skipper123

I don't consider myself a foodie but have dined at some very fine restaurants. I could have cared less about the food but loved places with nice wine lists. I am on day 60 plus and I don't go out to eat much these days and if I do its a very casual restaurant where I just order ice tea.

MacW

I went out for a gourmet pizza today, really well put together, and perfectly baked in a clay oven while I watched. Thick slices of prosciutto, olives, mozzarella and feta cheese.

In the past, my go to pairing would have been a decent Valpolicella, a nice fresh wine for rich but not too complex food.

Instead, I tried your suggestion of sparking mineral water. I was really surprised. The sparkle really makes such a difference over flat water when eating.

GnikNus

In time you can enjoy those things in spite of now alcohol. It will take some sober time, however. There were several things/ situations that I thought were inseparable from alcohol. I've revisited those things since and now enjoy ten without alcohol. It takes time to break the mental and physical associations the brain develops.

Incidentally, I enjoy cigars as well. When I have one, I never even think of alcohol anymore. Try experimenting with different sizes than you would normally smoke. That might help. I've come to enjoy smaller size and ring gauge ( something I never did when pairing cigars with booze) and it helped.

In terms of food, I actually enjoy it much more now than I did when I was drinking. Good tastes better and I get more out of it.

MacW

How strange, I actually came up with that idea myself today. I thought yeah, coffee works well with a cigar. But how many cups of coffee would I need smoking a big fat Churchill? Probably 3 or 4.

So I picked up a pack of Montecristo Miniatures, and popped in for an espresso in the local coffee shop. It worked really well, 1 cup of coffee, 1 cigarillo.

Mac.