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Vodka gets a bad rap from many people. It’s often seen as a drink consumed heavily and in excess by drunken college students and post-college socialites who are more interested in getting drunk than drinking something tasty.
There are a lot of misconceptions about vodka, which clouds its true nature. However, it turns out that vodka is one of the healthiest alcoholic beverages compared to other types of alcohol due to its lack of sugar content.
In this article, we will elucidate the critical characteristics of vodka and separate facts from fiction while providing you with top sugar free vodka brands.
at a glance: Best Sugar Free Vodka Brands
How Is Vodka Made?
Vodka is a distilled beverage made from fermented grain or potatoes. It is typically straightforward, odorless, and tasteless, with a neutral flavor profile. The most commonly used grains for vodka are rye, wheat, corn, and barley.
Making vodka begins with selecting the base material (the type of grain or potato used). The grains are cleaned before being ground into flour and mixed with water. For the fermentation process to commence, yeast is added.
Next, the yeast converts the sugars in the mixture into alcohol and carbon dioxide through a series of chemical reactions. The carbon dioxide escapes during fermentation.
After fermentation has ended, distillation begins. Distillation entails boiling the mixture until it reaches an alcohol concentration of 90% by volume (ABV) or higher, at which point it is cooled down, and water is added to bring it back down to 40% ABV.
Distilling a second time will bring it down even further to the desired purity level. Finally, vodka is often filtered through activated charcoal to remove any last traces of impurities and ensure that it remains its transparent color before being bottled and sold.
Does All Vodka Contain Sugar?
Unflavored vodka comprises two components – water and ethanol (alcohol). It contains no sugar, protein, fat, or other nutrients. Several kinds of vodka may contain small amounts of impurities but are not large enough to affect the nutritional content.
Flavored vodkas, on the other hand, are pretty packed with sugars. With diverse flavors varying from citrus fruit to chocolate and even caramel, the fact that there is no nutrition information label or ingredient disclaimer on most bottles of vodka.
Flavored vodkas are loaded with added sugar. For example, Smirnoff Vodka has a large selection of flavored vodka. Observing their webpage or analyzing a bottle provides little evidence of whether or not a particularly flavored vodka consists of sugar or the amount of sugar it contains.
However, some vodka brands have Zero Sugar Infusion products, a line of sugar-free flavored vodkas. That implies you can reasonably conclude that each of their other flavored vodkas contains sugar.
Without directly asking the producer of a given vodka brand, it’s impossible to determine the precise calorie and sugar statistics for each product and flavor of vodka.
Therefore, unflavored or ‘plain’ vodka contains no sugar whatsoever. Flavored or infused vodkas are their sugary counterparts. The sugars are packed into flavored vodkas to give them their distinct taste.
Can You Still Lose Weight if You Consume Vodka?
Alcohol, including vodka, disrupts our bodies’ fat-burning operation. While the liver ordinarily breaks down body fat, when alcohol is noticeable, your liver tends to metabolize it first.
While your body also processes the liquor for energy, fat metabolism stops. This is identified as fat-sparing and is not recommended for anyone attempting to lose weight.
Although a shot of vodka may still not appear to be a big deal, most of us would continue to consume more. Only three vodka mixed drinks add 300 calories to your daily calorie consumption – roughly the price of a cheeseburger.
Ultimately, even though vodka is sugar-free, it still contains calories. The more calories you consume within a day, the less likely you will lose weight. It’s best to drink in moderation.
Consume Less Calories With Your Vodka
If you’ve been trying to cut back on calories, it might be worth thinking about how vodka affects your consumption.
Alcohol is inherently calorically dense, and adding mixers increases your beverage’s calorie count. If you take a shot of vodka with a mixer, you’re consuming 13 grams of pure ethanol – or roughly 100 calories (if you’re drinking 80-proof vodka).
However, If you drink your vodka straight, you’d have to consume a lot more to reach 100 calories. It is well established that people who consume alcohol with a mixer consume more calories than those who drink alcohol neat.
You’ll be better off avoiding mixers altogether and drinking your booze straight. This will help keep the number of calories down so that you don’t consume more than necessary.
An individual can decrease the number of calories in an alcoholic drink by doing the following:
- Calorie-reduced or calorie-free sodas and juices for mixers
- Utilizing plain water as a mixer
- Putting ice in beverages
- Flavoring neat vodka with citrus flavors like lemon
- Infusing your vodkas flavor with mint
- Adding zero-calorie sweeteners to your vodka
- Considering the ingredients for mixed drinks carefully
It’s crucial to remember that mocktails and alcohol-free coolers can also contain a vast amount of sugar and calories.
Some of the Best Sugar-Free Vodka Options
When finding sugar-free vodka, there are more options than you may think. Below you’ll discover five options you can consider when looking for great sugar-free vodkas.
1. Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka does not contain any added sugar. This, combined with its top-quality taste and commitment to using only the finest ingredients, positions the product as one of the best overall vodkas.
While Absolut still has a broad range of flavor options, its original, unflavored vodka should be a standard in any home. It’s among the purest vodkas on the market, with a sharp, pure flavor that’s complete and sophisticated.
Thanks to its recognizable bottle and mild wheat fragrance, it’s a renowned vodka worldwide. Its low cost and subtle herbal notes make it an excellent all-arounder for any celebration.
2. Ciroc Vodka
Ciroc vodka varies among the most popular brand options in the world of vodka – it is produced from grapes instead of grains or potatoes. It’s an elevated vodka with an intriguing flavor that has been charcoal-filtered.
The original, unflavored bottle is a common choice worldwide and tends to work perfectly as a neat sipping vodka.
This ultra-premium vodka is as seamless as anticipated, enticing a pleasurable drink regardless of what it’s blended with.
Ciroc is undoubtedly one of the most distinguishable vodkas in the industry, kudos to its distillation process and meticulous attention to detail.
3. Grey Goose Vodka
Grey Goose is made primarily in France. This vodka utilizes high-quality ingredients in its initial production and materials for the bottling phase.
It’s a vodka made with great ingredients and professional craftsmanship to produce a delightfully smooth spirit that is endlessly pleasurable to consume.
Grey Goose is among the ultra-premium vodkas available on the market. It is served better neat and has a pleasantly bright taste with a clean finish. The vodka is distilled five times, which accounts for its smoothness.
It has a clear nose and a zesty mouthfeel, making it one of the creamiest and best top-self vodkas, but it can be expensive.
4. Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Tito’s Handcrafted Vodka is not only sugar-free but gluten-free too. Tito’s is renowned for checking all the boxes such as:
- Budget
- Crispness
- Taste
- Smooth finish.
This makes it challenging to give up on any drinking occasion.
Tito distills its vodka up to six times via a pot still – which is a rarity for vodka because it requires additional labor. The vodka is then filtered through activated charcoal, adding to its purity.
Its slight sweetness is due to its high corn content, and its enduring popularity is due to its versatility.
5. Belvedere Vodka
This premium vodka is known for being among the smoothest in the industry and is a pleasure to drink neat.
Belvedere is a fragrant vodka with something like a lemon zest undertone and an excellent, longstanding finish. With a smooth entrance and a balanced nose, it’s also straightforward to consume. It contains citrus and black pepper taste that should be relished over ice or within an ice-cold shot glass.
It’s distilled with a four-column still and water, then charcoal filtered before bottling. Belvedere vodka is a leading brand with pretty bottling and flawless content that should be consumed in moderation.
Final Thoughts on Sugar Free Vodka Brands
As we’ve already discovered, vodka itself does not contain any sugar. But this does not mean you should drink excessive amounts.
While vodka is lacking in sugar, it does contain carbohydrates. Consuming excessive carbs in one sitting can disrupt any weight loss plans you’re currently pursuing. Therefore, it’s important to drink in moderation to achieve your goals.
Flavored vodka contains many additive sugars and should be entirely avoided if your goal is to consume vodka in the healthiest way possible. You should also keep in mind that mixers will add sugar and carbs to your vodka.
With so many sugar-free vodka choices on the market, it can be hard to decide which brand is best for you.
Regarding the products discussed above, Tito’s Handmade Vodka would have to take the cake as one of the healthiest vodkas. While containing no sugar, Tito’s is also gluten-free, making it a least a little more beneficial than others mentioned.
If you’re looking for a sugarless vodka that would best be consumed neat, look no further than Belvedere. However, it may come at a heftier price.
The added benefit of having no sugar has become a huge selling point for people wanting to cut back on calories and still be able to enjoy a refreshing drink. These brands offer great-tasting concoctions with all the advantages of sugar-free alcohol.
