What Can You Drink on Keto? Coffee, Soda, Alcohol and More

On keto, water, black coffee, and unsweetened tea are essentially free, drink them all day without touching your carb budget. Skip sugary soda, fruit juice, and most cocktails, because a single glass can blow an entire day of carbs on its own. Unsweetened milk alternatives and dry wine or spirits are fine in moderation. The rule is simple: anything with 0g net carbs is a green light, and anything sweetened with sugar is the problem. Below is a full breakdown, each drink with its net carbs, so you can build a keto day around what you actually enjoy. To sanity-check any specific drink, look it up in the keto food database or drop it into the Is My Meal Keto? checker.

Everyday keto drinks (basically free)

These have little or no sugar, so you can drink them freely. Plain still water is the obvious base, aim for plenty of it, since keto is mildly dehydrating in the first weeks.

• Sparkling water, 0g net carbs. Plain seltzer or club soda, endlessly drinkable.
• Flavored sparkling water, 0g net carbs. Check the label for zero added sugar.
• Unsweetened iced tea, 0g net carbs. Brew it strong and skip the sweetener.
• Diet soda, 0g net carbs. Technically fine, though not everyone tolerates the sweeteners well.
• Keto electrolyte drink, 1g net carbs. Helps with the "keto flu" from lost sodium and potassium.
• Sugar-free energy drink, 1g net carbs. Fine in moderation for the caffeine.
• Sugar-free lemonade, 1g net carbs. A sweetener-based swap for the real thing.

Keto coffee and tea

Coffee and tea are naturally carb-free, the carbs come from what you add. Keep milk and sweetener low-carb and you are set.

• Black coffee, 0g net carbs. The keto staple; add heavy cream, not sugar.
• Unsweetened tea, 0g net carbs. Green, black, or herbal all qualify.
• Bulletproof coffee, 0g net carbs. Blended with butter and MCT oil for a filling, high-fat start.
• Keto latte, 2g net carbs. Espresso with unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
• Keto matcha latte, 2g net carbs. Same idea with whisked matcha.
• Keto hot chocolate, 3g net carbs. Cocoa, cream, and a sugar substitute.
• Whey protein shake, 4g net carbs. A quick meal replacement; pick an unsweetened or low-carb formula.

Milk and milk alternatives

Dairy milk carries real sugar, so unsweetened plant milks are the everyday keto pick. Always choose the unsweetened version, since sweetened cartons can triple the carbs.

• Unsweetened almond milk, 1g net carbs. The default keto milk swap.
• Coconut milk beverage, 1g net carbs. Creamier, great in coffee.
• Unsweetened cashew milk, 1g net carbs. Mild and smooth.

For comparison, regular dairy milk, 4.8g net carbs per cup and oat milk, 6.5g net carbs are noticeably higher, so use them sparingly if at all.

Alcohol on keto (in moderation)

Alcohol is optional on keto, and worth an honest note. Your body burns alcohol before anything else, so drinking pauses fat-burning until it clears. Tolerance also drops on keto, people often feel drunk faster on fewer drinks, so go slow. If you do drink, dry wines and plain spirits are the lowest-carb choices. For a deeper breakdown, see the keto alcohol guide.

• Dry red wine, 3.8g net carbs. Stick to dry reds, not sweet or fortified.
• Dry white wine, 3g net carbs. Sauvignon blanc and similar work well.
• Brut champagne, 2g net carbs. Brut is the driest, lowest-sugar sparkling.
• Vodka soda, 0g net carbs. Spirits plus soda water, the keto bar order.
• Whiskey neat, 0g net carbs. Plain distilled spirits have no carbs.
• Rum with diet cola, 0g net carbs. Only with a zero-sugar mixer.
• Low-carb light beer, 2.5g net carbs. Choose a beer marketed as low-carb.

Drinks to avoid

These are high enough in sugar that one serving can use up your whole day of carbs. Fruit juice is the sneakiest offender, for why whole fruit is smarter, see is fruit keto.

• Regular soda, 11g net carbs. Pure sugar; the easiest thing to cut.
• Orange juice, 10g net carbs. Just as sugary as soda.
• Apple juice, 11g net carbs. No fiber to slow the sugar down.
• Coconut water, 9g net carbs. Marketed as healthy, still high in sugar.
• Kombucha, 8g net carbs. Varies by brand, but usually too sweet.
• Regular beer, 13g net carbs. "Liquid bread," as the nickname goes.
• IPA beer, 14g net carbs. Craft and hoppy styles run even higher.
• Margarita, 34g net carbs. Sweet-and-sour mix loads it with sugar.
• Pina colada, 32g net carbs. Fruit juice and cream of coconut.
• Long Island iced tea, 33g net carbs. Multiple spirits plus cola.
• Vanilla milkshake, 75g net carbs. A full day of carbs in one glass.

The takeaway: default to water, coffee, and tea, reach for unsweetened plant milks and dry drinks when you want variety, and treat sugary juice and cocktails as off the menu. Not sure whether a drink or a whole meal fits? Run it through the Is My Meal Keto? checker, then build your day around it with the Keto Day Builder.