Cocktails. What's the best choice for low cal? Lt beer, OJ/Vodka, Cran/Vodka, etc

Cocktailing tonight and want to be good.  I think if I stick with beers such as Corona that's about 150 per bottle in terms of calories.  Not much of a wine drinker, but wanted to see if there are better choices.  I was thinking OJ and Cranberry would be "healthy" mixes to vodka, or should I stick to tonic water?  I like to have about 3 cocktails when I go out, so I want to make the best choice!  Are there certain vodka brands that have fewer calories (Absolut, Grey Goose,Stoli).  What does everyone do for cocktail hour? 

What I usually drink when I am out is rum in diet coke.  I think its about the lowest calorie drink you can find.  A shot of rum is about 60 cals or so depending on the proof, and of course there are none in the diet coke.  Not really healthy, but at least its pretty low calorie.

To Quote me from another thread:

Assuming you mean for weight loss/caloric count, no such thing, really. Outside of drinks that actually have sugar added (some Margaritas, Rock and Rye, Lemon Drops, Mojitos) you pretty well come out equal. The exceptions are your liquers, which skew slightly more, and your dryer wines, that skew somewhat less. Still, since the empty caloric business is (sort of) how the liquor works, diet vodka is like low sodium salt and carb-free bread.

If I had to pick, it would be one that I can have one of and only one of, while still enjoying a night out on the town. Personally, I think the classic cocktails are good for this, unless you want to, say, slam two shots of tequila right at the get go and ride the drunk through for the rest of the evening.

Always watch for mixers, though, for things that have fruit juice/fruits, or tonic water. The Cosmo, for instance, would be the exception to the above rule. Tonic water's as calorie-bad as coke or beer. That so, more and more bars have diet tonic water behind the shelf, so you can still get your anti-malarials in without the added poundage.

I don't think I'd go with OJ because it's high in sugar and calories.  I second the rum & diet coke suggestion redhead7785 gave.  That's what I drink when I go out.  That or red wine.

I have a suggestion for when you want a drink at home if you like vodka with juice.  Ocean Spray now makes a 5 calorie per service cranberry juice!      &nb sp;       Vodka Cran anyone? :)

Any beer that says Ultra on it is around 64-84 calories! I like sticking to vodka and sugar free Red Bull.

get a flavored vodka with tonic water... my personal favorite is blueberry =)

Especially in the summer, I always go for flavored vodka (raspberry, orange, etc) and add club soda with extra lime! It's refreshing, delicious, and the flavor is coming in the vodka, with no extra calories.

Skip the tonic and just go for regular water, vodka and lots of lime. Maybe a little splash of Rose's Lime.

I was terrified of trying it b/c I really don't care for the taste of alcohol. But my friend insisted and she was right! It was just fine. Maybe not as fun as the Pineapple Upside Down Cake martini that I adore but it's still a cocktail!

Rachel

I'm going to be the oddball and tell you to drink light beer...BECAUSE....

When you order a mixed drink at a bar, it's pretty difficult to keep track of how much liquor is in your cocktail. It could be one ounce, it could be 2, it could be 1.75...either way, that could make a big difference when you're trying to calculate exactly how much you are drinking.

Beer on the other hand, is pretty standard. A 12oz bottle of light beer is about 100 calories, a pint runs you around 135. In addition, most widely distributed beers will have their nutrition info available somewhere on the net.

That's just my 2 cents from someone who's been there and done that.