Learned a new term today: “sober curious.” I quit drinking 5 years ago, and never looked back. I wouldn’t mind some more variety for non-alcoholic drinks, especially those without sugar. Can’t have pop too often because it’s just sugar. Kombucha reminds me of beer so I avoid it. Fruit juices are full of sugar too. So it’s usually down to tea, coffee or water for me.
It’s a super weird turn of phrase. I admit, as someone who doesn’t actually enjoy the flavour of alcohol nor its intoxicating effects, I’d not mind having something a little more universal that I can say to people. “I don’t really drink” both comes with a lot of unrelated baggage – they think I’m either a recovering alcoholic or a church nut – and people get really weird about it if they ever see me having a drink (probably because they think I’ve fallen off the wagon or something).
But that phrase sure as hell isn’t going to be “sober-curious”.
As long as there’s no added sugar, the fruit juices should be fine. Not all sugars are equal, and fructose is a long chain sugar so it’s more like a fuse then the dynamite (glucose).
There are maybe two or three pleasure drinks available to me as a sugar-repelling former alcoholic, and my wife has boatloads of medical issues and cant find anything anywhere to enjoy except McDonalds unsweetened tea.
Once you try avoiding sugar, your choices are pretty limited. I drank some pop when I was just starting to quit, but I knew it was just a temporary solution. On the bright side, you save money by drinking water most of the time. If we go out I’ll sometimes order those fake cocktails, but they are so expensive.
I drank a ton of those 0 sugar flavored carbonated water when I was quitting, but I stopped after a while. Felt bad creating so much recycling. But yeah, I like them! I’ll take one when people offer or when I do feel like something other than water. I just no longer buy them on a regular basis. My home made alternative is squeezing half a lemon in a glass of water or club soda (and I’d buy the 2L bottles).
I bought a soda stream and will cycle through various things to flavor it. My two go-tos are orange juice and mango juice. And I usually just put a splash of it on top. Maybe 1/10.
I got a SodaStream and love it. I feel better about no throwing away as much plastic every time I want a drink. I love water but sometimes I need some variety and it fills that gap quite well.
Since things like iced coffee and unsweetened tea exists, I don’t really have a problem with options, especially since they’ve both become common enough to be canned.
That said, the term “sober curious” just sounds degrading, like you’re saying “that weirdo guy who’s actually wondering what it’s like to be sober” rather than someone who doesn’t want to be a publicly acceptable drug addict.
Learned a new term today: “sober curious.” I quit drinking 5 years ago, and never looked back. I wouldn’t mind some more variety for non-alcoholic drinks, especially those without sugar. Can’t have pop too often because it’s just sugar. Kombucha reminds me of beer so I avoid it. Fruit juices are full of sugar too. So it’s usually down to tea, coffee or water for me.
lol that sounds like vocabulary only an alcoholic would invent.
“I’ve heard of being sober, but I’m to afraid to try it right now.”
lol totally
It’s a super weird turn of phrase. I admit, as someone who doesn’t actually enjoy the flavour of alcohol nor its intoxicating effects, I’d not mind having something a little more universal that I can say to people. “I don’t really drink” both comes with a lot of unrelated baggage – they think I’m either a recovering alcoholic or a church nut – and people get really weird about it if they ever see me having a drink (probably because they think I’ve fallen off the wagon or something).
But that phrase sure as hell isn’t going to be “sober-curious”.
How 'bout the phrase “what concern is it of yours what I do and do not drink?”
A: Want some booze?
B: Nah, I’m good.
A: OK.
That’s the mature conversation. Since most people aren’t like A in this conversation, however, I tend to actually experience:
C: Want some booze?
D: Nah, I’m good. [N.B. this presupposes I don’t want some booze: I’m not a teetotaller, but I’m not always in the mood for booze]
C: Why not?
D: In what way does your knowing the reasons make this anything beyond an increasingly awkward conversation?
C: Asshole!
D: Whatever.
As long as there’s no added sugar, the fruit juices should be fine. Not all sugars are equal, and fructose is a long chain sugar so it’s more like a fuse then the dynamite (glucose).
Uh… what? This is a fructose molecule
This reminds me of the thousand pound sisters drinking diet sodas to cancel out the calories in their meals.
There are maybe two or three pleasure drinks available to me as a sugar-repelling former alcoholic, and my wife has boatloads of medical issues and cant find anything anywhere to enjoy except McDonalds unsweetened tea.
Once you try avoiding sugar, your choices are pretty limited. I drank some pop when I was just starting to quit, but I knew it was just a temporary solution. On the bright side, you save money by drinking water most of the time. If we go out I’ll sometimes order those fake cocktails, but they are so expensive.
How do you feel about drinks like Bubly?
I drank a ton of those 0 sugar flavored carbonated water when I was quitting, but I stopped after a while. Felt bad creating so much recycling. But yeah, I like them! I’ll take one when people offer or when I do feel like something other than water. I just no longer buy them on a regular basis. My home made alternative is squeezing half a lemon in a glass of water or club soda (and I’d buy the 2L bottles).
I bought a soda stream and will cycle through various things to flavor it. My two go-tos are orange juice and mango juice. And I usually just put a splash of it on top. Maybe 1/10.
That’s a great idea!
I got a SodaStream and love it. I feel better about no throwing away as much plastic every time I want a drink. I love water but sometimes I need some variety and it fills that gap quite well.
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Same. I got into kefir and a wide variety of herbal teas/tisanes, myself.
Since things like iced coffee and unsweetened tea exists, I don’t really have a problem with options, especially since they’ve both become common enough to be canned.
That said, the term “sober curious” just sounds degrading, like you’re saying “that weirdo guy who’s actually wondering what it’s like to be sober” rather than someone who doesn’t want to be a publicly acceptable drug addict.
Yeah, the term is strange for sure! First time I see it.
“Look, I’m totally a drinker, but I’ve always wanted to try not-drinking, and I was wondering if maybe you’d like to be my first time?”