Experimenting With Alternatives To Alcohol
I am really appreciating the non-alcoholic / zero proof options available to me. I just spent 10 days away from home on vacation with a large number of family members (~30) and quite a stock pile of alcoholic beverages (hard seltzers, whiskey, rum, mimosas, vodka and beer all at the ready) and I drank ONE alcoholic beverage. Total.
Just thinking about the energetic expenditure for highly-sensitive ME to be around that many people and not indulge in (aka turn to) alcohol to cope /keep up / relax is pretty phenomenal.
It’s been 8yrs since I started thinking “Hey, maybe this alcohol thing doesn’t serve me” tho more so “I think drinking is ruining my brain, permanently” but it’s taken me, well, up to the last year to just STOP. Stop thinking about it, ordering it, drinking it, caring about it. And the only way that’s happened is a lovely combo of noticing just how shitastic I feel every.single.time. I drank AND having lots and lots of alternatives that taste great / make me feel good.
Sometimes it was seltzer water with an obscene amount of lime. Sometimes it was a mocktail (tho often these are NOT cutting it - please just call it a sparkling tea). Sometimes it was a fresh juice or a soda or a hot tea or just being bored and disappointed with my drink or opting out of the social encounter entirely.
But last week I tried Ritual’s Whiskey and, let me tell you, if you care about real whiskey, this is not it. This is floral sugar water that has a smoky, bitter taste and a caramel color and feel that is giving whiskey vibes, but IS NOT ACTUALLY WHISKEY. Do not grab a bottle of this and believe that it will replace your taste or interest in the real stuff.
As I heard Dax Shepherd say on an Armchair Expert episode when talking about drinking a non-alcoholic beer: “How do I know this isn’t beer? Because I am not scouring this room for cocaine.” I am paraphrasing, but I completely understood what he meant.
One drink makes me want more than one drink. I get all over-thinking about which drink to have and how many and immediately feel complete and bitter anger at myself when, halfway through the first (and usually only) alcoholic beverage, I want to either yell at people or go straight to bed.
It stopped being fun, relaxing, enjoyable, helpful or indulgent years ago.
Plus, how I feel when I drink makes me have hateful feelings towards my daughter, the resentment of needing to rally for her needs when mine are being NOT MET and also WASHED OVER with a depressant, is just not worth it AT ALL.
Also, I can’t fucking sleep after I drink and if there’s one thing my mental health hinges on (besides copious amounts of alone time), it is sleep.
So, if you’re like me, and are looking for an alternative that comes close enough that you can enjoy the hint of a whiskey mixed drink while staying v sober, this just might work for you.
I mixed mine with Waterloo Peach or Blackberry Lemonade sparkling water and even back at home, after what was a VERY long ass day of work, sipping one of these on the front porch while I ate a salad and turkey burger brought me some level of “having a drink to decompress” without any of the shitty side-effects or feelings or problems of drinking actual alcohol.
Now if I could just quit caffeine.