Key Points:
- Want to walk off your happy hour? This list shows how long it takes to burn off the calories from your favorite cocktail.
- Cocktails with more ingredients like syrups and sodas tend to be higher in calories.
- The sugar in a hot buttered rum cocktail contributes to about 64 minutes of walking.
- Mimosas, rum and diet cokes and vodka soda cocktails all came in under 30 minutes of walking.
Festive alcoholic drinks, especially popular in the summer, can range widely in calories. What really increases the calorie count of many mixed drinks is the syrups, juices, and sodas that are added. People are often unaware how much of these ingredients are actually in their cocktail.
Alcohol is a source of excess calories, but this is not the only way drinking can cause weight gain. Alcohol interferes with the body’s fat-burning functions.
Alcohol supplies the body with calories but very few nutrients. The calories from alcohol are the first to be burned by the body, delaying the fat-burning process, which comes after the body has burnt carbs and proteins for energy. This contributes to extra fat storage.
Still, happy hour doesn’t have to be disastrous for a person’s diet.
To compile a list of alcoholic cocktails with the fewest calories, 24/7 Tempo first compiled a list of nearly 50 popular cocktails. Since the standard size of each cocktail varies, we ranked the cocktails based on their calorie per ounce ratio. We only included drinks with fewer than 50 calories per one ounce. To compare, alcohol often used in mixed drinks such as vodka, tequila, or gin, has about 65-75 calories per ounce, neat, on average.
We calculated how many minutes it takes to burn off the calories consumed in each cocktail using the Omni calculator with values based on a person weighing 150 lbs. Heavier people may burn off calories in less time because it takes them more energy to perform a certain activity.
Knowing how many calories a person is consuming is key to preventing weight gain and the possible negative health outcomes that come with it. But exercising and burning off energy is also important to maintaining a healthy weight or losing a few extra pounds. Here is how long you need to exercise to burn off the calories from your favorite foods.
Scroll below to see the alcoholic cocktails with the fewest calories
28. Long Island Iced Tea
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- Calories per ounce: 48.4
- Total calories in Long Island Iced Tea: 218 in 4.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 48 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Vodka, tequila, light rum, gin, Coca-Cola
27. Margarita
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- Calories per ounce: 42.0
- Total calories in Margarita: 168 in 4 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 37 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice
26. Whiskey sour
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- Calories per ounce: 41.7
- Total calories in Whiskey sour: 125 in 3 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 27 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice (foamer)
25. Green apple martini
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- Calories per ounce: 37.0
- Total calories in Green apple martini: 148 in 4 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 32 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Vodka, sour apple liqueur, lemon juice
24. Mint Julep
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- Calories per ounce: 36.7
- Total calories in Mint Julep: 165 in 4.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 36 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Bourbon, syrup, mint leaves, seltzer water
23. Hot buttered rum
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- Calories per ounce: 36.5
- Total calories in Hot buttered rum: 292 in 8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 64 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Spiced rum, brown sugar, cinnamon stick
22. Sex on the Beach
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- Calories per ounce: 35.8
- Total calories in Sex on the Beach: 179 in 5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 39 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, cranberry juice
21. Tequila sunrise
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- Calories per ounce: 34.1
- Total calories in Tequila sunrise: 232 in 6.8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 51 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Tequila, orange juice, grenadine syrup
20. Dark N’ Stormy
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- Calories per ounce: 31.3
- Total calories in Dark N’ Stormy: 172 in 5.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 38 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Ginger beer, dark rum, lime juice
19. Manhattan
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- Calories per ounce: 29.4
- Total calories in Manhattan: 206 in 7 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 45 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Rye whiskey, vermouth, sour cherries, angostura
18. Screwdriver
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- Calories per ounce: 29.0
- Total calories in Screwdriver: 145 in 5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 32 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Orange juice, vodka
17. Moscow Mule
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- Calories per ounce: 28.3
- Total calories in Moscow Mule: 212 in 7.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 46 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Vodka, lime juice, ginger beer
16. Gin & Tonic
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- Calories per ounce: 27.5
- Total calories in Gin & Tonic: 151 in 5.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 33 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Tonic, gin, lime juice
15. Vodka and tonic
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- Calories per ounce: 27.0
- Total calories in Vodka and tonic: 189 in 7 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 41 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Tonic, vodka, lime juice
14. Old-fashioned
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- Calories per ounce: 26.2
- Total calories in Old-fashioned: 118 in 4.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 26 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Bourbon, sugar cube, orange twist
13. Bloody Mary
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- Calories per ounce: 26.1
- Total calories in Bloody Mary: 120 in 4.6 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 26 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Spicy tomato juice, vodka, green olives, lime
12. Cuba Libre
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- Calories per ounce: 25.3
- Total calories in Cuba Libre: 190 in 7.5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 41 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Coca-Cola, rum, lime
11. Whiskey ginger
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- Calories per ounce: 24.0
- Total calories in Whiskey ginger: 151 in 6.3 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 33 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Irish whiskey, ale, lime
10. Mojito
Source: igorr1 / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 23.8
- Total calories in Mojito: 143 in 6 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 31 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Club soda, lime, white rum, mint leaves
9. Paloma
Source: ahirao_photo / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 23.7
- Total calories in Paloma: 166 in 7 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 36 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Tequila, grapefruit juice, sparkling water, lime juice
8. Rum and Coke
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- Calories per ounce: 23.1
- Total calories in Rum and Coke: 185 in 8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 40 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Light or dark rum, regular Coca-Cola
7. Vodka & Red Bull
Source: dejankrsmanovic / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 20.6
- Total calories in Vodka & Red Bull: 206 in 10 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 45 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Red Bull energy drink, vodka
6. Vodka soda
Source: Pcholik / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 19.2
- Total calories in Vodka soda: 96 in 5 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 21 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Club soda, vodka, lemon
5. Spiced cider with rum
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- Calories per ounce: 18.8
- Total calories in Spiced cider with rum: 150 in 8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 33 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Apple cider, brown sugar, dark rum
4. Mimosa
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- Calories per ounce: 18.8
- Total calories in Mimosa: 75 in 4 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 16 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Champagne, orange juice
3. Scotch & Soda
Source: bhofack2 / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 18.3
- Total calories in Scotch & Soda: 128 in 7 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 28 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Club soda, scotch whiskey
2. Highball
Source: bhofack2 / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 13.8
- Total calories in Highball: 110 in 8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 24 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Whiskey, ginger ale, club soda
1. Rum and Diet Coke
Source: Juan Salvador Fernández Tamayo / iStock via Getty Images
- Calories per ounce: 12.5
- Total calories in Rum and Diet Coke: 100 in 8 oz.
- Time needed to burn off the calories: 22 mins of walking
- Main ingredients: Light or dark rum, diet Coca-Cola
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