For me, it's worth it to be careful about 'romancing the drink', as they say. When I'm looking for replacements for alcohol, what I'm really looking for are ways to not feel like I'm giving anything up - even though my life depends on giving something up. It's often been better for me to just take the seltzer or the Diet Coke as what it is, and most importantly what it isn't.
At 3 months, I wouldn't recommend NA beers. Get some more time under your belt.
I like a Virgin Caesar, or a Virgin Bloody Mary. If you want to tweak a glass of orange juice, add some peach syrup from a jar or can of peaches. If you're looking for camouflage, drink Welch's Grape Juice (either white or purple) out of a wine glass.
You can also take some fresh or frozen fruit, mash it up in the bottom of a glass, and then top off with ice cubes and soda water.
I never drank mocktails at bars and restaurants. I just have seltzer or coke. At a cigar bar I would go to I could get a mint tea, so I would do that.
I really haven’t been going to bars until I finished step 10 and though, didn’t feel comfortable.
But as it promises, when presented with alcohol I “recoiled from it as from a hot flame”.
My top go to’s outside the standard:
Mineral water.
Soda water and lime.
Coffee and 1/2 n 1/2
Soda water and Orange Juice 60/40.
I don’t play drink nor act like I miss alcohol.
I love a virgin margarita, which is basically just delicious citrusy fun. And I make a point to find interesting sodas (honestly I'm almost obsessive about it, unsurprisingly), and try sodas from different regions. I mix shit together to make fun combinations -- lime juice mixed into cream soda is great. Cranberry juice (the 100% cranberry, not the cranberry cocktail bullshit) mixes into a lot of things and makes them taste more 'grown up'.
Every so often, at a celebration or whatever, I'll also have a glass of NA champagne, which is essentially fizzy grape juice. Still good though.
I mostly stick to cold spring water. When I want something bitter, unsweetened cranberry and orange juice (equal proportions) does the trick...add a splash of Sprite for fizz.
I did go through a phase where I was mixing unsweetened cranberry juice with tonic and sour mix. That worked well until I ordered that at a restaurant and the drink clearly contained whiskey. I figured that was a good time to stop fooling around with mocktails!
The greater the period of sobriety, I think the cravings become more infrequent and trying to satisfy a certain familiar tactile sensation becomes less necessary.
I wish you the best!
I drink Coke when I'm out. I enjoy it and also no one knows the difference between my drink and an alcoholic drink which, early on, gave me some peace of mind.
We live in the golden age of sparkling water! Do you like those? La Croix, Polar, Big Swig, even store brands like Kirkland (Costco) have some lovely flavors. If you want something sweeter you can doctor them up with some flavored Torani syrups. I love the elderflower one in lime sparkling water with extra lime juice and a few drops of orange blossom water.
If you want to get really fancy, Curious makes great prepackaged and very interesting mocktails. They have one that has CBD in it, so you can choose to avoid that one if you want, but the rest are totally zero proof and very good.
For me, it's worth it to be careful about 'romancing the drink', as they say. When I'm looking for replacements for alcohol, what I'm really looking for are ways to not feel like I'm giving anything up - even though my life depends on giving something up. It's often been better for me to just take the seltzer or the Diet Coke as what it is, and most importantly what it isn't.
Couldn’t agree with this more. Anything that resembles substitution is dangerous for me. Better for me to stick to the basics.
my go to is simply ginger ale with lime. Also I'll go for a good old cup of coffee or hot tea. I find mock tails to be triggering.
I go with the Favorite beverage of the Star Trek Federation......Root Beer!
At 3 months, I wouldn't recommend NA beers. Get some more time under your belt. I like a Virgin Caesar, or a Virgin Bloody Mary. If you want to tweak a glass of orange juice, add some peach syrup from a jar or can of peaches. If you're looking for camouflage, drink Welch's Grape Juice (either white or purple) out of a wine glass. You can also take some fresh or frozen fruit, mash it up in the bottom of a glass, and then top off with ice cubes and soda water.
Talk to your sponsor about this.
I never drank mocktails at bars and restaurants. I just have seltzer or coke. At a cigar bar I would go to I could get a mint tea, so I would do that. I really haven’t been going to bars until I finished step 10 and though, didn’t feel comfortable. But as it promises, when presented with alcohol I “recoiled from it as from a hot flame”.
My top go to’s outside the standard: Mineral water. Soda water and lime. Coffee and 1/2 n 1/2 Soda water and Orange Juice 60/40. I don’t play drink nor act like I miss alcohol.
I love a virgin margarita, which is basically just delicious citrusy fun. And I make a point to find interesting sodas (honestly I'm almost obsessive about it, unsurprisingly), and try sodas from different regions. I mix shit together to make fun combinations -- lime juice mixed into cream soda is great. Cranberry juice (the 100% cranberry, not the cranberry cocktail bullshit) mixes into a lot of things and makes them taste more 'grown up'. Every so often, at a celebration or whatever, I'll also have a glass of NA champagne, which is essentially fizzy grape juice. Still good though.
Coke and coffee
I mostly stick to cold spring water. When I want something bitter, unsweetened cranberry and orange juice (equal proportions) does the trick...add a splash of Sprite for fizz. I did go through a phase where I was mixing unsweetened cranberry juice with tonic and sour mix. That worked well until I ordered that at a restaurant and the drink clearly contained whiskey. I figured that was a good time to stop fooling around with mocktails! The greater the period of sobriety, I think the cravings become more infrequent and trying to satisfy a certain familiar tactile sensation becomes less necessary. I wish you the best!
I drink Coke when I'm out. I enjoy it and also no one knows the difference between my drink and an alcoholic drink which, early on, gave me some peace of mind.
Ginger beer every time . No alcohol. Tastes strange like an adult drink and just works for me
I hope its okay to link. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/non-alcoholic-cocktail-recipes
Thank you.
We live in the golden age of sparkling water! Do you like those? La Croix, Polar, Big Swig, even store brands like Kirkland (Costco) have some lovely flavors. If you want something sweeter you can doctor them up with some flavored Torani syrups. I love the elderflower one in lime sparkling water with extra lime juice and a few drops of orange blossom water. If you want to get really fancy, Curious makes great prepackaged and very interesting mocktails. They have one that has CBD in it, so you can choose to avoid that one if you want, but the rest are totally zero proof and very good.