What Cocktail / alcohol to drink?

Weltengaengerin

Hi all,

I changed my eating behavior at the beginning of November to a plant-based (also known as vegan) diet and while I was rethinking the approach of what I am going to allow to enter into my body also chose to stay away as far as humanly possible away from overly industry and processed foods and unnecessary added sugars. Including artificial sweeter, colorants, etc.

Now I am wondering what to drink going forward when going out (which is not that often, anyhow, mind you). I used to favour a good Cuba Libre but with the coke that is completely off-limits now. Same for Caipi (all that sugar).

By now I figured that wine and Bloody Mary seem to be my best options to combine drinking with my diet goals. Although if any of you has any other ideas / tips of what could fit (maybe even something including my favourite rum?) I'd be highly grateful.

Yes, I am completely aware that actually it probably would be healthiest to cut the hard stuff out totally but this is not going to happen and that's not the answer to the question. Also the reasons for why I chose to go vegan are plentiful and this should not turn out into a discussion of how healthy / unhealthy this is in someone's opinion, only thing I know is that I personally feel great with this. :-)

Thank you all for your advise and have a great weekend! ;-)

cmriverside

I used to like rum with orange and pineapple juice.

I also liked straight tequila with a squeeze of lime and a slice of orange.

janejellyroll

Just a note: many Bloody Mary recipes include worchestershire sauce, which virtually always has fish in it (unless it is a vegan-specific brand like Wizard's).

If juice is allowed with your restrictions on processed foods, rum and orange or pineapple juice would be pretty tasty (at least, I think it would be).

Weltengaengerin

Wow, didn't know about the Worchester sauce! So much to learn!
Thank you both for that information! Sounds pretty tasty indeed!

sammyliftsandeats

Vodka with club soda and lime. ~70 calories for a one oz shot of vodka and the rest is 0cal, I believe.

MelanieCN77

I'm a big fan of vodka soda too.

Queenmunchy

samanthaluangphixay wrote: »

Vodka with club soda and lime. ~70 calories for a one oz shot of vodka and the rest is 0cal, I believe.

My favorite. Or prosecco. Just about 500
Calories for the whole bottle.

Tacklewasher

I bought some diet Tonic water and will be trying it with gin later tonight.

Christine_72

My taste buds never matured lol. I love mudslides, tia maria and kahlua, basically anything that tastes non alcoholic and milk shake inspired. So, pretty much everything that is highly calorific

fishshark

for thanksgiving i made "holiday mules". Whiskey, ginger beer, apple cider, and lime.

katthouse499

Vodka and unsweetened apple cider

Anonymous_fiend

Light beers are usual when I go out and they don't have low cal cocktails. At home I like the skinny girl drinks. Also low cal mixers with some vodka or rum. Making your own drinks you can get creative and healthier. Mix liquor with liquid stevia for a base. Then add blended/mashed fruit, tea, juice, etc. My current fave is a chilled lavender infused ginger tea cocktail with a hint of lemon.

littlechiaseed

Martinis

AnvilHead

Weltengaengerin wrote: »

...also chose to stay away as far as humanly possible away from overly industry and processed foods and unnecessary added sugars. Including artificial sweeter, colorants, etc.

Any alcoholic beverage is an "overly industry processed food". Those plants don't just become vodka, rum, tequila, etc. all on their own. There's considerable processing involved in the distillation of spirits. Many mixed drinks also have added sugars and artificial colorants.

If I ever decided to "stay as far as humanly possible away from overly industry and processed foods", alcohol would be right up near the top of the list of things to stay as far as humanly possible away from. IMO, rationalizing/compromising those ethics just so I could continue to drink booze would be the utmost in situational ethics (I figured maybe "hypocrisy" would be a little too strong of a word for it).

AndOne8675

I don't drink often bit I try to buy from small local distilleries. My fav is an organic vodka from Humboldt and I like it with cranberry and seltzer and a squeeze of lime. I like wine and if I can afford it I get organic and close to home as possible...or this 7.00 brand mid state. Sometimes I'll cut the wine with seltzer. And then there's Mimosa's...

The higher quality vodka never leaves me feeling like crap the next day

kay1977newme

Southern comfort, lemonade with a squeeze of lime ummm or the same but with spiced rum! Also a classic pimms and lemonade

cityruss

AnvilHead wrote: »

Weltengaengerin wrote: »

...also chose to stay away as far as humanly possible away from overly industry and processed foods and unnecessary added sugars. Including artificial sweeter, colorants, etc.

Any alcoholic beverage is an "overly industry processed food". Those plants don't just become vodka, rum, tequila, etc. all on their own. There's considerable processing involved in the distillation of spirits. Many mixed drinks also have added sugars and artificial colorants.

If I ever decided to "stay as far as humanly possible away from overly industry and processed foods", alcohol would be right up near the top of the list of things to stay as far as humanly possible away from. IMO, rationalizing/compromising those ethics just so I could continue to drink booze would be the utmost in situational ethics (I figured maybe "hypocrisy" would be a little too strong of a word for it).

Nail. Head. Hit.

AmandaDanceMore

Just a note, not all wine is vegan friendly, if I understand my vegan friends correctly. I believe there is something to do with fish and filtering, but I'm currently too lazy to google it. There are plenty that are, but you have to do your research.

I do agree that if you're trying to stay away from "processed" then alcohol is probably on that list, too. However, I get your sentiment. Frankly, anything straight up or with soda water should be fine (tonic water has sugar in it, and I believe diet tonic has artificial sweeteners, so you may want to stay away from that). Alcohol (particularly beer and wine) are a treat for me, so I wouldn't hesitate to enjoy anything I liked in those departments. And if it came down to a light beer or a gin and soda, I'd be going with the gin and soda, extra lime.

janejellyroll

AmandaDanceMore wrote: »

Just a note, not all wine is vegan friendly, if I understand my vegan friends correctly. I believe there is something to do with fish and filtering, but I'm currently too lazy to google it. There are plenty that are, but you have to do your research.

I do agree that if you're trying to stay away from "processed" then alcohol is probably on that list, too. However, I get your sentiment. Frankly, anything straight up or with soda water should be fine (tonic water has sugar in it, and I believe diet tonic has artificial sweeteners, so you may want to stay away from that). Alcohol (particularly beer and wine) are a treat for me, so I wouldn't hesitate to enjoy anything I liked in those departments. And if it came down to a light beer or a gin and soda, I'd be going with the gin and soda, extra lime.

For anyone who is interested, Barnivore is a website that has checked on the vegan status of hundreds of wines, beers, and liquors -- it's an amazing resource for vegans/plant-based people.

dansgirldana

Apple Cider and Cinnamon Wiskey..yumm