Although it can be drunk neat, most people prefer to drink a mixer with their vodka and one of the most common mixers is soda.
Vodka soda is enjoyed by many people because of how refreshing it tastes. However, if you’re on a diet or are just concerned about your calorie intake, you may be wondering if a vodka soda is the right drink for you.
Thankfully, a vodka soda is one of the most low-calorie alcoholic beverages you can drink.
The average glass of vodka soda only contains around 96 calories! In this article, we will explain where these calories come from and what circumstances can cause the calorie count to rise.
Let’s get started.
What Is A Vodka Soda?
Vodka soda is a very popular and straightforward alcoholic drink that is found in bars across the country.
It consists of just two ingredients—vodka and soda—but is often served with ice and a slice of lime. It’s a very refreshing drink that has a little kick due to the inclusion of vodka.
How Many Calories Are In Vodka?
Vodka is well-known for being one of the most low-calorie forms of alcohol you can drink. It’s one of the simplest alcohols, as it generally consists of only two ingredients.
Most vodkas are made from just water and ethanol produced by the fermentation of a cereal grain such as rye, wheat, or sorghum.
This lack of additional ingredients is what makes vodka so low-calorie. In comparison, beer is one of the more high-calorie alcohols and this is due to the different ingredients contained in beer.
Vodka may only have two ingredients but beer has at least four, which are water, yeast, hops, and grains.
As a general rule, the more concentrated your vodka is, the higher the number of calories. Even higher-proof vodkas such as those approaching 100 proof, are still low compared to other alcohols, however.
This means that the number of calories in your vodka soda will be affected by the proof of your vodka.
Let’s look at how many calories different types of vodka have. In every case, our number of calories is based on the standard shot of vodka, which is one and a half ounces (44 milliliters.)
The most common type of alcohol sold is 80 proof or 40 percent vodka. If you order vodka in a bar, it is more likely that you will get a shot of 40-proof vodka which is 96 calories.
There is little to no variation between vodka brands as long as you choose pure vodka. This is because all of the calories in vodka come from the alcohol itself.
As a guide, pure alcohol contains around seven calories per gram. This puts it in the middle of carbohydrates and protein at four calories per gram and fat at nine calories per gram.
The Calories In Soda
Soda water is a generic term that simply means carbonated water. You may see it called club soda, seltzer, or sparkling water as well but they are all carbonated water.
Sparkling water is a little different from soda and seltzer as it is naturally sourced water.
It’s much rarer to see sparkling water used as a mixer with alcohol as it is usually tasty and fresh enough to be drunk on its own. If you ask for a vodka soda in a bar, it’s highly likely your bartender will give you club soda or seltzer.
As soda is simply water that has been made fizzy, it has zero calories!
Adding soda will not increase the calories of your alcoholic drink at all, making it a far healthier choice for a mixer than other options such as cola or energy drinks.
The Calories In Vodka Soda
Now that we’ve broken down the calories contained in both vodka and vodka soda, it’s easier to see how many calories vodka soda has and where they come from.
If your vodka soda has one shot of vodka then it will have roughly 96 calories.
This is assuming that the drink has a standard-sized single shot and is 80-proof vodka, the most common form of vodka found in the United States.
If you have two shots in your vodka soda, you should double this and your drink will contain 192 calories.
Any vodka sodas that use vodka with a higher alcohol content will have a higher calorie content.
Other Nutritional Information
Vodka is a distilled spirit and during the distillation process, most of the other nutrients are removed from the source ingredients.
This is why vodka has zero carbs despite being made from high-carb foods such as rye or wheat.
Vodka also has zero sugar, fiber, cholesterol, fat, and sodium as well as zero vitamins and minerals.
This makes it a great choice of alcohol for anyone that is following any kind of diet that limits the number of carbohydrates, cholesterol, or fat that is consumed.
Soda water, on the other hand, does include some other nutrients but it is still a healthy option. Like vodka, it has zero cholesterol, fat, or carbohydrates.
However, it does contain 7 milligrams of potassium and 75 milligrams of salt, so your vodka soda will also include these.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we explained how many calories are in a vodka soda. It’s one of the most low-calorie drinks you can order in a bar and the average, single shot, vodka soda will only have 96 calories included.
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