I’m doing my best to stop drinking, but my local only has Heineken 0 available. What else do you lot drink that I can reliably get in the pub, which isn’t full of caffeine or sugar?
Water is about all I can think of but I’m wondering if there is something I can ask for that I’m overlooking. I’m hoping this will be like when I learned about pesto; I couldn’t believe I had gone so long before eating it.
A very popular non-alcoholic drink in Germany is “Apfelschorle”. It’s half apple juice and half soda water. While apple juice is still pretty sugary, you cut that in half by adding water. In British pubs they often have fruit juice in small bottles, so just pour that in a pint glass, add soda and you’re done.
Where are the soda bars at? I’ve been making my own at home with club soda and various fruit sweeteners like elderberry.
When I’m feeling like not drinking, I usually go for ginger ale or ginger beer, but they’re quite sugary. Cutting them with water or a lot of ice can help. Juices universally are pretty sugary too so cutting with them is delicious but not really healthier.
My other go to is soda water with bitters or a small splash of bitter liquor. Bitters are high alcohol but you only get a few drops at a time which is comparable to “0 proof” drinks which can have some trace amounts of alcohol still. Many bars have a variety of bitters and aperitifs so its a bit like having an herbal tonic soda jerk. A squirt of lime or other citrus, or a few syrupy cherries, will also add to such a mocktail.
To be fair, beer and liquor are poisons, and they have tons of calories from unfermented sugars and the alcohol breaking down into more carbs in your body (hence beer guts). If your goal was to lose weight, stick to water. But if it’s just to cut back on booze, juice and sugar soda aren’t so much worse for you.
Ask for a glass of tap water and tip $10
You’ll likely get free non-alcoholic drinks free the rest of the night.
I’m 10 years sober… I started the tip thing because I didn’t think it was fair to go to an establishment, listen to the music, enjoy the scenery, and pay nothing to anybody. Especially because I cannot emotionally justify spending $7 on a diet pepsi that’s 60% ice.
Didn’t really realize it was going to happen, but it seems like staff really appreciates that and then treats you really kind in turn.
Guinness 0% is the only alchohol free thing that I’ve found to actually taste like it’s original counterpart. Most places seem to have it these days.
Avoiding sugar is going to be difficult as it’s the default for non alcoholic drinks. As others have said lime (or other mixer) and soda is probably the best bet.
To add insult to injury I’m finding that a lot of the non alcoholic options tend to be priced higher too.
I’ve heard it justified as it being expensive to remove the alcohol, but so much of the original drinks price is alcohol taxation that I think it’s just because they can.
I was thinking more along the lines of half a pint of coke costing more than a full pint of larger ☹️
You’re right though the non alcoholic beers are usually more too.
What else do you lot drink that I can reliably get in the pub, which isn’t full of caffeine or sugar?
Water.
Only thing at a bar you can reliably get that isn’t alcohol, full of sugar, or caffeinated is water. Aside from soda, they’ll have cranberry and orange juice for mixers; but juice is even more sugary than soda.
I’m a fan of ginger beer or any soft drink with ginger bitterness.
Straight tonic is also a good one.Lime and soda or soda lemon and bitters.
I’ll try this tonight and report back, thank you.
In a similar vein, I quite enjoy a cranberry and tonic
Somebody mentioned soda and angostura bitters and I quite liked that. Slightly similar.
Orange juice and lemonade is way nicer than it should be.
I like the idea of a glitch drink.
glitch drink.
?
The ‘way nicer than it should be’ phrasing just made me think that way
If it’s a place that serves tea and coffee, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll do decaf or green tea.
I don’t recommend drinking three pints of it, though.
If you’re a regular, you might be able to persuade them to try a few other 0% beer options, like Guinness 0% or “Nowt Peculiar” etc
Otherwise, yeah, it’s water or fizzy water, optionally with some juice or cordial in it.
Guinness 0% is truly top tier, its about the only one of them (out of the sparse few I’ve had) that tastes as good as the ‘full fat’ version
Lime and soda was always a popular pub drink for non-drinkers.
I’ve been in the booze echo chamber and it never rooted as an idea until now. Thank you
Isnt the lime sugar though?
A bit of sugar is ok, I just wanted to avoid the frightening amount in things like coke.
Non-alcoholic gin and tonic can be pretty good, but is often a rip-off.
Guiness 0% or the Brewdog AFs are pretty good. My favourite was Nanny State, but it’s hard to find.
They only sell Heineken, so I’m out of luck for other 0 beers. I’m not sure about the 0 spirits though, but I think it’s also a no. Thanks for the recommendation.
Also as a separate thing, I won’t buy Brewdog. I know this makes me seem really difficult with my list of things I won’t drink:
- Caffeine
- Excessive sugar
- Coke/Pepsi
- Alcohol
- Brewdog
- …
If you can find it, try Drop Bear. Better than Brewdog and without the troubling social injustice (as far as I know).
Yeah I am also boycotting Brewdog after the takeover farce. Finding alcoholic alternatives is no problem, but they are very good at the AF stuff.
And we’re also trying to avoid all Coke/Pepsi owned products, which is almost everything sugary in a pub - fine for me as I’m not into sweet drinks, but leaves my wife on lime and soda often.
Why not Brewdog if I may ask?
Not OP, but two big issues for me having actually been a fan of them and an ‘Equity Punk’ (just one share) back in 2020:
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CEO accused of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power.
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Despite huge popularity and their drinks taking over every supermarket, somehow managed to fall into administration leaving suppliers and original investors out of pocket.
I think the takeover deal stinks - the worst kind of capitalism - leave all the small guys short changed and hand a massive multinational brand to another company with no obligations to make it right.
Thanks, TIL
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Tea and lemonade (Arnold palmer)
Isn’t cider non alcoholic?
This guy’s American! Get him boys!
In the UK, most cider is alcoholic
Well, all of it that’s not a non-alcoholic variant.
No? It’s fermented fruit
Americans (and maybe other English-speaking countries, I don’t know) call some common kinds of non-fermented apple juice “cider”. To get the alcoholic one that the UK calls cider, you need to ask for “hard cider”
Those countries are daft
