Water or Coke - that's about it

prowla
prowla Posts: 13,162 Forumite
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in Praise, vent & warnings
I absolutely detest artificial sweetener; it seems like when I go out now I can either have water or Coke to drink.

(Some places do San Pellegrino too.)
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  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 72,193 Ambassador
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    prowla wrote: »
    I absolutely detest artificial sweetener; it seems like when I go out now I can either have water or Coke to drink.

    (Some places do San Pellegrino too.)

    Depends on where you are going of course, but most cafes and restaurants have orange or apple juice, and pubs have tonic water (lovely with ice and a slice) . I'm seeing more and more places selling sparkling elderflower or fancy lemonade as well.

    If you are just out for lunch what about a latte or pot of tea?
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  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
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    Tea, coffee, milk, squash, juice, beer, wine, spirits, etc. etc. I think you need to go out a bit more and see what is actually available.
  • prowla
    prowla Posts: 13,162 Forumite
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    soolin wrote: »
    Depends on where you are going of course, but most cafes and restaurants have orange or apple juice, and pubs have tonic water (lovely with ice and a slice) . I'm seeing more and more places selling sparkling elderflower or fancy lemonade as well.

    If you are just out for lunch what about a latte or pot of tea?
    Most tonic (apart from Fever Tree) has artificial sweetener.

    I do sometimes have the up-market lemonades, yes.
  • McKneff
    McKneff Posts: 38,822 Forumite
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    Have tap water.
    Free
    Sugar free
    Fat free
    Good for you
    make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
    and we will never, ever return.
  • prowla
    prowla Posts: 13,162 Forumite
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    agrinnall wrote: »
    Tea, coffee, milk, squash, juice, beer, wine, spirits, etc. etc. I think you need to go out a bit more and see what is actually available.
    Well, I was talking about non-alcoholic drinks; since I am generally driving when I go out.

    Tea and coffee are OK, of course, but I don't like them with a meal. I quite like iced tea, but they are generally artificial sweetener too.

    Milk doesn't agree with me.

    Most squashes now have the artificial sweetener plague.

    Juice is good, if the place serves it.

    And yes, I do go out fairly often! :-)
  • prowla
    prowla Posts: 13,162 Forumite
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    McKneff wrote: »
    Have tap water.
    Free
    Sugar free
    Fat free
    Good for you
    Yep - I think I'll be ordering more of that when I'm out!
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    As you mention Coke I assume you are happy with drinks that are high in sugar, so there are still plenty of those available, they just cost a bit more now.

    Or you could do what I did and switch to drinks containing sweetener (I prefer aspartame), you get used to the taste after a few weeks and after years of drinking them I now cannot stomach full fat sugary drinks.
  • pattycake
    pattycake Posts: 1,576 Forumite
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    I too dislike the taste of artificial sweeteners. If I am out and not able to have my drink of choice for some reason I will have a soda water with ice and a slice. Some places do not even charge for this either.

    Failing that, I will have tap water.
  • seashore22
    seashore22 Posts: 1,443 Forumite
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    I rarely go anywhere with food where they don't sell the upmarket soft drinks like Belvoir or Fentimans. They don't have artificial sweeteners and there are many, many others out there.

    I never drink coke and hate artificial sweeteners too, so to say that it's a choice between Coke and water is misleading to say the least.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    If it bothers you enough, then you need to find out who sells what ... and only drink there. Of course, that doesn't work in "the real world" as you're probably invited to places and/or the places with a range are much pricier/smarter ...

    It's just the way it is. I've always begrudged paying £1.25-£1.50 for a glass of mixed coke from the pump .... when I could've got a can from the shop in a multipack at 25p.

    I don't enjoy going out when people say "drinks" because I know I'll end up having just one half and leaving it at that (as I drive) as they down glass after glass of stuff they love. Pub coke is always "hit and miss" depending on how their pump's set.... so I'm rarely tempted to even have that. The alternative is an overpriced tiny bottle of stuff ....

    So I tend to go out and spend £2 on a half a cider, then just "sit it out" for the rest of the evening.
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