You asked about an appropriate mixed drink at business functions, with clients and the like, so I’d say to lay off anything real fancy, cute, or sweet, and go with something basic. If you like the “Sky vodka with a splash of water and lime twist”, then I’d stick with that. The key is NOT to proceed to knock back several–stop after one or two. 
For me, one of the best, and most simple, straightforward drinks is a vodka tonic. That’s what I tend to get at those kinds of functions. I avoid ordering ‘name brand’ drinks or anything like that just because that’s always sounded a bit pretentious or wannabe to me. If it’s a stand-up, afternoon, open-bar kind of event, then I might go for a bloody mary, but that’s about as elaborate as I’d get at a work-oriented gathering.
Or a scotch or bourbon on the rocks is a good solid ‘man’s man’ kind of drink. But to me, vodka still seems to provide the cleanest of buzzes and the least hangover of any of the hard stuff.
If you like the beer - order beer, and if you would like to portray a classier appearance try an import like stella or drink a micro-brew from a chilled mug or glass.
Aries28, you could always order your drink tall; that way there’s twice as much water/soda/juice so it takes longer to drink, and you don’t run the risk of getting tanked. 
This is what I do when I want to nurse a drink; I hate beer and I’m not too keen on wine, so I just order my Absolut and 7 tall. Takes twice as long to drink but I still enjoy it.
But my beverage of choice these days is Absolut and Red Bull. Seriously. I love it. I know that as a bartender people expect me to have cooler alcoholic preferences, but I’m a basic kind of gal at heart and I’m addicted to Red Bull…and a cool side effect is that it prevents you from getting as drunk as you would otherwise b/c it’s an energy drink. (I just like the flavor, though.)
You could always try something with basically no alcohol in it, like an Amaretto or Midori Sour, but only if you’ve got the stomach for incredibly sweet, pointless drinks. ugh Or make every other drink a water; that’s respectable and makes you look “prudent.”
I agree that it just looks tacky for a woman to drink beer out of a bottle in an upscale setting; couldn’t really tell you why, but I just do. (Plus how do you deal with the burping? Beer in a bottle makes me burp like crazy!)
My two cents.
As a rule, upon making the switch or modifying their repertoire, most exclusive beer drinkers usually go toward the darker spirits (woooo-oooo) (Scotch/Bourbon/Rye Whiskey) with water or club.
Drambuie on the rocks - sweet taste, but watch out, it sneaks up on you after a few…
If you want straight alcohol, but still want to appear sophisticated, just order manhattans or martinis. Get them extra dry, and it’s pretty much just a shot anyways with an olive or cherry to chew on. If you don’t want it in a martini glass, order it on the rocks.
Now pick your type of gin, vodka or whiskey.
For vodka, I like Ketel
Gin = Tanqueray
Makers Mark makes a fine manhatten
So put it together. If you want a nice cold shot of vodka in front of your business friends, your order is:
Dry Ketel One martini on the rocks, please.
You get your ice cold shot, and have a complicated drink order!
As for my drink, I get a shot of Makers neat with a Fat Tire for a back. Most people at my bar sit around drinking some sort of whiskey/beer combo.
The Manhattan. Definitely the Manhattan.
I’ll second Bailey’s (on the rocks)…
Sam: “What’ll it be, Fraiser?”
Fraiser: “I don’t know, whatever losers drink.”
Sam: “Hey Louis (or whatever that old extra’s name was) what do you drink?”
Louis: “Manhattan.”
Sam: “How about a Manhattan?”
As mentioned, I think a good beer in a glass is perfectly acceptable. Order an import, like a Guinness or Heineken. For hard alcohol, whiskey sours, Alize (cognac with passionfruit juice), Stoli and cranberry, or gin and tonic all seem appropriate.
I dislike both wine and beer, so I feel your pain. Nothing makes you look goofier than asking for a frozen salted marguerita or sex on the beach during a business meeting.
I usually default to a screwdriver, at least I’m getting my vitamin C.
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Do swoopty new mixed drinks have to have sleazy names? I love red-headed sluts (cranberry juice, jaegermeister and peach schnapps) but I feel dorky about asking for one in front of ‘real’ grownups. Ick.
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Mojitos are good, but they’re not the new trendy drink anymore, if that matters to you. Drink a beer if you’d like, but I say from the bottle is a bit too casual for nice places, too. My reasoning is that the bottle is what the drink comes in, people drink beverages from glasses. It would be like drinking milk straight from the carton, right there at the table in the middle of the fancy pants restaurant. Plus, the whole image of drinking from the bottle is linked to drunks staggering around with a bottle in hand, for some people.
Of course, if any of the clients have the same problem they’ll love you if you persuade everyone to get a round of beer. Can’t think of a way of finding out without saying “Hey, anyone else think beer isn’t tacky?” which defeats the purpose.
Try Pimms and lemonade with lots of ice. But don’t have the default concentration of 1:3 or 1:5 or whatever. You want just enough to be able to taste it and discolour the lemonade. This should be 1:20 or less
This kinda happened once. I am 90% of the time the only female at these meetings so I already am at the disadvantage (not that I think that…but it’s still a good old boy network in my industry).
Anyway…I listened as everybody placed their orders and when the waiter got to me I said, “I’ll just have a beer, thanks.” 3 out of the 5 gentleman called him back over and changed their orders to beers.
Hurray for the small victories!
Thanks for all of the input. I will try out some of your suggestions.
I’ll second the Southern Comfort votes. I like this b/c it doesn’t taste so much like hard whiskey or bourbon to me. SoCo is good mixed with OJ, Coke, or Dr. Pepper.
Something I’ve been drinking lately is vanilla vodka and ginger ale. Not too girly-girl sweet and it looks like a hard-ass drink in the glass. It tastes like cream soda.
My favorite girly-girl drink is Sour Apple Martinis which hold the same rule as the Cosmo – if you can’t hold it without spilling it’s time to stop drinking.
This ought to go over well at a classy restaurant:
“I’d like a Red-Headed Slut, followed by Sex-on-the-Beach, then maybe a Sloe-Comfortable-Screw”
Details?
Oh yeah…I’m sure with that order the clients would be so impressed I would land their account on the the spot.
RE: Dancing on tables…
Hey…it was college…I was poor… Who am I kidding…it was just last week and I was only drunk.
I kid. I joke. Hubby is going to read this post and ban me from the boards.
Get a whiskey. Sip it slowly. When you sip it, remember that every time it burns, its telling you to “stay sharp & keep your wits about you: this isn’t a social gathering”.
**Audrey Levins ** There is a guy I work with who drinks Red Bull and vodka (not Absolut!). He is quite a bit younger and I thought he was trying to make some wack statement. I never though normal people would drink it.
I’ve never tried Red Bull since I tried a SoBe once and just hated the way it made me feel. Sorta figured that Red Bull would have the same kind of effect.
But I might try the Red Bull first and then see if I think vodka would be a good addition.
Baileys on the rocks or Pimms and lemonade get my vote. As has already been said though, watch the Pimms. It goes down real easy and you wont know you’re in trouble until you get up to leave!