blinds8

Hi my names Brendan I'm an alcoholic. I recently discovered that tea could perhaps contain trace amounts of synthetic alcohols as the tea making process requires fermentation (oxidization) of the raw product. I was wondering if anybody else in the program had these issues before with drinks, like tea or food products containing sugar alcohols such as chewing gums and soft drinks? Is it safe to have drinks like tea? Earl grey's main component is usually bergomot which is a dried citrus fruit peeling scented with the oil which allegedly must contain an alcohol to be stable. I noticed that all alcohol must work on the same biological processes, so thus couldn't these food additives trigger the allergy and my mental obssesion?

blinds8

Also I read a tragic story on here about someone getting a mixed drink by mistake, I know to trust God but it's too simple for some hateful person to not care,be oblivious or ignorant or indifferent and add or spike drinks with alcohol causing relapse now i'm worried :P but do I worry or do I pray!?

SSIL75

I drink a lot of tea with no issues. If I got a mixed drink by mistake I just wouldn't drink it once I realized it had alcohol and move on. How long have you been sober?

Dee74

Hi blinds8.

Welcome to SR


I think a goodly percentage of us here drink tea - I've never heard of it being a problem for anyone.

I'm not a big tea drinker but I've probably had a couple 100 cups since I got sober in 07 - I too have never had an issue.

As for spiked drinks, the obvious solution seems to me to be to keep your exposure to liqoured establishments to a minimum for a while, stay away from mocktails and the like that can encourage mistakes, and always watch your drink - never drink it if it smells, looks or taste strange in any way.

D

Lionne

Hi blinds8,

Tea has not been an issue. I drink tea all the time and it hasn't had any negative effects on my sobriety.

As for accidental alcohol ingestion, I agree with SSIL75. Quite early in my sobriety I accidentally had a bite of cake that contained alcohol. (The person who offered it to me had n idea either that there was alcohol in it) I just stopped eating it and I didn't have cravings or a relapse.

If I had ordered food with alcohol in it on purpose, than that would maybe have been a different story as it could have been a sign that I was plannig a relapse and that I was subconsciously looking for a reason to drink again. I'm not trying to offend anyone with this statement, but I think that happens to people sometimes.

For drinks, making a smell test before the first sip can make you feel safer, as well as avoiding any food that is prepared with alcohol (as little as the amount may be) to be on the safe side.

How long have you been sober? Is there something else than the tea that makes you feel insecure about your sobriety or vulnerable at the moment?
Greetings, LS

Hollyanne

Hi Blinds,
Don't you be trying to ruin my tea drinking now!
Just kidding, Tea is wonderful, refreshing, tasty and healthy!
I did switch to decaf black tea in the evenings though as it contains caffeine,
We sometimes have trouble sleeping in early recovery.
As for the spiked drink, rare but possible. Just toss it as said above, and move on.
Avoiding parties and pubs etc is a good idea at the beginning and a lot of people just loose interest as they change and grow. Drunk people, not so smart!
Also, a guy in a meeting the other night just mentioned that it is just too easy to go to the bar for a drink, but if you were at home and get a craving, by the time you get out to act on it, it may have passed. Makes sense. Enjoy sobriety and Earl Grey! Don't worry so much.

least

Drinking tea has never been a problem for me, alcohol or no alcohol. I'd set aside your worries and just enjoy your tea.

WakeUp

Me and my sponsor drink tea obsessively. Tea is healthier than water, I wouldn't worry about the fermentation of the leaves.

Drink up the Earl Grey and cheers!

Having said that, I will say there was some healthy fruit drink someone at Whole Foods was giving out as samples. He was saying it's good for the designated driver in the group. I got a little suspicious, but took the cup and smelled it. It smelled "off", as in alcoholic, so I threw it away.

Another product is kombucha, it's marketed as a healthy tea drink. It is fermented, and it is definitely alcoholic. You can find instruction on the Internet for home brewing it. The alcohol content in raw kombucha can be as high as 3%, that's the same as a beer.

So, regular tea, good. Kombucha, bad!
If in doubt, follow your nose. If it smells like alcohol, it probably sure is!

Onewithwings

I drink herbal tea, and it hasn't been a problem. I also drink Kombucha, which contains about as much alcohol as a near-beer (it is not considered an alcoholic beverage, and you'd have to drink about 2 dozen to get a buzz, and that's if you're NOT an alcoholic, lol!) It hasn't been a problem to me. They don't get me drunk or buzzed or any of that, and do not make me crave alcohol either.

ETA: part of the reason I don't home-brew kombucha is because the alcohol content can wind up higher than you intended. I'll stick with the stuff that is mediated, and has no more than 0.5% alcohol, that is not a problem *for me.*

LaFemme

Whole foods sells kombucha without any alcohol in it at all. I have tried it and liked it.

If, for some reason, you feel drinking tea puts you at risk, I would avoid it for the time being...however there might be something else going on that You might want to look into.

WatchTheSky

For me, tea has been a great way to deal with cravings without relapsing! It's a nice, comforting drink. If it doesn't work that way for you, then avoiding it might be a good idea.

blinds8

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blinds8

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mrsfray

Hi Blinds,

I have never had issue w/ tea, but all of our bodies are different. If it is causing you to have the mental obsession, then perhaps steer clear of it for a while and switch to something else? I love to drink flavored club soda. Anything for me w/ nutrasweet makes me crave sugar and lots of sugary foods. Our bodies can tell us things, so listen to it.

DayTrader

Gee Blings.... gum.....tea... I remember when I had my alcohol tether on and they warned me to not eat pizza for the 9 months it was on because sometimes the yeast in the dough can react with other things in the pizza and produce trace amounts of alcohol that might register on the tether....so I guess that means bread could be out too.

Maybe it's just me but a lifetime worrying about triggers, trace amounts of alcohol, trying to monitor and treat my sobriety, managing my life... it doesn't sound like a lifestyle I'd enjoy and my history shows me it won't work. My experience showed me that I could make plenty of sound decisions regarding alcohol.....but I just couldn't stick to them. It became obvious as well that, so far as booze is concerned, I better find a solution outside of myself....trusting myself had never worked - it ALWAYS resulted in me getting drunk......again!

That's what attracted me to the 12-Steps and the AA program. The concept of not having to continue to use my flawed logic and reason (which GOT me here in the first place) but to find and rely upon a power much bigger than I am sounded like the only sure-fire solution - long term.

"We have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude on liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we have been placed in a position of neutrality - safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. ..... That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition."

Those are the promises that follow the 10th step. Not that they PROMISE sane and normal reactions regarding alcohol, we're not avoiding temptation, being safe and protected, and that the whole darn problem is just removed. I dunno about you but that STILL sounds like the best deal I've ever heard. If nothing else, it sure sounds a whole lot better than a lifetime worrying about my next "trigger" and all that malarkey. For the real alcoholic, there are no "special" triggers.....we'll drink "over" just about anything - being sad, depressed, happy, successful, a failure, a good parent, a bad parent, getting a raise, losing a job, trace amounts of alcohol in our food, etc, etc, etc, etc. The reality of that is everything can be a trigger and my only hope is to have the problem removed so that the "triggers" are no longer connected to the gun of alcohol. That's what the 12 steps do....they remove the gun. And when there's no gun, the "triggers" are powerless and irrelevant.

ArtDeco454

Tea is fine. If you are drinking a tea that is mostly bergomot you need to find a better tea. Earl Grey has trace amounts of bergomot which is an orange type fruit found in Italy. Tea will help you through those tough times, but not due to any alcohol in it.