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Keto Mai Tai

This super-refreshing keto Mai Tai is a fantastically fruity Tiki cocktail! Sugar free and low carb recipe with rum.

Keto Mai Tai - a sugar free and low carb Tiki cocktail!

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Hopefully by now you know that I just love a cooling low carb cocktail on a hot day! I saw a Mai Tai on a menu recently and realized that I hadn't “ketofied” it!

So I did some research into the key flavors of a classic Mai Tai. According to Wikipedia:

Most current recipes for Mai Tais based on Trader Vic's 1944 recipe include rum, lime juice, orgeat (almond) syrup, and orange liqueur (typically orange curaçao). Variants may include the addition of pineapple, amaretto, bitters, grenadine, and grapefruit juice.”

This presented several issues because other than the rum and lime juice, most of those other ingredients are high in sugar and not low carb. But when I started to think outside the box, I realized that I could get the orange and almond flavors from extracts – after all orange extract is the key to my awesome low carb margarita!

Many people think that grenadine is cherry flavor, but actually it's pomegranate. However, as I had a cherry-flavored water enhancer to hand, I figured it would work. It's a hack that my friend Laura over at Lalymom uses in her article Low Carb Cocktails and Mixers. MiO actually make a Berry Pomegranate flavor which I'll use next time! I then finished the drink off with sugar-free pineapple-flavored sparkling water. Brands you could try are bubly, Hint, Crystal Geiser, Simple Truth, Perrier, or Spindrift.

Although my cocktail didn't separate into layers like a high-carb version would do, the flavors were absolutely perfect!

How to Make a Keto Mai Tai

Add some white rum, lime juice, almond extract, orange extract (not pictured), and a squirt of cherry or pomegranate-flavored water enhancer to a cocktail shaker

Keto Mai Tai - a sugar free and low carb Tiki cocktail!

Fill with ice and shake. Pour the contents (including ice), into a tall glass and top with the pineapple-flavored water. 

Keto Mai Tai - a sugar free and low carb Tiki cocktail!

This is seriously one of the most refreshing cocktails I've ever made. All the different flavors blend perfectly!

Keto Mai Tai - a sugar free and low carb Tiki cocktail!

Check out all my low carb rum drinks!

Keto Mai Tai

Keto Mai Tai

Yield: 1 Serving
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

This super-refreshing keto Mai Tai is a fantastically fruity Tiki cocktail! Sugar free and low carb recipe with rum.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add the rum, lime juice, almond extract, orange extract, and flavored water enhancer to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Fill with ice and shake. Pour the contents (including ice), into a tall glass and top with the flavored water.  

Notes

0.7g net carbs per serving (whole recipe)

Nutrition Information
Yield 1 Serving Size Whole recipe
Amount Per Serving Calories 55Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1.6mgCarbohydrates 0.8gNet Carbohydrates 0.7gFiber 0.1gSugar 0.4gProtein 0g

Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is my best approximation. I cannot guarantee completely accurate data due to variations in ingredients and cooking methods. Carbohydrates from sugar alcohols are not included in net carb counts as it has been shown that they do not impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

Kate

Sunday 25th of July 2021

Is two tablespoons of rum a typo? Shouldn’t that be two ounces? (Not being sarcastic- that just seems like a SUPER low alcohol recipe.)

Georgina

Monday 26th of July 2021

Think of the two tablespoons as a starting point. :-)

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