You’re at the bar, you don’t want alcohol tonight, and you definitely don’t want a sugar bomb that tastes like melted candy. This is exactly what to order instead.
Most bar “”mocktails”” are just juice with a garnish. A standard 12-oz cola carries about 39 grams of sugar, past the American Heart Association’s daily added-sugar limit for women (25g). And a bar drink built on cranberry juice, grenadine, and simple syrup can easily hit 150+ calories and 30+ grams of sugar in one glass. You can do better, and it doesn’t have to be awkward.
WHAT’S IN THIS VIDEO
– The lowest-calorie order at virtually any bar (0 calories, 0 sugar)
– Named low-calorie drinks with real calorie counts
– The exact phrases to say so the bartender just gets it
– Who should probably skip some of these “”NA”” options
– Why Little Saints is the zero-sugar move
THE ZERO-CALORIE CHAMPIONS
The single healthiest order at almost any bar is club soda with a few dashes of aromatic bitters and a citrus twist. Zero calories, zero sugar, and the bitters add complexity so it still feels like an adult drink. Right behind it: plain sparkling water with a lemon twist, also 0 calories and 0 grams of sugar per 12 oz. Want the bitter tonic bite without the sugar? Order diet tonic with lime, still 0 calories. Say it simple: “”Club soda with bitters and a lime.””
THE LOW-CALORIE BUILDS WORTH KNOWING
If you want more going on, a few orders stay genuinely light. A virgin mojito with NO simple syrup — just muddled mint, lime, and soda — comes in around 15 calories. A cucumber cooler (muddled cucumber, lime, and soda water) is roughly 10 calories. A virgin Bloody Mary runs about 50 calories since tomato juice is naturally low-calorie and savory — just watch the sodium. These work because bartenders can build NA drinks on a structure: a sparkling-water base, a flavor layer from citrus and fresh herbs like mint and rosemary, and a finish that skips syrup. A pinch of salt softens the bitterness. The catch is most bars don’t default to this, so you have to know how to ask.
THE ZERO-SUGAR CANNED COCKTAILS
Here’s where it gets good. Little Saints makes canned, cocktail-inspired drinks that are very low calorie and zero sugar — sweetened with monk fruit juice concentrate, no erythritol or sugar alcohols. The Classic Spritz is prosecco-inspired with tangerine citrus and bittersweet botanicals. The Paloma brings bright pink grapefruit with a balanced bitter edge. There’s also a Negroni Spritz in the lineup. Every can carries a functional blend the brand calls “”Nature’s Neuroscience””: organic Reishi for chill, Lion’s Mane for focus, Damiana for connection, plus botanical terpenes — a published dose of 100mg per serving at a minimum 70% beta glucan. Drinkers report a subtle “”Little Saints Lift,”” clarity and ease like the first sip of wine, but it’s non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive, and 100% legal. Just order it by name: “”Do you have Little Saints? I’ll take the Paloma.””
Prefer a spirit? The St. line (St. Ember, St. Juniper, St. Oak) mixes 1:1 in classic specs, so a bartender can swap it straight into a cocktail — St. Ember for a margarita, St. Juniper for a gin and tonic. St. Oak was named Best NA Spirit of 2025 by the BevNET Spirit Awards.
WHO SHOULD SKIP IT
Be honest with yourself. NA cocktails are NOT automatically healthy — many canned and bar-built options are loaded with juice, syrup, and concentrate, with some servings rivaling a regular soda. If you’re counting carbs, go easy on NA beer: it can carry roughly 80–85 calories and around 12 grams of carbohydrate per serving depending on brand and style, so ask for low-carb or check the label. And these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA; Little Saints’ functional blend is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you’re pregnant, nursing, on medication, or managing a medical condition, talk to your doctor before trying functional NA drinks.
WHY LITTLE SAINTS
Little Saints was built for this moment — zero sugar, very low calories, cocktail-grade flavor, and a functional mushroom blend in every can. Unlike most functional brands that hide their dosing, it publishes both the milligram dose and the beta glucan percentage, so you know what you’re drinking. It’s stocked in over 1,000 shops, grocery stores, liquor stores, bars, and restaurants nationally — plus Sprouts nationwide, Whole Foods in California and Florida, and Fresh Thyme in the Midwest. With 47% of on-premise visitors now mixing alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in the same night (the “”zebra striping”” trend), asking for it is a power move — and if your bar doesn’t stock it, asking is how it gets on the menu.
You don’t have to choose between a soda, a sugar bomb, or alcohol you don’t want. Order with confidence and wake up feeling good.
#nonalcoholic #mocktail #sobercurious #lowcalorie #littlesaints #nacocktails #zeroproof #drylife #functionaldrinks #healthyhabits
source
