How to Fake Drinking at Work Events
When you're at a post-work happy hour with coworkers, or another office event that involves alcohol, and you choose not to drink, it can sometimes (sadly enough) get tricky. Readers once had a helpful discussion in the comments about how to fake drinking at work events, and we thought we'd round up their advice today.
Readers, do tell: When you feel it's necessary, how do you fake drinking at work events?
While some readers said they didn't really see the need to pretend to drink when coworkers are imbibing, others commented that they've had colleagues who continue to urge them to have a drink even after they've declined — or try to find out exactly WHY they're they're skipping alcohol (what a pain!).
In fact, one commenter shared that some acquaintances closely monitored her after her wedding for signs she might be pregnant (far beyond just skipping alcohol), while another reader commented, “To those questioning whether this is still a thing for full-grown adults? Yes. Very much yes. Especially in the law firm world of Old Boys.” One reader shared, “I’ve personally been asked many times point blank if I’m pregnant because I wasn’t drinking.”
The tips below can help in all sorts of situations — whether you want to avoid alcohol because you're pregnant (or trying to conceive), or you're cutting out alcohol to lose weight, or you're sober / in recovery. Or maybe you simply don't drink!
{related: 10 great mocktail recipes for Dry January}
How to Fake Drinking at Work Events
Readers shared a ton of suggestions for mocktails and other options to fake drinking and thwart those curious (read: nosy) coworkers.
As one reader noted. “It’s really all about the glassware. You could also do ginger ale in a champagne flute, cranberry juice in a martini glass with Cosmo garnish, etc.”
Here are some drink possibilities from readers:
- Club soda & lime
- Club soda & cranberry
- Cranberry & lime
- Faux Jack & ginger: ginger ale & lime
- Faux rum & coke: Coke & lime
- Virgin mojito
- Virgin Cosmo
- Virgin Moscow Mule — no one will know what's in that copper mug!
- Virgin Bellini or virgin mimosa: “Have the bartender switch soft apple cider for the Prosecco, or lemon soda or something if they don’t have apple cider,” one reader suggested.
- Virgin Sea Breeze: cranberry & grapefruit
- Root beer or ginger beer that has a beer-style bottle/label
{related: Dry January: why I'm doing it again — and what to drink instead}
Readers, please share your favorite mocktails — or any other ways to get nosy coworkers off your back so you can enjoy your nonalcoholic drink in peace.
Stock photo via Stencil.
If you aren’t drinking for reasons unrelated to alcoholism, you could order a drink and take tiny sips of it. Unless you are with the same people all night (like at a table at a wedding), no one is going to notice that you barely touched the one and only bourbon tonic you ordered.
I did this at 6 weeks pregnant but it was awkward because we at a friend’s house and he was making us his signature co**tails and would notice if I didn’t hand back an empty glass. I ended it up taking a polite fake sip and then pushing them over to my husband when no one was paying attention. Poor guy had four drinks instead of two and was a little out of it at the end of the evening.
Yup, did this at family parties when I was ~8 weeks pregnant. I took a teeny tiny sip of beer in a dark bottle and dumped the beer/refilled it with water or handed it off to my husband.
Intermittently, I have been on antibiotics that required I abstain. The pub we frequented had a recipe box of mocktails that the bartenders had created. I would give them “fruity, not to sweet” or another set of criteria, and they would either find one in the box or create a new one for me. If I liked it, they would write it down and put it in the box, along with the characteristics. When we moved, they offered me a copy of the recipes, since I had given them the ideas for so many of them.
Our new favorite c0cktail bar has something similar. They want to provide a safe place for those who imbibe and for those who don’t.
That’s nice. I have been to a few places with creative mocktails and I have really enjoyed those. For the places that have no such list, I just order a club soda and lime.
I am so thankful that as a society we are getting closer to being cool about decisions not to drink. I have several legal colleagues who have posted openly about their decision to stop drinking and I think they are creating a space where it’s actually cool and interesting to be your own wonderful self without alcohol. I don’t see myself completely stopping, but I do love the awareness that I can be out and not drink and have a lovely time anyways. So if you aren’t drinking one night, for any reason, I encourage you to own it, because you might make it easier for someone who isn’t ready or able to own it yet.
+1! And if you do drink, but you witness someone being pressured or interrogated over not drinking, please jump in and change the topic! Or you can be straightforward like my mom and just say ‘it’s fine, drinking is totally optional here’.
I faked drinking at work events with my first pregnancy, but I’ve found that attitudes toward drinking have changed so much in the last five years that this time around, no one cares at all if I want to just have a water or soda at events. In fact, lots of my colleagues just aren’t drinking at work functions anymore or limiting to 1, so it’s just not a big deal.
I agree that attitudes have really changed in the last few years.
Yeah, I think attitudes have really changed. I don’t think anyone even gives a second thought. Lot of folks are too tired, watching calories, don’t want bad breath, etc. Not a grand“sober” thing a lot of times now. I’d say it’s about 50/50 now on whether I’ll even order a drink when at a work function. No big reason other than how I’d look at ordering dessert. Depends on what’s offered and whether it’s appealing.
I wonder if people drank too much during the pandemic and, as a result, chose to stop drinking entirely.
I drank too much before the pandemic for two decades but being cooped up with my substance abuse during the pandemic helped me quit once and for all.
Nice! That is not easy.
At one point I couldn’t drink while dealing with a medical condition, and really didn’t want to discuss it with coworkers or casual acquaintances. I found female bartenders are great if you order a club soda with lime and ask them to make it look like alcohol. The women always gave me a knowing “got you covered” nod and discreetly poured soda into a rocks glass.
My favorite easy non-cocktail is tonic and lime, as a G&T fan – hits the spot without the booze.
Highly recommend a virgin bloody mary. It’s usually a morning drink and people are more likely to question that than the alcohol – if they do, I just say “I was craving one!”