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Licensed by NZ Drug Foundation under Creative Commons 4.0 2024. Built by Bamboo Creative and powered by Flywheel.
Muddle mint and frozen blueberries add 3/4 seltzer and 1/4 sweet lime juice add lime twist and a few more frozen blueberries…enjoy!
I’m Alcohol free 10 months.
I don’t do mocktails or AF beer very often anymore.
Sometimes a treat on the weekend.
I don’t even wish I could drink real stuff that infrequently.
However, I found a brand of AF spirits that I bought for curiosity sake.
ArKay. I’ve tried the AF tequila, kinda odd, but ok w mixer.
The rum is tasty in a tropical drink.
The gin is ok, I like it better then Seedlip.
I’ll probably buy the rum again , I like the flavor.
Be careful when drinking substitutes like this, they could be a trigger.
Shirley Temple! So yummy and such a treat.
Seedlip and tonic. Better than a G&T yet very similar.
I love peach and pineapple cold brew tea, I have it in a big wineglass with ice cubes and mint leaves. Easy to prepare in the morning, I keep a big jar in the fridge so it is nice and cold when I get home from work!
Could you please put up how you make this thanks
can I ask how you make that? It sounds delicious!
It’s all about switchel. It’s a drinking vinegar mixed with raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice, distilled water, raw, unfiltered honey, and a massive amount of fresh grated ginger. Shake it up, let it sit overnight, strain it, and serve it with a bit of fizzy water over ice. Soooo refreshing!
YES! I just discovered vinegar drinks a few nights ago and as nasty as it sounds, it’s so worth a try if you are sick of lemonade and ginger beer.
Note 1: It takes some experimenting to find your preferred portions.
Note 2: there are lots of recipes online; drinking vinegars are often called “shrubs.”
Note 3: there is some evidence that small amounts of vinegar may slow digestion and make you feel full longer. (in a good way)
Many recipes call for grating and soaking and stirring and filtering, etc, and if you’re into that, awesome! I’m lazy though, so I just mix a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar in an 8oz of cold fizzy water, with sugar or syrup to taste (try specialty syrups like rose cardamom, or hibiscus). For me, it almost exactly replicates the refreshing zing of a cold glass of white wine on a warm summer evening. Balsamic vinegar with sugar/syrup comes sorta close to a bad red wine. 🙂 I’ve yet to try champagne vinegar or any wine vinegar, but I’m optimistic…I think the only type that’s too strong to use in drinks is straight white vinegar.
Have fun experimenting!
This sounds divine. What are the quantities? I’m going to give it a go.
I’ve recently discovered jalepeno limeade! Mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with fizzy water (hooray for Soda Streams!) it makes a great evening drink with a little bit of a bite to it. Ginger beer and kombucha are also good, and I have lavender dry soda in the fridge but haven’t tried it yet. I appreciate all the suggestions for things other than tea because as much as I like all the varieties, it’s a daytime drink for me, and I have bad associations from past attempts to quit when I’d drink like 5 teas a night and get sick of it. I want a cold carbonated beverage with a kick to it! Also excited to try lemon/lime cucumber fizzy water.
I love iced teas. We also have a sodastream at home and I drink a lot of soda water with fresh lime, lemon or cucumber. Virgin Mojitos are really nice too. A combo of lime, mint and sugar with soda water. I also found this website which has some really nice non-alc drinks as well as some other cool resources: https://www.soberjulie.com/category/recipe/mocktail-non-alcoholic-drinks-recipes/
Kombucha, herbal teas and Lipton’s infused water with green tea, mint and cucumber ( available from the supermarket)
I named my fave drink a “Pink Flamingo”….. Ice in a glass, shot of lite Cranberrry juice, top up with soda water and a glug of lite lime juice….Delicious and so refreshing and best of all – low sugar as the juices are sweetened with Stevia.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/non-alcoholic-cocktail
You are making cocktails sans alcohol. I would be VERY WARY of this; too Deja vu and possibly what you used to do.
I agree with John’s post —- if you’re a “real” alcoholic like I am you don’t want mock any kind of cocktail or old behavior/habits. As alcoholics we don’t to be any near beer or anything of the sort.
Remember all we have to change is everything.
I avoid any mixer drinks such as coke, L&P, lemonade etc because if the strong connnations to active drinking. Also I can almost “taste” the booze. Cold water & lemons may favourite & no sugar!
Club soda and cranberry juice
I drink ginger beer at party settings and people think it’s beer so it eliminates the questions. It feels less awkward than a water bottle. I am surprised how many people don’t notice my not drinking because it felt like who I was.
I have recently been introduced to ginger beer, I really like it! I should keep some in the house.
I get the feeling eating Reese’s Piece instead of drinking is a bad bad idea.
Ha ha! Reeces Pieces are fine ant time, in my book.
@nomorecaptain & @jellifish1 have y’all tried Q’s Spectacular Ginger Beer? Fantastic!
https://www.healthyfood.co.nz/recipes/2014/december/strawberry-and-lime-iced-tea. – Lovely AF drink!
I like to mix cherry concentrate with Pellegrino, served over a couple of ice cubes. Also mint tea.
I’m new to this great site, and wanted to share a recent discovery which is Seedlip – check it out online. It’s a no alcohol, no calories drink based on C17th herbal recipes, but now being properly marketed and increasingly distributed, although still early days. Basically think of treating it like gin, so as a basis for cocktails, or I love it simply with slimline tonic, ice and lemon. It has a great aroma and definite slight ‘kick’ which makes it a more interesting drink. I have started offering it at home to friends who are driving or pregnant (sadly I seem not to have non-drinking friends) instead of the ubiquitous and fattening elderflower presse and fruit juices I was over-indulging in in my early sober days (now ten months on…). Most have been impressed, and I really think it could help people cut down as well as being for non-drinkers. It is pricey at around £25, but you get many drinks from one bottle (which also looks cool, like a funky spirit bottle). There are two varieties: herbal and spicey – I like both. The other issue is where to get it: I found it in the fantastic local community shop in Semley, Dorset, and they have just started serving it in the local Forrestors’ pub (barmaid was bemused but intrigued); but for the rest of you it has hit the national press and I see you can order it online from Amazon and one or two other places, which I will try when my initial two bottles run out (all too soon)!
@Stellarfonz I have just discovered seedlip too
Hi, Ive just discovered Borrago, it’s made in the UK, cheaper than Seedlip (£19.99) and is amazing with tonic or soda –
Herbal teas are yummy but you know the story about too much of a good thing!
Last night I was desperate not to go herbal tea route!
All I had was a lemon lime bitters drink in the fridge.
Popped that in my enormous old wine glass.
Holds 500ml but that’s just one glass of wine you know!
Threw in a big handful of frozen boysenberries, a couple of slices of lemon and cucumber.
Absolutely delicious! Felt very treaty!
I came here looking for mocktails, etc. and it’s about weed??? I was hooked on weed for 6 years and I ain’t going back. It messed me up and those years were a blur. Not jumping from one addiction to another! Plus it’s illegal in Oz and I’m too old to go to jail.
https://www.alcoholfree.co.uk/ – A UK based on line shop selling AF adult drinks
I love the hopt range of drinks , my favourite is the lychee one, I take them to parties as you can drink more than one and the bottle is the same as beer so you get less cross examination about not drinking
i bought a juicer and my fav is low sodium V8 or tomato to start then juice carrots, celery, cucumber, spinach, mild mini sweet peppers and ginger. mix it all together and add key lime juice or lemon. i love leaving work and saying ” I’m going home to get juiced.”. the work it takes to juice distracts me when i first walk thru the door, which was when i grabbed my glass of wine.
Kia ora all
I have just joined your online community because I decided that I can not stop drinking without support. My counselor put me on to you and I am pleased that I was finally able to join after initial registration hassles. Thanks Lotta for sorting this out for me. Today is my first day of trying to stay sober. I realise this is a hard journey but it is the only journey I want to take at this stage in my life. I live with my partner, two cats and a rooftop beehive (currently hibernating), soon to be joined by a dog by the name of Lotti.
I have been drinking for a few years now but this has recently snowballed after the death of my mother last year. Family feuds drove me nearly bananas and hence my drinking snowballed. I added whiskey to my daily wine intake and my doctors have commented on my raced Triglycerides. Scary!
Well here I am and I am hoping to make many new friends who can help me to achieve my goal.
Looking forward to go together on this journey.
Kia kaha
Floyd
Congrats on your first day!
You can do this xxx
Tena koe Floyd, I hope you have stayed strong to the cause, just wanted to say that I am also new to the roopu and think it is great that we are all on this hikoi together.
I have found a fantastic and actually healthy non- alcoholic drink… the Indian Watermelon Mint.. It is watermelon, mint, rock salt, ice, and roasted cumin all blended up, and it is really delicious. I am not too exacting on measurements, but if you are, here is a link that gives a precise recipe for it, as well as other Indian drinks.
http://werecipes.com/watermelon-mint-drink-indian-juice/
Also, another drink that is great but not so healthy is Orange Creamsicle Punch. This is one bottle of ginger ale, one carton of orange juice (or pop), and a generous amount of vanilla ice cream all mixed together by hand in a bowl.. When you think of all the calories and sugar alcohol has, as well as the suppression of our ability to burn fat because of alcohol’s effect on the liver, Orange Creamsicle Punch is actually quite innocent. by comparison, not to mention very pretty to look at when the ice cream creates beautiful creamy swirls through the orange colour.
have a care with the ginger beer – if the recipe has sugar and yeast and gets fizzy then you’re making alcohol. It will not be strong alcohol but just so you know.
Well amazingly to me, yesterday I celebrated 3 full years since becoming alcohol free.
I can honestly say alcohol rarely crosses my radar these days…(well apart from other people’s problem drinking that is!).
.I spent most of yesterday returning home from beautiful Cape Verde where I had been on holiday with my husband
.Sounds idyllic & it was for the first half of the holiday, then, emboldened by the ‘all inclusive’ bar,he turned into Mr Hyde.
He has had a drink problem for as long as I have known him so this is nothing new ..but still shocking when verbal abuse is thrown at you. We had enjoyed a lovely meal to celebrate Father’s Day ( & incidentally 51 years to the day since we met as 17 year olds). I am unable to make him stop drinking I know but it was certainly a holiday of 2 halves
It’s very hard to make someone stop drinking if they don’t want to. They have to admit to themselves that they have a problem, you just have to be there to support them when they decide that enough is enough.
I remember my husband trying to get me to quit, the arguments it caused, there was no I was going to quit…..because I didn’t have a problem, or so I tried so desperately to convince myself.
The more he tried to force me to quit, the more I dug my heels in.
I saw the Light and I quit…..but only because I finally realised what I was doing to myself.
Diet Pepsi or infused water
Remember Kombucha is a fermented drink and will have a very low % alcohol. Probably anywhere from 0.5 – 1.0%. Just saying!!
I have a bottle of Charlies Raspberry & Lemonade which I mix with L & P. This is a thirst quencher for me. When I get a craving for alcohol I need to check first with myself if perhaps I’m hungry instead. Its usually the case, so I eat, then I have the above drink just before bed.
My current thing is plain water with frozen blueberries. Stay hydrated and get some nice anti oxidants. Love to think of all you alcohol free folks staying well hydrated:).
I like hibiscus tea with organic honey. Or any tea for that matter! Also started drinking hot cocoa mixed with French vanilla cappuccino (from gas stations) lol it has helped me with alcohol cravings… Also tried some v8 juices , carrot/mango was pretty tasty:)
So far I have started to like habiscus tea with honey, Or any tea for that matter! Also enjoy French vanilla cappuccinos mixed with hot chocolate (from gas stations). Lol. Just tried out v8 mango carrot juice it was pretty good too.
What with all the soda, sparkling water recipes?!? I don’t drink anything carbonated, don’t like fizz. If anyone has any drink recipes that don’t include this (besides smoothies), please post.
Many thanks!
I wonder if I can just substitute regular water for the fizzy stuff? Hmmmmm……
I like to drink a cordial like raspberry and rose hip with fizzy chi water. You still have the pleasure of pour and mix and it tastes great. The bubbles are like tiny explosions of celebration every sip! Celebration that you can socialise with drinkers of alcohol. They soon forget your not drinking alcohol. (If there are any pushers or people that are threatened by you sobriety).
Have y’all tried making ‘shrubs’? They are flavored vinegars that are popular with the cocktail mixing crowd, but they are great in club soda or Sprite. Many fruit, herb, vinegar combinations are possible.
I made cranberry shrub for the holidays: 1 cup cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 2 cups fresh cranberries. Boil it all together until sugar is dissolved and the berries pop and start to break up. Cool the mixture overnight in the refrigerator. Strain the liquid and discard the fruit. You can add more sweet or sour to taste at this point. Blend with your favorite fizzy beverage.
http://kombucha.co.nz/kombucha-basics/making-kombucha – Learn about making Kombutcha for gut health and yumminess.
http://www.thestyleinsider.co.nz/4-mouth-watering-mocktails-chug-lug-summer-long/
Herbal teas, I own so many now .. Every time I’m at supermarket its the tea alsie not the wine alsie.
I was on a kombucha kick for a while but it kickstarted my wine cravings BIG time. Found out that it actually does have an alcohol percentage in it – some low and others high enough that certain brands have the 21 yr + age requirement to buy 🙁
I’m lazy, so I just mixed some pineapple-orange-banana juice with club soda and put in lots of ice. It’s not as sweet as one might expect it to be. It’s delicious! Used just enough juice to give it a flavor and color.
Diet soda (pepsi) and club soda – about half and half
I keep looking at those, but don’t they have aspartame? I can’t stand the way it tastes.
My son smokes and I am glad he does that instead of drinking alcohol. He was telling me the other day that his friends at college now binge drink, and told him that it so normal now to just throw up all the time. He told one guy “that’s really dangerous”! I know he smokes a couple times a week to relax and I’m ok with that. I wish it would become legal everywhere.
100% Cranberry juice with ginger ale and a wedge of fresh lime! Pour the cranberry juice over crushed ice in a tall glass, add the ginger ale on top, and then the lime wedge. The layers are pretty, and the lime is so fresh tasting with this combo!
Mango seltzer and orange juice!
Hi
I replaced alcohol with a lot of reading, physical exercise, spending time with my family, being present at my workplace, I quit smoking as well I still felt empty even after I quit drinking. I feed my brain with information as i couldn’t learn anything in my drinking and smoking times. I no longer internalise my thoughts and because of that I see things happening around me, I hear people talk, I think and talk less about the past, I am present and continuously improve myself.
Sky
Sky, it seems you are leading a wonderful life. I am excited to get to where you are.
San Pellegrino, small bottles. Any flavour. They look cool when you are out and about at a barbecue etc and a lot of bars sell them. Yes expensive but cheaper than wine.
Had this delicious mocktail at a burger joint on Labor Day – was delicious and not a sugar bomb:
Joia Sparkling Orange, ginger beer, wedge of orange, sprinkled with cinnamon; served over ice.
Fill glass with ice, add 2/3 Pellegrino sparkling natural mineral water and add 1/3 Raspberry Lemonade, squeeze a wedge of lime into the drink. Voila…..everyone ends up wanting whatever I am drinking. The process of making it is inviting and it taste yummy.