trachemys

non-alcoholic beer and wine?

I know there are all kinds on NA alternatives such as virgin margaritas, etc. Still, the taste of a cold beer on a hot day, the pleasure of good wine with food.

Are these options to consider or a slippery place?

T4texas

I have friends that quit drinking alcohol that tried to drink NA beer and it worked for them....for a while. They are all drinking again now and that has discouraged me from trying the same. Sometimes an action or smell or taste will wake up a craving in me so I do my best to avoid them. Opening a bottle and getting that smell might lead to "Well just one won't hurt me none." And I have been there done that and got the t-shirt. In the end it's your decision but I would recommend against it.

markinsf

Maybe there is a decent tasting NA beer out there but I've not tasted one. But I'm not a beer drinker anyway so it's kind of a moot point. As for the NA wine I can see that when we sit down and have a formal dinner, but that isn't too often. So for me I'm not too worried about it either due to taste or times I might want a NA drink. Having said that, I know of too many people that started down that path and like T4T mentioned. So I guess for me the solution is pretty easy - avoid them. I can just hear the AV getting ready to head down this path.

trachemys

BTDT, just last week.

I was reading some older threads about it, and googling some on it. Just curious what the more experienced AVRT practitioners thought.

I am no where NEAR far enough along to even consider it. May never be. Just the IDEA of the taste of wine woke IT up.

mecanix

I come from a midfulness perspective rather than AVRT . I'd rather let the sleeping dog lie with respect to the desire for the flavour of fermented beverages . Although i will use vinegar's and soy sauce .
Just my $0.02

Bestwishes, M

breath

I never saw the reason; I quit everything that contributed to my powerlessness over alcohol; anything less would be a compromise. Compromising = Relapse in my book; I said goodbye to the alcohol lifestyle and am happier now.

Nonsensical

I tried it when I was in Saudi Arabia. It gave me a headache. Seriously, it was like drinking an instant hangover with no buzz.

I haven't talked to anyone else who had that same reaction, but it was really just horrible for me.

jkb

They just dont taste good to me...

soberlicious

.Well, I am not an experienced practitioner of anything, but I can tell you what the book says. If you are asking about the AVRT perspective, in AVRT there are no such things as slippery places. If you aren't going to drink again, how can there be a slippery place? From p. 158: Indeed NA beer or wine could wake IT up. Have you read the section on "shifting"? It doesn't matter if IT wakes up, IT cannot drink without YOUR consent, right?

All that said, I don't drink stuff that tastes like sh*t. I do however drink out of pretty glasses, because they are pretty, and I like pretty. Bling bling.

I have also done faux celebratory shots on occasion, and find it rather endearing that my friends include me with a special grapefruit juice shot. That could no more make me drink than could drinking coca cola...after all I did mix that with rum daily, should I avoid it now?

If I am allergic to eggs and I eat "egg beaters" instead, does that mean I am going to purchase and consume a carton of jumbo grade As like a madwoman?

I guess your question could be best addressed by asking another question. What's your plan for future use of alcohol?

Ananda

OK...I don't practice a "program" at the moment...but my expereince is that...everyone is different.

My brother is alchoholic and having something with a wine ingredient that is completely cooked out effects his mind set.

I, on the otherhand, never worried about it....I eat food with wine that is cooked out and don't think twice....I'm coming back from a slip so perhaps you would take it with a grain of salt, but I had 7 years at one point and it just didn't seem like cooked out wine or cough syrup with some "alchohol" in it ever set off a craving...when I drank it had nothing to do with that...I drank cause I thought maybe I could....long story...

Yet, as I said, for my brother it is really likely to set him off. For myself, I HATE formal occasions where they serve "fake wine" (fancy sparkiling juices) because I'm alchoholic....I pretty much a "get a grip" person on this....I can handle the toast just fine...with my water glass, or just with a hand gesture...the "fake" stuff just makes me feel like people are tippy toeing around me and makes not drinking into a big deal...

Funny thing for me reading your thread is that I DO miss the "flavor" of specific wines with specific foods...as I said...if it is cooked out...I have no problem with it...but I CANT drink a nice glass of good wine with a meal and yep I miss it...but not enough to go down that road again. I was a rum drinker...straight out of the bottle ....but when I lost the 7 years I drank beer...which I actually hate LOL for the Stanley Cup Finals....then moved on to the rum again and 8 years of uncontrolled drinking. I believe that wine would lead down the same path...

Bottome line, even though wine can add to a culinary exprience, I DRINK FOR THE EFFECT....I may cross the line for flavor, but I end up craving the effect...

As I said in the beginning...it may be different for everyone...I just know where the line lies for me.

Nands

trachemys

soberlicious, I can't wait for my books to get here.

ananda, have you ever seen this:
Alcohol Burn-off Chart

Ananda

I hadn't seen the chart...but mostly I know we find out what we can and can't do. I'll take a closer look..but in the end...we find our own path that works.

FBL

I drank beer to get drunk, so I never saw the point in NA beer.

DarkDays

Tried a few, but keep me in the drink " zone ". Obsessing over drink is not total freedom. Fizzy water diet coke whatever , want nothing more to do with alcoHELL.

shockozulu

I avoid them as a rule because they taste like alcoholic beverages without the alcohol.


There was only one NA beer I could stand, and I don't want that again. Interestingly it didn't set off cravings at the time but has caused me since to romanticize the drink since.

trachemys

It's funny, to me anyway: I had a glass of cold grape juice this morning. I faintly heard, "If that were warm it might taste more like wine". I put some ice cubes in the glass.

jkb

I am going to try that.