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alcoholic drink substitutes


BillyBadAss

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I've been in the the habit of drinking alcohol in the evenings (whiskeys, gin, wine, etc.) 

I'm looking to cut back a bit, and trying to find some substitute drinks that might satisfy the same ritual of sipping on something, without the alcohol. 

The ideal drink would have a bit of a bite of some sort (spicy or perhaps bitter) to encourage sipping, and not be too unhealthy as far as calories, sodium, etc. 

Ideas? 

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Ginger beer if you like that....there are some pretty flavorful ones out there.  Gosling even has a diet version if you don't want the calories.

Or - Topo Chico as stated above which is my 1st preference. 

Iced tea steeped with mint also makes a good substitute.

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Not sure it fits this thread due to the “at night” part.  But I had a nitro coffee this weekend from Royal Blue Grocery.  It’s just a coffee with nitrogen infused or some stupid hipster shit.  Pretty frothy and very beer-like.  I imagine the caffeine was through the roof but it’s about as close to beer as I’ve had without the alcohol.

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6 hours ago, BillyBadAss said:

I've been in the the habit of drinking alcohol in the evenings (whiskeys, gin, wine, etc.) 

I'm looking to cut back a bit, and trying to find some substitute drinks that might satisfy the same ritual of sipping on something, without the alcohol. 

The ideal drink would have a bit of a bite of some sort (spicy or perhaps bitter) to encourage sipping, and not be too unhealthy as far as calories, sodium, etc. 

Ideas? 

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For some strange reason, the high carbonation level of "fizzy water" (of which Topo is the king by a longshot), rather well simulates drinking a shitty American beer.  Every recovered drunk I know is in agreement with this observation.  I know a couple who toyed with "non-alcoholic" beers (most have a slight amount of alcohol) before trying this and they preferred the fizzy water by a longshot.  Also, if you don't feel like being harassed by drinking friends, a club soda with lime can pass as a _______________ tonic, easily.

 

The Refreshe (and they've also packaged it as Soleil or something similar, at a bit higher cost, I think) at Tom Thumb/Randalls is pretty good shit, cheap, and comes in a variety of flavors.  I'm sure HEB has something good, if it's open.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Yeah, HEB also sells canned sparkling water.  I can tell no difference between that, La Croix, Waterloo, whatever canned sparkling water and HEB is the cheapest.  Safeway should really rebrand the Refreshe from seltzer to sparkling water.

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For those of you referencing LaCroix, I highly suggest you check out the store brand sparkling waters.  As mentioned, the Safeway/Randalls/Tom Thumb store brand comes in comparable "flavors" and is considerably cheaper and compares very favorably.  I'm sure your other local grocers have similar store brands.

 

Topo is kind of a different animal because the carbonation is so high, and it does start with a mineral water that has a rather distinct flavor, to me anyway.

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36 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

For those of you referencing LaCroix, I highly suggest you check out the store brand sparkling waters.  As mentioned, the Safeway/Randalls/Tom Thumb store brand comes in comparable "flavors" and is considerably cheaper and compares very favorably.  I'm sure your other local grocers have similar store brands.

 

Topo is kind of a different animal because the carbonation is so high, and it does start with a mineral water that has a rather distinct flavor, to me anyway.

I buy the HEB brands.

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On 4/30/2018 at 3:09 PM, BillyBadAss said:

 gin 

You know how there are sipping whiskies? Beefeaters 24 is a sipping gin. Instead of two or three martinis I'll have one glass on the rocks.

Or .... Never tried it myself. Non-alcoholic gin.

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5 hours ago, TVtray said:

Kombucha

As a recovered alcoholic, the first time I drank this stuff it made me nervous - it's got a kick almost like wine, but it doesn't get you drunk, it just makes you shit.

Anybody got brand/flavor recs for Kombucha?

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I'm in this boat, I'm usually having two beers a night and would like to cut back to one or zero. I tried sparkling and carbonated water, but I couldn't get into it. For the Topo Chico purists, how much of a difference does that make? Seems just as expensive as beer which kind of sucks.

Edited by GSU&UT
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Central Market carries a brand called Polar that has a Cherry Lime flavor that is badass.  

My go-to is Waterloo Black Cherry or Grapefruit, but it is $5.99/12 pack compared to $4 for lacroix.

Topo Chico is magic though, the glass bottle keeps the bubbles really well, so you can drink it slowly without it going flat.  It is more expensive though, not quite as much per oz as craft beer but I also don't drink 4 in one sitting like I did with beer.

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