5 ms·

Alcohol free beer is nice, what I don't get is alcohol free spirits. Above a certain alcohol content, the burning sensation caused by the alcohol is part of the

by rob74 2y ago

Alcohol free beer is nice, what I don't get is alcohol free spirits. Above a certain alcohol content, the burning sensation caused by the alcohol is part of the experience of drinking it, and that can't be replicated without alcohol. So alcohol-free gin is maybe good for cocktails, but does anybody really drink it in its pure form?

foooorsyth 2y ago
Just being able to hold a drink in your hand as social cover is part of what you’re buying. At a Christmas party, you just want to have what appears to be the peppermint Christmas-themed drink in your hand like everyone else, even if you’re pregnant or don’t drink for whatever reason. People will stop asking if they can get you a drink. Not everyone buying an NA drink cares about perfectly emulating the sensation of alcohol entering the body.
- chung8123 2y ago
  Tonic and lime or club soda and lime can do that as well.
  - kasey_junk 2y ago
    If you allow yourself a touch of alcohol bitters in tonic or club soda is another good choice.
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    Yes. Discovering lime soda is what allowed me to stop drinking alcohol. Prior to that I would feel the peer pressure to have an alcoholic drink. For some reason water is unacceptable. Coca cola or similar is OK, but very unhealthy. Lime soda seems to be the minimum that is allowed and doesn't seem too unhealthy. The other trick is making the drink last for as long as you can. As soon as the drink is finished you are required to obtain another one. But nobody needs to drink multiple litres of fluid in the space of a few hours, plus it's expensive. So I take tiny sips and make half a litre last an hour or longer.
kasey_junk 2y ago
Mostly I just use it for cocktails but I’ve found a couple of na “spirits” that I’ll drink over ice like a real alcohol. Particularly the Free Spirits Bourbon and the Almave Amber. https://drinkfreespirits.com/collections/non-alcoholic-spirits/products/the-spirit-of-bourbon https://drinkfreespirits.com/collections/non-alcoholic-spiri... https://www.almave.com/ https://www.almave.com/
mynegation 2y ago
Maybe not the gin (did not like it to begin with), but alcohol-free wine, yes. The taste still gives some memories of ritual and celebration without associated health damage. Good likeness of wine, turns out, is not very cheap. You can buy a cheap non-alcoholic wine that taste something like kombucha or grape juice, but really good brands are constantly sold out in our local alcohol-free drink shop, despite being 2-3x the price of the real wine.
- matthewmcg 2y ago
  The pricing makes sense for the better brands as they have to basically make a nice wine, and then take additional steps to remove the alcohol. At least that’s what they do for the better alcohol-free Rieslings. See https://thezeroproof.com/products/buy-eins-zwei-zero-riesling https://thezeroproof.com/products/buy-eins-zwei-zero-rieslin...
esprehn 2y ago
> alcohol-free gin is maybe good for cocktails, but does anybody really drink it in its pure form? That depends on what the zero proof spirit is aiming for. I've found some of them are not very good alone because they're trying to replicate a particular flavor in the cocktail, but others (ex. Monday's Gin) are great with just ice. We keep a bottle of it around for a fun evening beverage. The "savory non-tea zero proof beverage" for the evening is a difficult thing to come by. That's the space these fake spirits are trying to fill.
spacebanana7 2y ago
I recommend trying alcohol free gin & tonic. It’s very competitive with ‘normal’ soft drinks like Pepsi & Fanta, especially if you’re looking for variety.
zeta0134 2y ago
Oh absolutely. At most restaurants, my options are water, badly stale tea, a variety of sodas, and alcoholic beverages. All of the interesting drinks are poisoned. I want to enjoy the variety and see what flavors and experiences are out there without the poison, and the N/A menu is my key to actually doing that. Suddenly I can try "real drinks" and get all of the fun with none of the nauseating headache. Why wouldn't I want to do this?
onion2k 2y ago
Manufacturers made alcohol-free versions of their products so that governments wouldn't step in to regulate them. They can claim to be responsible product owners who offer low-alcohol versions of their drinks to keep people safe from harm, which is true to an extent, which means governments don't force them to do things to be safer in other ways (reduced alcohol on main brand offerings, proof-based taxation, etc.) They don't really make these things because they're a good idea. They do them because it's cheaper than not doing them.

by rob74 2y ago

foooorsyth 2y ago

Just being able to hold a drink in your hand as social cover is part of what you’re buying. At a Christmas party, you just want to have what appears to be the peppermint Christmas-themed drink in your hand like everyone else, even if you’re pregnant or don’t drink for whatever reason. People will stop asking if they can get you a drink. Not everyone buying an NA drink cares about perfectly emulating the sensation of alcohol entering the body.

chung8123 2y ago
Tonic and lime or club soda and lime can do that as well.
- kasey_junk 2y ago
  If you allow yourself a touch of alcohol bitters in tonic or club soda is another good choice.
- globular-toast 2y ago
  Yes. Discovering lime soda is what allowed me to stop drinking alcohol. Prior to that I would feel the peer pressure to have an alcoholic drink. For some reason water is unacceptable. Coca cola or similar is OK, but very unhealthy. Lime soda seems to be the minimum that is allowed and doesn't seem too unhealthy. The other trick is making the drink last for as long as you can. As soon as the drink is finished you are required to obtain another one. But nobody needs to drink multiple litres of fluid in the space of a few hours, plus it's expensive. So I take tiny sips and make half a litre last an hour or longer.

kasey_junk 2y ago

Mostly I just use it for cocktails but I’ve found a couple of na “spirits” that I’ll drink over ice like a real alcohol. Particularly the Free Spirits Bourbon and the Almave Amber. https://drinkfreespirits.com/collections/non-alcoholic-spirits/products/the-spirit-of-bourbon https://drinkfreespirits.com/collections/non-alcoholic-spiri... https://www.almave.com/ https://www.almave.com/

mynegation 2y ago

Maybe not the gin (did not like it to begin with), but alcohol-free wine, yes. The taste still gives some memories of ritual and celebration without associated health damage. Good likeness of wine, turns out, is not very cheap. You can buy a cheap non-alcoholic wine that taste something like kombucha or grape juice, but really good brands are constantly sold out in our local alcohol-free drink shop, despite being 2-3x the price of the real wine.

matthewmcg 2y ago
The pricing makes sense for the better brands as they have to basically make a nice wine, and then take additional steps to remove the alcohol. At least that’s what they do for the better alcohol-free Rieslings. See https://thezeroproof.com/products/buy-eins-zwei-zero-riesling https://thezeroproof.com/products/buy-eins-zwei-zero-rieslin...

esprehn 2y ago

> alcohol-free gin is maybe good for cocktails, but does anybody really drink it in its pure form? That depends on what the zero proof spirit is aiming for. I've found some of them are not very good alone because they're trying to replicate a particular flavor in the cocktail, but others (ex. Monday's Gin) are great with just ice. We keep a bottle of it around for a fun evening beverage. The "savory non-tea zero proof beverage" for the evening is a difficult thing to come by. That's the space these fake spirits are trying to fill.

spacebanana7 2y ago

I recommend trying alcohol free gin & tonic. It’s very competitive with ‘normal’ soft drinks like Pepsi & Fanta, especially if you’re looking for variety.

zeta0134 2y ago

Oh absolutely. At most restaurants, my options are water, badly stale tea, a variety of sodas, and alcoholic beverages. All of the interesting drinks are poisoned. I want to enjoy the variety and see what flavors and experiences are out there without the poison, and the N/A menu is my key to actually doing that. Suddenly I can try "real drinks" and get all of the fun with none of the nauseating headache. Why wouldn't I want to do this?

onion2k 2y ago

Manufacturers made alcohol-free versions of their products so that governments wouldn't step in to regulate them. They can claim to be responsible product owners who offer low-alcohol versions of their drinks to keep people safe from harm, which is true to an extent, which means governments don't force them to do things to be safer in other ways (reduced alcohol on main brand offerings, proof-based taxation, etc.) They don't really make these things because they're a good idea. They do them because it's cheaper than not doing them.