The Best Drinks for a Sober October According to Our Readers
Now “Sober October”, which means that many people, for one reason or another, take a month’s break from drinking. While I love adult drinks, there is real value in between and I am here to support you in your endeavors.
There are many problems associated with quitting alcohol, the main one being finding something to drink. There is nothing wrong with ordering a Diet Coke at happy hour, but I like something more cocktail. Luckily, our readers have tons of great ideas for delicious soft drinks to enjoy while at home or in the city.
Bitters are your sweetest friend
According to curlysue , tonic tinctures are a must-have “if you’re out and not thirsty or have drunk a little and need a break,” and I agree. Any bar serving liqueurs will have one or more varieties, and you can order any of them with tonic or soda, as well as a wedge of lime or lemon (or both). If you want something a little more rounded, you can take cranberries and bitter, like Dr_Eric , ask the bartender to shed them on citrus soda or ginger ale, or get real fancy, but for the ” virgin of the Moscow mule ,” that is basically just ginger beer and fresh lime juice.
Prepare tiki drinks
Orgeat, which you can make or buy, is an almond and orange-flavored syrup that is a key ingredient in many tiki cocktails, and (luckily for us) Boojumhunter has come up with some non-alcoholic libations using orgeate and grenadine. to give them a little funny tiki:
Barley and hops do not need to be added to beer
FusilliJerry loves to mix barley water with La Croix for a sweet citrus drink (one finger of concentrate per can of seltzer water is fine), while Nicbrews loves to use hops to flavor lemonade. (To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t think about it myself, and can’t wait to jump over it all.)
Use bushy, acidic and floral water
Exciting new or “unusual” tastes keeps you bored, which is a good thing, because in my experience boredom is the enemy of sobriety. JoshTheBat loves to make Happy Soda, an Indonesian drink made up of “a mixture of ice cubes, pink syrup, soda, and condensed milk”; Ellie Rose mixes rose water with lime juice, seltzer water and mint; And when it’s party time, YouMakeMyKinjaComeTrue loves to make “a huge batch of elderberry, mint and lime mocktails,” putting out a couple of bottles of spirits for those who would like to drink them.
Finally, xMRNUTTYx is a big fan of mixing sour bushes – which you can learn to do here – with soda water and making virgin mimosas with non-alcoholic champagne that I didn’t know were available.
If none of this suits you, there is always canned seltzer water. Almost every commentator recommended either La Croix or Polar, especially the grapefruit and tangerine flavors. Cherry Limes – available in trendy thin cans – are well worth your time too. This blackberry cucumber tastes like a candle I bought from Anthropologie.