Wetting one's whistle, soberly

stuhse

My wife and I have sampled none alcoholic drinks extensively as part of weight loss plans over the years.A few years back they were all in our opinion undrinkable, however i think manufacturers have been working hard, recent experimentation has found our shelves stocked with the following:

Erdinger alcohol free wheat beer...my current new found favourite.
Heineken 0,  -as close to being like the real thing as it gets.
Guinness 0 - as above
Nozeco....can add orange juice to make bucks fizz as another option....and cheap as chips

All very acceptable imho. I have found it is a psychological thing,  with something that looks like beer and tastes like beer in your hand you feel like it's the weekend !

jon81uk

MSE_Ciara said:

Hello all!



We've seen alcohol free 'spirits' but cannot justify paying £20-25 for a bottle of what's effectively juice. And as a craft beer and real ale fan, 0% options from the likes of big-name lager brands don't quite cut it, as they all taste quite watered down...

Most of those £20-25 alcohol-free spirits are not effectivly "juice", they don't contain fruit. Most are exactly what they state they are, alcohol-free spirits so the "gin" has the botanicals and stuff that flavours gin but none of the alcohol, there is no more juice in it than the gin that has alcohol.

For alcohol free beer I find Lucky Saint is very good. But of course it depends why you are cutting down, it still has most of the calories that beer does.

Emmia

jon81uk said:

MSE_Ciara said:

Hello all!



We've seen alcohol free 'spirits' but cannot justify paying £20-25 for a bottle of what's effectively juice. And as a craft beer and real ale fan, 0% options from the likes of big-name lager brands don't quite cut it, as they all taste quite watered down...

Most of those £20-25 alcohol-free spirits are not effectivly "juice", they don't contain fruit. Most are exactly what they state they are, alcohol-free spirits so the "gin" has the botanicals and stuff that flavours gin but none of the alcohol, there is no more juice in it than the gin that has alcohol.

For alcohol free beer I find Lucky Saint is very good. But of course it depends why you are cutting down, it still has most of the calories that beer does.

I think the key reason I like the alcohol free "gins" is they're not sweet like juice or cordial and make a good "adult" drink that isn't like fizzy pop. 

Personally, once they're in tonic I find it difficult to tell the difference.

Before Christmas M&S had the Seedlip ones on offer - down to £15, so I bought a couple - they are becoming more common though, and so prices are coming down a little.

Katiehound

Pollie said:

Sorry!! Never sure if you are supposed to use proper names and note that lots of users on various forums use altered names.

Don't understand that. We are not the BBC:- 'other outlets are available!'
Aldi & Lidl even appear in a thread title.
Proper names are allowed!

Isoei

No/low alcohol wine is really hit and miss, I find. I've tried a few from Tesco's selection, and the Hardy's non-alcoholic chardonnay is quite nice. The first sip is like "this is just strong fruit juice...", but it sort of mellows out and has a fruity wine taste to it, not super watered down. It's usually between £3-5 per bottle. I'd advise avoiding Tesco's own-brand stuff though - nasty! Used that as drain cleaner as it went down the sink haha.

Or (and I know you said not fizzy pop, but...) you could go for a 'fancier' type of pop like Shloer or sparkling J20. Sometimes I like to find some kind of fizz I've never tried before and pour it into a wine glass so that it feels fancy haha. 

In terms of beer, the only one I've tried is the Heineken low-alcohol beer, which was nice. It didn't taste watered down or acrid.

RAS

Having tried Aldi's fake Prosecco and Tesco's version, avoid the latter like the plague. It tasted like Parma Violets, just weird. Aldi is too sweet, but so is real Prosecco to my taste, but OK.

Many non-alcohol beers taste burnt to me.

I do like Fevertrees' Blood Orange Soda which was recommended. Again too sweet for my taste, but lovely diluted about 3 parts sparkling mineral water to one part soda, or even more. Then it's sharp and refreshing. I look out for it on offer but even full price it's cheaper than the No'seccos.

One of my favourite summer drinks is HM very dry cider, almost vinegar sharp. 1 cm in the base of a glass topped up with sparkling mineral water. All the electrolytes you need and the H2O. He could try a good quality cider vinegar the same way, and use it for salad if it doesn't work.

Emmia

RAS said:

Having tried Aldi's fake Prosecco and Tesco's version, avoid the latter like the plague. It tasted like Parma Violets, just weird. Aldi is too sweet, but so is real Prosecco to my taste, but OK.

Many non-alcohol beers taste burnt to me.

I do like Fevertrees' Blood Orange Soda which was recommended. Again too sweet for my taste, but lovely diluted about 3 parts sparkling mineral water to one part soda, or even more. Then it's sharp and refreshing. I look out for it on offer but even full price it's cheaper than the No'seccos.

One of my favourite summer drinks is HM very dry cider, almost vinegar sharp. 1 cm in the base of a glass topped up with sparkling mineral water. All the electrolytes you need and the H2O. He could try a good quality cider vinegar the same way, and use it for salad if it doesn't work.

So, I quite like balsamic vinegar used like a cordial, mixed with fizzy water.

MSE_Ciara

Emmia said:

jon81uk said:

MSE_Ciara said:

Hello all!



We've seen alcohol free 'spirits' but cannot justify paying £20-25 for a bottle of what's effectively juice. And as a craft beer and real ale fan, 0% options from the likes of big-name lager brands don't quite cut it, as they all taste quite watered down...

Most of those £20-25 alcohol-free spirits are not effectivly "juice", they don't contain fruit. Most are exactly what they state they are, alcohol-free spirits so the "gin" has the botanicals and stuff that flavours gin but none of the alcohol, there is no more juice in it than the gin that has alcohol.

For alcohol free beer I find Lucky Saint is very good. But of course it depends why you are cutting down, it still has most of the calories that beer does.

I think the key reason I like the alcohol free "gins" is they're not sweet like juice or cordial and make a good "adult" drink that isn't like fizzy pop. 

Personally, once they're in tonic I find it difficult to tell the difference.

Before Christmas M&S had the Seedlip ones on offer - down to £15, so I bought a couple - they are becoming more common though, and so prices are coming down a little.

Ha, of course - I think my use of the word 'juice' is down to my NI roots - we call coke, pepsi, 7up, fanta etc. 'fizzy juice' too, even if there's not a drop of fruit in it! I'll take a look in M&S, thank you!

MSE_Ciara

Isoei said:

No/low alcohol wine is really hit and miss, I find. I've tried a few from Tesco's selection, and the Hardy's non-alcoholic chardonnay is quite nice. The first sip is like "this is just strong fruit juice...", but it sort of mellows out and has a fruity wine taste to it, not super watered down. It's usually between £3-5 per bottle. I'd advise avoiding Tesco's own-brand stuff though - nasty! Used that as drain cleaner as it went down the sink haha.

Or (and I know you said not fizzy pop, but...) you could go for a 'fancier' type of pop like Shloer or sparkling J20. Sometimes I like to find some kind of fizz I've never tried before and pour it into a wine glass so that it feels fancy haha. 

In terms of beer, the only one I've tried is the Heineken low-alcohol beer, which was nice. It didn't taste watered down or acrid.

Ooh we haven't ventured into the non-alcoholic wine - I've tried the Barefoot low alcohol stuff before and it's alright! Must have a look for Hardys - thanks!

MSE_Ciara

Emmia said:

RAS said:

Having tried Aldi's fake Prosecco and Tesco's version, avoid the latter like the plague. It tasted like Parma Violets, just weird. Aldi is too sweet, but so is real Prosecco to my taste, but OK.

Many non-alcohol beers taste burnt to me.

I do like Fevertrees' Blood Orange Soda which was recommended. Again too sweet for my taste, but lovely diluted about 3 parts sparkling mineral water to one part soda, or even more. Then it's sharp and refreshing. I look out for it on offer but even full price it's cheaper than the No'seccos.

One of my favourite summer drinks is HM very dry cider, almost vinegar sharp. 1 cm in the base of a glass topped up with sparkling mineral water. All the electrolytes you need and the H2O. He could try a good quality cider vinegar the same way, and use it for salad if it doesn't work.

So, I quite like balsamic vinegar used like a cordial, mixed with fizzy water.

I've never heard of this before, wow!