Tried and Tasted: Christmas Drinks

Jon and the taste team have some fun comparing diet versions of popular alcoholic drinks to the real thing.

Christmas Drinks

by Jon Slater

We've started our Christmas partying early at WLR. With an extensive test of low alcohol and low calorie drinks against their no conscience, no compromise relatives, we have gone for blind testing without getting blind drunk.

White Wine

Weight Watchers Fruity Wine

Sweet, fruity and light, yet some found a powdery, squash-like taste. Not a big reduction in calories but quite drinkable.

9.5% Alcohol | 64 calories/100ml

Blue Nun Riesling

Dryer and harsher than the Weight Watchers. The team guessed this to be the 'normal' wine though it was just about 'average'.

11.5% Alcohol | 74 calories/100ml (estimated)

Rum Mixers

Bacardi Breezer Orange

A lot of flavour and quite sweet. Perhaps sickly sweet for some.

5% Alcohol | 72 calories/100ml (estimated)

Bacardi Breezer Diet Lemon

Less flavour than the orange with more of a rum taste. A powdery aftertaste reminded some tasters of the sports drinks from a previous test: not a good thing. Although, it did have a few fans and switching to this would save a few calories over a night out.

5% Alcohol | 35 calories/100ml | 1.2g carb/100ml

Lager

Michelob

Smelling and tasting more like lager, the testers had no trouble picking this one out as the non-low-calorie version.

5.2% Alcohol

Michelob Ultra

"Weak", "flat", "horrible" and "like yesterday's beer" were a few comments. Although there was a "refreshing" in there too.

5% Alcohol | 32 calories/100ml | 0.91g carb/100ml

Rosé

Riverview

No problems in identifying the real rosé. Quite, sharp and nothing extraordinary but well liked by the team.

12.5% Alcohol | 71 calories/100ml (estimated)

Eisberg

A sweet, bubbly "lucozade like" drink. Didn't taste enough like a wine to fool our panel but, for a very low alcohol fruity fizz, our tip is the Eisberg.

<0.05% Alcohol

Beer

Becks

Easily guessed to be the 'real' beer, a good flavour and liked all round.

5% Alcohol | 41 calories/100ml (estimated)

Marston's Resolution Low Carb Beer

A nice surprise in the stocking here. Pleasant smell, mild refreshing taste and very "downable".

4.7% Alcohol | 31 calories/100ml (estimated) | 0.6g carb/100ml (estimated)

Becks Alcohol-Free

Weak, watery, no smell and little flavour. One star; but no wise men following it.

<0.05% Alcohol | 20 calories/100ml (estimated)

Conclusion

It's difficult to judge how much better for you these 'healthier' versions are with nutrition information so hard to come by. Weight Watchers, Marston's and Eisberg stood out as reasonable alternatives but the team agreed that a celebratory drink, sans the alcohol, somehow defeats the point.

So, enjoy your favourite tipple (responsibly and sensibly), whatever it may be, and we'll all be back in January with another fresh start.

Cheers.

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