Dry January is working! Why'd I wait?

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  • Vette8828
    Vette8828 Posts: 25 Member
    Where I work booze is only available on the black market and prices were hiked for Christmas and still not come down. I cut down on my nightly whisky consumption and feel like cr@p in the mornings. Guess my body is missing something!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    I've been paying $10-20 for fancy cocktails in restaurants since the end of the pandemic.

    The size of some of those, though . . . once delivered, basically looks like I've bought waterfront property! (Alcohol front?)

    Even worse (or is it better, I don't know anymore) is when they're not! Clearly, fancy drinks are a good money-maker. Hey, no harm, no foul, we all have to make a buck somehow. Dry January doesn't mean dry forever!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    I finally got around to trying some other non-alcoholic beer. Years ago I tried the only ones available. They weren't anything to write home about. This summer I tried Athletic IPA. I wasn't all that impressed. So now that there are more offerings, it's time for a taste test.

    I picked up a six-pack of 10-Barrel N/A IPA. 10-Barrel is in Bend Oregon like so many breweries. Good water up there. I wish I had just bought a single, but the store I was in doesn't sell singles. It reminds me of iced tea a little bit, kind of like Athletic. It's too sweet. I can't find any documentation anywhere how many calories it has. I'll assume it's 90, but it could be fewer.

    I got two singles of Deschutes Black Butte Porter non-alcoholic. Deschutes is also based out of Bend Oregon. This actually tastes like a porter. I will buy this again. 100 calories per 12 ounce can.

    I picked up one single of Sober Carpenter IPA; I will try that tomorrow. It's from Montréal up there in Quebec. Allegedly has 65 calories for a 20-ounce can.

    Soon I'll pick up some Crux NØ MØ IPA next time I see it. Only 30 calories per 30 ounce can, so I'm not too optimistic about lots of flavor. Another beer from Bend Oregon.

    Any others you think I should seek out?

    What I would really like to find is a way to make a mocktail that actually tastes like a really good martini with no ethanol.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @mtaratoot : I like the Athletic IPA. Maybe you tried that. I wouldn't personally classify it as "sweet."

    I just bought (on the recommendation of @AnnPT77 ) an assortment of bitters, which I plan to put in home made seltser water (Sodastream). I have not tried them yet.

    https://a.co/d/2WzeYKn

    I routinely drink still water with a Nuun tab in it. Usually right before jogging or spinning, but sometimes afterward.

    https://a.co/d/iOnmY3J

    Finally, in winter, I make strong herbal teas. Ingredients vary, but include chamomile, sage, bay leaf, chopped fresh ginger, crushed (fresh) turmeric root, cinnamon stick, and/or peppercorns. My wife will put in lemon, rosemary, and/or oregano (not my preference). We put our preferred brew in a tall mason jar with hot water and sip on it all evening.

    Best of luck to you and everyone else!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    @Jthanmyfitnesspal

    For water, I just like water. I drink plenty, and I have for a while. I am fortunate we have high-quality tap water in my city. Not only does it surpass all federal and state requirements for safe water, it tastes pretty good. I use a carbon block filter to remove the chlorine, but just leaving it in a loosely capped bottle also works. I'm generally not a fan of adding flavors to water.

    I drink some flavored and unflavored "fizzy waters," and that's about as close as I get to soda. I haven't really enjoyed soda for years. Every now and then, like at a picnic, maybe I'll have one. Well, that isn't completely true. I am still enjoying a tonic water with bitters and a squeeze of lime a couple times per week.

    Mostly I'm exploring some of the latest offerings in actual real beer that has had the ethanol removed. It's a worthy search. That reminds me; there's yet ANOTHER brewery in Bend (probably several more I don't know about) called "Worthy" that is making a hopped sparkling water. I saw it was "on sale" this week at one of the local grocery "chains," but when I went yesterday, they had none in stock. I'll keep looking. The one that Lagunitas makes is fine; sort of reminds me of Fresca with less sweet and some of those floral flavors are hops not grapefruit. Funny how some hops taste like grapefruit.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    (snippy)

    I just bought (on the recommendation of @AnnPT77 ) an assortment of bitters, which I plan to put in home made seltser water (Sodastream). I have not tried them yet.

    https://a.co/d/2WzeYKn

    (snip)

    Now I'm especially interested in what you think, once you give them a fair try. I haven't tried that brand. Since they're not cheap, I hope you like at least some of them, since you've acted on my enthusiasm for them!

    I have a Bitter Truth sampler (Tonic, Peach, Olive, Cucumber, Chocolate), plus have bought individuals of their Cucumber; Fee Brothers Grapefruit; Cocktail Punk Smoked Orange.

    I can't recall whether I've tried the Tonic one (not a huge tonic fan), like the olive and cucumber a lot (especially the cucumber, but I've loved cucumbers from early childhood), am a big fan of the grapefruit (on my 2nd bottle), found smoked orange reasonably good (but not as good as the smoked apple chickory that isn't made anymore), found peach rather feeble, and am OK with the chocolate but not bowled over.

    Some of the ones I don't love would probably be great in the right cocktail/mocktail, but I'm a simplistic mixologist. ;)

    That shop @Sinisterbarbie1 linked has some very interesting looking things, and I may order from them once I drain down current stock a little. I do like variety, with some standbys in that mix. (You can probably tell, current standbys are the Bitter Truth Cucumber and Fee Brothers Grapefruit.)

    There seems to be a "mocktail" boom recently, lots of recipes on the web, some new books, etc. I'm mostly too lazy to get that structured, but do like the dash of bitters and maybe a lemon/lime wedge in my sparkling water.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @AnnPT77 : The mocktail boom is lots of fun, mostly from watching someone make them with lots of mulling, shaking and other rituals. But, in the end, they're usually pretty sweet, so you have to be up for that. And, at a restaurant, they sell them for real bucks. So you have to be up for that, too!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 : The mocktail boom is lots of fun, mostly from watching someone make them with lots of mulling, shaking and other rituals. But, in the end, they're usually pretty sweet, so you have to be up for that. And, at a restaurant, they sell them for real bucks. So you have to be up for that, too!

    I hear what you're saying, and share your concerns, as we used to say back in the sensitive 1960s-70s. ;)

    In general, cocktails have moved much more in a "sweetSweetSWEET" direction since my youth, not just more of sweet drinks on the menu, but more people seemingly ordering them, and even classic drinks (martini, I'm lookin' at you) branching out in stupid-sweet directions.

    We used to laugh, in my young womanhood, about people who always ordered things like Grasshoppers. (Not that a sweet drink isn't nice occasionally.) That sort of thing was a smaller subset of what was typically on offer, and commonly drunk, at least among my friends. Now, it seems like sweet cocktails seem to predominate. (Not that there aren't a few that are less so, of course.)

    No surprise that mocktails follow the pattern.

    Can you tell I'm not a huge fan of sweet drinks? If I have a mainstream sweet soda/pop 3 times a year, it'd be a surprise, and I totally don't normally enjoy those things with food. If I'm drinking one at all, it will be a sugared one, because all the diet types with artificial sweeteners (including the natural ones like monkfruit or stevia) seem to taste off, to me.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    Today's trial:

    Sober Carpenter West Coast IPA. It's a whole bunch better than the 10-Barrel I had yesterday. It tastes less sweet (more bitter) and reminds me of... an IPA! This one will go back on the list. I guess I'm a hop-head. No surprise there.

    Only 66 calories per 16-ounce pint can. The can is sort of misleading. It says 50 calories in a little box on the back that also lists 11 grams carbs. But at the top of the box it says, "Average analysis per 12-ounce serving." So, this brewery is telling me that one can is actually 1.33 servings? NOT! The MFP database has the correct calorie count.

    I should have bought two of them.
  • Sinisterbarbie1
    Sinisterbarbie1 Posts: 711 Member
    I think sweet mocktails only dominate where people are too lazy or uninventive to spend the time making up real mocktails with the elements behind the bar and just dump a bunch of juices and fruit in a glass instead of giving you soda. When I have asked for mocktails I have usually looked at things on a normal drink list that sound appealing and pointed the bartender to that flavor profile and they usually do a great job. If you also ask them to put it in a nice glass like a coupe you might luck out and get a fun garnish or some egg foam!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,779 Member
    edited February 2023
    In Belgium, 'we' are very attached to our alcohol consumption but we have a similar initiative to Dry January here called 'Tournée Minerale'. It's a play on words since 'Tournée générale' means buying a round of drinks for everyone, and 'minerale' as in mineral water.
    The fact that it's in February instead of January, so we can first indulge at all those new years parties and receptions, shows how much we like our alcohol :-p

    I drank sparkling wine three days in a row recently to celebrate the new year, and yet again my running performance suffered. Yet again convincing me that my average of 2 or 3 drinks per month is more than enough. But it's not easy to replace sparkling wine with something similarly festive yet non alcoholic. At the latest reception there was a nice alternative though, that I knew existed but hadn't really tried: Crodino, a bittersweet aperitif that you can mix with sparkling water. The spices in it are completely lost on me (I don't have a sense of smell) but it's refreshing and not overly sweet.
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  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @mtaratoot Did you say you're in Bend? It sounds like a mecca for microbrews, including AF. I'll have to go visit my family there someday.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @Lietchi : So interesting to hear something about another country and another language! Thanks for sharing. The tradition of wine in Europe is very deep. I also love Belgian-style beers-- delicious!

    The thought that "alcohol is good for you" was completely entrenched in the 1800s. Tobacco, too. My family history was full of that sentiment, and prior generations had a lot of strokes. We figured out the risks of smoking in the 50s (and really earlier, but it took a while to sink in). The recent news that alcohol has almost no benefits at any dose is rather revolutionary. Of course, moderate drinking is enjoyable and presents very moderate risk (it's very hard to measure the risk, in fact). And, younger people tolerate alcohol much better than older. I think my particular success this year has to do with being 60+. I really didn't notice it in prior years.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    edited February 2023
    @Lietchi
    I am going to see if I can find Crodino locally. It looks like a perfect addition to my pantry!


    @Jthanmyfitnesspal
    I am in the Willamette Valley, not over east of the Cascades. It is indeed kind of nuts how many breweries there are over in and around Bend. Oregon in general. The modern brewpub movement really started in Portland - "Beervana." The microbrew movement did too, with the asterisk of course is Anchor Brewing in San Fancisco; they're a bit of an anomaly. Sierra Nevada has been making good beer for a long time too. One of the longest continuously operating craft breweries in Oregon is in my city. Hardly anyone knows about it; that might be changing with new owners.

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Well, here's the "me" update. I'm still not drinking alcohol, but I got a little cold this week and it derailed my exercising. But, I've still been dropping weight all week. Some of it is probably muscle. :( I hope some is fat! :)

    COVID is not the only germ out there. After two years, I think I'm an easy target! I'm also a wimp and I stop exercising at the first sign of a cold.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    I got to try the Lagunitas N/A IPA. So far I think it's the best one I've tried. I also had a Clausthaler "Dry Hopped." I had tried a Clausthaler a LONG time ago, and it wasn't much to write home about. I was pleasantly surprised. It's sort of a dark lager style, and it actually has decent flavor.

    I still think the Lagunitas may be even better than the Sober Carpenter. More tests to follow.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,191 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    The group that hates non-drinkers the most appears to be waiters. When I told a waiter recently that we were an AF table, he shouted "you guys are no fun!" We should have left.
    Lol, and usually half the tab can be alcohol and seeing how tips are generally calculated on tab total the one having no fun is the server when they see their nightly take.

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @tomcustombuilder : It is an odd historical relic that we pay waiters partially via gratuity.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Another "me" update: My wife and I celebrated Valentine's day with some fancy drinks at our favorite bar. We had a great time! I accomplished 6 dry weeks, had a celebration, and now I'm shooting to stay very light on the alcohol until I get my additional 12 lbs off. That's going to take me until May or so, when I tend to become more active, which should help me keep it off. Nice!

    I have mostly recovered from the cold I had last week. I did a nice outdoor jog yesterday (50 degrees, perfect!), still at a higher pace than almost all of last year. Then I did a very successful swim today at a very nice pace. So, I haven't lost the advantages I gained since limiting the sauce. Life is still good!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    My local let me bring a few N/A beers in for the game since they don't sell them... yet. I asked if I could and pay them a buck each to pour them for me. They still made a profit, and the bartender still got a tip, and I got to drink beer with friends.

    I left the empties so they would know some good ones to order if they decide they'll get some from their distributor and then sell them to me direct. I really don't mind bringing them, but I should bring a bunch in advance because the first one was a bit shaken after being in my lumbar pack on the walk down there.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @mtaratoot : That was very clever. I think every bar should offer AF beer.

    I've often ordered what I call the "recovering alcoholic special," which is cranberry, soda, and lime. Almost every bar can make that and they can charge something for it, too. (Tonic and lime is another pretty common choice, but I don't like it that much.)

    (Aside: I made the mistake of calling it the "recovering alcoholic special" one time at a bar in a group that I didn't know that well, meaning it as a joke. Hey, it was lunchtime, and not everyone was having alcohol. Another member of our party (who I didn't know at all) took that as a opening to tell me his life history with alcoholism. Some things just aren't joking matters!)
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    @mtaratoot : That was very clever. I think every bar should offer AF beer.

    Given that there are more choices now, and given that some actually taste OK unlike when they first became available decades ago, yes they should! I took my friend a can of PBR N/A last night because I bought some on a lark when they were on sale. He was curious. I gave it to him, and he ordered one on tap and did a taste test. He said he couldn't tell a difference, except the one in the can might have tasted "fresher." His words.

    I was pleased to see that a liquor store in Flagstaff, Arizona that outfits river trips at least has one brand with several flavors available (Athletic). We are thinking it will be a good idea to pay them to deliver beverages to our group to reduce the weight in our trailer - no reason to carry that much liquid that many thousand miles when we have other important stuff to carry.

    I have been using some of the "extra" calories on very good chocolate - because I can.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    Poking around in my pantry, remembered I had this. (Yes, it's full - it's my second bottle.)

    It's not calorie free, not sugar free, and some will say it's not "clean" because there's a scary polysyllabic chemical name in the ingredients (a GRAS acidifier), but it's non-alcoholic and pretty tasty. It's intended as a mixer, the implication being that it has a fairly strong flavor undiluted, so is a potential drink-flavoring option at less than a full 2-oz, 50-cal serving. I liked it - something different.

    @Jthanmyfitnesspal (or others), how did you feel about bitters, if you tried them? Maybe not your jam? (I'm used to my tastes differing from others'. 😉🤷‍♀️)

    xvb0y44oyap9.jpg


  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @AnnPT77 : Thank you for the continued suggestions. I think that one looks fantastic!

    Bitters are really fun, but if you're strictly AF (which I'm not) you would want to avoid them. I was shocked that Amazon would just send me them!

    (The sodium bisulfite is a preservative, which could save your life from dangerous bacteria. So, it's not all bad!)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 : Thank you for the continued suggestions. I think that one looks fantastic!

    Bitters are really fun, but if you're strictly AF (which I'm not) you would want to avoid them. I was shocked that Amazon would just send me them!

    (The sodium bisulfite is a preservative, which could save your life from dangerous bacteria. So, it's not all bad!)

    The alcohol in many/most bitters is similar to the alcohol in common vanilla extract (and other similar extracts). Given the strong flavor, the high cost, and the small bottles of any of the above, I don't think kids buying them to get drunk is a high risk in practice. There are cheaper, tastier alternatives, like ones bought by that 18/21 y/o shady friend.

    The reason they're not restricted seemingly is a history thing, though:

    https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/dont-buy-vanilla-extract-liquor-store

    Yes, someone who needs to be totally AF would want to avoid all of that. But for most of us, the amount of alcohol in a few dashes of bitters is pretty trivial, even though it's maybe 60-90 proof.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    I tried another thing, supposed to be a bitters (?) soda. No alcohol, has sugar, tiny bottle is 61 calories. Way different flavor than most soda/pop I've had, but not what I'd call seriously bitter. (Note: I can eat bitter melon pretty plain as a side dish, happily.) Still too sweet for me, though. (I don't much care for sweet drinks. It might not be very sweet to people who like them.) Cute little bottle, though. Maybe nice bud vase? Just sharing the experiment for the sake of chat.

    310s4cbthfkd.jpg
    Contextual note for this next: I have improbably large hands for a woman.
    3vtamdibmwov.jpg
    Ingredients and nutrition facts . . . in Italian.
    w2tuiqxhxmns.jpg


  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,184 Member
    @AnnPT77

    Someone else posted about this, and I've been looking for it unsuccessfully.

    I've just been on hold for well over an hour dealing with a financial institution. Ugh. At least the only had to put me back on hold ONE time, and at least it was less than ten more minutes. So I'm just having a decaf, some dark chocolate, and some aspirin....
  • Sinisterbarbie1
    Sinisterbarbie1 Posts: 711 Member
    Crodino comes in the golden/blond version you purchased @AnnPT77 and also a rosso which is a bit more bitter. There are other companies that make the bitter version like sanbitters. They all sort of approximate a somewhat sweeter campari apertif. You can get them on amazon, or at the online italian store or find retailers through their websites. You need to mix it with a lot of ice and seltzer and add a bit of citrus. The small bottle is a concentrate. https://crodino.com/how-to-drink/
    There are also premixed cocktails that use these sorts of bevereages like the Nogroni and St Agresis makes a bottled “Phony Negroni” which is pretty good. Both are like a campari and soda. Wilfred’s - a British co. - makes a non alcoholic apertif in a 750 ml bottle like this and Lyre’s makes an Italian Spritz flavor that is also this same idea. They also taste good mixed with orange bitters.

    On a totally different topic, I had amazing mocktails in NYC this weekend. One was a sugar snap pea based drink. I have to figure it out for myself but it appeared to be purred sugar snaps (blitzed in a vitamix till liquefied), shot of lemon juice, shot of lime juice, NA gin, a big square ice cube and a curry leaf.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    edited February 2023
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    @AnnPT77

    Someone else posted about this, and I've been looking for it unsuccessfully.

    I've just been on hold for well over an hour dealing with a financial institution. Ugh. At least the only had to put me back on hold ONE time, and at least it was less than ten more minutes. So I'm just having a decaf, some dark chocolate, and some aspirin....

    Bezos. Not cheap. I assessed the price based on entertainment value, not really on food value.

    I'd share with you if I could. It's OK, but not - to me - craveable.

    Price-wise, it's probably good that I don't adore it. That's a slippery slope for a hedonist.

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