Uncomplicating Alcohol By The Numbers

Disclaimer: This post is for responsible adults of age who have decided that drinking alcohol on occasion is ok. If you're a teetotaler and don't agree, that's ok too. I personally am not a heavy drinker, I don't advocate heavy drinking, you can do as you choose, don't drink & drive, etc. etc. etc. Feeling appropriately disclaimed? I hope so. Moving on.

I like beer. If you're ever in Philadelphia, hit up City Tavern. They brew certain beers according to some recipes of the founding fathers. It's good!


Two things about alcohol:

1. It's high calorie
2. It's relatively expensive

So how can we make the best choices regarding our calorie intake & money output?

MATH. Don't freak out, someone else already did the ratio calculations for us.

If you're more worried about calorie intake, Get Drunk Not Fat presents various alcoholic beverages with an assigned ratio of calories to grams of alcohol. The lower the ratio, the better. For instance, a rum & diet coke has a ratio of 19.7 whereas a rum & coke has a ratio of 37.7. Thus, for the same amount of alcohol, the rum & diet coke will have less calories. Most light beers are in the 23-30 range. The highest ratios are for non or low alcohol "beers" since they barely have any alcohol which skews the stats (but who drinks those for the alcohol anyway??). If you don't want to drink your calories, try to avoid the TGIF On The Rocks Mudslide (731 calories & a ratio of 73.1).

If you're more worried about the expense of alcohol, Get Drunk Not Broke presents the price per 1 oz of alcohol. I found this list hilarious since the top twenty-five are a mix of somewhat high quality alcohol, cheap beer, & Franzia boxed wine. Example- Keystone Ice is $.93 per ounce of alcohol. Jose Cuervo Especial Gold is $.97 per ounce.

And if you care about both your waistline & wallet, the clear choice is Everclear. If you care about neither, try Bailey's Irish Cream. But if you care about taste & enjoyment, just buy the Irish Cream, pour over crushed ice to enjoy, & dump the Everclear down the toilet where it belongs.

This won't stop me from enjoying a Fat Tire Ale every now & then, but for my general consumption, I feel justified that my standby of Michelob Ultra is a decent choice.