Sugar makes the hangover so much worse—which is what we often think about when ordering cocktails from drink menus at bars and restaurants. Mojitos, long island iced teas, and margaritas are easily the tastiest, but sometimes they aren’t the best choice for us or our morning after. Everyone loves a fun, flirty cocktail, so here’s how to make all of the staple happy hour drinks—just a little cleaner.
The Classic Margarita
Many would argue that there’s no better cocktail than the classic margarita. But between simple syrup and added sugar, it’s not the best option if you’re trying to be health-conscious or avoid a sugar hangover. Here’s how to improve the beloved drink.
1 ½ oz of silver tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz fresh orange juice
1 tsp light agave nectar
1 lime
Dash of salt
The Bellini
The Bellini is a perfect celebratory drink with all those bubbles and can be a great choice to accompany a boozy brunch. With simple syrups and canned peaches, the Bellini can also be another drink riddled with added sugars. Here’s how to improve the peachy cocktail.
6 oz Champagne
½ fresh peach
7 fresh raspberries
Lemon juice
The mojito
Perhaps the best beachy drink of all time—accompanied by coconut and other fruit garnish, there’s a way to enjoy this beach drink without any guilt!
4 oz white rum
4 oz club soda
2 tbsp fresh honey
10 cut up strawberries
Long Island iced tea
The boozy, tall chilled drink CAN be made keto-friendly and even light with these easy fixes. A crowded pleaser all around, the Long Island iced tea is delicious with these improvements.
½ oz silver tequila
½ oz vodka
½ oz rum
½ oz gin
⅛ teaspoon orange extract
1 ½ oz sweet and sour low carb margarita mix
2 ½ oz Diet Coke
Cosmo
A very sophisticated, delicious high-end cocktail, the cosmopolitan is a favorite, and it is the Carrie Bradshaw drink of choice. The Cosmo usually has a bunch of sugary accouterments and can be swapped out with a few healthier ingredients, still tasting like the Sex and the City favorite.
2 oz diet cranberry juice
2 ½ oz vodka
1 tbsp orange extract
Lime juice
4 tbsp liquid stevia
Drinking cocktails can be an amazing, fun, and social way to splurge, but if you’re reaching for a sugary beverage every weekend, you can exacerbate your hangover and feel guilty in the morning. With these easy, tasty swaps, you’ll be enjoying the drinks and the night so much more.
Featured Image by daspunkt on Flickr
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
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