The ketogenic diet, or keto, revolves around drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This metabolic shift forces the body to enter a state of ketosis, where it burns fat for energy instead of glucose. Navigating the world of alcoholic beverages on a keto diet can be tricky, as many popular drinks are loaded with sugars and carbs. This article delves into whether martinis can be enjoyed while adhering to a ketogenic lifestyle, providing insights, recipes, and tips for keeping your cocktail hour keto-friendly.
Understanding Keto and Alcohol
Before diving into martinis, it's crucial to understand how alcohol affects ketosis. When you consume alcohol, your body prioritizes metabolizing the alcohol as a toxin, potentially halting the fat-burning process. This doesn't mean you have to abstain entirely, but moderation and smart choices are key.
On keto, your body begins to source energy from fat instead of carbohydrates. When you consume alcohol, your body will see it as a toxin and prioritize getting rid of it first. Excessive alcohol intake can interrupt ketosis as your body wisely chooses to metabolize alcohol before any other nutrient that comes in. As long as you drink low-carb alcohol in moderation, you should be fine.
The Classic Martini: A Keto-Friendly Foundation
A classic martini is traditionally made with gin and dry vermouth. Since martinis don’t contain juices, syrup and sugar like other cocktails do, a single martini is less than 1g of net carbs.
- Gin: Gin, like most spirits, contains zero carbs. It's crucial to choose high-quality gin for the best flavor. If you've never had gin, definitely give it a try. Just in case you don’t like the distinct flavor, you can try vodka since it’s almost flavorless.
- Vermouth: Vermouth is a fortified wine that comes in sweet and dry varieties. Dry vermouth is the preferred choice for a keto martini due to its lower sugar and net carb content. Martini’s are generally made with gin and vermouth. Gin like most alcohol or spirits have 0g carbs. However sweet vermouth has 4g net carbs in 1 oz whereas dry vermouth has 3.4g net carbs per 1 oz (source).
Key Considerations for a Keto Martini
While the basic martini is relatively low in carbs, it’s essential to be mindful of additional ingredients and preparation methods. To ensure your martini is keto, keep a steady eye on the ingredients you’re adding.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
- Avoid Sweeteners: Many cocktails come with little extras like a splash of juice or a pump of simple syrup.
- Skip Flavored Vodka: Stay away from flavored or sweetened vodka. Even vodka that says “lemon flavor” likely comes with a hefty dose of sugar in it as well.
- Choose the Right Mixers: Always go for water or soda water, and avoid tonic water. Avoid fruit juices or any type of syrup.
- Garnish Wisely: Use salt to lime the rim of your martini, not sugar. You don’t really need any specific ingredients for this one, but a classic martini is just not it without an olive and a lemon twist. If you’re more into experimenting, add olive juice, fresh lemon juice or even pickled onions.
Keto Martini Recipe
There are tons of recipes out there on the internet, but we’ll show you how we made ours.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Gin or Vodka
- 1 oz Dry Vermouth
- Ice Cubes
- Olives or Lemon Twist (for garnish)
Instructions:
- Stir all the ingredients in a mixing glass.
- Add ice cubes and allow it to chill for 30 seconds.
- Strain and pour into a previously chilled martini glass.
- Serve with olives for a dirty martini or a lemon twist for a fresh citrus flavor.
Variations on the Keto Martini
Maybe you’re into different martini versions? There are many low carb and keto cocktails available, and this classic Keto Martini is one of them.
Keto Lemon Drop Martini
This keto lemon drop martini recipe is the perfect drink to make all year round. Whether with Meyer lemons or regular ones, it’s bright, refreshing and very easy to make. Sometimes the term “martini” is used to refer to mixed drinks that mostly use hard alcohol like a cosmopolitan or today’s lemon drop martini recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 oz vodka (Absolute Citron recommended, as it has no carbs)
- 1 tablespoon Swerve confectioners sweetener (or keto-friendly simple syrup)
- Zest of ¼ lemon
- La Croix lemon seltzer water (or any lemon-flavored sparkling water)
Instructions:
- If you only have granulated sweetener you might want to make a simple syrup first.
- Making a quick simple syrup. To do this, add 1 cup of water and ½ cup of granular sweetener to a pot. Heat until the sugar dissolves completely and then take it off the stove. When it cools down refrigerate it.
- If you have a cocktail shaker add to it 1 oz of fresh lemon juice + 1 oz vodka + 1 tablespoon Swerve confectioners sweetener and the zest of ¼ of a lemon.
- Mix well then strain and pour into a martini glass and add the seltzer water to your liking. Or you can serve this over ice cubes.
- Taste and adjust accordingly. Also you can add a lemon wedge or slice to garnish your drink.
Chocolate Keto Martini
This sweet and decadent keto martini is so good, you’ll totally forget it’s low carb. This low carb martini is a creamy, chocolatey daydream, but if you want something even creamier, try Keto Eggnog!
Ingredients:
- Vanilla Vodka
- Cocoa Powder
- Lakanto, Swerve, or Erythritol
- Milk
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
- Shake for about 30 seconds until the mixture is completely chilled.
- Strain and pour the martini into a chilled martini glass.
Turn this into a warm drink (think keto hot chocolate with a little extra something…) by heating all the ingredients (except the vodka) in a saucepan.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Low-Carb Mixers and Alternatives
There are some great low or low-er carb drink mixers available at the grocery store these days. When creating keto-friendly cocktails, it's essential to be aware of the carb content in mixers.
- Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Tonic Water: This has 7.6 grams of carbs per serving, which is less than half the carbs of their classic Indian Tonic Water. Fever-Tree also makes a wonderful Sparkling Pink Grapefruit that’s perfect for Palomas. This mixer has 7 grams of carbs per bottle.
- Poppi Ginger Lime: This stevia and cane sugar-sweetened soda has just 4 grams of carbs per can (so just 2 grams per cocktail using 6 oz). I would venture to say that all of the Poppi flavors are great for mixing. An interesting note about Poppi is that it is marketed as a functional beverage.
- Zevia Sodas: Zevia sodas are great no carb options for cola, cherry cola, ginger ale, root beer, and lemon-lime sodas. They can feel a tad too sweet, however, because of the stevia.
- Keto-Friendly Simple Syrup: Simple syrup is a mix of equal parts sugar and water. To make a keto-friendly simple syrup, we need to swap out the sugar for a quality sugar substitute. Erythritol is a great sweetener but unfortunately it has a habit of forming crunchy crystals as it cools down. So my choice for a no carb simple syrup is allulose powder. The only problem with allulose is that it’s only 70% as sweet as sugar. A good place to start is to use 1.5 parts allulose powder to 1 part water. Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Keto Cocktail Options
This post is already way too long, but I just had to include my top RTD picks for the keto diet. If you're looking for convenient, pre-mixed options, here are some of the best keto-friendly RTD cocktails:
- Canteen Vodka Sodas: Canteen Vodka Sodas are super carbonated, lightly sweetened canned vodka sodas. A huge plus for Canteen is that it is zero carbs yet also 5% ABV.
- Cutwater Vodka Sodas: Cutwater makes some great canned cocktails and their Vodka Sodas are perfection. I love to crack open an ice-cold Cutwater and add a little squeeze of lemon or lime. Pure refreshment and a top-tier keto pick at 0 grams of carbs and 5% ABV.
- Michelob Ultra Signature Collection: All of the flavors in this variety pack are great (incredibly rare find!) and I love that they’re all zero carbs. The Mich Ultra Signature Collection gets bonus points for being light, not too sweet, and having absolutely no strange aftertaste.
- Cantina Tequila Sodas: Cantina Tequila Sodas are another 0 carb, 5% ABV ready to drink worth their salt (hehe). You can definitely taste the tequila and all of the flavors are great. The only issue I had with these is that the sweetness can be a bit cloying. No worries though - just add a squeeze of lime, or pour the liquid over ice. A little dilution can work wonders if you're sensitive to sweet.
- Smirnoff ICE Zero Sugar Red, White and Berry: With only 1 gram of carbs and 4.5% ABV, it’s a solid keto pick. What’s more, the berry flavor is nice and fairly mild. There’s no bad aftertaste, it’s not overly sweet, and it has plenty of bubbles.
- VIZZY Hard Seltzer: VIZZY’s seltzers range from 1-3 grams of carbs per can and they’re sweetened with stevia. VIZZY takes home the award for having the most flavor options - and also the most unique flavors! Raspberry Tangerine, Watermelon Lemonade, yum.
Cocktails to Avoid
Sadly, some of the greatest classic drinks aren’t the best for a very low carb diet. Alcoholic drinks like sangria, mojitos, and margaritas may hit the spot in terms of taste, but they’re also a one-way ticket out of ketosis. Liqueurs, aperitifs, and amari like Campari, Aperol, Amaro Montenegro, St. One of the very worst offenders is the ultra sweet cream of coconut (found in the classic Pina Colada). Delicious, but So. Many.
General Tips for Keto-Friendly Drinking
- Moderation is Key: With that being said, excessive alcohol intake can interrupt ketosis as your body wisely chooses to metabolize alcohol before any other nutrient that comes in.
- Hydrate: Drink plenty of water to help your body process alcohol and stay hydrated.
- Read Labels: Be diligent about checking the carb content of all ingredients.
- Be Mindful of Sweetness: Many alcoholic beverages are loaded with sugar, so opt for unsweetened or naturally sweetened options.
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto