These days, it’s no secret that ditching the sweet stuff is both a virtuous and healthy path to go down. Cutting down your sugar intake can lessen your chances of getting diabetes, control your weight, improve the look of your skin and boost your heart health. Sounds pretty delightful to us!
Many of our favourite cocktails and alcoholic beverages are loaded with sugar, making it super easy to drink a large amount of calories and make your hangover worse the next day! Unfortunately, the same goes for many non-alcoholic drinks like mocktails, where the absence of alcohol is substituted with sticky-sweet syrups, excessive amounts of fruit and artificial colours and flavours.
Thankfully, the Lyre’s range of carefully crafted non-alcoholic spirits are not only free from alcohol… they’re also free from the teaspoons and teaspoons of sugar that are often hidden in non-alcoholic mocktails. Whether you’re after sweet, sour or bitter, the Lyre’s range of low sugar non-alcoholic drinks are filled with natural essences, extracts and distillates that we’ve sourced from around the globe.
Unsure of how much sugar is hidden in your favourite (alcoholic or non-alcoholic?) Check out the tables below, and once you’ve had your fair share of the shock factor, why not take a look at some of the scrumptious low sugar mocktail recipes you can create with the Lyre’s range?
Sugar content of common drinks
What is the healthiest non-alcoholic drink?
We’re not one to pass up happy hour or toasting with a classy bottle of champagne, but as the saying goes, you can have too much of a good thing. So how do you enjoy your favourite cocktails while practising mindful drinking? The healthiest option is to choose non-alcoholic and low-calorie alternatives with less sugar.
With Lyre’s non-alcoholic spirits and low-sugar mocktails, you can enjoy all the taste of your favourite drinks with zero compromise thanks to significantly less calories than the alcoholic equivalent. If you’re looking to stock your bar (guilt-free) with delicious spirits that contain less than 20 calories in each serving, give these a try:
Lyre’s White Cane Spirit
Enjoy oak and sugar cane flavours alongside marzipan, orange and refreshing coconut.
Dry London Spirit
Firm juniper and citrus flavours, an earthy mid-palate, and rich scents of orange blossom, lime, jasmine and mint.
American Malt
Generous vanilla and toasted nut flavours, a gently spiced palate, and herbal notes to provide complexity and a long, mellow finish.
Dark Cane Spirit
Full of flavour with caramel, fudge, fig, and toasted nut notes enhanced by a long finish featuring maple and vanilla.
Spiced Cane Spirit
A rich caramel bouquet with complex vanilla, toffee and caramelised fig scents and a full-flavoured palate with high notes of caramel, molasses, toasted nuts, and spiced vanilla.
Aperitif Dry
Dry and aromatic with distinct citrus, anise, and herbal flavours, with a floral, earthy bouquet.
Sugar content of common mocktails
What cocktails have the least sugar?
Low-calorie cocktails aren’t as hard to come by as you might think; It’s all about knowing which ingredients to avoid. Typically, alcohol contains calories and carbohydrates, which are unavoidable if you intend to drink an alcoholic cocktail. But it’s not altogether impossible if you switch out the alcohol with a non-alcoholic alternative. By doing this, you can significantly reduce the amount of calories and sugar you’ll be drinking.
To further minimise your sugar intake, consider the mixers you need. Juice, simple syrup and soda are all relatively high in sugar compared to low-sugar mocktails that use sparkling water, tonic water, diet sodas, or sugar-free juices.
At Lyres, we use a range of natural sugars to match the sweetness of the classic spirit style while avoiding tons of added calories and hangover-inducing sugar levels. We’ve also carefully curated a range of low-sugar mocktail recipes for you to enjoy guilt-free!
Low sugar non-alcoholic mocktail recipes
1. Lyre’s Gin Basil Gimlet
This Gin Basil Gimlet combines Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Dry London Spirit, Mint Tea Syrup and the classic flavour of basil for a seriously delicious taste sensation that’s low in calories thanks to it’s eclectic combination of low-sugar ingredients.
Ingredients
45ml Lyre’s Dry London Spirit 10ml premium elderflower cordial 20ml mint tea syrup (recipe below) 30ml lime juice 2 - 3 drops peach bitters 6 - 8 fresh basil leaves
Method
Shake all ingredients hard briefly, and then fine strain Serve in a cocktail coupette and garnish with a fresh clean basil leaf float For the mint tea syrup: Mix 100ml of very strong mint tea and 100ml of white sugar syrup. Mix together and pour into a bottle
2. Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Dry Martini Mocktail
This non-alcoholic take on the classic Dry Martini is low in sugar and will have you feeling fresh as a daisy, even after a night of debauchery at home. A classic Martini topped with olives is typically full of calories; to lower your sugar, enjoy a dry martini made with non-alcoholic alternatives and a simple lemon twist.
Ingredients
60ml Lyre’s Dry London Spirit 15ml Lyre’s Apéritif Dry (chilled)
Method
Stir ingredients briefly with ice Strain into a martini glass or small coupette Garnish with a lemon twist for a Vitamin C twist
Another take on a classic, this gin and tonic mocktail is perfect for an afternoon spent chatting about life, love and the universe on your balcony or verandah. When you use Lyre’s low-sugar, non-alcoholic Dry London Spirit and diet tonic water, you can enjoy this low sugar mocktail virtually calorie-free.
Ingredients
45ml Lyre’s Dry London Spirit 120ml Premium Bottled Tonic Water 1 Pink Grapefruit Slice Rosemary
Method
Add all ingredients to a glass, then fill with ice and stir Serve in your favourite highball glass Garnish with a rosemary sprig
4. Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Low Sugar Bourbon and Coke
This rugged Bourbon and Coke mocktail is perfect for those who love the sweet taste of Coke but are trying to cut down their sugar intake. Made with non-alcoholic Bourbon and no-sugar coke, this low-sugar mocktail is a fantastic choice when you want to quickly whip something up for enjoying in front of the fire (or, let’s be honest… Netflix).
Ingredients
45ml Lyre’s American Malt 120ml No Sugar Coke
Method
Add all ingredients into a glass, then fill with ice and stir Serve in a fancy highball glass
5. Lyre’s Absinthe and Lemonade
We admit that this scrumptious Absinthe and Lemonade mocktail won’t have you seeing the Green Fairy, but it will have you seeing stars! The perfect pre-dinner tipple for that extra-special night at home, it’s fresh and sweet (minus the high sugar content thanks to low-sugar soda and non-alcoholic Absinthe).
Ingredients
45ml Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Absinthe 90ml premium low sugar lemonade Lemon wedge
Method
Build the mocktail over ice and stir Serve in a highball glass Garnish with a zesty lemon wedge
6. Lyre’s Negroni
This low-sugar classic Negroni has all the temptations of its classic sweet, bitter, Italian citrus delightfulness, but is made using guilt-free (we’re talking about sugar and alcohol here) non-alcoholic spirits!
Ingredients
30 ml Lyre's Dry London Spirit 30 ml Lyre's Apéritif Rosso 30 ml Lyre's Italian Orange
Method
Stir ingredients briefly over freshly cubed ice Serve in an old fashioned glass Garnish with an orange slice
7. Lyre’s Boulevardier
Take a Negroni, swap the gin for a generous splash of non-alcoholic American Malt and you have a seriously bodacious Boulevardier that’s low in sugar and calories.
Ingredients
30mL Lyre’s American Malt 30mL Lyre’s Apéritif Rosso 30mL Lyre’s Italian Orange
Method
Stir briefly over freshly cubed ice Serve in an old fashioned glass Garnish with an orange slice
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