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Drink Like A Lady? The Skinnygirl Margarita

June 26, 2012   41 Comments

Despite what you may think, Snack Girl doesn’t spend a lot of time hanging out in liquor stores.

Skinny Girl Margarita Review

Burrrppp :)

One of my readers recently sent me to my local alcoholic beverage establishment with a request.

From Jackie:
Do you think you could do one on drinks for the 4th of July? I have seen the Skinny Girl ads & think hmmm, but would I be better off with a Mike's hard Cranberry Light.

Looking to join the fun, but keep with the smaller waist line.

Yep, sounds reasonable to me. But, I didn’t know what she was talking about until I asked the young man who sells kegs to college students about Skinnygirl. I was feeling quite sheepish when I asked. “Do you sell something called Skinny Girl?”

He replied, “We sell A LOT of Skinnygirl here. We can’t keep it on the shelves.”

Where have I been? I plunked down my $14 (ouch) and purchased the best seller of the lot the “Skinnygirl Margarita”. And, I was ready to hate it.

You see, I have had a margarita experience involving turquoise water and white sand that will be one of the apexes of my short life. How can this bottled stuff even compare?

Skinnygirl drinks are the creation of Bethany Frankel who was made famous by her appearance on “The Real Housewives of New York” on Bravo. Ummmm, yeah, so now I have another reason to hate it because I have nothing in common with Bethany Frankel.

For example, I own a 1984 Honda Accord that I actually like to drive. She probably wouldn’t ride in anything later than a 2011 BMW. I, sometimes, go camping. She thinks a Best Western is camping. I could continue but I bet the Bethany Frankel fans are going to start flaming me.

So, I tasted the margarita, and I pronounce it very drinkable. In a shocking moment, I said to my husband, “I would actually drink this.” What? Well, it isn’t sweet. It has a good balance between lime and tequila and I don’t have to mix anything.

There are 37.5 calorie in 1.5 ounces of this drink. The alcohol in this drinks is 12.7% which is comparable to wine. Four ounces is a glass of wine - so for four ounces you are drinking 94 calories - which IS skinny for a margarita.

What she left out is all the sugar, so if you like your margarita really sweet you are not going to like this concoction.

Now for the down side (other than the price) - there isn’t an ingredient list included on the bottle or the website. The bottle says:

All natural, lightly sweetened with agave nectar, and made with premium Blue Agave clear tequila.

Which sounds good except that Whole Foods pulled it off their shelves because it includes “sodium benzoate” as a preservative. It doesn’t meet Whole Foods’ quality standard.

How did Bethany respond to Whole Foods’ removal of her product?

“I’m not making wheatgrass here. If I could put an agave plant and some limes on a shelf I would. [The Skinnygirl Margarita] is as close to nature as possible, while still being a shelf stable product.” TIME Magazine

Of course you would! We could all suck on agave plants instead of a tequila bottle.

My take is that these are a good for people who are trying to cut calories and love margaritas. I would add some fresh lime juice to make them really pop.

But, you can make something very similar by just pouring tequila over ice and adding fresh lime juice and a drop of agave nectar. It will taste better and save you some dough.

If you like your drinks super sweet, you are out of luck.

For the teenagers who read this site, Snack Girl advocates waiting until the legal drinking age to indulge in alcoholic beverages.

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41 Comments:

I think I will go with what Whole Foods thinks on that one!

Thanks for being the voice of sanity.

Thanks for the info! I don't mind trading a bit of shelf stability for lower calories, but that's just me.

I'm struggling to lose weight, so I appreciate a low-calorie alcoholic drink that's easy. Unscrew the top, drink. Perfect.

Thanks for the post, I have actually contacted them several times asking if their products are gluten-free with zero response, which I find irritating & ignorant, I actually watch her show, but would never buy her product w/out an ingredient list & no response on whether it's actually safe, or not.

Hungry Girl has an amazing Margarita recipe

Can you make some recommendations on non-alcoholic wines?

Too funny! I just purchased my first bottle yesterday. Target carries Skinny Girl (under $14).

Cheers!

If I am craving a Margarita,I just mix in around 1.5-2 ounces of tequila,ice,club soda,fresh lime juice and a little Stevia (I know Snack Girl is not crazy about Stevia but if you're cutting sugar or calories it's ok for some.) no salt. I do something similar for mojito cravings but replace tequila with rum and add mint.

Does it have artificial sweetener? I can't have fake sugar.

Thanks for being so darn Quick Lisa ~ You Rock!!!

I am going to get it for the 4th. =)

According to Skinny Girl email I finally got back ~ it is: Skinnygirl Margarita Weight Watchers Point calculation. Skinnygirl Margarita has a value of 1 Weight Watchers Point. The PointsPlus™ were calculated by Beam Inc. and not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. I have included the nutritional information listed below:

Skinnygirl® Margarita

Serving Size: 1.5 fl. Oz. (Average Analysis)Calories: 37.5

Carbohydrates: 1.43
Fat: 0
Protein: 0.07
Fiber: 0
Sugars (g): 1.4

Skinnygirl Margarita does not contact any artificial sweeteners. Calories in our products are stated in calories per ounce of liquor. Carbohydrates are stated in grams per ounce of liquor.

Skinny Girl Sangria also rocks!! I just add some cut-up fruit and ice. It's really good!!!

Good information to know. I"m going to try my hand in making my own margarita!

Sounds tasty.

But sodium benzoate is actually pretty dangerous. When mixed with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), it produces benzene. The FDA says it's at "harmless" levels but I still don't eat or drink anything with sodium or potassium benzoate in it.

Benzene is a carcinogen; it causes cancer. With all the accidental exposure I can run across in a given day, I do not want it in my food or drinks!

I honestly couldn't stand it because it was just too tart, and I ended up adding a packet of Splenda to my glass. I never thought of your take of making your own Skinny Girl margarita. I might have to try this with the bestie because my husband doesn't want anything to do with the Skinny Girl.

I've made something that was also called Skinny Girl margarita, but was different (maybe it's the Hungry Girl one referred to above?) - tequila, lime juice and Crystal Light lemonade. It's really not half bad.

I have a recommendation! It's become my favorite drink of late - not that I'm a big drinker, of course...lol.

I just take 2 ounces of organic Rain vodka, put it in a big (I have a 20 oz glass that's perfect for this) glass, add most of a Vitamin Water 0 (wish Snack Girl would review these - they have the sugar alcohol sweetener and truvia, so nothing fake), and then a little club soda. It tastes kind of like Sunny D, and is around 100 calories (all from the vodka), so not as low as this skinny girl stuff, but also no benzene (bonus!lol). It's light and keeps you hydrated, which I love, and since it takes a while to drink, I don't find myself having 3 drinks instead of 1. Highly recommended!

I hated the stuff. Poured it down the drain. I don't like wasting food or money but I thought this stuff was rank. Also, Beam's calculation for Points Plus may be off. WW points for alcohol have gone WAY up sinc P+ was introduced. The calculator does not work properly because of the alcohol. Proceed with caution!

I was sooo excited to try it out because I liked the idea of a low-cal easy marg but I found it to be a huge letdown. First off, the price. Eee gads! A bit much for the amount you get. Secondly, rot gut city! I didn't want to finish it because it hurt my tummy so much. No thanks. I'll make my own.

I've always liked Bethenny Frankel and really enjoy her SkinnyGirl products. Her original recipe for SkinnyGirl Margarita's (before producing a product that she could sell for everyone to enjoy) was:

- 2 ounces clear premium tequila, Bethenny prefers Patron Silver (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)

- 1/2 lime, juice of

- splash Grand Marnier or bols triple sec

It's really a great, more healthy, alternative to a regular margarita.

Bethenny has always also promoted only have 1 or 2 drinks when you are out and drinking lots of water in between. She promotes a more healthy lifestyle, not just dieting. If you haven't read her book, Naturally Thin, you really should. It's an easy, fun read that really makes you rethink the way you eat and helps you balance your food out everyday. It helps you not feel bad for eating a doughnut, ice cream, or a bagel.

Based on some of her other "skinny"cocktail recipes I was inspired to create one of my own using a shot of coconut vodka, fresh lime juice, and topped with sparkling water or club soda. So good and refreshing!

Maybe the solution is to drink Margaritas (real ones) only when you are on a short vacation south of the border. Of course, if you live there, you really have a problem.

Great review! I'd heard about SkinnyGirl and figured I'd be better off making my own.

I enjoyed the read! SkinnyGirl just didn't hit the spot for me, personally. It just wasn't sweet enough!

I got some as a gift and I like it alright. I probably won't buy it myself - I couldn't see the benefit over just mixing tequila and lime juice myself. But I put it in a blender with frozen strawberries and liked it even better.

I just spent 20 minutes trying to find this again online - couldn't remember the exact name - I tried it at a food show - VERY good light margarita mix (you add the tequila, which means you can control calories there)... I thought it was MUCH better than Skinny girl - it is in Whole Foods - I'm going to have to go pick some up for vacation! Yum!

http://powellandmahoney.com/product/low-cal-margarita

Thank you for the review! The price alone would definitely steer me away. I make every drink a skinny girl drink. I take the liquor of my choosing (usually gin), club soda and fresh lime or lemon. Once in a great while, I may add a little stevia but for the most part, its just the soda, alcohol and fresh squeezed juice. BTW, I will add mint for a mojito and maybe a slice of cucumber. A bloody mary is only spicy V8 and vodka. Spice it up with hot sauce and black pepper. Add a giant celery stick of course. :)

Good to know, thanks for taking one for the team and trying it for us!

I took one drink of this "stuff" and nearly threw up in my mouth! To put it nicely, it tasted like something a dog would do to a fire hydrant. Ick. No wonder Frankel is so skinny! LOL!

Thanks for reviewing this (and thank you to all that commented - very useful!). I'm so not a Bethenny fan so I've steered away from these though I have to admit i was intrigued. Summer imbibing has hurt my waistline already so I think I will try making my own based on the suggestions here. Love your site - always learn something useful - thanks!

Hubby just bought one of those pre-made mixes that you just add alcohol to - it was SO easy, but as I drink every sip, I can't help but think how much sugar there is in it! I'm going to try this out! Thanks for the recommendation!

I like to imbibe from time to time, but I will NEVER spend my $18 on Skinnygirl Margarita. It is HORRIBLE. The first time, I thought it was just off, so I went and got another a few weeks later. OMG- just as bad. I love tart- tart is better than sweet to me. The third (and final) time was at Thanksgiving- I got a bottle for the ladies and NONE of us could swallow more than a sip.

I will say- when I made it from scratch, I really enjoyed it!

I would go for making your own with lime and agave or even stevia to really drop the cals. Actually, there is a margarita mix that uses real lime and stevia which is very good and light. Here's the site if interested - http://www.slimritas.com/

RC, just went to that website. Is there tequila in that already? Because if not, 100 calories plus the tequila makes it quite a hefty calorie shot. They call it a margarita "mix" which to me means no tequila

At five calories a serving I doubt there's any tequila in it.

But it certainly looks better than the Crystal Light mocktails in my pantry. Except for the stevia... which is most likely NOT in its natural form and therefore not a "natural sweetener".

Ohhh I see, Crysta. Maybe it's 100 calories with the tequila. I didn't see the 5 calories per serving until now. Makes more sense.

Melissa, yes, the 100 cal is after vodka is added. I thought the same thing at first.

Crysta, just out of curiosity, what would you consider natural form? Agave syrup or honey is processed to some degree but still considered natural.

There are other options out there! I buy an all natural, low cal mixer called Drink Skinny. It's sweetened with stevia, made with juice, and has no preservatives. I make margaritas with it, but they have 3 flavors that you can make other drinks as well. It's hard to find in some parts of the country, but I order online.

I actually have the Skinnygirl Recipe....got it a while ago from food.com and I have made it many times! Like you said, it's not a sweet margarita, but it is pretty darn good! Here's the recipe:

2 ounces clear premium tequila, Bethenny prefers Patron Silver (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)

juice of 1/2 lime
splash Grand Marnier or triple sec
Directions:

Combine all ingredients over a glass of crushed ice and garnish with a lime wedge.

If you liked the SkinnyGirl margarita, then you definitely should try Tres Agaves Organic Margarita Mix with only 3 ingredients: Agave, Lime Juice and Water. Add your tequila makes brings it to 4 ingredients and you control how "strong" your drink is.

I also created a great drink. I take a Mikes Light Cranberry and mix it in with one of my Orange Mango zero water.(stop & shop brand) I take about a 1/4 bottle of the mike's and add the rest with the flavored water. My one mikes 12 oz drink, now makes 3 drinks better for you, since you are getting your water in at the same time.

Not worth buying, thumbs down!

Does anyone know the Weight Watchers SmartPoints count of Skinny Girl wines?

Instead of hyping a Booze Brand, why not give simple recipes where people can make their own cocktails with fewer calories. I can hardly believe someone wrote that question to you

when all it would take to answer the question would be to read the bottle labels. Don't worry I'm sure you'll get a few free coupons from Skinny Girl. Disappointed ..............

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