I’ve always hated how alcohol commercials play up like a cool beer is the best thing in the world, or a glass of whiskey is what will put hair on your chest. It’s a disgusting narrative that ruins people’s lives.
On social media, there’s a huge variety of it. People posting how they were sober on NYE. Folks sharing before/after as they’ve gone cold turkey. I see people share tips of what type of mocktails to get at bars, and alternatives to having a fun night over getting drunk.
I appreciate that.
And this is not bashing alcohol. Moderation in everything.
when you’re old enough to get a hangover just from staying up late
I really want a drink right now but i dont want to get shit faced. The problem is, once i pop the fun dont stop, ya know
I’ve never touched alcohol in my life outside of cleaning purposes (I mean isopropyl alcohol, or as I like to call it, icy prope). And to be honest, you’ve convinced me to remain teetotal.
However, I always have the feeling I wanted to try out some drinks just for that taste but can’t because it’s got some of that الكحول in it. And there are very few non-alcoholic alternatives for these drinks. The only one I’ve tried is a virgin mojito (in my country it’s sometimes referred to as just “mojito” because it’s the only one we know). And honestly, it tastes great. And then there’s the fact that I can’t make my own vanilla extract. You need ethanol for that, and I just have this fear of putting it in my body because I don’t wanna get addicted to it.
I’ve always treated alcohol like drugs and tobacco. They feel fun, and you want more, but it will knock you out when you least expect it.
I’m really glad that more and more places are offering fun mocktails. Sometimes you want the social aspect of drinking but not the alcohol
I just wish they wouldn’t charge alcohol prices for them
I hate that mocktails are as expensive if not more expensive than literal alcoholic drinks despite having no expensive alcohol in them.
I’ve seen mocktail “shots” that cost more than an actual shot. It’s basically a ginger shot (not even a fresh one) with extra shit in it. Not worth the $12
Their lack of alchol is specifically makes them cost more. Flavorants can’t be watered down as much as alchohol can. So the only way to get similar profit margins is to charge more.
I’m just happy that there is finally some good NA beers. I realized I had a problem drinking where I would just want to keep drinking once I started but I had such a connection between beer and sports that it became hard to watch sports without wanting a beer which would then turn in to me wanting 12 beers. Just being able to have a good NA beer which tricked my mind into thinking I’m having a beer. My brain didn’t get the dosage of alcohol that I needed to keep drinking booze so I could just have 2 of them during an Orioles game and not worry about it. I’ve only had 8 total drinks since election night. Never more than 2 in a day but I’ve decided that I’m totally off booze since those 8 drinks.
I wish I could stop drinking. Save yourselves.
There’s a C for that:
Man I haven’t “quit” but a couple months back I just decided it was more work to go get a beer from the fridge than it was worth. Because then after a few I had to then get up and piss. More effort. Now I’m out of beer at the house and it’s more effort to drive to the store and get it and then it would repeat that cycle. So, pure laziness has more or less sobered me up.
I actually do have a nice bottle of whiskey hidden but it’s not open and I’ve been saving it for an occasion(ive had it almost a year). I do have to entertain guests coming up so I think I’ll just get a small case of nice beer and leave it as an option and once it’s gone it’s gone.
So anyway what I’m saying is, maybe try just being lazy.
Man, i think being too lazy to drink, while helpful, is probably depression of some sort.
You think? I don’t really feel any different. Ive been lazy about other things too but I think it’s more because they’re outdoors and I’m adverse to the cold.
Edit: My job is active and I work out a little so my body feels pretty good. Which also helps a lot. Anyway this isn’t about me it’s about op I’m just letting him know what’s working for me.
Hope you’re doing ok.
I have a zero tollerance policy for alcohol when I know I will be driving the same day or early the next.
It is far easier to just say “no” from the start than trying to calculate and estimate what would be an acceptable ammount at what time to be able to drive.
Yesterday when I drove home from NYE at my parents, road conditions were terrible, it snowed, the council had not cleared it as I drove home (understandable), and I felt my car loose grip a few times. On roads with a limit of 70km/h I drove 35-40, and on a road with a limit of 90km/h you could not drive any faster than 60, I have excellent winter tyers, but it took all my stone sober concentration to get home safely, if I had had any alcohol, trying to drive home would have been utterly reckless, to be fair, it was borderline reckless when as I drove home sober, but it was doable.
Yikes. That’s a little extra. I take it you never really drink?
Why is it a “yikes” situation to make 100% sure that you have zero alcohol in you when driving?
As for drinking, it is a very small part of me, while I have an extensive collection if spirits, I hardly ever drink.
You don’t need to have 0 alcohol anywhere in your system to drive. Everyone has their own limits of when alcohol starts to affect them. And how much water you’ve had makes a huge difference.
0 water all day, drank a bunch, then didn’t drink any water afterwards? Yeah you’re gonna want to wait a bit before you drive. But if you’re well hydrated all day, had a few drinks to get buzzed, then chugged some water? Yeah you should be fine after an hour or so. Waiting 12 hours is pretty excessive.
It is known that alcohol reduces inhibitions, making it easier to ignore limits if you start drinking alcohol.
Why you would put yourself in a position where you need to do maths and estimations when you are less suited for it is a dumb decision, when not having alcohol at all is far easier.
Having alcohol when you know you will be driving later is just idiotic. You don’t need to min/max drinking and driving.
It’s not hard to figure out a plan before you start drinking. This isn’t complex algebra. It’s A. What color was my pee B. When do I plan on leaving C. How much food did I have.
I should add that this is all stuff you should think about any time before you drink, regardless of what you’re doing later. Even if it’s just to avoid a hangover.
Or, you can not deal with it at all, and just say “no”, you run zero risk of going over, either by miscalculation or misjudging your condition.
Drinking alcohol is not critical, this defending of it if getting annoying.
RESPECT.
I have the same rule. No alcohol 24 hours prior to driving.
It’s easy for me though, since I can take a bus, Uber, or even walk. And I have no urgency in my life where a car is required like that.
24 hours seems like more than necessary, but I agree with the gist: I don’t drink if I’m not where I’m planning to spend the night.
24h is a simple rule, why make it more conplicated?
Whatever rule works for you is a good rule, sure, but I don’t think 24 is any simpler than 8 or 16. To be clear, I’m not advocating getting absolutely wrecked, taking a nap, and then going driving. I am very much opposed to any form of drunk driving - it’s not safe for the driver or anyone in the vicinity of the driver and is easily avoidable. However, I don’t think a 24 hour division is necessarily required between one drink and a drive.
Oh yeah, I have excellent public transport here, so if I do drink I can still get around safely.
I only got a driving license when I was 35, two years ago, after living in my own apartment for almost a decade, so I am quite well used to public transport.
I don’t know why drinking alcohol has to be a binary issue, but maybe my propensity for addiction is lower than normal. Does it seem like the majority of human beings have to just not drink at all or they binge out and wake up in the bushes?
One of the primary functions of alcohol in humans is lowering inhibitions. It stands to reason then that the more one drinks, the more one will drink.
I’ve been there myself. I spent my entire 20’s at the bar. It was fun and I regret nothing. But now I can count on one hand the number of alcoholic drinks I had in 2024.
It stands to reason that people are individuals. Simple “if A then B therefore C” logic would have you drink yourself to death, which didn’t happen.
I’m a heavy drinker but screw it, sharing my non-alcoholic version of Irish cream here:
- 100ml whole milk; boiling hot
- a cinnamon stick
- some pieces of orange skin, just the yellow part
- drinking chocolate powder; I use 3tbsp
- instant coffee powder; I use 2tbsp
- 400g dulce de leche [see note]
- 200ml half-and-half
- vanilla extract
- 300~500ml whole milk, again; keep it cool
- Simmer the cinnamon stick and orange skin in the whole milk for 10 minutes or so. Then throw them away, they’re just to add flavour to the milk.
- Add the other ingredients, in the sequence listed, making sure to incorporate well one ingredient before adding another. Taste it and add more or less milk as you want, if it tastes too strong add more milk.
- Transfer to a bottle, chill it. Serve it on the rocks.
NOTE: you can buy the dulce de leche if you want, but it gets more expensive than just making it at home with the same amount of sweetened condensed milk.
My stupid ass read this as a non-alcoholic Irish Whiskey and got confused when I saw milk.
This is still great! Thank you!
I wouldn’t say I “appreciate” it as it leans towards being subjective, but I’d say it seems to make more sense for alcohol to be refused. What goes on in a person’s mind when they’re using the world’s oldest form of psychiatry to reduce their faculties which are themselves implied to be the issue as a response to the weight of life?
I like drinking alcohol or taking legal substances during certain events. Feeling a bit of floatyness while watching the sunset is a great feeling (in moderation).
If that feeling doesn’t mean anything to you, thats cool and no judgement.
I think about how some cultures eat dessert as a closure to their favorite meal, and thats the only metaphor I can think of.
Edit: found a meme I relate to: https://slrpnk.net/post/16826864
I got drunk precisely one time, for my 21st birthday. The legal age here is 21 and so the local bar sends you a sampling set for your birthday to see what drink you like. Despite getting pumped up for it, I wasn’t prepared for “how” to do it so I got drunk and almost got lost in the process (but was able to conclude my favorite drink was quince cider, which I had already liked, though after a few blunders trying to recognize what the heck I just drank). I’m not against drinking per se, but it confirmed an idea in my mind that, in a utilitarian sense, it’s feels connected to the mindset “if I can’t have my mind, nobody can”, which I carry over with the topic of drugs too even though I’ve done sarpa salpa multiple times when I was younger (that was more cultural though) and have tried to do art while under the influence.
You might also consider that you had one bad experience, and that maybe you shouldn’t base an opinion on such a small sample size? You don’t have to get blackout drunk. It seems like you’ve never actually experienced the feeling that the other comment was referring to (a buzz). You just went all out, and found out that you don’t like being blackout drunk (most people don’t).
Like it seems you might have the wrong idea of what people usually mean when they say they’re “drinking” since your only experience with it is basically poisoning yourself with it.
Just a thought…
I’m not basing it on my experience, which wasn’t “bad”. It’s more of a dilemma type of thing I picked up (you might say I’m critical of coffee in this way, though for this, it’s not a “complaint”). Even if it was a buzz, it seems like an oddly specific route of satisfaction.
whenever we go as a group to get cocktails we do 2 booze rounds and 1 boozeless round so we’re all set to drive
You are not okay to drive after two booze rounds
after 3 hours? its not like im poundin em and hittin the road
One “serving” of alcohol is fully metabolized after about an hour. If you’re having two drinks at the beginning side of a three-hour period, you’re fine to drive.
They probably mean they’re likely to be below the breath-alcohol limit for their region.
Also duration of these rounds can be accounted for in that calculation.
That being said, it’s always best to have a personal limit of zero when driving.
1984
No big deal. I can’t personally take shots, but I can drink beer and metabolize it super fast. To each his own, but trying to put a “one size fits all” limit on drinking is silly.
I can drink shitty light beer all day, but one time I drank 3 beers on a date at the local brew house, drove home and thought, “Jesus. I shouldn’t be doing this.”
To most people, drinking means hammered, or at least too loosey-goosey to drive. Some of us aren’t like that. (And yes, no matter who you are, alcohol dulls reflexes.)
If it works for you, great.
I see people share tips of what type of mocktails to get
I like blended virgin raspberry margaritas on the sour side, and will generally order one if I see one on a menu.
Honestly, I should probably just figure out a recipe to make them myself, as they’re nice to slowly sip, and they’d be nice to have at home too. Never did get around to making one myself.
Sour mix is delicious. I feel like most places use stuff with as much high fructose corn syrup as soda though.
I started buying non-alcoholic drinks when I learned my Muslim friends don’t partake, and my wife and I wanted healthier alternatives.
Virgin margaritas are so good!
Is that the way whiskey is advertised? Huh. I don’t see commercials anymore, so IDK.
I drink single-malt Scottish whiskey occasionally because I enjoy the flavors. Same with most bourbons and ryes. But Kentucky whiskey? Bleah. Sadly, I am poorer than my preferences.
Just FYI, Scotch is whisky without an ‘e’. American and Irish are whiskey with an ‘e’. Japanese varies.
From what i can find, it seems like the spelling is pretty arbitrary, like much spelling in English.. While there are certainly articles claiming that it’s always Irish whisky, without an e, some very old Irish distilleries use the older/other spelling. It’s a matter of law in Scotland–without the e–and seems to be largely grammatical inertia otherwise.
English is weird.
When discussing alchohol, pretty much everything is arbitrary.
I don’t drink any more but I do miss a nice glass of something that smells like a caramel swamp fire.
Is not about refusing alcohol, is about more people becoming anti social and just not being comfortable with stuff related to it. I’m one of them
