3 months on the wagon... what do I drink?

[Fab Foodie]

OK, so going for 3 months without alcohol witha few other guys' gals. 

Problem is what to drink:

Going to the pub/resteraunt with pals?
At parties?
With dinner or certain types of foods?
For fun/kicks?

Forget coke, lemonade, orange juiceand lemonade... we need the more interesting cordials, fizz's, non-alcohol cocktails and punches... and we need them quick!

[bobb]

If I'm off the boozahol in summer I tend to drink blackcurrent and soda. In winter, tea or coffee.

I don't have any middle class pseudo friends, so I'm not sure what I'd drink at a dinner party 

Three months is good work BTW 

[simonp]

At the pub, lime and soda is good because it's good vfm compared to the likes of orange and lemonade.

But do ask.  If they charge the same as for a lemonade, I'd not have it.

[peliroja]

I don't drink alcohol at all and have tea, hot Choc, water or tonic water if I'm really pushing the boat out.

[Mrs Pingu]

ginger beer!

[Oaky]

I'm quite partial to grapefruit juice and tonic when looking for something non-alcoholic to drink in the pub. It's not overly sweet (which is the problem I have with most non-alcoholic alternatives) and has sufficient interest that I can drink more than one in the evening without getting bored of it.

In the daytime, I'll probably just have coffee or water.

I'm a bit strange, though, in really liking almost any fruit juice watered down to very low concentrations. (Squash too -- it tastes quite different when served in near-homeopathic solutions  )

[Charlotte]

I often drink alcohol free lager (Cobra's the best, followed by Becks Blue).  Otherwise, I like a mix of grapefruit juice and cranberry juice.  If I can't get that, dry ginger ale or tonic water or something.

I really can't be doing with sweet, syrupy post-mix things.

[hellymedic]

I think neither my partner nor I had any alcohol over the festive season; we're not teetotallers, we just don't like it much.
We drank:

Mineral water
J2O
Lemonade
Diet Coke
Tea
Hot Chocolate
Fruit cocktails/cordials
Fruit juice

Sometimes our first choice of drink was unavailable so we needed to be flexible. This may be the key; drink what's available and what you fancy at the time; who wants a drink with ice when it's frrreeezing outside?
Maybe best not to always drink the same thing; boredom may scupper attempts to stay on the wagon.

[longers]

Will you be doing the alcohol free lager?

They're better than Kaliber used to be and Charlottes suggestions are good.

[bobb]

J2O

For many years I thought J2O actually contained booze!! That's how fucked up I was! I drank a pack of that shit once when I wasn't really in any state to be anywhere other than a bed. I didn't even notice it didn't contain any alcohol!

I don't want to hijack this thread, but there are possibly only a couple of YACFers who could come close to my alcohol consumption over the last 20 years.

I'd quite like to write about it, but I might get a bit shy 

[Julian]

I was off the booze from Januaryish to Easterish last year, and then sporadically from Easter to TRAT (that was more booze reduction than booze avoidance.)

It was boring.  I like beer, and the only drink that comes near the subtle variety of flavour that you get with proper beer is coffee, and even then, most commercially available coffee is Starbucksed to hell and back. 

Going to a pub / restaurant - pop - diet Coke, usually
At parties - alcohol free lager or pop
With dinner - as above, strong coffee afterwards to compensate
For fun - coffee

Having said that, a Shirley Temple cocktail with an added dash of pineapple juice got the thumbsup from Charlotte recently.  You could try that.

[clarion]

My biggest mistake was to go for fizzy drinks as a replacement.  I went from drinking pints of beer to pints of coke.  It takes a while ofr your body to adapt to drinking less, but it's a good thing.

However, I was helped by not having the evenings for socialising, because I was generally at work.  And my asthma limited the amount i went to pubs anyway.

The choice of non-alcoholic drinks available has been piss-poor.  But it's definitely improved.  The widespread supply of J2O has helped, though the price charged is scandalous.

Thankfully, now, tea is very widely available.  That suits me

[Bledlow]

I was off the booze from Januaryish to Easterish last year, and then sporadically from Easter to TRAT (that was more booze reduction than booze avoidance.)

It was boring.  I like beer, and the only drink that comes near the subtle variety of flavour that you get with proper beer is coffee, and even then, most commercially available coffee is Starbucksed to hell and back.  ...

+1. I had a month off alcohol because of drug interactions two years ago, & a week just before Christmas. Now, it's no big deal going without alcohol for a week, but not being able to choose was a right pain. I really wanted a beer a couple of times that week. I could taste it . . .

I'd tried alcohol-free beer in my month off (December again ), & not liked it. Better than syrupy-sweet stuff, but that's not saying much. My problem isn't alcohol content, but flavour.

Oh yeah, & I can't drink coffee all the time. All that caffeine! Good flavour appears to equate to a fairly high caffeine content.

[Charlotte]

The widespread supply of J2O has helped, though the price charged is scandalous.

J2O is alcopops with no alcohol.  Quite vile.

I'd rather drink OJ.

Thankfully, now, tea is very widely available.  That suits me

And me.  I ask for tea as much as I do alcohol-free lager.

My claim to fame on this front is that I once managed to persuade the bar staff at Fabric to make me a cup of tea.
[/oldgit]

[Fab Foodie]

It was boring.  I like beer, and the only drink that comes near the subtle variety of flavour that you get with proper beer is coffee, and even then, most commercially available coffee is Starbucksed to hell and back. 

Totally agree.  It's the flavour, variety and complexity of real beer that get's me as well.  Wine and Single malts too!  I'm already salivating over the thought of a simple pint of Youngs Ordinary in the Kings Arms on April the first!  
Coincidently I have also liberated the Cafitiere and grinder this weekend from the back of the cupboard and have started drinking real coffeee again finding it a pleasant substitute for the goblets of Red Wine I would normally have.   Agree it's a taste variety and complexity thing.

Will look into the cocktail as well!
Cheers!

[Jacomus]

I am drinking a hell of a lot of tea, though I always do.
50/50 mix of apple juice and coke is a goodun
Moscow Fule - Gingerbeer + redbull (fakking expensive but v nice)
Alco-free lager
Soda+lime cordial

[MikeFromLFE]

I've been off the sauce for about three years now for health reasons. It's not easy getting something that tastes less than vile in a pub, but Becks Blue and Cobra Zero are OK - but I do prefer Ginger Beer!
At home I have rather developped a taste for Ice Tea (Lipton, Peach flavour by preference - the Lidl version (Lemon) is far too sweet) and filled my car boot up with the stuff when we went to La Belle France last year. (My favorite cycling bottle drink is Lidl Ice Tea 50/50 with tap water).
Good quality tea (made with leaves in a china tea pot) is well worth the wait and the effort.
There's a good variety of non / lo alcohol wines beers and mixers available (go google) - my favorite is 'Alcohol-free Pernod' - the brand is Atlantic, and I think its made by Ricard-Pernod, same yummy taste, no nasty headache. There's also a sort-of-schnapps I've tried, but has a rather puny taste. Never was one for whisky, but there's one of those too.

[oncemore]

I rarely enter pubs these days - still wanting alcohol even after 81 months ALL temptation best avoided! - but when I do nearly always coke.

Mind you, I have much less inclination to visit pubs or cafes or restaurants now that can't smoke inside! When I'm in city centre I have hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream ...... sat outside Prets!!

[SteveC]

A friend of ours who has been off the booze for medical reasons recommended apple and mango juice with dry ginger ale in the proportions 1:2 (ish).

We've since tried it with just apple juice and one or two other fruit juices.  Stops you drinking the whole lot straight down.
In a pub we'd probably go for a J2O in two glasses with a dry ginger on each, but that won't be cheap!

S

[Sergeant Pluck]

For many years I thought J2O actually contained booze!!

Until I read this thread, I always assumed it contained boozahol too. I might give it a try sometime.

[hellymedic]

For many years I thought J2O actually contained booze!!

Until I read this thread, I always assumed it contained boozahol too. I might give it a try sometime.

J2O is allegedly 50% fruit juice.

Also contains water, sugar and Additives.

Orange/Passion Fruit, Apple & Mango and Apple & Melon are usually available but seasonal variations are also made.

Winter Berry was a bit   ,tasting like kids' medicine IMO.

The cranberry one they did last year was better.

[Crystal Tips]

If you can track it down, the alcohol free version of Erdinger (wheat beer) is really nice - actually has a beer taste.  OK, so it's not quite London Pride, but it is very drinkable.

I also really like lime & lemonade with angostura bitters - it changes the taste entirely - takes away the sweetness - I could easily drink a few of them in the pub.

[plug]

If you can track it down, the alcohol free version of Erdinger (wheat beer) is really nice - actually has a beer taste.  OK, so it's not quite London Pride, but it is very drinkable.

I also really like lime & lemonade with angostura bitters - it changes the taste entirely - takes away the sweetness - I could easily drink a few of them in the pub.

Yebbut Angostura Bitters are alcoholic.  Even if you're only adding a homeopathic splash or two.

[simonp]

I hate paying £2.50 for orange and lemonade etc. The solution is to ask for lime & soda.  Can be as little as 50p a pint. Watch out for bottled soda water though. That's expensive. 

[Wowbagger]

If for some reason I'm not drinking beer, I find a tomato juice with a dash of Worcester sauce is acceptable.