Vodka’s subtle taste and high alcohol content make it the perfect mixer, which is why it’s no surprise that distillers keep introducing new flavors of vodka every so often.
If you’re keen on trying a wide variety of flavored vodka, you might be wondering whether they all have sugar and how much. I did all the research and here’s what I discovered!
Does Flavored Vodka Have Sugar?
Flavored vodka may or may not contain sugar. This would depend on the distiller. Moreover, vodka distillers can include sugar in their flavored vodka without having to disclose this fact or the particular amount used. It would be safe to assume, however, that flavored vodka with a high proof and appreciable sweetness contains sugar in one form or another.
If you want to know more about the sugar content of flavored vodkas, specifically famous brands like Absolut and Smirnoff, keep on reading!
Does Flavored Vodka Have More Sugar?
Whether or not a particular brand of flavored vodka has sugar depends on the distiller.
In some cases, they do have sugar in one form or another, but it wouldn’t be fair to compare its sugar content to plain vodka which typically has no sugar at all.
To better understand what counts as flavored vodka, here are three of its basic definitions:
- Vodka that has been flavored with natural flavoring materials with or without the use of sugar.
- Vodka that includes the predominant flavor in the label (e.g. Raspberry Vodka).
- Vodka that has been infused with wine, but the wine content shouldn’t go beyond 2½% per volume.
Based on this, it’s safe to assume that flavored vodka may contain sugar at the distiller’s discretion.
Additionally, there’s no limit to how much sugar they can use as long as the vodka retains a minimum of 60 proof or 30% alcohol by volume (ABV).
If you are trying to watch your weight or sugar intake, it’s best to note that plain vodka normally has a maximum of 100 calories per shot with zero sugar.
However, Brunett’s Cherry Cola Flavored Vodka has as much as 162 calories per shot, which could be indicative of sugar content.
Moreover, whipped cream and tart cherry-flavored vodkas are extremely sweet in spite of their high alcohol content, making it likely that they contain several grams of sugar.
Confirming the sugar content of the flavored vodka released by every distillery could be difficult as not all of them reveal their ingredients, particularly their sugar content.
After all, nutrition labeling is voluntary among alcohol manufacturers and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau does not require nutrition labels to include sugar content.
Perhaps the best way to determine whether a vodka has no sugar content is through its label. If it includes “sugar-free” on the bottle, then it shouldn’t contain any form of sugar.
On the contrary, budget vodkas that are known for releasing all kinds of flavored vodka typically contain loads of sugar.
Colored vodkas, too, likely have a few teaspoons of sugar or so unless the color has been derived from a natural infusion.
In the case of natural infusions, ingredients like coconut and fruits contain natural sugars but not so much that they would taste similar to vodka flavored with sweeteners.
As for nutritional sites claiming that flavored vodkas have zero sugar in them, it’s best to take this data with a grain of salt.
This applies especially to flavored vodkas that have a high alcohol content of 70 proof but still manage to taste sweet.
Essentially, it would be extremely difficult to make vodka with an ABV above 30% taste sweet without sugar, syrups, and other sweeteners.
What Flavored Vodka Has The Least Sugar?
Just like regular vodka, the flavored vodkas of Absolut and Smirnoff contain zero sugar.
Both Absolut and Smirnoff claim that their infused vodkas are made of natural ingredients like fruits, berries, and spices, but have no added sugar whatsoever.
As for flavored vodkas with actual sugar content, ranking them would be difficult as not all distillers release nutrition facts labels, and if they do, sugar is oftentimes excluded.
Does Raspberry Flavored Vodka Have Sugar?
Raspberry flavored vodka may or may not contain sugar. It all depends on the brand you’re purchasing.
If you’re buying Absolut Raspberri Vodka, you can be sure that it contains no sugar or carbs whatsoever because Absolut guarantees this in its nutritional fact label.
On the other hand, Smirnoff Ice Raspberry has 26 grams of carbohydrates in a 330 ml bottle, and this amount of carbohydrates is equivalent to 6½ teaspoons of sugar.
According to laboratory findings, the carbohydrates of alcoholic coolers like Smirnoff Ice Raspberry count as sugar.
Does Pinnacle Flavored Vodka Have Sugar In It?
Pinnacle has two flavored vodkas, namely the Light & Ripe Apricot Honeysuckle Vodka and the Light & Ripe Guava Lime vodka, and both have zero sugar in them.
Does Smirnoff Flavored Vodka Have Sugar?
Smirnoff has a line of vodka with zero sugar infusions made of natural ingredients, namely Watermelon & Mint, Lemon & Elderflower, and Strawberry & Rose.
Does Tito’s Vodka Have Sugar?
Tito’s Vodka has seven flavored vodkas, namely the Grape Smash, Fallen Apple, Pumpkin Pie, Harvest Punch, Autumnal Mules, Perfect Pear, and Stardust Sipper.
According to Tito’s nutritional information, none of these flavored vodkas has any sugar or gelatin added.
Does Ciroc Flavored Vodka Have Sugar?
Ciroc has five flavored vodkas, namely Peach, French Vanilla, Pineapple, White Grape, Summer Citrus, Summer Watermelon, and Red Berry.
While Ciroc’s flavored vodka is made of natural ingredients and supposedly doesn’t have any added sugar, there’s speculation that its Red Berry flavored vodka does contain some.
If you want to learn more about vodka, you can see our related posts on whether vodka is sweet, if you can make vanilla vodka with vanilla extract, and whether you can mix rum and vodka.
Conclusion
Whether flavored vodka has sugar is difficult to tell unless the distillers disclose the nutritional label of their products.
As per the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, nutritional labeling is voluntary and they aren’t required to include the sugar content of their product.
Nevertheless, there are brands like Absolut and Smirnoff that guarantee their flavored vodkas have zero sugar in them.
A safe way to tell whether flavored vodka has sugar is to judge its sweetness based on its proof because it would be difficult to sweeten a vodka with a high ABV without sugar.