What Is the Most High Calorie Alcoholic Drink? An In-Depth Look

November 28, 2025 •

4 min read

According to Forbes, the Long Island Iced Tea is an especially calorific contender, packing up to 780 calories in a single serving due to its mix of multiple liquors and sugary ingredients. The question of what is the most high calorie alcoholic drink depends heavily on preparation, and large, sweet cocktails frequently top the list.

Quick Summary

The highest calorie alcoholic beverages are often large, complex cocktails that combine high-proof spirits with multiple sugary, creamy mixers, dramatically increasing total energy content.

Key Points

Sugary Mixers Matter: High-calorie alcoholic beverages get most of their energy from sugary mixers like juices, syrups, and sodas, not just the alcohol itself.
Heavy Cocktails Top the List: Large, complex mixed drinks like the Long Island Iced Tea and Pina Colada often contain the most total calories due to multiple high-proof liquors and sweet ingredients.
Cream Adds Significant Calories: Cream-based drinks and liqueurs, such as the White Russian and Baileys, are extremely high in calories and fat.
Alcohol is Calorie-Dense: With 7 calories per gram, alcohol is a potent source of energy, and higher-proof spirits have a higher concentration of these calories.
Lighter Options Exist: For lower-calorie alternatives, opt for straight spirits with zero-calorie mixers, light beer, hard seltzers, or dry wines.
Portion Size is Key: The sheer volume of a cocktail or beer can contribute significantly to its total calorie count, even if its per-ounce content isn't the highest.

Understanding the Source of Alcohol Calories

When evaluating the calorie content of alcoholic beverages, it's crucial to understand the two primary sources: the alcohol itself and any added ingredients. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, making it the second most calorie-dense macronutrient after fat, which has 9 calories per gram. Ingredients like sugar, heavy cream, and fruit juices add a significant number of additional calories, often eclipsing the calories from the alcohol alone. A drink's total calorie count is therefore a function of its alcohol by volume (ABV), serving size, and the nature of its mixers.

The Heaviest Contenders: High-Calorie Cocktails

While high-proof spirits like Bacardi 151 contain a concentrated dose of calories from alcohol (around 185 calories per shot), it is the oversized, ingredient-heavy cocktails that accumulate the highest total calorie counts.

Long Island Iced Tea: This drink is a prime example of why multiple liquors and sugary mixers are a recipe for a calorie bomb. It combines vodka, tequila, rum, gin, and triple sec, topped with sweet and sour mix and a splash of cola. This potent mix results in a calorie count that can exceed 700.
Pina Colada: The classic tropical cocktail gets its sweet, creamy character from coconut milk and crushed pineapple. While delightful, these ingredients contribute heavily to its caloric load, which can be over 600 calories, especially when made with a sugary pre-mix.
Margarita: Often featuring large amounts of limeade or sweet and sour mix in addition to tequila, a typical margarita can clock in at over 700 calories, depending on the serving size and mix used. Choosing fresh ingredients over pre-made mixes can slightly reduce the count.
White Russian: This decadent, dessert-like drink contains vodka, coffee liqueur, and heavy cream. The combination of sugar from the liqueur and fat from the cream pushes its calorie count to over 400.

The Impact of Sweetness and Cream

Beyond these well-known cocktails, any drink that is particularly sweet or creamy will be higher in calories. Cream liqueurs like Baileys are notorious for their calorie content, while sweet dessert wines and fortified wines like Port and Madeira also carry a high caloric load due to both alcohol and sugar.

The Role of Mixers and Ingredients

It is often the mixers, not the spirit, that make a drink high-calorie. Pure distilled spirits like vodka, gin, and tequila contain around 96-98 calories per 1.5-ounce shot. When these spirits are paired with zero-calorie mixers like soda water, the calorie count remains low. However, when mixed with high-sugar options, the numbers soar.

Here are some common mixers that inflate calorie counts:

Regular Tonic Water: Despite its clear appearance, regular tonic water contains significant sugar, making a vodka or gin and tonic much higher in calories than you might think.
Juice Cocktails and Syrups: Cranberry juice cocktail, pineapple juice, and simple syrup are all packed with sugar and are key components in many high-calorie drinks.
Coconut Cream: In addition to Pina Coladas, many tropical and creamy drinks use coconut cream, which is high in calories and saturated fat.

Comparison of Calorie Counts in Common Drinks

This table illustrates the wide range of calorie content among different alcoholic beverages.


Beverage	Approximate Calories (per standard serving)	Key Ingredients	Calorie Drivers
Long Island Iced Tea	780+	Multiple spirits, sweet and sour mix, cola	High volume, multiple high-proof liquors, sugary mixers
Pina Colada	644	Rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice	High volume, coconut cream, sugary juice
White Russian	425	Vodka, coffee liqueur, heavy cream	Cream, sugary liqueur
Sweet Dessert Wine	180 (per 100ml)	Grapes, sugar	High sugar content, moderate alcohol
Standard Beer (Pint)	222	Grains, yeast	Carbs, alcohol
Red Table Wine (Glass)	125	Grapes, yeast	Alcohol, residual sugar
Vodka Soda (Tall)	~100	Vodka, club soda	Alcohol only

Making Healthier Alcoholic Choices

If calorie counting is a priority, several strategies can help reduce your intake from alcohol.

Choose Straight Spirits: Opt for clear spirits like vodka, gin, or tequila served neat or on the rocks. While still containing alcohol, they have no added sugars or cream.
Use Zero-Calorie Mixers: Combining spirits with club soda, diet tonic, or a splash of fresh citrus keeps calories minimal.
Opt for Lighter Alternatives: Light beers and hard seltzers generally contain fewer calories per serving than regular beers, heavy ales, or large cocktails.
Drink Dry: Dry wines have less residual sugar than sweet or fortified wines, resulting in fewer calories per glass.
Control Portion Sizes: Many high-calorie drinks, especially cocktails, come in very large servings. Be mindful of glass size and total volume consumed.

Conclusion

While the search for the single most high calorie alcoholic drink often points toward specific, famously indulgent cocktails like the Long Island Iced Tea, the ultimate truth is that complexity and sugary, creamy additions are the biggest drivers of a drink's caloric load. The highest calorie drinks are not necessarily the strongest, but those packed with the most sugar and fat. Understanding these factors allows for smarter choices, whether you're at a bar or mixing a drink at home. For more information on calorie content and healthy alcohol consumption, you can consult resources like the NHS alcohol calorie guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Long Island Iced Tea is often cited as one of the most calorific cocktails, with estimates putting its calorie count upwards of 780 for a single drink due to its blend of multiple spirits and sugary mixers.

Yes, creamy alcoholic drinks like the White Russian or those made with Irish cream are significantly higher in calories. The addition of heavy cream and sugary liqueurs drives up both the fat and sugar content.

Mixers have a massive impact on a drink's calorie count. Adding juices, sugary sodas, or sweet syrups can easily double or triple the calories of a standard spirit, which is relatively low-calorie on its own.

High-proof alcohol is denser in calories per ounce due to its higher concentration of alcohol, which has 7 calories per gram. However, a shot of high-proof alcohol with a zero-calorie mixer can still be lower in total calories than a large cocktail with a lower ABV but many sugary additives.

The lowest-calorie alcoholic drinks generally involve pure spirits mixed with zero-calorie mixers. A vodka soda, for example, is around 100 calories per serving. Hard seltzers and light beers are also low-calorie alternatives.

No, wine calories vary significantly. Dry wines have less residual sugar and therefore fewer calories than sweet dessert wines, fortified wines (like Port or Marsala), or very sweet sparkling wines.

The best way is to choose drinks with zero-calorie mixers, such as club soda, diet tonic, or fresh lime juice. You can also opt for light beer, hard seltzers, or dry wines, and practice moderation.