Product review: Naked Life non-alcoholic cocktails

Naked Life non-alcoholic cocktails are a good ready-to-drink alternative for when you choose to stay sober. Besides zero alcohol, they are also sugar-free.

Naked Life non-alcoholic cocktails

These alcohol-free drinks are manufactured by the Victorian company Naked Life, which also produces other lines of beverages. The non-alcoholic cocktails come in four-packs of cans, each containing 250mL. I have bought them at Woolworths and have seen them available at Dan Murphy’s and a few online retailers in both cans and bottles. I suspect the company is planning to expand their list of stockists, given the popularity of alcohol-free beverages.

The cocktails come in a wide variety of flavours inspired by the most popular ready-to-drink cocktails available worldwide:

• Classic Gin & Tonic
• Spiced Caribbean Dry & Lime
• Australian Cane Spirit & Cola
• Negroni Spritz
• Scottish Sour
• Canadian Rye Spirit Dry & Lime
• American Malt Spirit & Cola
• Italian Spritz
• Wimbledon Spritz
• Yuzu Sake
• Margarita

All the flavours are sugar-free and low in energy.

Ingredients

All of the cocktails contain sparkling water, natural sweeteners, some sort of food acid(s), flavours. Some contain natural colours, extracts, etc. See below for the full ingredients list for each flavour.

• Classic Gin & Tonic: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, natural flavour (gin), quinine, lemon extract, orange extract, bitter orange extract, natural botanical distillates & extracts
• Spiced Caribbean Dry & Lime: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, tartaric acid, flavours, natural botanical distillates & extracts, natural colour (caramelised sugar, safflower extract), sodium citrate
• Australian Cane Spirit & Cola: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, malic acid, flavours, natural colour (caramelised sugar), phosphoric acid, natural botanical distillates & extracts, caffeine
• Negroni Spritz: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, natural flavour (herbal bitters, vermouth, gin, cherry), apple extract, quinine, natural colour (red radish juice extract, purple carrot juice extract), natural botanical distillates & extracts
• Scottish Sour: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), tartaric acid, flavour (whiskey), lemon extract, natural botanical distillates & extracts, natural colour (safflower, red radish juice extract, purple carrot juice extract)
• Canadian Rye Spirit Dry & Lime: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, tartaric acid, flavour, natural botanical distillates & extracts, natural colour (caramelised sugar, safflower extract), sodium citrate
• American Malt Spirit & Cola: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, malic acid, flavours, natural colour (caramelised sugar), phosphoric acid, natural botanical distillates & extracts, caffeine
• Italian Spritz: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), herbal bitters flavour, citric acid, natural flavour, blood orange extract, natural colour (red radish juice extract, purple carrot juice extract, safflower), natural botanical distillates & extracts
• Wimbledon Spritz: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol, stevia), citric acid, natural flavour, natural colour (apple extract), natural botanical distillates & extracts, Tahitian lime extract, ginger extract
• Yuzu Sake: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol), natural flavour (yuzu, sake), citric acid, natural botanical distillates & extracts
• Margarita: Sparkling water, natural sweetener (erythritol), citric acid, natural flavour, murray, river pink salt, natural botanical distillates & extracts, natural colour (safflower)

Nutrition information

All flavours contain between 20 and 34 kJ per 250mL serve, with 4 out of the 11 flavours containing just 22 kJ (5 kcal) per serve. Most drinks contain 0 grams of sugar, with just one of them (Spiced Caribbean Dry & Lime) containing 0.4 grams. I’ve put together a few tables comparing Naked Life cocktails with commercial ready to drink (RTD) alternatives (data from 1).

Nutrient	Naked Life Classic Gin & Tonic Per serve (250mL)	RTD gin & tonic Per serve (250mL)
Energy (kJ)	22	603
Energy (kcal)	5	144
Protein (g)	0.0	0.0
Fat, total (g)	0.0	0.0
– Saturated (g)	0.0	0.0
Carbohydrate, total (g)	< 1	19.8
– Sugars (g)	0.0	19.8
Sodium (mg)	0.0	12.9

Nutrient	Naked Life Australian Cane Spirit & Cola Per serve (250mL)	RTD rum & cola Per serve (250mL)
Energy (kJ)	22	746
Energy (kcal)	5	178
Protein (g)	< 1	0.0
Fat, total (g)	< 1	0.5
– Saturated (g)	0.0	0.0
Carbohydrate, total (g)	0.4	27.9
– Sugars (g)	0.0	27.9
Sodium (mg)	10.0	5.5

Nutrient	Naked Life Canadian Rye Spirit Dry & Lime Per serve (250mL)	RTD whisky & dry Per serve (250mL)
Energy (kJ)	22	635
Energy (kcal)	5	152
Protein (g)	< 0.1	0.0
Fat, total (g)	< 0.1	0.0
– Saturated (g)	0.0	0.0
Carbohydrate, total (g)	0.4	22.2
– Sugars (g)	0.0	22.2
Sodium (mg)	26.5	39.4

Nutrient	American Malt Spirit & Cola Per serve (250mL)	RTD whisky & cola Per serve (250mL)
Energy (kJ)	22	744
Energy (kcal)	5	178
Protein (g)	< 1	0.0
Fat, total (g)	< 1	0.5
– Saturated (g)	0.0	0.0
Carbohydrate, total (g)	0.4	27.9
– Sugars (g)	0.0	27.9
Sodium (mg)	10.0	5.5

Taste test

I have tried the Classic Gin & Tonic and Italian Spritz. Both were nice as a non-soft drink alternative for a real cocktail. I found them a bit too sweet and prefer them with ice and some soda water. I have been enjoying them on weeknights as I like to have a drink while working at night but prefer not to consume alcohol as it interferes with my training, recovery and sleep.

Summary and recommendations

As mentioned in my previous post How to survive the holiday season, alcohol-free beverages can help to mitigate holiday derailment from healthy habits.

Naked Life non-alcoholic cocktails are a great alternative for those seeking a low-energy and sugar-free alternative to traditional cocktails. They are great for whenever you can’t or choose not to drink, for example when you are the designated driver, are taking certain medications, need to optimise your athletic performance and/or recovery, need to lower your energy intake for weight loss, or need to control your blood sugar levels.

More information

For more information about these non-alcoholic cocktails and other products check out Naked Life’s website. Note that their website doesn’t contain the whole range, so make sure you search online to see which drinks are available where.

References

1. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2014). AUSNUT 2011–13 – Australian Food Composition Database. Canberra: FSANZ. Available at www.foodstandards.gov.au

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