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Non Alchoholic Drinks

PongePonge Registered User regular
edited January 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
I drink way too much at the moment, and after a particularly booze-filled Christmas break I have decided to go tee-total over January (and depending on how that goes, maybe longer). I've done this once before and felt great so I'm actually looking forward to the near instant minor weight loss and more money.

My one problem is that I work abroad (Hong Kong) and all my friends are through my work and through a football supporters club who meet at bars. This means that 90% of my socialising is done in bars/clubs, and I would really like a nice drink to order at the bar rather than asking for water all the time.

Like smokers feel the need to replace the action of 'smoking' when they quit, I need something tasty to drink.

Low-sugar would be good, cheap is also a benefit. I do like drinking water but the water supply here is a bit suspect, although bottled is a choice (although I once ordered a pellegrino and it cost me like £15, yeesh.)

Ponge on

Posts

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Well if you dig the taste of any mixed drinks you can order virgin- just about everything and they will make it for you with out the alchohol.

    Otherwise you can order pop just about everywhere.

    Bedlam on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Just drink diet coke and your friends will assume that there’s rum or whiskey in it.

    supabeast on
  • PongePonge Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Yeah, i do like diet coke and drink probably too much of it at the moment (i fear for my teeth). Maybe one of the issues is that I'm generally very very thirsty. If I order a diet coke then they generally just serve a tiny glass which I wolf down in 2 or 3 drinks, plus I get annoyed at paying the same price for a small diet coke as it would cost me for a beer.

    I think this is maybe to do with not drinking enough water during the day (which I'm also working on).

    I'll maybe start asking for water with lemon... It jazzes it up a bit.

    Ponge on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Yeah, as far as non-water, no sugar that you can order at a bar, diet soda is pretty much your only option.

    And compared to alcohol or the stuff they use to make regular mixed drinks, diet soda isn't bad for your teeth at all.

    Thanatos on
  • PongePonge Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Yeah, it seems inevitable that I'll be rocking the diet coke.

    For the record though, I'm not totally against the idea of a sugared drink.

    If anyone can suggest some tasty virgin cocktails I'd buy them a beer...

    Ponge on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Beer actually wouldn't be a terrible choice.

    You drink it more slowly, it has less alcohol, and the carbs in the beer are typically more complex than what you get out of mixed drinks, meaning they make you feel more full, faster, and that your body gets more, nutritionally, out of them.

    Thanatos on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If you drank virgin marys, or just straight tomato juice, there's the advantage of it being relatively nutritious compared to the empty calories in alcoholic drinks. I don't see a lot of people rocking the bloody marys lately, though, so it might not work if your goal is to blend in with the crowd.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »
    If you drank virgin marys, or just straight tomato juice, there's the advantage of it being relatively nutritious compared to the empty calories in alcoholic drinks. I don't see a lot of people rocking the bloody marys lately, though, so it might not work if your goal is to blend in with the crowd.
    It's generally a before-noon drink. Or afternoon, if you're using it to recover from a hangover.

    Thanatos on
  • MechMantisMechMantis Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I have found what I call a Lime and Tonic to be very tasty. Think of it as a Gin and Tonic with lime... without the gin.

    Unfortunately, the only real nutrition in the stuff comes from the lime juice.

    Pour a glass of tonic water, then take a small amount of lime juice and squirt it in. I generally use about five or six squirts of lime juice. I've had sips of Gin and Tonics produced in the same way, only with the gin, and I really can't tell the difference.

    MechMantis on
  • Forbe!Forbe! Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Proper Gin and Tonics use lime wedges and not juice. The lime isn't meant to be prevalent over the Gin.

    Lemonade and Iced Tea. Most respectable bars carry both of those for mixing. Hopefully they have unsweetened tea and you can just add whatever you want to it if it isn't sweet enough...preferably honey.

    Forbe! on
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  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited January 2009
    Cranberry juice, or any kind of juice, really, and have it mixed with Sprite.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • CorvusCorvus . VancouverRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    ceres wrote: »
    Cranberry juice, or any kind of juice, really, and have it mixed with Sprite.

    A note about this, most cranberry juice is actually "cranberry cocktail" with a load of sugar added to counteract the bitterness of cranberry. Just something to be aware of.

    Corvus on
    :so_raven:
  • OskiOski Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I wouldn't drink any kind of soda if your hoping for weight loss. I mean alcohol is bad but diet soda is shit for your body in any context.

    Oski on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Oski wrote: »
    I wouldn't drink any kind of soda if your hoping for weight loss. I mean alcohol is bad but diet soda is shit for your body in any context.
    You do not know what the hell you're talking about.

    Thanatos on
  • ChungwaChungwa Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Thanatos wrote: »
    Oski wrote: »
    I wouldn't drink any kind of soda if your hoping for weight loss. I mean alcohol is bad but diet soda is shit for your body in any context.
    You do not know what the hell you're talking about.

    Really? Last year my doctor said essentially the exact same thing as Oski when I asked about weight loss, alcohol and soda.

    Edit: I should make it clear I'm often wary of what any of my doctors have told me. Not that I distrust them, but I know that being a doctor doesn't make you the end all authority... I'm honestly curious here.

    Chungwa on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Chungwa wrote: »
    Thanatos wrote: »
    Oski wrote: »
    I wouldn't drink any kind of soda if your hoping for weight loss. I mean alcohol is bad but diet soda is shit for your body in any context.
    You do not know what the hell you're talking about.
    Really? Last year my doctor said essentially the exact same thing as Oski when I asked about weight loss, alcohol and soda.

    Edit: I should make it clear I'm often wary of what any of my doctors have told me. Not that I distrust them, but I know that being a doctor doesn't make you the end all authority... I'm honestly curious here.
    I'm going to make this quick, because it's tangential to the topic:

    Diet sodas have zero calories. They therefore cannot add to your weight in any way, shape, or form, because your body doesn't make anything from them; it basically passes right through you. That being said, there have been a couple of recent studies which seem to indicate that diet sodas may affect the way your body processes sugar, and slow down your metabolism slightly.

    There is no question, however, that given the choice between diet soda, regular soda, or alcohol, diet soda is the least-likely to impact your waistline, by far. If people want to discuss it further, fine, start a D&D topic on it, but keep it out of here.

    Thanatos on
  • capnricocapnrico Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    The sugar substitutes and stuff they use to make it zero calorie is what's bad for you, not so much the getting fat part.

    capnrico on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    capnrico wrote: »
    The sugar substitutes and stuff they use to make it zero calorie is what's bad for you, not so much the getting fat part.
    Science says otherwise. Again, if you want to discuss this, D&D thread. Last warning.

    Thanatos on
  • EskimoDaveEskimoDave Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    You could do what I caught a friend of mine doing last night and put water in a beer can.

    EskimoDave on
  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If you know how to drive, name yourself designated driver. You don't have to drink, and your friends will like you even more.

    Then you just order whatever you want to that's non-alcoholic. You won't be pressured to drink any alcohol if your friends are worth anything. I get the feeling that the OP's feeling pressured to drink simply because he's at a bar, and he doesn't want to look like he's not wanting to hang with the group because he doesn't want to drink.

    JaysonFour on
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  • PongePonge Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Can't drive, plus theres basically no need to where I live. The public transport here is fantastic.

    I'm not too fussed of what people think of me or people trying to force me to drink. I've told most of them that I'm off the booze for the forseeable future and have been through the peer pressure before.

    I really like the sound of the tonic and lime. Would that be lime cordial, or would I use a slice of lime?

    Ponge on
  • RocketScienceRocketScience Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Lemon, lime and bitters

    RocketScience on
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