matt4x4

Well I doubt it.

They do sell "near-beer" it tastes exactly like beer, but with 0.5% alcohol. What about wine? Well they sell that stuff as well in the 0.5% range. They sell champagne that way as well.

So if you think you drink for the taste, go buy some of this near-beer or near-wine bottles and try it out. It might be good to get a case of the gitters to get a real taste of the problem at hand.

I can say for a fact that I never drank for the taste, I always drank for the effect. This is a simple truth. The simple truth of the matter is I never sat down at one sitting and downed anything more then a can or two of Cherry Coke or Bottled water. My most favoritest non-alcoholic beverages. Now when it comes to alcoholic beverages I always sat down and drank a 6-pack very quickly, then another 6-pack somewhat slower, then the final 6-pack took me to blackout mode. Another drink I loved was called Canadian Wine Cooler, came in a 2L 7% (half gallon) bottle, I downed that first one in about 30 minutes, second in about an hour. The rest took me to black out.

Finally, to get this imprinted into MY head.........
I never sat down and drank a 2L of water let alone pop.
I drink to change the way I feel. I drink because I am an alcoholic, that is what I do. I need to change the way I think, because that is what the problem really is. The problem has nothing to do with booze or alcohol. The problem centers in my mind. I have to change the way I think.

Dee74

What you'll hear in this thread Matt is there are some people who'll tell you they did drink for taste.

That may not be your experience (or mine) but that doesn't mean those experiences don't exist.
I just haven't experienced them.

And if you think NA tastes like real beer, you haven't drank any of the ones I did LOL.

D

FeelingGreat

Hi Matt, I've often wondered about this paradox. I certainly drank for taste, but there was also the addictive component of alcohol.
I only bought white wine I liked, but I ask myself would I have gone down-market if I didn't have the means to suit my tastes? Not sure, but I've had beer in the fridge for the whole time of my sobriety, even when I was still having cravings, and a bottle or 2 of red wine in the rack. I've never felt tempted to drink them, ever, but when my niece accidentally left her cider in my fridge I had to get it out of the house fast.
I would be thrilled to find a sparkling non-alcoholic wine that tasted anything like the alcoholic version, but if it exists I haven't found it. I do drink sparkling grape juice but not as a substitute for wine.

Pipping

I was a wine drinker and I hid my alcoholism behind being a bit of a wine expert. I would go to all the fancy tastings and try new blends but what I really wanted was the alcohol. Alcohol free beer or wine to me is pointless and would feed my addiction so I avoid it like the plague.

Amajorityofone

When I drank, I drank to get drunk. Otherwise, what's the point? As for drinking "fake" alcohol, i don't see the point of that, either. Not only do you have to go into a real liquor store to purchase it, which, if you ask me, is a stones throw away from falling off a cliff, but it taste awful and is ridiculously expensive.

Gottalife

I drank for effect though there were some drinks I liked more than others. But given no other choice I would have drunk horse wee strained through a sweaty sock if it would have the required effect. Getting loaded was the priority, taste had nothing to do with it.

Funnily enough I met an AA member who was a former president of a wine society recently. He said he tried to hide his alcoholism behind his wine interest.

Lily123

I was more concerned with getting a high proof beverage more than anything. I told myself I liked dark beers, red wine and sake. Pretty sure I just wanted to get drunk.

matt4x4

Wow, I could never sit down and drink anything close to a 750ml bottle of anything non-alcoholic, not even in a whole evening. Even when I was working out at the gym, I would never drink anything close to a liter of anything. And I am a tall, heavy dude.

One glass of ice cold water and my thirst is quenched.

I guess the next question then would be if I drank for the taste alone. Could I just drink one or two cups of beer or wine or my favorite alcoholic beverage and thats it, take it or leave it. NEVER.

Sorensen

I drink for the taste at first for the first 2 beers of something really tasty, by the time at 7 or 8 its just something cold and fizzy going down my throat and gets me drunk.

Lily123

I know I couldn't. I've tried and I just sit there thinking about drinking until eventually I cave. It's not enjoyable for me to just have one.

Jade1224

Maybe near beer would do but wine?? People spend more hundreds of dollars on good wine. A wine connoisseur would not enjoy non alcoholic wine. People have careers surrounding wine... like a sommelier. But its supposed to be enjoyed with food.

Its not to sit and drink a whole bottle. Its supposed to be sipped. A healthy glass of wine is like 5 oz or something.

To take more than that its not for the taste its to get a buzz.

gaffo

I loved the taste of good drink. Whiskey once in a while--especially Scotch, good wine, beer was my favorite. I had a super realistic dream where I drank a beer the other night and I loved it even though I regretted giving up sobriety at 28 months. It is always such a relief to realize that it was just a dream!

sigint

Interesting discussion. Personally, I consider the taste preferences I developed for alcohol to be 'learned'. In a hypothetical world where all alcoholic beverages did not contain alcohol, would we not still have taste preferences? The fact that there is this inherent addictive substance is an independent factor of taste, IMHO. That is not to say that developing a preference for specific drinks doesn't facilitate the addiction process.

I certainly could never maintain a true drinking-for-taste approach for more than one drink, no matter how-good or bad it tasted.

1newcreation

I go to mtgs to change the way I think

SnoozyQ

I hated the taste of wine , i drank for its buzz only

Pipping

I hate the smell of beer, always have as for some reason it makes me feel sick and gives me a headache. Certain foods do the same thing to the point that they trigger migraines.
I have on occasion run out of wine and have had no hesitation drinking whatever beer there is left in the fridge, well over a litre of the stuff. It is crazy.

BumbleBee

I drank for both. Wine and champagne were my drinks of choice, to get drunk, self sooth, help go to sleep, numb myself, whatever unhealthy reason.

But once in a while, after a long workout or run or with a certain kind of meal, I'd crave a beer. I actually really like Becks non alcoholic beer on those occasions, go figure. Maybe it's all of the carbs?

But fake wine? Yech! Why would you do that to wine?

KateL

I never did like the taste much, except perhaps for Baileys.

DarkDays

All alcohol tastes vile , think back to when you first tasted it , yep it was disgusting .

You have to persevere with it and then when you like the drug effect you convince yourself you like the taste. Trap from hell.

PurpleKnight

I never drank for the taste, there are cheaper non alcoholic drinks that taste better than a lot of alcoholic drinks like fruit juices etc.

Though I never drank just anything, I always chose something that tasted alright (in my mind), which I think is where the confusion comes from, when you develop a taste (over many years) for a particular tipple it becomes hard to know whether it's the taste or some other aspect is the reason for drinking in the first place.

But taste was always secondary to effect in my case!!