928 reads: "Gin, a hint of lemon and soda". The 1953 description in Raymond Chandler’s novel "The Long Goodbye" established that "a real gimlet is half gin and half lime juice and nothing else"; this statement is in line with the proportions suggested by the "Savoy Cocktail Book" of 1930. The origin of the name is confused: the most popular refers to the Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette.
He is said to have been the first to add lime juice to the daily gin of his Royal Navy men to help them combat scurvy (vitamin C deficiency disease) damage during long ocean voyages. Fresh, aromatic and low-calorie.
5. MARTINI DRY – about 97 calories
Martini Dry is among the low calorie cocktails , refined and chic, always trendy. About its origins there is a bit of uncertainty: the most accredited version dates back to the Italian Martini, a Ligurian bartender who would have served this cocktail at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York, in 1910, in honor of John D. Rockfeller. Others, however, argue that its birth is traced back to the late 1800s, in California, to Martinez to be exact. But we know for sure its recipe: 60 ml of Gin and 10 ml of Dry Vermouth.
For mixing it, the“stir & strain” technique is commonly used: the cocktail is first mixed inside the mixing glass, together with the ice, and then is filtered into a cold glass. The cocktail has become so famous that it has been renamed the Martini glass, which is also used to serve Manhattan, Margarita and Daiquiri. It is typically accompanied with olives soaked first in Vermouth or with lemon zest
4. NEGRONI – about 96 calories
A classic italian cocktail , beloved all over the world for its perfect dry and bittersweet balance of bitter, Cocchi Vermouth and Tanqueray Gin. Negroni was created in Florence between 1919 and 1920 by Count Camillo Negroni: in those years he used to frequent the aristocratic Caffè Casoni in via de' Tornabuoni and - tired of the usual Americano - asked the barman Fosco Scarselli to add a hint of gin instead of soda, in honor of his recent trips to London.
What for the Count was "the usual" became for the others "An Americano in the manner of Count Negroni", for this reason this took the name of the Count who loved him so much. The cocktail became popular in the 1950s, first in Italy and then around the world, so much so that it was mentioned in one of the novels of Ian Fleming’s James Bond saga, Risiko, in which the mythical agent 007 during his stay in the Peninsula ordered, properly, a Negroni.
3. BLOODY MARY – about 95 calories
The good Bloody Mary is another cocktail with few calories to drink more easily. It consists of a single alcoholic base, brought by vodka, and a non-alcoholic part, given by tomato juice. The traditional recipe includes: vodka, tomato juice, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, broth, tabasco, Worchester sauce, celery, horseradish and a dash of lemon juice.
Vodka is a very dry liquor with little sugar, so it’s great for mixing low-calorie cocktails. It is perfect for an aperitif, a picnic, a trip out of town and is also the favorite cocktail of Bridget Jones and her friends in the first chapter of the saga.c
2. GIN TONIC – about 80 calories
The origins of Gin Tonic date back to 1700, the time of British rule in India. When England colonized India, British soldiers faced an unknown and unexpected enemy: malaria. At that time it was very common and was treated only with medicinal herbs, to be precise with the extract of Cinchona officinalis , better known with the term chinino - that is the very plant from which the tonic water originated. To make it more drinkable, given its intense bitter taste, the English soldiers - with much intuition - mixed it with gin.
The combination of these ingredients, with the addition of a slice of lemon, is the result of one of the most popular cocktails in the world: gin and tonic. It was not only used as a medicine but is also a drink low in calories. So, the British really nailed it.
1. MILANO – TORINO – about 80 calories
A cocktail as simple as it is balanced and less calorie than ever . The Milano-Torino is a cocktail with a controversial history: nobody really knows when it was created, but according to the most popular legend it was invented to celebrate the birth of the A4 Motorway in 1932 - although it is more likely that it was created with the advent of the great Italian school of blending. At the beginning of the so-called "Short Century" there were few liqueurs available in bars: the most famous were certainly the Vermouth of Turin and the Campari of Milan. The two were then joined to the Milano-Torino, mixed directly in the glass with the addition of an orange peel.
A suggestion? Try our cocktail at different temperatures: at very low temperatures you will feel more pronounced the sweet notes of the fruits, at less intense temperatures instead, its spicy aroma will prevail.
A good barman must also know how to meet the needs of customers and propose less caloric and appetizing ideas. If you know how to choose less caloric cocktails, it will definitely not be a picnic to compromise your fitness. Indeed, we at NIO Cocktails believe that making a break from the rule, every now and then, can give you the right energy to not give up completely the diet.
What is then the less caloric cocktail by far ? Drum roll... with a total of 80 calories, the winners of this challenge are the Gin Tonic and the Milan-Turin cocktail! Two cocktails able to satisfy different tastes and ages with a feature in common: calories. Now that you have absorbed this valuable information, you just have to visit the rest of the site and buy the right NIO Cocktails for you. Have you already chosen where to go? Your picnic is almost ready.
Build your box with your favourite cocktails