this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Learned a new term today: “sober curious.” I quit drinking 5 years ago, and never looked back. I wouldn’t mind some more variety for non-alcoholic drinks, especially those without sugar. Can’t have pop too often because it’s just sugar. Kombucha reminds me of beer so I avoid it. Fruit juices are full of sugar too. So it’s usually down to tea, coffee or water for me.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

lol that sounds like vocabulary only an alcoholic would invent.

"I've heard of being sober, but I'm to afraid to try it right now."

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's a super weird turn of phrase. I admit, as someone who doesn't actually enjoy the flavour of alcohol nor its intoxicating effects, I'd not mind having something a little more universal that I can say to people. "I don't really drink" both comes with a lot of unrelated baggage -- they think I'm either a recovering alcoholic or a church nut -- and people get really weird about it if they ever see me having a drink (probably because they think I've fallen off the wagon or something).

But that phrase sure as hell isn't going to be "sober-curious".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

How 'bout the phrase "what concern is it of yours what I do and do not drink?"

A: Want some booze?

B: Nah, I'm good.

A: OK.

That's the mature conversation. Since most people aren't like A in this conversation, however, I tend to actually experience:

C: Want some booze?

D: Nah, I'm good. [N.B. this presupposes I don't want some booze: I'm not a teetotaller, but I'm not always in the mood for booze]

C: Why not?

D: In what way does your knowing the reasons make this anything beyond an increasingly awkward conversation?

C: Asshole!

D: Whatever.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Since things like iced coffee and unsweetened tea exists, I don't really have a problem with options, especially since they've both become common enough to be canned.

That said, the term "sober curious" just sounds degrading, like you're saying "that weirdo guy who's actually wondering what it's like to be sober" rather than someone who doesn't want to be a publicly acceptable drug addict.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

"Look, I'm totally a drinker, but I've always wanted to try not-drinking, and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to be my first time?"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the term is strange for sure! First time I see it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Same. I got into kefir and a wide variety of herbal teas/tisanes, myself.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How do you feel about drinks like Bubly?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Not the person you’re replying to but I’ve been sober almost 7 years and I drink tons of flavored sparkling water.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I drank a ton of those 0 sugar flavored carbonated water when I was quitting, but I stopped after a while. Felt bad creating so much recycling. But yeah, I like them! I’ll take one when people offer or when I do feel like something other than water. I just no longer buy them on a regular basis. My home made alternative is squeezing half a lemon in a glass of water or club soda (and I’d buy the 2L bottles).

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I bought a soda stream and will cycle through various things to flavor it. My two go-tos are orange juice and mango juice. And I usually just put a splash of it on top. Maybe 1/10.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I got a SodaStream and love it. I feel better about no throwing away as much plastic every time I want a drink. I love water but sometimes I need some variety and it fills that gap quite well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

That’s a great idea!

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I was trying to escape beer to save money, but at $2 a can non-alcoholic is even more expensive despite seemingly less taxes needing to be paid.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Is non-alcoholic beer reallly more expensive than the regular? In Europe they're on par in most places. In Northern Europe (Norway, Denmark) it's even significantly cheaper due to taxes.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You ever tried kombucha, it may hit the spot similarly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

My initial assumption was that it's because it's newer, ~~so they need to make up that r&d cost~~ (edit: I get why this is silly now). Once there is a lot more competition for it, the prices should come down. Similar to how some plant based meats / milks or gluten-free products became more accessible once general people started buying them instead of a tiny group that could be exploited more easily.

I'm just hoping for fewer drunk driving accidents and reduced health issues

[–] Alphadef 28 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Oh boy you are painfully optimistic about capitalism

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Let us not forget, 1 trillion types of non alcoholic drinks already exist.

People don’t event know when they a being marketed.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That’s the nicest way to put it lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

fair, again I'm just hopeful that this will become a good option for people

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

R&D cost lol, there’s no such thing. That’s what companies want you to believe so they can upsell medicine and technology.

This is just another market rife for capitalism to ensnare. Some guy crunched the numbers and found that x% don’t drink at events. So to recoup that lost revenue, they made this. The drinks, the ads, the news articles that cover it. All planted to drive up their bottom line.

Because that’s how businesses work. They find an angle and swoop in and start setting up payment systems to see what people will begrudgingly pay for.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I was equating them, probably incorrectly, to things like plant based meat companies that did have to consider margins till they could scale up.

But yes I guess a major conglomerate doesn't have that constraint, and it's probably not that hard to make something that tastes like X beer without alcohol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Non-alcoholic beer is older than most of the people in this thread commenting¹. There's no more "R&D cost" involved in making it. If they're charging more for the non-alcoholic than the alcoholic, it's just straight-up greed.


¹ Source: I was drinking this shit when I was 12—45 years ago, in other words—and even then it was old news!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I wonder if this is a pendulum swinging, and gen z's kids will drink to excess.

Me I limit myself to one or two drinks, only in social spaces/never alone.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I guess we're seeing a bit of that with smoking vs vaping, but I'd need to look at the rates more to see if that actually was like a pendulum

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm gen x and have no issue drinking 6 beer alone (alone as the only one drinking in the home) once or twice a month, while I do my own thing or interact with the family.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How does this compare with recent trends of non alcoholic drinks coming out with alcoholic versions of their flagships? I've seen Mountain Dew and Arizona Tea drinks with alcohol in them at the ABC, which is really strange to me.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Didn't Gen Z already destroy hard liquor as an industry if breathless headlines of a decade or so ago are anything to go by?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Has a large proportion of Gen Zers quit drinking entirely? If so, then along with social media facilitating cathartic sharing, and wage stagnation destroying lifestyle expectations, that would add another layer helping to explain the apparently larger percentage of Gen Zers than with previous generations that are (publicly) having trouble putting up with certain kinds of BS at the workplace.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A decade ago, the oldest GenZer would have been 16. They destroyed alcohol by not being old enough to purchase it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Maybe it was the Millenials who were being blamed then? I lose track of which divide the press is trying to drive a wedge in this week.

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