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Ladies, are you doing #dryjanuary — or otherwise trying to back away slowly from alcohol? Do you have favorite mocktails to drink instead during Dry January?
I did Dry January last year and found it really refreshing because I broke a lot of bad habits, and got a lot of clarity over when I actually want to drink instead of just drinking out of habit or because of social obligation.
For example, most Fridays we have a regular dinner with extended family, and I found that that the first martini that my husband and I share is a really big thing for me. It's an “us” thing (everyone else drinks wine), as well as a celebration of the week being done and the weekend arriving.
On the flip side, it's far too easy to get in the habit of pouring yourself a glass of wine while making dinner… or watching TV… or as just your default order if you're meeting a friend out and about… and I find that glass of wine is hugely related to habit more than anything. It isn't a celebration or a treat — it's a reflex.
Last year, Dry January actually extended into February for me because I got strep throat around my birthday at the end of January… and I lost eight pounds really easily, so there's that. (Full disclosure: I gained all that back — plus most of my old habits or just as negative new ones — by mid-April — but I'm still grateful I did Dry January! I did really try to resist the pull of mid-week drinking without cause all year, though.)
So… what else to drink instead? I thought I'd round up some of my favorites… readers, are you trying to curtail your drinking as a New Year resolution or as part of Dry January? What are your motivating factors? What else do you drink?
{related: some of our favorite prenatal nonalcohol drinks!}
Water or Infused Water
Something I've only recently realized is that everyone has the perfect temperature at which they like to drink water, and that it varies pretty widely from person to person. I haaaate lukewarm or room temperature water, but will happily gulp down ice cold water. (But no ice cubes.) In the summer I often freeze a half-filled Nalgene bottle, then add cold water to it to take with me if I'm running errands. I enjoy lemon water water but not so much that it's worth the extra trouble to me. I once tried to make jalapeno/grapefruit-infused water based on a recipe I saw online, and…. that is too spicy for me.
What to Drink During TV Time Instead of Wine: Tea
I feel like it was just yesterday that I hated tea… but I've been into it for a while now. (We had a nice discussion on the best teas a while ago!) Rooibos tea was my gateway, and I started drinking it because it had been recommended as a wine replacement. It is not that — but it has a nice, non-bitey taste to it, and it's caffeine free so it's a good option for late afternoons or evenings. If I want a sweet hit at night while watching TV or reading I'll make myself some fruity herbal tea or chocolate mint tea. This mojito marmalade tea looks all kinds of awesome. Funnily enough, I've since acquired a taste for black tea and earl gray tea… but I still find green tea hard to enjoy.
If you're on the hunt for minty teas, these are some of my favorites:
Pictured (clockwise): Peppermint Chocolate / Peppermint Bark / Chocolate Mint / Moroccan Mint / Pure Peppermint
What to Drink During Meal Prep & Dinner: Seltzer
There are a TON of seltzers out there right now, and I've totally become the person who brings a case of Spendrift with me to parties in addition to wine and other nibbles. My favorite is Spindrift, but I'm also a fan of plain seltzer (or seltzer with a splash of juice) from the SodaStream (affiliate link) or LaCroix Cúrate in Cerise Limón.
Some of our favorite non-alcoholic drinks and things to add to plain seltzer (we love our Sodastream!) include:
Celebratory Non-Alcoholic Drinks: Unicorn Juice
Readers turned me on to this, and it's kind of fun to offer someone unicorn juice — it's unflavored seltzer with a teaspoon or so of powdered pink lemonade. Yum!
What to Drink Instead When You Want Something a Little Zippy: Kombucha
Kombucha feels too expensive (and my fridge is too small) to drink it really regularly, but I like to have half a bottle or so during dinner every so often. (Note that kombucha has some alcohol content, but I believe it's very small.)
What to Drink Instead During Dry January: Fancy DIY Mocktails
If you want to get fancier, you can start making fancier mocktails with bitters. I've even heard of people who use gin-making kits to flavor a club soda, or to soak the flavorings in hot water to make a large batch of gin-flavored tea to keep in the fridge, either to mix with tonic water or to use with the Sodastream. The Kitchn has a lot of fancy articles on mocktails, including one on shrubs (which, whoa, look really interesting and now I need to order some).
What to Drink Instead: Non-Alcoholic Versions of Alcoholic Drinks
I've heard amazing things about Seedlip Spirits, but have never tried them myself. Non-alcoholic wine is… kind of vinegary, IMHO, but it does exist. When I was pregnant I liked O'Douls non-alcoholic beer because everything else tasted too sweet to me (I am really not a beer drinker otherwise). Here's a recent roundup from Esquire on non-alcoholic beers, and from The Spirits Business on non-alcoholic spirits.
Looking to focus more on moderation? These are some products that can help you:
Pictured above, some ideas on how to moderate your drinking: Caloric Cuvee, [sold out] but similar) and Wine-Trax; all $9-$19 at Amazon. I've also talked about how much I love the beautiful cocktail glasses from The History Company because they're generally smaller!
Readers, are you doing Dry January? What are your favorite things to drink instead during Dry January? If you've done Dry January before (or regularly take time away from alcohol), what have you learned during your dry periods?
ANP
I’m doing a round of Whole30 this month and the program doesn’t permit sugar or alcohol so I’m in a Dry January by default. Honestly, I’ve missed the routine of pouring a glass of wine or a beer after work more than I miss the actual booze (which is a good reminder). I’m also considering staying dry in February, too — or maybe saying I will only consume alcohol on a non-“school” (work) night (i.e. Friday and Saturday). My go-tos are Spindrift and kombucha.
C
Also doing Whole30 this month and I agree that the ritual/routine of alcohol is what I miss. DH and I enjoy making our own fancy cocktails, so it’s a whole activity where we experiment with a new liquor or try to replicate we something we had at a bar. Unfortunately, a lot of mocktail recipes have added sugar, and just pouring a glass of seltzer doesn’t have the same activity component to it that making a cocktail does. I’ve started experimenting with fresh fruit and seltzer and that’s actually been pretty fun. So far my favorite combination is strawberries muddled in a glass with mint leaves and a squeeze of lime, then topped with seltzer.
Anon
I love this strawberries/mint/lime/seltzer idea! Thank you! I agree that when I look at the mocktail recipes, they just look like pure sugar.
emma
You guys may enjoy making shrubs (fruit & vinegar based) cocktails.
Senior Attorney
Yep, same here.
This is about my third year doing Whole30 in January and for whatever reason I’m not missing the alcohol quite as much this year. I can’t be bothered with mocktails so I’m just swigging Pelligrino from the bottle. When I go out I’m having sparkling water in a champagne flute.
cake
I try to save alcohol for special occasions when I can enjoy a really tasty, fancy cocktail instead of just some generic drink for the sake of drinking. I just don’t think the calories for alcohol are worth it and would rather eat my calories instead. I drink tons of flavored, unsweetened iced teas and sparking waters.
Anon
+1. I rarely drink at home and when I go out for dinner, I try to stick to a rule of either an alcoholic drink or a dessert but not both.
Equestrian Attorney
For medical reasons, DH can no longer drink alcohol (maybe a few sips on special occasions) so we are definitely readjusting on this (and not just in January). He can’t do sugar either so we are drinking all the LaCroix, but I like the strawberry seltzer idea above!
CPA Lady
I’m on the wagon, so my whole life is dry January, but if you are looking for good mocktail recipes, I recommend the inst@gram @karolinarzad … the thing I miss the most about drinking is getting to feel like I belong in the pretty foodie part of society, and her drinks are pretty and tasty.
Also, for those folks who are really thinking/worrying about their alcohol consumption, I’d strongly recommend This N@ked Mind by Annie Grace. Totally changed my perspective on a lot of things, is science based, and very eye opening.
Triangle Pose
My favorite tip from a friend when you’re out at a bar, whether you are dry/pregnant ¬ ready to announce/trying to stay hydrated on big long night of drinking:
Ask the bartender for a “seltzer, bitters and a lime in a down glass.”
Bartenders have always made this for me without question and usually don’t charge for it when you/the group are also ordering real drinks. I just tip well to make up for it. This (a) looks like a real drink in appearance so no questions if you are sober/pregnant b) is refreshingly tasty and hydrating, esp if you are just looking to drink less when you’re out and c) is relatively easy to make.
I order this between drinks because I’m that person who drinks more than they intent to when I’m out. I have just as much fun when I have 1 or 2 cocktails as when I have 4 or 5. I just want to keep hanging out! I don’t need the alcohol to do it but when we are standing around a bar I just find myself going to order.
I also make this at home now.
Anonymous
What’s a down glass?
Cat
I tripped over that too, but suspect it means a non-martini (aka ‘up’) glass. So it would look like a G&T.
Triangle Pose
Like what they serve whiskey, G&Ts and those types of cocktails in. Basically I don’t want a tall glass like what they serve when you order a sode at a bar – dead giveaway.
Anon
This – another word for a lowball.
PolyD
My boyfriend gave me for Christmas one year a box of 12 different kinds of bitters. I like to use them in seltzer – gives flavor without the sugar.
Bitters technically have alcohol, but since you use such a small amount, I consider bitters + seltzer to be Not Alcohol.
Aggie
I looked into this when pregnant – it is about the same amount of alcohol as vanilla extract.
Celia
Vanilla extract is 35% alcohol.
Senior Attorney
This is a genius idea. Thanks.
Susan
Tangentially related … bitters and soda is an excellent aid for an upset stomach.
emma
Double woot for this pregnant lady who is missing cocktails and has extreme heart burn!
Anonymous
So, I’m pregnant, and thus doing a dry January by default. As others mentioned, I sort of miss the ritual, but what I really miss is having a drink option that is *not* sugary sweet. (I recognize that all alcoholic drinks are just sugar, but the taste of a beer is far different from a soda…). I feel like I’m limited to water, seltzer, juice or some variety of soda (which I never really drank anyway). I do not like the taste of kombucha, and I’m too risk adverse to even have a few sips during pregnancy since there are sometimes trace amounts of alcohol in there. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Basically, I’m looking for something that tastes like a beer but obviously isn’t beer. I learned that O’Douls does in fact have alcohol in it, so that’s out. And I just think that I shouldn’t really be ingesting all that much added sugar anyway (in the form of syrups that are added to most mocktails)
I have the seedlip varieties and they’re definitely better than having a mocktail that is just a syrup and seltzer water, but wondering if anyone has any ideas. Thanks!
rosie
I missed beer so much during pregnancy & I wasn’t a big beer drinker beforehand. It doesn’t taste like beer, but a less sweet drink that I like is seltzer with a splash of cranberry & squeeze of lime. Also really like Spindrift–it’s not just flavored seltzer, highly recommend trying it if you haven’t (I like the grapefruit the best).
Anonymous
I should add, I’m also looking for something that doesn’t involve seltzer/bubbly. A few years ago, my office (in addition to the 20 varieties of soda that are constantly stocked in the fridge), in an effort to give people healthier options, also has 3 or 4 flavors of la croix in the fridge at all times, so I basically just drink that all day long.
Anonymous
No ideas, but solidarity. Also pregnant. I have an O’Douls once a week because I’m not ask risk averse, but I don’t know if anything else really works. Agree that sweet beverages aren’t really a replacement (I don’t have much of a sweet tooth).
nona
What about more savory teas (either hot or cold) – I’m thinking a black (or decaf black) Earl Gray? The oil of bergamont is flavorful, but i don’t think it reads sweat, like some of the fruit teas can.
Brittany
After going to Europe and drinking the sodas there, everything here has been so cloyingly sweet, so I’ve been looking for alternatives. Sadly most of the canned seltzers are just too bitter for me. We got some syrups to make Italian sodas at home using stuff like La Croix as a base. I also discovered that the little Starbucks refresher packs are divine in sparkling water. (Although a serving is half an envelope, which is weird.)
When in London I discovered a brand called Fentiman’s, and got addicted to their rose lemonade. I’d never heard of it before that trip, but I got home and now I’m seeing it everywhere, including Target and the grocery store! It’s not the cheapest, but I’ll grab myself a four-pack as a treat. Izze clementine is a reasonable approximation of European Fanta.
Failing any other options, like when all I have are fountain drinks, I’ll do half soda and half sparkling water. It cuts down on the sugary flavor quite a bit.
NOLA
I totally read this as “why I drink instead” rather than “what to drink instead.” I hate LaCroix and don’t really love bubbly water in general, but I will drink the Trader Joe’s flavored sparkling water and always have some on hand (cranberry clementine, to be precise). I prefer still water or Vitaminwater. For some reason, sparkling water always makes me feel bloated and full. I can’t be bothered with mocktails. I just think about the calories in alcohol as a percentage of what i’m eating and it keeps me in check. I drink a lot less than I used to!
Rainbow Hair
I was (am?) doing it because my husband is doing it because i’m doing it because he’s doing… somehow there’s a circular competitive thing? IDK, whyTF not?
Except we have a date on Friday and he proposed a brewery with a taco truck, and I was like “what about Drynuary?” and he said “eff it for a night?” so … at least he blinked first? But we only ever drink on weekends anyway, so basically we aren’t doing it? Silliness.
But I am hosting a meetup of my beer club tonight and not drinking, so that’ll be fun! I’m looking forward to saving money and possibly buying cheetos.
Starting Zoloft
Does anyone have any good stories or encouraging words for someone just starting zoloft. I’m on day two and was awake pretty much all night. I know logically that this is a good thing to be doing (very bad anxiety that badly needs some treatment), but I’d love some success stories!
Rainbow Hair
I am a success story! It’s horrifying/great to look back to the worst few weeks of my postpartum anxiety, when I was SO MAD and so sure my life was falling apart and just fragile and unable to cope with things… that’s not me! And it *isn’t* me any more! I’m just regular RH now!
You’re awesome for taking this step!
Elegant Giraffe
Hi! I hope you see this. I’ve been on Zoloft for about two months. I have gradually climbed up to taking 75 mg every morning. For me, when I increase my dosage (like from 62.5 to 75), there are five or six nights of poor sleep and then my body adjusts. Before the Zoloft, I was on Lexapro just for a week or two – and my side effects were so bad that my psychiatrist recommended I try another drug rather than wait out the adjustment period. So, 1) you are likely to adjust, and 2) if you don’t adjust, there are lots of other options.
I’ve only been taking medication for a couple of months and have started to notice positive changes in the last two or three weeks. Hang in there.
Anon
Me, me!
The first two weeks were horrible, but then it was like the clouds parted and angels sang from the heavens (I am not exaggerating). I just felt… NORMAL. I remember thinking, “Is this how other people feel all the time?” To have that constant cloud of anxiety removed was the greatest gift. I am so, so grateful that I went on zoloft. I only wish I had done it years earlier.
Good luck to you and hang in there! Things will get better.
Starting Zoloft
Thanks everyone for your kind words! They really helped and are much appreciated.
Celia
A common side effect is lactose intolerance. For me it lasted a full year. I also slept more –about 9.5 hours a night, which was glorious. Made me feel normal as well.
anonshmanon
For celebrating, we like ginger beer, which is non-alcoholic soda, with a much sharper ginger punch than regular ginger ale. It’s common in Australia and New Zealand, but Safeway and 7-eleven usually carry it here.
I am curious when/whether alcohol-free beers will become more of a thing in the US. They already are a significant market in Germany, where you will find alcohol-free wheat beer on most menus, and more and more drinkable pilsener-styles are coming out.
TX-IHC
T/J–any recs for touchscreen gloves?
I used to like the AGgloves with the silver threads in them, but nothing seems to work with my iPhoneX. Wondering if anyone has found touchscreen gloves that actually (in order of importance): 1) work on touchscreens 2) keep hands warm 3) look cool.
BabyAssociate
I dunno about look cool, but I have these Uniqlo gloves that are warm and work great and are super cheap: https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/heattech-knitted-gloves-409344.html
Anon
I’m participating in dry January, but not really at my choice. I am a federal contractor furloughed with the shutdown and have no possibility of backpay, so I can’t justify the price when I don’t know when I’m getting paid again
cake
Ugh I’m sorry, what a lousy situation.
Aurora
My husband is a non-drinker, and I’m not a big fan of alcohol even though I don’t have any hard rules against it, so I love the following instead:
– True Lime! Zero sugar, straight up lime powder, saves me from having to keep fresh limes in the house, plus I always keep a few packets in my purse to spice up tap water when I’m out and about. Add some True Lime and grenadine to a coconut La Croix and it’s a great mocktail. I also like all the various related True Lemon products, particularly the peach lemonade.
– Speaking of La Croix, they have an entire section of mocktail recipes on their website, which are super fun: https://www.lacroixwater.com/recipes/
– Seconding the recommendation for ginger beer or related fancy sodas.
– KEVITA, particularly the Mojita Lime Mint Coconut. I could never get into the taste of Kombucha, but Kevita is not fermented-flavored at all, and is a super light, refreshing sparking drink. I love having one as a treat.
Anonymous
Trader Joe’s has fancy flavors of soda that change seasonally — last time I was there I got a yuzu soda that was interesting and tasted very grown-up. I have also had their strawberry rhubarb soda, which is really good.
Canadian foodie
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Italian sodas. Good white balsamic vinegar (yes, vinegar) and sparkling water. Not too sweet, and really easy to pretty up. We served Cara Cara orange and vanilla sodas to those driving at new years with blood orange rounds on the rims and cranberries in the ice.
We generally have a few flavors of vinegar in our pantry at all times. Right now it’s Apricot and Coconut, but I’ll probably grab pineapple tomorrow to replace the raspberry bottle that just got finished.
The original Scarlett
Not sure if you’ll see this, but I’m intrigued – is there some other ingredient besides vinegar? Is it a shrub you’re using or the same stuff I’d put on a salad? Never heard of this and it sounds good – can you elaborate on how to make it?
Brittany
You can get balsamic vinegars in all kinds of flavors. The grocery store might have a couple, but if you’ve got a place near you that sells olive oil they usually also have balsamics. You basically just add it to sparkling water, as much or as little as you want. We’ll do that, or we also got some Torani syrups for the same purpose.
First Timer
My husband and I are both doing dry January for the 1st time. Definitely needed a reset after excessive imbibing over the holidays. It has been hard so far, but hopefully we will make it the full 31 days. I am also hoping it changes our mindset going forward. I would prefer to skip any mocktails as the sugar content would be too high. Drinking mostly water, but have enjoyed a few SF Redbulls.
Anonymous
Genuinely nothing but a white balsamic and sparkling water. It is the same vinegar we put on salad, with the caveat that I get the oils and vinegars we use on salad at a specialty store with a tasting bar for them (https://evoolution.ca/). It sounds crazy, but it is lovely and refreshing. Of their white balsamics, we’ve only found the jalapeño and honey ginger to not work well this way.
Hannah
I will be trying to conceive shortly so dry January was a convenient time to stop drinking. If anyone asks I can just tell them I liked dry January and decided to keep it going. Herbal tea and seltzer (I’m loyal to Polar) have always been favorites but I’ve also been embarking on taste tests to find the spiciest ginger beer. So far it’s Fever Tree, for the record. A ginger beer or seltzer with a lime wedge in it, in the right glass, fulfills the ritual of having a drink for me.
Anonymous
My issue is a) I’m trying to avoid sugar and b) finding something basic to order in a restaurant. There are just such limited options if you don’t want juice or something with sugar. Mocktails are fun but loaded with sugar, usually. You can only do so much seltzer and lime. Sigh.