Suntory Strawberry -196 Vodka Seltzer at Yankee Stadium April 7, 2026

Welcome everyone from Yankee Stadium. This is my first game of the 2026 season. While I'm not drinking today, my daughter Jordan got herself a tall can of the Suntory Strawberry -196.

This particular beverage made in Japan and is how its made is interesting. This is how the -196 website describes their process:

-196, pronounced “Minus One Nine Six”, is a vodka seltzer that gets its name from the technology used to extract flavor from whole fruit...It starts with real, whole lemons that are frozen at -196 degrees Celsius, or -320 degrees Fahrenheit, using a proprietary Japanese process to lock in whole fruit flavor, then infused with premium vodka to bring forward a bold, fruit-forward flavor & aroma.

While I said I wasn't drinking today, I did sneak in a sip. I have to say that I kind of expected a bit more of a synthetic taste. But surprisingly it didn't. And it wasn't overly sweet. At 5.5% ALC/VOL, 710ml/24 ounces, the beverage has 3g of sugar per 12oz serving. The can in total of 6g of sugar. Which I guess is an ok amount...if you just have one. Those sugar grams can add up quickly.

While I was finishing the postcard, Jordan ended up getting herself a second one. This one was the Strawberry Pineapple Vodka Seltzer. Once again I had a sip and this one wasn't as good as the plain Strawberry. The pineapple flavor was much more prevalent than the strawberry, lending it a mote tarter flavor. 

As a meal, Yankee Stadium is trying to up their food game. While I didn't get any of the new offerings, I got myself an O.G. Chicken Sando from FUKU. Can't go wrong with this chicken sandwich.

My next post concerning the effects of two cans of Samuel Adams Summer Ale had on my blood sugar the other day.

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla
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Sugar and Non Alcoholic Beer April 2, 2026

As a former bartender, I last worked behind the bar at a time when the non-alcoholic beer trend was starting to hit its stride. Known as NA or 0.0% beer, these kind of beers run the gamut from lagers, to IPA, to dark beers and everything in between. It got me thinking, do NA beers have more or less sugar than their alcohol full versions. The answer is definitely interesting. 

The article Is Non-Alcoholic Beer Bad For You? dated December 19, 2023 from DayDrinker.com describes it as so:

Yes, they often contain sugar. But why do non-alcoholic beers have more sugar than traditional beers? In traditional beers, sugar is converted into alcohol through the fermentation process, which results in a zero-sugar product (unless sugar is added back in). However, with non-alcoholic beers, taste is often lost through the process of dealcoholisation which means sugar needs to be added back in at the end to improve its quality.

They also mention that NA beers tend to have higher carbohydrate numbers because of the extra sugar. 

I'm not very versed in the NA brands. I've tested a few in the past and haven't been too impressed by them.  One brand that I can say that I've had and actually like is the Athletic Brewery Co. offerings. I've had their Upside Dawn Golden NA beer in the past. I'll keep an eye out for some of the macro brewery offerings. 

I recommend that you check out The BBC Radio 4 Sliced Bread program has the article and audio version of the article Is no and low-alcohol beer better for you than a regular pint? Dated May 18, 2023.

Also check out the article How Much Sugar Does Alcohol Free Beer Have? From the Impossibrew.co.uk website. The article notes that while some of the NA beers have low sugar levels, some of them compensate for the loss in flavor by adding sugars. 

As stated in prior posts, as I'll post links and pics as I come them.

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking, 

SiscoVanilla

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Sugar and Beer Articles March 31, 2026

Hello my peeps. How's everyone doing so far this last week in March. So I've been busy doing my research on sugar levels in beer and wanted to share some of the articles I came across. 

The first article is How Much Sugar Is in Beer? Written by Ariane Lang, BSc, MBA on March 4, 2020 from the Healthline.com website. This one is a very in depth review on how beer is made and how the methods and ingredients used can translate to sugar in beer. 

The second article is How Much Sugar is in Beer? All About the Sugar Content in Beer by Chris Morell on May 16, 2024 from the Oobli.com website. Similarly to the first article, this one is also in depth with the information provided. This article goes into detail on how much sugar content there is in particular beer styles. Also how other alcoholic beverages compare to the amount of sugar in beer. Plus the article goes into the role of Alcohol and the liver, the role of carbs and the effect of alcohol on other aspects of life. Give it a read. 

The last article How Much Sugar is in a 12-oz Beer? From the New Trail Brewing Co. based in North Central Pennsylvania. This article is written from the perspective of a brewery. It is a bit more beercentric from a brewery that makes their beer with the outdoors in mind. 

In the end, the key in consuming beer and limiting the amount of sugar lies in moderation. As the Chris Morell states: 

If you’re drinking a lot of beers - like more than 3-6 - you are going to end up consuming more than 10-15g of sugar. If you’re drinking sweeter beers, this figure is even higher.

As I keep finding articles and resources, I'll post them here. Keep your eyes open for them. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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Coors Light, Walking and Diabetes March 29, 2026

Hope everyone is having a happy weekend. Since yesterday was Saturday, what better reason to conduct a quick experiment on the effect of Coors Light on a diabetic's blood sugar levels. 

Now I'm going with the common idea that a single serving of beer is 12oz. My blood sugars are tracked by the Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitor (CGM.) For this experiment I'm having two 12oz Coors Light Silver Bullet cans while taking a walk. I want to see if being active while having the beer will have a different effect than let's say being belly up at the bar and drinking the same two sized Silver Bullets. Here is how I started the experiment:

I started at 4:45pm with a single 12oz can and a blood glucose level of 94mc/dl. As I'm on the walk, I finish the first can and started on the second can. 

By 5:09pm, my blood glucose level rose to 103mg/dl.

At a half hour after starting the experiment (5:15pm) my blood glucose level continued to rise to 110mg/dl. This would be the highest it would go. 

At 5:25pm my blood glucose level dropped to 103mg/dl. 

At 5:36pm my blood glucose level approached 98mg/dl, which was four points higher than the 94mg/dl that I started the experiment. 

The final reading I took for the experiment was at 5:51pm at 99mg/dl. 

At almost 2 hours later at 6:35pm my blood glucose level sat at 95mg/dl. 

And for those of you keeping score, I walked 0.62 miles for just over 14 minutes.

So what does this mean. Honestly? This is my first experiment of this type. So I have to do a few more with different activities, different  beers and with and without food before I come to any type of conclusive result. But I do have to say, that looking at the graph in the last meter reading at 6:35pm that I'm looking at a small spike in blood sugar and consistent glucose levels. Which is definitely good to see. We'll have to see what the next few brews bring to the table. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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Drinking Beer as a Diabetic March 28, 2026

In my last post I referred to having some heath issues during the last year. One of the issues was the diagnosis of Diabetes. Luckily I'm not in the demographic that needs to take insulin. But I do have to take some medication and have had to undergo a major lifestyle and diet change. One of those changes was a drastic reduction of my consumption of alcohol. 

Up to that point, I wasn't particularly drinking hard liquor. I would only partake of a beer here and there, usually at the ballpark. What I found that drinking beer didn't really have much of an effect on my blood sugar. Now keep in mind, I only really drink the lighter beers such as Miller Lite and Coors Light.  What I would be curious about is the effect of something like a fruit beer such as Framboise or a Lambic. I am also curious of what kind of an effect Hefeweizen aka wheat beer would have on sugar levels. Let alone the combination of a fruit wheat beer. Baby steps folks. Baby steps. 

One kind of brew that I know causes a quick spike is Mike's Harder Lemonade. I had a tall can a few weeks ago and my sugar quickky went through the roof with the accompanying swift downward spike. A quick online search shows the a 16oz can of Mike's Harder Lemonade has roughly 46g of sugar. Keep in mind that a 16oz Coca Cola has 52g of sugar. That's s a whole lotta sugar. A 16oz Coors Light has 0g of sugar while the same size Miller Lite has 1g of sugar. 

So maybe there is something to have a light beer at the ballgame. I'll do some more in-depth research this Baseball season at the ballpark 😉. 

Want to read more on this subject? I recommend you check out Alcohol and Diabetes from the American Diabetic Association website. Also check out the article Can People with Diabetes Drink Beer? by By Shavonne Morrison, M.S., RD, LD and reviewed by Dietitian Christa Brown, M.S., RDN, LD from the Eating Well website. 

Well that's all for now. I have some ideas for what I believe will be some interesting posts. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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Welcome Back to SiscoVanilla Serves and Drinks

Hello everyone!!!! This is a bit of a welcome back for both all of you out there and for me. I  know the posting here has been quite sparse as of 2025. Life has an interesting way of putting you on new paths. Just to update, its been nearly 4 years since I've left the bar industry. Which means that I no longer have the spare spending money amd time that the bar business afforded me for my exploration and travels. Long gone are the days of the consistent social media presence, homemade cocktails and infusions. Things are simpler now.

More importantly, I've been dealing with health issues. Not to bore you with details, I had a doctor tell me that I was a "walking time bomb" in terms of my state of health. While I assumed that this was an exaggeration and overreaction on her part (it wasnt) I decided that it was time to take care of myself. Nine months later I'm in a better place. 

While its hard to engage in many of the events that I used to with a bartenders salary and schedule, I'm going to try my best to find new places to explore, visit old haunts and hopefully find some new brews to taste. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla
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Having a NÜTRL at Yankee Stadium May 22, 2025

What's up peeps!!!! I recently went to the Yankees vs Rangers game at Yankee Stadium with my daughter Jordan. Since I was going to the game with work on the next day, I didn't want to have anything too heavy to drink. A hard seltzer always is a good choice. 

For those who don't know, it has been almost three years since I left the bar business. In the last five years I worked in Brooklyn, hard seltzer was the craze. It seemed as if every beer brand was trying their hand at cracking into the hard seltzer arena that was led by White Claw and Truly. To say that I am out of the loop in the last three years is an understatement. Now you have hard juices, hard kombucha, Aguas frescas, hard iced tea with vodka and other combinations. Back to Yankee Stadium.

They've really done a good job at the Stadium to provide alternatives to their current beer selections. I came across and decided to try two of the NÜTRL cans that you can see in the picture to the right. NÜTRL is a vodka seltzer that contains real juice and is sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev. There are three different types of NÜTRL blends: Fruit Juice, Lemonade and Cranberry. In each of the three there are a number of flavors available for a total of 14 flavors. Each NÜTRL clocks in at 4.5% ABV. From the Fruit Juice blend I purchased an Orange and Pineapple. What did I think? 

First the Orange. I can describe it with one word: DANGEROUS. It tastes like a blend of Orange Fanta and Hi-C and it is very chuggable and crushable. It just goes down nice and easy. Luckily the cans have this unique cap that you can reclose and when open, leaves a smaller drink hole than you would get with your standard beer can. I found that it made it harder to chug. I'm not sure if that is by design, but if it was it works in limiting the amount you can suck down in one chug. Now the Pineapple. 

I love the taste of Pineapple soda. I was looking forward to this one meeting the expectation of Pineapple soda. It did not. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad. But I felt as if the Pineapple had a weird aftertaste on my palate. I actually never finished it. I gave it to Jordan for her to finish. I'll have to keep an eye out for all of the other NÜTRL selections. Have any of you had any of these before? What did you think. Let me know in the comments box. 

For my next post, I have another hard vodka seltzer that I purchased at the Stadium but my daughter drank it: Suntory -198. Keep an eye out for it. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla
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