A cocktail is clearly a treat. How much of a treat is it?

How much sugar in a Margarita? 9g.

In the Margarita recipe we see sugar coming from the Cointreau and simple syrup.

3/4 oz of Cointreau has 5g of sugar. And 1/4 oz of simple syrup has 4g of sugar.

So a Margarita has 9g of sugar.

How many ounces of drink are in a Margarita? 6 oz.

The recipe totals 3.75 oz of liquid. Roughly, when shaking a cocktail, the volume increases by 40%. So a Margarita poured into a glass is 5.25 oz.

Add the subsequent ice melt and we're looking at drinking ~6 oz.

How much sugar per ounce of a soda? Half as much as a soda.

We have 9g of sugar in 6 oz of Margarita. That's 1.5g of sugar per ounce of Margarita. How does that compare to a soda?

A 12 oz can of Coke has 39g of sugar. That's 3.25g of sugar per ounce of Coke.

So a Margarita has about half the sugar per ounce of Coke.

But who even drinks soda any more?

How much sugar in other treats? More than a Margarita.

A Margarita has 9g of sugar:

• 1 apple has ~19g of sugar
• 1 banana has ~14g of sugar
• 1/2 cup of ice cream has 14g of sugar
• 1/2 Hershey's chocolate bar has 12g of sugar

This feels right. A Margarita is a treat. Two in one night is getting close to dessert. Three or more is a special occasion.

How to drink with zero sugar? Drink spirits with seltzer and citrus.

A quick drink with zero sugar is your favorite spirit with seltzer and squeeze of lemon or lime. When ordering at the bar you can ask for:

• "vodka soda with lemon"
• "gin soda with lemon"
• "tequila soda with lime"
• "whiskey soda with lemon"
• "mezcal soda with lime"

Or even a spirit over rocks: "mezcal on the rocks with lime".

References

🍹 Cocktails

Sip consciously, play with your senses