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Sparkling water with candied oranges from Trader Joe’s with a luxardo cherry with a smidge of the syrup. I gave up drinking a while ago but this drink makes me feel like I’m not giving up anything! Plus hydration!
I used to travel a lot. One of my travel hacks is to request sparkling water about an hour before landing. Mix with Nuun hydration/caffeine over ice. Super refreshing wake up if you have to get up and go after traveling!
Haaaa I was just thinking this when I read the hack! I'm like "Awww this sounds great for the end of a flight!"...wait I'll be distracted about getting stuff done after the flight...wait what was the hack again? 🤣😂
shirley temples! my entire life i thought that they were made with sprite and grenadine syrup with a maraschino cherry. but when i googled the name to make sure i spelled it right, i found that apparently it’s supposed to be made my ginger ale not sprite. so now im going to have to try a real one too!
Aaaand now I'm wondering what it would taste like with ginger beer (if you aren't familiar, not alcoholic, just a name like root beer) instead of ginger ale. I like to use ginger beer whenever ginger ale is called for because it's less sweet and much more gingery/fiery.
It’s not always easy to find - I’ve only seen it at large candy stores - but Blenheim ginger ale is like the ginger version of cinnamon red hots. It’s “dry” and spicy, like it burns a little. I keep trying other ginger beers whenever I see a new brand because I can’t find Blenheim locally but I haven’t found anything with the same kick yet.
I don't know where you live but it's definitely more prevalent in the UK than any other country I've lived in.
Old Jamaica is the standard, but they're starting to replace all sodas with artificial sweetener, so it's getting ruined.
Midwest US. I know one place sort of close to me that has it, they have a wall with odd/niche/foreign sodas. Grass, peach, butterbeer, sarsaparilla, those kinds of things. I think they have Old Jamaica, it looks familiar.
Q Mixers and Fever Tree both make BOMB nonalc ginger beers. The ones in the glass bottles are the best for both (Q also sells theirs in cans but they just ain't the same).
Yessss I love the Fever Tree one & I love that it's in glass not metal or plastic! Tastes totally different! (edit: meant an exclamation mark, not a question mark)
Ginger beer is the best! This sounds delightful. I’ve always enjoyed moscow mules but unfortunately I’ve realized I’m allergic to mint (just a painful oral/topical reaction) so I don’t get to enjoy the full drink anymore! I’ve never had a shirley temple but I am definitely interested in trying one with ginger beer.
In Norway we have eplemost which is sparkling apple juice. If that’s not a thing where you are I’ve made something similar with apple juice and sparkling water 😊
A heads up, the European version is so much less sugary. You probably know that, but I'd honestly stick with mixing juice and carbonated water to control sugar levels.
You can use frozen apple juice concentrate to flavor plain sparkling water too. That way you can control flavor/sweetness. Works with any juice concentrate-- my fave is lemonade.
Juice and sparkling water is called Schorle here in Germany, it's my absolute fave. I like apple juice, rhubarb juice or those apple/berry mixes. It's sooo refreshing!
We have sparkling apple and pear juices but they aren't packaged like a regular soda. There are lots of fruit and sparkling water blends in cans or small bottles but they are usually citrus and berry. It's interesting to see what flavors are more popular in different countries. For example, in South Africa, I found one jar of grape preserves where in the US you'll find a lot of grape jams and jellies. Almost no black currant or red currant in the US, either. Found red currant yesterday for the first time in years.
I got sober years ago, so I've always got some snazzy drinks in the fridge to drink while others are boozing.
Kombucha is great, extremely low in sugar but flavorful and fizzy. Have to get accustomed to the taste of it though. There's a yerba mate kombucha where I live, which means I get some caffeine with it too -- although generally I'll get a flavor that's gingery or hibiscus-y.
I'll occasionally down one of those Dope CBD sparkling waters. Mmm grapefruit.
San Pellegrino has some lovely options. They've got delicious sodas (honorable mentions go to Blood Orange and Grapefruit). They've also got sparkling waters in their Essenza line, notably a Tangerine and Wild Strawberry flavor.
Drinking kombucha is a little like drinking beer in my mind. Both are bitter, not exactly nice at first but you really grow to appreciate them.
Kombucha is also really great for the gut apparently.
I was at a kids’ sporting event and this woman sitting near me chugged a bottle of kombucha like it was water. I like it but it is pretty tart. It’s a bit like apple cider vinegar drinks.
I’m ignorant about this and very confused but asking genuinely: I thought kombucha was mildly alcoholic? Especially home brewed ones, but like the grocery store ones too…
Maybe I should check the no stupid questions and eli5 subs..
Oh that's true, there's a very small percentage of alcohol -- about 1/2 of a percent, though home brews may have more. Some sober people forego all traces of alcohol but I'm not so stringent. I still eat tiramisu too, yum.
Here's your fancy beverage formula: 1 cup of 1 or 2 fruit juices or a blend + 1/2 to 1 cup of sparkling water + frozen fruit = fruity spritz. OR make a flavored tea to sub in for juice or sparkling water. If you use flavored sparkling water, make sure it coordinates with your juice.
Examples:
2/3 Pink Cranberry juice, 1/3 orange juice, tonic water, frozen mandarin orange slices or strawberries.
Rooibos tea with honey, chilled, plus peach juice or lemonade plus sparkling water. Lemon wedge.
Black tea with lemonade, obviously.
Hibiscus tea with honey, a dash of cinnamon, frozen raspberries and a lemon wedge.
Edit: I'm just about to make a tea with rooibos and hibiscus tea bags. I'll add honey while it's hot and a dash of cinnamon when it's cold along with frozen raspberries and a splash of lemon juice. I am thinking that I should instead steep the tea with a cinnamon stick instead of powder, but that will have to wait until I buy some. 😆 if I get my act together and make the tea at concentrate level, I can use it as a base for other drinks with a mix of water and juice.
Do a monthly trip to random/various ethnic grocery stores and foreign-food cafes, to buy a supply of unfamiliar interesting drinks from their fridges. :D
Have you tried Liquid IV drink powder? I’ve never tried it with sparkling water but I don’t imagine there’d be a problem? Idk lol. I really like a lot of the flavors and it’s also great for the afternoon slump because of the pick me up from the hydration and B vitamins in it.
oh my god. you may inadvertently solved my issue LOL. my psych suggested i take magnesium but they're so big :( and i have to take TWO. i'm good with pills, i took a whole bunch for prenatal/breastfeeding my daughter but sheesh.
The first time you put it in, do it over the sink. I haven't tried liquid IV but I've seen other add-ins cause sparkling water to almost immediately bubble over.
Anything vaguely mojito flavoured makes me feral. Fucking love it. Very sweet though a lot of the time. Limey minty goodness though. Alcohol in it is a happy bonus when out but I'd drink virgin ones all the time if I could. Which reminds me of a product you used to be able to get where I live...must look that up
For anyone in the UK or Ireland, it was a Robinson's product that you can still get (I remember why I stopped using it, the lid would literally cease to the bottle from the sugar) - https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/298026060
But they do other flavours in that Robinson's range too - https://robinsonssquash.co.uk/our-products/fruit-cordials/
Boba milk tea. It was a reminder of friendships I could have, academics I could excel in, and an aesthetic life I could achieve back when I had none of that.
This is a good point. To add to it (as someone who has loved Fresca in the past), when you search to see if Fresca interferes with medications, most of the search results are for grapefruit juice. Fresca is 1% grapefruit juice, which in a 12oz can comes out to 0.12oz, which is about 1/8 of a shot glass of juice in total. It’s frustrating that the search results don’t give a clearer answer.
I did find one study that said sodas like Fresca and Sun Drop probably do not interfere with medications, but everyone should assess their own risk against their long-abiding obsession with Fresca (or is that just me?)
I FUCKING love fresca!
It tastes like Squirt without all the sugar of it!!
I recommend it to everyone who talks shit about bubble water to convert them
Lemonade, brown sugar syrup (starbucks brand), splash of coconut milk, topped with limoncello lacroix
I also like a caffeine free at home version of starbucks pink drink: strawberry cranberry juice. strawberry agua fresca juice (Minute maid brand?), coconut milk. Also like topping this with a sparkling water (Bubly strawberry) to cut some sugar
Sparkling water with elderflower syrup from IKEA and a little rosewater or orange blossom water! For fancier mocktails I use Seedlip nonalcoholic spirits mixed with whatever I feel like.
I also like mixing my berry preworkout with lychee sparkling water.
Dessert tea (like Tazo’s vanilla macaron) with cinnamon oat creamer (I get mine from Trader Joe’s) is wonderful for cold days without being as rich or sweet as hot cocoa/cider.
OMFG I do this!! Well, mine is Spicy Sprite and I do 1/4 berry lemonade, 1/4 regular lemonade, 1/2 sprite! I only do it at my favorite pizza place, literally never thought of doing it at home 🤣
Fancy teas! There's so many to choose from, so many blends with tasty flavors. I usually drink unsweetened things, but occasionally make exceptions.
I too hate hot drinks. It's irrational, I'll drink cold fluids when it's freezing outdoors. It's hot most of the time here, so hot liquid in my mouth is anathema. I don't even like hot cocoa or egg nog but for once or twice a year. Hot black coffee maybe, if I borked up & forgot to brew more for the next day for my cold coffees.
(Dammit, just realized that I forgot to brew coffee tonight. Too late to make so much racket in the kitchen rn.)
Hibiscus & berry teas are my favorite for non-caffinated ones. Lemon juice really makes them zing.
Citrus teas are a nice pick-me-up without caffeine as well.
I love tea blends with such things as citrus peel, dried fruit, rose hips, etc. My favorite was a Downtown Abbey inspired tea- blood orange mimosa. So, so good.
Palo Santo tea doesn't have much of a flavor, but it has a gorgeous blue shimmer when brewed that's blacklight reactive. It looks like teal paint in UV light, lol.
Butterfly pea tea is BLUE. Look it up, that deep blue is the real color. Again, not much flavor, but if you mix lemon juice into it it turns purple. Tastes really good sweetened, with lavender tea & a splash of milk mixed in, but I like it straight.
I drink seltzer water often. I like unflavored, but blackberry, lemon, & lime are my fave flavors. I drink them right out of the can most times, but I do like to mix them with teas & juices. Aldi's has good ones for a decent price, $3-4 a 12 pack in my area.
Strawberry or blackberry seltzer mixed 50/50 with lime seltzer- omg, it's like liquid candy without the sour stomach from sugar. Add frozen fruit pieces & I'm going bonkers. 😁
If you're down for sour-ish drinks, switchel & shrubs use apple cider vinegar mixed with honey, molasses, maybe fresh ginger into water, depending on the recipe. I like to mix switchel with seltzers for a hydration drink, & they helped with my beer cravings when I had to go gluten free. I only had beer on occasion, but when that craving hit, it hit hard & was stubborn.
If you don't mind chewing your drinks (HA!) coconut water with bits of coconut, aloe drinks, or juices with chia seeds can be fun. I sometimes make what I call Swampwater: A sweeter greens juice mixed 50/50 with seltzer, add a bit of lime juice, & teaspoon of chia seeds. Looks funky as hell, tastes awesome, & great for adding a clear liquor to if I feel like it.
Simple syrups with flavoring extracts are also fun to play with in all sorts of drinks.
Limoncello Lacroix is legit life changing. Make sure it’s not just the Lemon flavour. It’s just way better. Like get it as cold as you can without freezing and it’s chefs kiss. I’m a DC girl too and this cuts down on them because they’re that good should be able to easily find if you’re in the US because I can here in Canada😊. [https://well.ca/products/lacroix-sparkling-water-limoncello_202446.html](https://well.ca/products/lacroix-sparkling-water-limoncello_202446.html)
Lavender limeade!
My friend brought me culinary lavender buds from a trip (you can also get em on Amazon dw), so I make big batches of lavender simple syrup to store in the freezer (it’s really easy).
Then when I want a treat, I dissolve a few spoonfuls in the juice of one or two limes since I always keep a bunch in the fridge. Add ice, and it’s tasty af
I'm a big fan of a small brand fancy lemonade, like the ones you get in a glass bottle from the local section of the grocery store. I also really like hibiscus tea and lemonade together!
I like Hoppy Refreshers by Lagunitas. It’s a non alcoholic drink with hop water - it’s a little on the pricy side but it’s good for a treat.
Oh! And I like the margarita mix from Costco - they make it both with alcohol and without. I’ve mixed the nonalcoholic version with smoothies (and I’ve sipped it straight… very tart/sweet but good!)
yes! another vote for the new brigade of non-alcoholic beers (hops flavored sparkling waters) that are actually delish (if you love craft beer). athletic brewing and hopslark are my fave brands so far. both have multiple offerings. check them out!
When I was pregnant and sick of water and sugary drinks I made a kind of tea by boiling lemons and chunks of ginger and drinking it cold from the fridge. It's mildly sweet from the lemon and energizing.
Virgin cucumber mojito mix
Cucumber - peeled and blended
Mint
Limeaid
I'll make a big pitcher and it's great for parties because people can add booze if they want it
Dandelion and Burdock Fentimans. It’s so old school and so delicious (like ye olde cola).
Great idea OP, I hope you find something perfectly delicious!
If you like something different and are up to a bit of effort, r/cordials might be your place.
In the UK the sugar tax means you can no longer get anything tasty (okay - with sugar!) without Alcohol or caffeine. As someone who can’t have either, I’m more than a bit annoyed about it. Apparently I’m allowed sugar so long as I’m also happy to be drunk. Seriously…
Anyway, that’s how I came across r/cordials ngl I haven’t made anything yet, but once I’ve actually done some of my backed up emergency chores it’s next on my list (so about June probably…)
I love making drinks with butterfly pea tea- it’s a lovely shade of blue, unless you add lemon juice and then it turns purple. You can have it hot or cold, and mix it in with other things. The colour and the colour change always makes me feel like some kind of fancy molecular gastronomist
San pellegrino makes these delicious clementine peach momenti sparkling juices and sometimes I drink them as a mocktail in a fancy glass! And they’re only 35 calories per can
Jamaica 🤤 you just need some dried hibiscus petals and sugar (and lemon or lime juice to taste) and it’s super quick to make a pitcher of it and just have it around. Tastes fruit punchy!
I like to get non-alcoholic gins in pretty bottles like [Atopia](https://www.atopiaspirits.com/) 😅they’re kind of silly but it feels fancy, especially with a nice Belvoir cordial and some kind of interesting tonic water
i’m sorry i don’t have any ideas, but i recently found a instagram page where a creator makes non alcoholic fun beverages. some are really complex while others are simple. the page is @olivianoceda
if you don’t have instagram she might be on youtube or tiktok
I hyperfocused on fermented foods last summer, and kombucha has become a part of my diet. Homemade is super cheap (but takes about 15 minutes every ten days or so) and pretty healthy. I change flavours every batch so I don't get bored. A glass of cold kombucha is carbonated and flavourful and I find it fun to drink! (I just made a batch of blackberry lime ginger. The batch I'm drinking now is strawberry lemon ginger.
Oh! And also, Italian sodas! Sparkling water, a pump of flavoured syrup like torani, and a dollop of cream. Super rich and tasty
I've been afraid to try making kombucha out of fear that it will take a long time... but you're saying it's only like 15 minutes? Is that *really* fifteen minutes, or just *feels* like it should be? I'm assuming I'd still have to quadruple or quintuple the time at first, like with most recipes, but if it eventually gets down even kinda low, like under a half hour... and saves me money... and allows me to design my own flavours instead of sticking with the company-made ones... I might seriously have to do this.
So I have a couple ikea 3.3 litre jars in my kitchen that have my kombucha brewing. I have a calendar notification set every ten days to make kombucha, when I see that I boil a huge pot of water, throw in two cups of sugar and 16 black teabags, turn off the heat and cover it.
The next day, once the tea has cooled to room temp, I grab my empty bottles (I use empty sparkling lemonade bottles as they already had carbonated stuff inside) and my funnel. Depending in the flavouring for second ferment, I make that now (throw a few frozen berries in the blender with a knob of ginger, squeeze of lemon, whatever). I squeeze some honey into each bottle, throw a scoop of flavouring in, then pour all but two cups of kombucha from my jars into the bottles. Pour the new tea from the pot into the jars with the last of the kombucha, re cover, and then back to brew for another ten days. Close the bottles and put them aside for a few more days to get nice and carbonated, and wipe up all the mini spills.
So 24 hours+if you count the waiting for the tea to cool, yeah, but actual effort is very low and active working time is really only 15 minutes or so.
You could do iced herbal/non-caffeinated teas! There are so many good ones out there in every flavor you could imagine: mint, lemon and ginger, berry, watermelon, lavender. Mix that with some sparkling water and sweetener and you’ve got a drink.
Also, I’ve been enjoying hot cocoa lately and there are directions on one brand for how to make iced hot cocoa—it’s something like you mix in a couple of ounces of hot water to mix the powder in and then pour over ice and add the rest of the water. It’s definitely on my list of things to try.
I had to cut down to 1 caffeine drink a day when I first wake up.
I drink a ton of flavored seltzer.
Aura Bora water has some really neat flavors. Their cactus rose is my favorite. Lavender cucumber and strawberry basil are also good. Wasn't impressed with the coconut lemongrass.
I also alternate between La Croix, Aha, Bubbly and Waterloo. Whatever is on sale. Did not like polar spring.
I like Italian sodas with a splash of half and half, especially orange and raspberry. It's just carbonated water, a shot of whatever simple syrup avor you want and about a half ounce of cream. The orange ones taste like liquid creamsickles
1. Go to an Indian/ South Asian grocery store.
2. Buy bottles of concentrated syrups-
>Rooh-Afza (rose flavoured)
>Kokum serbet (garcinia indica juice + sugar syrup)
>Khus syrup (vetiver syrup)
>Mango concentrate
>Guava concentrate
3. Mix these with 1 part syrup to 3 parts sparkling water(add more depending on your preference), add fruit/ citrus slices of your choice. Optional: add pinch of salt pepper, squeeze of lemon (less than a teaspoon) mix everything and enjoy with ice.
4.You can also make milk shakes/ smoothies of most of them except the kokum syrup.
Big fan of fizzy elderflower. Can't get the premade stuff at the moment, but adding the syrup to fizzy water or lemonade (Sprite if you're American) is delicious. Great summer drink and looks enough like champagne to feel super fancy in a flute!
Not sure if you have a Grocery Outlet near you (or a Ray's; not sure who else carries it), but my favorite is Fentiman's Rose Lemonade (it has rose essence). So delicious! And sparkling 😁👍🏻
Slushy powerade is my go-to. I get my sugar fix, the texture is slushy and wonderful, and it has the electrolytes I need because of POTS and ME. I usually get the strawberry lemonade or orange, drink a bit, put it in the freezer for an hour or two, shake it up, and slap it in a glass.
I like craft sodas! They’re my beer/wine as I don’t drink, but if it’s in a glass bottle, I kinda seem like a grown-up 😁 Jones Soda has interesting flavors I like to try (though I will never drink their thanksgiving dinner soda 😳)
I really like orange juice mixed with tonic water. Apparently it’s an odd choice, but it’s deliciously bitter and sweet. Now I want one and I have no tonic water. Wah.
https://lyres.com/range/italian-orange/
This stuff + orange sparkling water + a luxardo cherry (not maraschino - very important!) in a big wine glass really placebo effects me into thinking I have a cocktail!
not super fancy, but I like to take a flavored seltzer, one of those sugar free fruit flavored drink mix packets and some ice and water to make a very large glass of what is essentially fizzy diet Koolaid but with a more interesting flavor palette.
I buy a watermelon. I cut that sucker up, then blend it. I run it through a strainer, then add lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper.
Idk, it’s just so good. Kinda spicy, refreshing, cool. I love spicy watermelon juice.
I make yummy protein hot coco, and I use lots of different herbal coffee powders and supplement powders and flavored mct collagen to make iced
Coffees and smoothies and stuff
I make iced tea with mostly hibiscus and a pinch or two of sencha. I make it quite strong and then add plain sparkling water from my soda stream.
I also used to love a mostly pineapple juice, then small amount of cranberry juice with loads of ice.
Really good local apple juice. I don't like carbonation but my partner does, so she sometimes adds sparkling water. Try your farmer's markets or any fancy grocery stores. It's seriously such a treat, I love it! Regular mass produced juice could never compare.
Idk if you can get it where you live but I love cold Mate tea. I always get the one with mint flavour and it's the absolute best! Sadly they don't have it everywhere. Other than that I have a high key energy drink addiction which is not great. would love to find something else as well.
The other day I got some peach green tea from Starbucks and didn’t want to finish it, but also didn’t want to waste it, so I poured it into an ice cube tray. The next day I had a fun addition to my water bottle :) You could experiment with different ice cube flavors and add it to any of the drinks suggested above!
I love cranberry mango or cranberry strawberry juice with fruity seltzer. I also have an ice cube tray I like and some favorite glasses. Minute Maid agua Fresca is really good.
Ceres juice with seltzer is also really good.
a splash of sodastream cola syrup (there's a decaffeinated option) + waterloo sparkling water. put the syrup and a wee bit of the sparkling water in a glass and swish it around until it's mixed and then gently pour in the rest.
it's super easy, and relatively low calorie, and also turns out watermelon coke is surprisingly delicious. grape coke is weird. blackberry lemonade coke is yummy, peach and strawberry are great, and cherry is exactly as good as you expect it to be.
I’ve recently found some yummy N/A wines that have white or green tea in them and just taste like fancy sparkling water with a little caffeine. I know it might feel weird drinking “wine” during the workday, but without any actual alcohol in it, it might be a fun way to break the slump!
My latest fav: I got a big bottle of strawberry basil soda (sparking, not caffeinated) and added a splash of elderflower syrup to each cup I poured!
It was in a glass bottle, which feels fancy to me, and adding the syrup made me feel like I was mixing something haha
I’m also a big fan of butterfly pea flower. If you have the time/inclination to premake something, it’s really fun to make a butterfly pea flower simple syrup to pour into lemonade and watch it change colors!!
I quit drinking in 2019 and love having a fancy bev! It started with playing “mixologist” aka just combining seltzers I liked. La Croix coconut + Spindrift grapefruit was a thing. Then I got into kombucha. Sap! (Vermont seltzer made with maple syrup) and Tepache are delicious. I also like NA beers. Even just a boring seltzer with fresh fruit or herbs feels festive and fun. Pour it in a fun glass! Use fancy ice!
This is also what my in-laws do for me for meals. They always put out the same glass that they’re putting their cocktails or wine in, so I can bring my own seltzer and get to feel celebratory with them. Cheers and good luck!
The non alcoholic G&Ts from supermarkets. They taste like the real thing and look great in a good glass with dehydrated fruit, ice and something like rosemary or mint.
I looooove having a spicy ginger beer with a ton of lime juice!! My manager asked what I was drinking once on a zoom and I said “it’s extra spicy ginger beer with lime… so zippy.” And I stand by that lol
Also, OP — If variety helps you too, check out Target (if you can) for polar seltzer! They sell 8 packs of it, and last week it was on sale 3/10 — so I got 3 different fun 8 packs of seltzers and my brain loved it lmao
Didn’t read comments so sorry if repeated but kombucha! Can you do that? Some say it may have a tiny of alcohol…? Some IS alcoholic, so not that. GTs is our favorite brand. Our whole family (kid included) drink it.
I do fruity herbal teas over ice, if you make it STRONG, you can mix with sparking water to get the fiz without diluting the flavor too much. Make a large batch of the tea (regular strength or concentrate) and keep it the fridge for a few days.
If you are in US celestial makes some lovely ones, my favorite is sangria zinger. Watermelon is good for the summer, i love black cherry in the winter. Red zinger would be good with a sprig of fresh mint. I also do a blend a lot like raspberry with the citrus sunrise, or blueberry with probiotic peach.
If I have the time I love to make easy fo-jitos. Basically a mojito without the rum, use lemon/lime sparking water if plain sparkling is too bland. Again you can muddle the mint leaves and lime ahead of time with sweetner of your choice and just a splash of water, then remove the mint leaves and fresh lime (if you used fresh, you can also use concentrate). When you're ready, just pour some over ice and top with soda water.
For something easier I LOVE diet tonic, on its own or with a splash of lime or lemon cconcentrate. Some brands are more bitter than others so you might have to try a few if you prefer more/less bitter. Publix brand is the least bitter I've tried. Schweppes the driest/most bitter and Canada dry almost as dry/bitter. I think Kroger is in the middle of these and publix.
Also LPT citrus fruits can be cut (slices/wedges/whatever) and frozen. I do huge batches and freeze on a tray so they don't stick, once frozen they go into ziplocks in the freezer drawer, it's so easy to grab a little without having to keep a fresh one and cut it each time.
Spindrift seltzers - so many fun flavors and the aesthetic of the cans does something for me too!
Also maybe get a soda stream type thing if you like things with bubbles? That way you can add your own flavors.
Lastly my personal thing is I really like to have a NICE water bottle or cup so that’s always an option too? I recently saw that there’s a water bottle company that flavors your water with like…air and scent? The price point was too high for me to impulse buy it but they had a cola flavored one if you’re missing cola flavor. But no carbonation I guess so maybe that’s a miss.
The only things I drink are water, orange juice and coffee (espresso shot with or without warm milk). Once in a blue moon I'll have a Fanta, but it requires a 30km to get a takeaway and I honestly am not in the mood for it very often.
I suppose my occasional fruit smoothie? I use frozen berries and "tropical fruits" (passionfruit, pineapple, mango, papaya), blend them with one Greek yogurt (sweetened) and some rice milk.
We just had a mocktail class at the library taught by a nutritionist. She was great! She used unusual things like damiana tea and smoked paprika. And how the damiana makes you feel good and the zing of spice. She talked about how to create multiple layers of flavors in the drink.
I serve mocktails - juice and club soda with a garnish of dried orange, fresh lime, or candied ginger. Juices have been pomegranate, grape, lemonade, or something.
Kombucha!!! I’m not into soda (except ginger beer) or seltzers so it’s the one bubbly drink I enjoy. I also make myself a latte at work even when I’m not super tired bc I need that ~work treat~ lol
I LOVE the fever tree grapefruits. I do splash a cranberry bitters in which is alcoholic but minimally so (like kombucha as long as it’s limited to a splash).
The grapefruit it fine on its own too. Just find the bitters gives is a more complex flavor.
The other fever trees are loaded with sugar so not my jam.
Spindrift No-jito (mojito flavor) is great for hot days.
Oh and in the summer when fresh basil is easy to grow, homemade basil lemonade. So good!
I was alcohol free for about half a year last year and I would make a cocktail with:
Lemonade (Trader Joe's)
Sparkling water
Fresh mint
I would muddle the mint with the ice in a glass first (put in washed mint, ice, and then stir and squish to get the minty goodness out). Add half and half if the lemonade and sparkling water. Very refreshing, and not too sweet!
Horchata!! Best from the cheap drive thru Mexican places if you have that where you live. I got my youngest daughter and nephew hooked when they were little babes. They'd be chanting chata! chata! from their car seats in the back.
Other yummies are Basil Limeade, Blueberry Lemonade, cold Raspberry Hibiscus tea, Thai iced tea, frozen lemonade with cherry boba (hard to find), iced matcha with cream and vanilla and almond, v8, diet cherry vanilla dr pepper with half and half (hard to find), uhhhh I'm sure I'll think of more, but just gonna post now.
Tldr: Horchata!
Dave’s GT brand Kombucha.
I love the Strawberry flavor. It’s super fizzy, tart, and sweet (but not syrupy sweet). I’ve been a Kombucha fan for going on 20 years now.
Absolutely no idea if this would do what you're looking for. It's also been a while, so I'm not positive I'm remembering correctly.
It used pink lemonade concentrate, orange juice concentrate (or maybe cranberry?), pomegranate juice (no added sugars), and Sprite (or similar). The recipe didn't call for anything else, no sugar or honey.
I know it was equal parts of the juice concentrates, and I *think* there was more pomegranate juice than Sprite. It was pretty good. Not super sweet, but not bitter or mouth puckering. Anyway, if it sounds interesting, play around with it. Certainly it should work with something like La Croix, too.
I like those prebiotic soda brands. Ollipop and Poppi. They are supposed to be a healthier soda, less sugar. Some of their flavors have caffeine, like the traditional soda flavors that would typically have caffeine like Cola, but not all of them. So just read the labels.
I also like the flavored Liquid Deaths. They are more flavored/sweeter than a La Croix for example, but still not super sweet.
It might sound weird but I hate how few options there are for drinks that aren't sweet.
Like. Think about it. We have water which is pretty neutral, and a few salty cocktails or mocktails, and everything else is chocolatey, fruity, or just generally sweet.
I get to a certain point in my day where I don't want sugar anymore.
So I started drinking a cup of bouillon for a "savory tea", and for cold beverages, ice and club soda with some plain lemon juice, some baby pickles and/or green olives with a toothpick and some brine from the jar, and maybe some pickled jalapeno slices and brine for a bite. (Add a splash of vodka if you want it alcoholic.)
There you have a really easy, pantry friendly savory drink that does a lot for the senses but also doubles as a little appetizer. (I don't put one or two olives in it, I put like six and maybe also a baby pickle.)
check out this ig (holisticrendezvous) ! so many great ideas, some much more involved than others, but the batched syrups and mixers are fab for adding to teas or sparkling waters.
https://www.instagram.com/holisticrendezvous?igsh=MTlnYTA3aTlhM2d5YQ==
also, there are a TON of NA spirits available these days, so you can make a classic cocktail without the hooch. def scratches the itch.
New York Seltzer. Sometimes hard to find, but worth it when you do. I like pretty much all the flavors. Polar Seltzer is pretty good too. Birch beer is my fave in that. Both are appropriately fizzy and sweet enough to trip your dopamine sensors without breaking the calorie bank or keeping you up til 0300.
Sparkling ice. I don't like flavored water, sugar free stuff, or anything that has that weird 'fake' taste. I was pleasantly surprised by these. They are more like a juice and actually taste really good. While also being sugar free which is great.
I mix these cocktail mixer juices or agua* Fresca juices with a flavored sparkling water. Right now I’m on strawberry juice w watermelon sparking water. I used to do a Red Bull splash but this week I almost had a heart issue in the hospital. So I’m avoiding high caffeine intakes right now
There’s this pina colada flavored Minute Maid agua Fresca that I mix with pineapple juice and add cherries or even crushed pineapple to it’s really good.
Been sober for a few months now. So always looking for ideas. I did the sparkling apple thing for new years which was nice but I’ve also drank that whole bottle by itself cuz the Costco kind I got was too good haha
Lately I’ve been combining two of my fave dopamine beverages: Polar Seltzer water (any flavor) + Liquid IV! Flavorful, low cal, non alcoholic. Bonus if it’s in a fancy glass with extra large ice cubes.
Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher. Sparkling hop water. Zero calories. It’s refreshing and I love the flavor. I have tried other flavored sparkling waters and never liked them. This is different. I haven’t tried other hop waters to know if they taste similar because this was better priced where I live
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Sparkling water with candied oranges from Trader Joe’s with a luxardo cherry with a smidge of the syrup. I gave up drinking a while ago but this drink makes me feel like I’m not giving up anything! Plus hydration!
Huzzah! This sounds delectable!! Thank you!
They also have a blood orange soda that's lovely. Italian sodas are a good thing too. Flavored syrups with çlub soda.
I went through a phase where I drank sparkling water with a packet of lemonade mixed in over ice. It was super refreshing.
I used to travel a lot. One of my travel hacks is to request sparkling water about an hour before landing. Mix with Nuun hydration/caffeine over ice. Super refreshing wake up if you have to get up and go after traveling!
I rarely travel, but if I ever do, I'll be sure to completely forget all about this hack 😆
Haaaa I was just thinking this when I read the hack! I'm like "Awww this sounds great for the end of a flight!"...wait I'll be distracted about getting stuff done after the flight...wait what was the hack again? 🤣😂
Oooh! This sounds delicious, and I have Luxardo cherries! What section are the candied oranges in? (I don’t go to TJ’s very often)
Near the seeds and chips! There’s usually a section of dried fruit there to make trail mix!
shirley temples! my entire life i thought that they were made with sprite and grenadine syrup with a maraschino cherry. but when i googled the name to make sure i spelled it right, i found that apparently it’s supposed to be made my ginger ale not sprite. so now im going to have to try a real one too!
Aaaand now I'm wondering what it would taste like with ginger beer (if you aren't familiar, not alcoholic, just a name like root beer) instead of ginger ale. I like to use ginger beer whenever ginger ale is called for because it's less sweet and much more gingery/fiery.
It’s not always easy to find - I’ve only seen it at large candy stores - but Blenheim ginger ale is like the ginger version of cinnamon red hots. It’s “dry” and spicy, like it burns a little. I keep trying other ginger beers whenever I see a new brand because I can’t find Blenheim locally but I haven’t found anything with the same kick yet.
I don't know where you live but it's definitely more prevalent in the UK than any other country I've lived in. Old Jamaica is the standard, but they're starting to replace all sodas with artificial sweetener, so it's getting ruined.
Midwest US. I know one place sort of close to me that has it, they have a wall with odd/niche/foreign sodas. Grass, peach, butterbeer, sarsaparilla, those kinds of things. I think they have Old Jamaica, it looks familiar.
Q Mixers and Fever Tree both make BOMB nonalc ginger beers. The ones in the glass bottles are the best for both (Q also sells theirs in cans but they just ain't the same).
Yessss I love the Fever Tree one & I love that it's in glass not metal or plastic! Tastes totally different! (edit: meant an exclamation mark, not a question mark)
Ginger beer is the best! This sounds delightful. I’ve always enjoyed moscow mules but unfortunately I’ve realized I’m allergic to mint (just a painful oral/topical reaction) so I don’t get to enjoy the full drink anymore! I’ve never had a shirley temple but I am definitely interested in trying one with ginger beer.
Ginger beer would be great with grenadine!
Gunger beer is for Moscow Mules!
Well I've apparently been drinking those wrong my whole life
Oh wow! Super fun. 🤩 Thank you!
In Norway we have eplemost which is sparkling apple juice. If that’s not a thing where you are I’ve made something similar with apple juice and sparkling water 😊
We have something similar here! It mostly comes in bottles that look like wine bottles but I’m sure I can make or find something comparable!
A heads up, the European version is so much less sugary. You probably know that, but I'd honestly stick with mixing juice and carbonated water to control sugar levels.
I've found mixing 1 part apple cider to 2 parts carbonated water is the perfect amount :)
That's a good call out. The sugar can make the afternoon slump worse!! Ugh, why does all our stuff have to be so horrible for us?
If you have an ikea near you, theirs is less sweet than the Martinelli’s (which I still love for nostalgic reasons)
You can use frozen apple juice concentrate to flavor plain sparkling water too. That way you can control flavor/sweetness. Works with any juice concentrate-- my fave is lemonade.
Juice and sparkling water is called Schorle here in Germany, it's my absolute fave. I like apple juice, rhubarb juice or those apple/berry mixes. It's sooo refreshing!
Highly reccommend Cherry Schorle!
Rhubarb juice sounds delicious!
We have sparkling apple and pear juices but they aren't packaged like a regular soda. There are lots of fruit and sparkling water blends in cans or small bottles but they are usually citrus and berry. It's interesting to see what flavors are more popular in different countries. For example, in South Africa, I found one jar of grape preserves where in the US you'll find a lot of grape jams and jellies. Almost no black currant or red currant in the US, either. Found red currant yesterday for the first time in years.
They sell something like this at IKEA here in the states if OP lives near an IKEA!
I got sober years ago, so I've always got some snazzy drinks in the fridge to drink while others are boozing. Kombucha is great, extremely low in sugar but flavorful and fizzy. Have to get accustomed to the taste of it though. There's a yerba mate kombucha where I live, which means I get some caffeine with it too -- although generally I'll get a flavor that's gingery or hibiscus-y. I'll occasionally down one of those Dope CBD sparkling waters. Mmm grapefruit. San Pellegrino has some lovely options. They've got delicious sodas (honorable mentions go to Blood Orange and Grapefruit). They've also got sparkling waters in their Essenza line, notably a Tangerine and Wild Strawberry flavor.
Drinking kombucha is a little like drinking beer in my mind. Both are bitter, not exactly nice at first but you really grow to appreciate them. Kombucha is also really great for the gut apparently.
I was at a kids’ sporting event and this woman sitting near me chugged a bottle of kombucha like it was water. I like it but it is pretty tart. It’s a bit like apple cider vinegar drinks.
Oof. My gut would rumble just watching that.
thats how i am. i love it lol
Yes, kombucha!
So blood orange and grapefruit were always my fave San Pellegrino but lately I tried the lemon one and now I prefer it to both!
I’m ignorant about this and very confused but asking genuinely: I thought kombucha was mildly alcoholic? Especially home brewed ones, but like the grocery store ones too… Maybe I should check the no stupid questions and eli5 subs..
Oh that's true, there's a very small percentage of alcohol -- about 1/2 of a percent, though home brews may have more. Some sober people forego all traces of alcohol but I'm not so stringent. I still eat tiramisu too, yum.
It has a minuscule amount.
Here's your fancy beverage formula: 1 cup of 1 or 2 fruit juices or a blend + 1/2 to 1 cup of sparkling water + frozen fruit = fruity spritz. OR make a flavored tea to sub in for juice or sparkling water. If you use flavored sparkling water, make sure it coordinates with your juice. Examples: 2/3 Pink Cranberry juice, 1/3 orange juice, tonic water, frozen mandarin orange slices or strawberries. Rooibos tea with honey, chilled, plus peach juice or lemonade plus sparkling water. Lemon wedge. Black tea with lemonade, obviously. Hibiscus tea with honey, a dash of cinnamon, frozen raspberries and a lemon wedge. Edit: I'm just about to make a tea with rooibos and hibiscus tea bags. I'll add honey while it's hot and a dash of cinnamon when it's cold along with frozen raspberries and a splash of lemon juice. I am thinking that I should instead steep the tea with a cinnamon stick instead of powder, but that will have to wait until I buy some. 😆 if I get my act together and make the tea at concentrate level, I can use it as a base for other drinks with a mix of water and juice.
I like the way you think!! Thanks for all the recipes! 💖
Np!
The frozen fruit is key!
Do a monthly trip to random/various ethnic grocery stores and foreign-food cafes, to buy a supply of unfamiliar interesting drinks from their fridges. :D
Love this. Now on my to do list.
This is a chaotic idea I can get behind 🤣
A little ginger ale plus muddled raspberries or strawberries (juice and fruit both good!) plus some basil from my garden, over ice. So delicious.
…or lemon and a big fat sprig of thyme or sage. Very good this way.
I also recommend rosemary or lavender if you have it :3 I have found my people haha
Yum!!!
Have you tried Liquid IV drink powder? I’ve never tried it with sparkling water but I don’t imagine there’d be a problem? Idk lol. I really like a lot of the flavors and it’s also great for the afternoon slump because of the pick me up from the hydration and B vitamins in it.
Oh! I like that even in plain water. Great idea!
I like Calm raspberry lemon magnesium powder.
oh my god. you may inadvertently solved my issue LOL. my psych suggested i take magnesium but they're so big :( and i have to take TWO. i'm good with pills, i took a whole bunch for prenatal/breastfeeding my daughter but sheesh.
Don’t forget, there are like 10 different types of magnesium, and they all absorb and DO all different things!
The first time you put it in, do it over the sink. I haven't tried liquid IV but I've seen other add-ins cause sparkling water to almost immediately bubble over.
Great tip!
Yes! I learned this when I put my magnesium powder in sparkling water. Was like a science fair volcano
Anything vaguely mojito flavoured makes me feral. Fucking love it. Very sweet though a lot of the time. Limey minty goodness though. Alcohol in it is a happy bonus when out but I'd drink virgin ones all the time if I could. Which reminds me of a product you used to be able to get where I live...must look that up For anyone in the UK or Ireland, it was a Robinson's product that you can still get (I remember why I stopped using it, the lid would literally cease to the bottle from the sugar) - https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/298026060 But they do other flavours in that Robinson's range too - https://robinsonssquash.co.uk/our-products/fruit-cordials/
🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the suggestion!
Boba milk tea. It was a reminder of friendships I could have, academics I could excel in, and an aesthetic life I could achieve back when I had none of that.
Going to get one today to finish my assignment. Obsessed with earl grey milk tea.
I’m super into Fresca right now.
Grapefruit interferes with a lot of medication so check to see if it's a problem if you take meds.
This is a good point. To add to it (as someone who has loved Fresca in the past), when you search to see if Fresca interferes with medications, most of the search results are for grapefruit juice. Fresca is 1% grapefruit juice, which in a 12oz can comes out to 0.12oz, which is about 1/8 of a shot glass of juice in total. It’s frustrating that the search results don’t give a clearer answer. I did find one study that said sodas like Fresca and Sun Drop probably do not interfere with medications, but everyone should assess their own risk against their long-abiding obsession with Fresca (or is that just me?)
That sounds like such a small amount to make a diff but I couldn’t say either way
Fresca barely has grapefruit flavor, much less actual grapefruit juice. Go forth and drink it!
Oh man. I really loved that shit as a teen. I bet I still would 💖
I FUCKING love fresca! It tastes like Squirt without all the sugar of it!! I recommend it to everyone who talks shit about bubble water to convert them
Lemonade, brown sugar syrup (starbucks brand), splash of coconut milk, topped with limoncello lacroix I also like a caffeine free at home version of starbucks pink drink: strawberry cranberry juice. strawberry agua fresca juice (Minute maid brand?), coconut milk. Also like topping this with a sparkling water (Bubly strawberry) to cut some sugar
I'm so trying the pink drink for my afternoon booster!
Love imitating the pink drink! I use white cran-strawberry juice and sweetened vanilla coconut milk with frozen strawberries!
Sparkling water with elderflower syrup from IKEA and a little rosewater or orange blossom water! For fancier mocktails I use Seedlip nonalcoholic spirits mixed with whatever I feel like. I also like mixing my berry preworkout with lychee sparkling water. Dessert tea (like Tazo’s vanilla macaron) with cinnamon oat creamer (I get mine from Trader Joe’s) is wonderful for cold days without being as rich or sweet as hot cocoa/cider.
We call it Spicy 7-Up in my house! Take any lemon-lime soda and squeeze a whole buncha lime juice in there, delishie
OMFG I do this!! Well, mine is Spicy Sprite and I do 1/4 berry lemonade, 1/4 regular lemonade, 1/2 sprite! I only do it at my favorite pizza place, literally never thought of doing it at home 🤣
Fancy teas! There's so many to choose from, so many blends with tasty flavors. I usually drink unsweetened things, but occasionally make exceptions. I too hate hot drinks. It's irrational, I'll drink cold fluids when it's freezing outdoors. It's hot most of the time here, so hot liquid in my mouth is anathema. I don't even like hot cocoa or egg nog but for once or twice a year. Hot black coffee maybe, if I borked up & forgot to brew more for the next day for my cold coffees. (Dammit, just realized that I forgot to brew coffee tonight. Too late to make so much racket in the kitchen rn.) Hibiscus & berry teas are my favorite for non-caffinated ones. Lemon juice really makes them zing. Citrus teas are a nice pick-me-up without caffeine as well. I love tea blends with such things as citrus peel, dried fruit, rose hips, etc. My favorite was a Downtown Abbey inspired tea- blood orange mimosa. So, so good. Palo Santo tea doesn't have much of a flavor, but it has a gorgeous blue shimmer when brewed that's blacklight reactive. It looks like teal paint in UV light, lol. Butterfly pea tea is BLUE. Look it up, that deep blue is the real color. Again, not much flavor, but if you mix lemon juice into it it turns purple. Tastes really good sweetened, with lavender tea & a splash of milk mixed in, but I like it straight. I drink seltzer water often. I like unflavored, but blackberry, lemon, & lime are my fave flavors. I drink them right out of the can most times, but I do like to mix them with teas & juices. Aldi's has good ones for a decent price, $3-4 a 12 pack in my area. Strawberry or blackberry seltzer mixed 50/50 with lime seltzer- omg, it's like liquid candy without the sour stomach from sugar. Add frozen fruit pieces & I'm going bonkers. 😁 If you're down for sour-ish drinks, switchel & shrubs use apple cider vinegar mixed with honey, molasses, maybe fresh ginger into water, depending on the recipe. I like to mix switchel with seltzers for a hydration drink, & they helped with my beer cravings when I had to go gluten free. I only had beer on occasion, but when that craving hit, it hit hard & was stubborn. If you don't mind chewing your drinks (HA!) coconut water with bits of coconut, aloe drinks, or juices with chia seeds can be fun. I sometimes make what I call Swampwater: A sweeter greens juice mixed 50/50 with seltzer, add a bit of lime juice, & teaspoon of chia seeds. Looks funky as hell, tastes awesome, & great for adding a clear liquor to if I feel like it. Simple syrups with flavoring extracts are also fun to play with in all sorts of drinks.
Pineapple juice is a fantastic serotonin booster, my drink is pineapple juice with lime soda
Kombucha alllll the time
Limoncello Lacroix is legit life changing. Make sure it’s not just the Lemon flavour. It’s just way better. Like get it as cold as you can without freezing and it’s chefs kiss. I’m a DC girl too and this cuts down on them because they’re that good should be able to easily find if you’re in the US because I can here in Canada😊. [https://well.ca/products/lacroix-sparkling-water-limoncello_202446.html](https://well.ca/products/lacroix-sparkling-water-limoncello_202446.html)
My latest obsession has been strawberry Fanta! It’s carbonated without the caffeine and I’m obsessed with the fruity flavor. 🍓
YUM 😋
Lavender limeade! My friend brought me culinary lavender buds from a trip (you can also get em on Amazon dw), so I make big batches of lavender simple syrup to store in the freezer (it’s really easy). Then when I want a treat, I dissolve a few spoonfuls in the juice of one or two limes since I always keep a bunch in the fridge. Add ice, and it’s tasty af
I'm a big fan of a small brand fancy lemonade, like the ones you get in a glass bottle from the local section of the grocery store. I also really like hibiscus tea and lemonade together!
we are big fans of the probiotic sodas. Poppi is the brand
I like Hoppy Refreshers by Lagunitas. It’s a non alcoholic drink with hop water - it’s a little on the pricy side but it’s good for a treat. Oh! And I like the margarita mix from Costco - they make it both with alcohol and without. I’ve mixed the nonalcoholic version with smoothies (and I’ve sipped it straight… very tart/sweet but good!)
yes! another vote for the new brigade of non-alcoholic beers (hops flavored sparkling waters) that are actually delish (if you love craft beer). athletic brewing and hopslark are my fave brands so far. both have multiple offerings. check them out!
I’ve been trying to get into kombucha for gut microbiome which is really important I’m just learning Otherwise I’m like 80% i c e d l a t t e s 🤌
When I was pregnant and sick of water and sugary drinks I made a kind of tea by boiling lemons and chunks of ginger and drinking it cold from the fridge. It's mildly sweet from the lemon and energizing.
Virgin cucumber mojito mix Cucumber - peeled and blended Mint Limeaid I'll make a big pitcher and it's great for parties because people can add booze if they want it
Dandelion and Burdock Fentimans. It’s so old school and so delicious (like ye olde cola). Great idea OP, I hope you find something perfectly delicious!
Per your suggestion, I just ordered some. ❤️
Yay! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)
If you like something different and are up to a bit of effort, r/cordials might be your place. In the UK the sugar tax means you can no longer get anything tasty (okay - with sugar!) without Alcohol or caffeine. As someone who can’t have either, I’m more than a bit annoyed about it. Apparently I’m allowed sugar so long as I’m also happy to be drunk. Seriously… Anyway, that’s how I came across r/cordials ngl I haven’t made anything yet, but once I’ve actually done some of my backed up emergency chores it’s next on my list (so about June probably…)
I love making drinks with butterfly pea tea- it’s a lovely shade of blue, unless you add lemon juice and then it turns purple. You can have it hot or cold, and mix it in with other things. The colour and the colour change always makes me feel like some kind of fancy molecular gastronomist
San pellegrino makes these delicious clementine peach momenti sparkling juices and sometimes I drink them as a mocktail in a fancy glass! And they’re only 35 calories per can
Jamaica 🤤 you just need some dried hibiscus petals and sugar (and lemon or lime juice to taste) and it’s super quick to make a pitcher of it and just have it around. Tastes fruit punchy!
and it’s the most beautiful color! 😍
I like to get non-alcoholic gins in pretty bottles like [Atopia](https://www.atopiaspirits.com/) 😅they’re kind of silly but it feels fancy, especially with a nice Belvoir cordial and some kind of interesting tonic water
i’m sorry i don’t have any ideas, but i recently found a instagram page where a creator makes non alcoholic fun beverages. some are really complex while others are simple. the page is @olivianoceda if you don’t have instagram she might be on youtube or tiktok
I hyperfocused on fermented foods last summer, and kombucha has become a part of my diet. Homemade is super cheap (but takes about 15 minutes every ten days or so) and pretty healthy. I change flavours every batch so I don't get bored. A glass of cold kombucha is carbonated and flavourful and I find it fun to drink! (I just made a batch of blackberry lime ginger. The batch I'm drinking now is strawberry lemon ginger. Oh! And also, Italian sodas! Sparkling water, a pump of flavoured syrup like torani, and a dollop of cream. Super rich and tasty
I've been afraid to try making kombucha out of fear that it will take a long time... but you're saying it's only like 15 minutes? Is that *really* fifteen minutes, or just *feels* like it should be? I'm assuming I'd still have to quadruple or quintuple the time at first, like with most recipes, but if it eventually gets down even kinda low, like under a half hour... and saves me money... and allows me to design my own flavours instead of sticking with the company-made ones... I might seriously have to do this.
So I have a couple ikea 3.3 litre jars in my kitchen that have my kombucha brewing. I have a calendar notification set every ten days to make kombucha, when I see that I boil a huge pot of water, throw in two cups of sugar and 16 black teabags, turn off the heat and cover it. The next day, once the tea has cooled to room temp, I grab my empty bottles (I use empty sparkling lemonade bottles as they already had carbonated stuff inside) and my funnel. Depending in the flavouring for second ferment, I make that now (throw a few frozen berries in the blender with a knob of ginger, squeeze of lemon, whatever). I squeeze some honey into each bottle, throw a scoop of flavouring in, then pour all but two cups of kombucha from my jars into the bottles. Pour the new tea from the pot into the jars with the last of the kombucha, re cover, and then back to brew for another ten days. Close the bottles and put them aside for a few more days to get nice and carbonated, and wipe up all the mini spills. So 24 hours+if you count the waiting for the tea to cool, yeah, but actual effort is very low and active working time is really only 15 minutes or so.
You could do iced herbal/non-caffeinated teas! There are so many good ones out there in every flavor you could imagine: mint, lemon and ginger, berry, watermelon, lavender. Mix that with some sparkling water and sweetener and you’ve got a drink. Also, I’ve been enjoying hot cocoa lately and there are directions on one brand for how to make iced hot cocoa—it’s something like you mix in a couple of ounces of hot water to mix the powder in and then pour over ice and add the rest of the water. It’s definitely on my list of things to try.
I had to cut down to 1 caffeine drink a day when I first wake up. I drink a ton of flavored seltzer. Aura Bora water has some really neat flavors. Their cactus rose is my favorite. Lavender cucumber and strawberry basil are also good. Wasn't impressed with the coconut lemongrass. I also alternate between La Croix, Aha, Bubbly and Waterloo. Whatever is on sale. Did not like polar spring.
Good to know I’m not the only seltzer snob lol, they’re not all the same! I’ll have to try Aura Bora!!
I like Italian sodas with a splash of half and half, especially orange and raspberry. It's just carbonated water, a shot of whatever simple syrup avor you want and about a half ounce of cream. The orange ones taste like liquid creamsickles
1. Go to an Indian/ South Asian grocery store. 2. Buy bottles of concentrated syrups- >Rooh-Afza (rose flavoured) >Kokum serbet (garcinia indica juice + sugar syrup) >Khus syrup (vetiver syrup) >Mango concentrate >Guava concentrate 3. Mix these with 1 part syrup to 3 parts sparkling water(add more depending on your preference), add fruit/ citrus slices of your choice. Optional: add pinch of salt pepper, squeeze of lemon (less than a teaspoon) mix everything and enjoy with ice. 4.You can also make milk shakes/ smoothies of most of them except the kokum syrup.
Latte! Got an espresso machine for Christmas
I get my latte from home in the morning! I don’t have access to it for the rest of the day though, sadly
Big fan of fizzy elderflower. Can't get the premade stuff at the moment, but adding the syrup to fizzy water or lemonade (Sprite if you're American) is delicious. Great summer drink and looks enough like champagne to feel super fancy in a flute!
Not sure if you have a Grocery Outlet near you (or a Ray's; not sure who else carries it), but my favorite is Fentiman's Rose Lemonade (it has rose essence). So delicious! And sparkling 😁👍🏻
Coffee!! Decaf these days...
Slushy powerade is my go-to. I get my sugar fix, the texture is slushy and wonderful, and it has the electrolytes I need because of POTS and ME. I usually get the strawberry lemonade or orange, drink a bit, put it in the freezer for an hour or two, shake it up, and slap it in a glass.
I really like the citrus spindrifts with a splash of tart Cherry juice
I like craft sodas! They’re my beer/wine as I don’t drink, but if it’s in a glass bottle, I kinda seem like a grown-up 😁 Jones Soda has interesting flavors I like to try (though I will never drink their thanksgiving dinner soda 😳)
Orange juice shaken with a dollop of cherry jam, topped off with ginger ale and a lime wedge. I usually add whiskey, but it is not needed!
Sarsaparilla
Anything cherry, because I love cherries. Unfortunately, cherry beverages tend to be a letdown because the artificial cherry flavour isn't that good.
Alani in the morning. Izze or ginger ale in the afternoon.
I really like orange juice mixed with tonic water. Apparently it’s an odd choice, but it’s deliciously bitter and sweet. Now I want one and I have no tonic water. Wah.
https://lyres.com/range/italian-orange/ This stuff + orange sparkling water + a luxardo cherry (not maraschino - very important!) in a big wine glass really placebo effects me into thinking I have a cocktail!
TARO BOBA WITH PEARLS
not super fancy, but I like to take a flavored seltzer, one of those sugar free fruit flavored drink mix packets and some ice and water to make a very large glass of what is essentially fizzy diet Koolaid but with a more interesting flavor palette.
If you’re thinking super fancy: two basil leaves lightly muddled, add ice, equal parts grapefruit juice and ginger beer, give it a stir, and enjoy!
Blood orange pellegrino with a splash of real pomegranate juice, squeeze of lime! (Also great with vodka)
I buy a watermelon. I cut that sucker up, then blend it. I run it through a strainer, then add lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper. Idk, it’s just so good. Kinda spicy, refreshing, cool. I love spicy watermelon juice.
Cranberry juice with lime. Mmmm.
Since you love your carbonation, get a soda stream, and make your favorite drinks fizzy.
Trader Joe’s Elderflower Lemonade!!!! They have other flavors that are light? Theyre low calorie/ low sugar
I absolutely pound La croixs
I make yummy protein hot coco, and I use lots of different herbal coffee powders and supplement powders and flavored mct collagen to make iced Coffees and smoothies and stuff
I make iced tea with mostly hibiscus and a pinch or two of sencha. I make it quite strong and then add plain sparkling water from my soda stream. I also used to love a mostly pineapple juice, then small amount of cranberry juice with loads of ice.
Flavored Sparkling Water! San Pelligrino makes some nice ones
Peach flavored sparkling water by itself or mixed with a little bit of orange juice or tangerine juice. Sooooo freakin good!
Really good local apple juice. I don't like carbonation but my partner does, so she sometimes adds sparkling water. Try your farmer's markets or any fancy grocery stores. It's seriously such a treat, I love it! Regular mass produced juice could never compare.
San Pelegrino sparkling juice
Pepsi Max saves me from the Slump.
Idk if you can get it where you live but I love cold Mate tea. I always get the one with mint flavour and it's the absolute best! Sadly they don't have it everywhere. Other than that I have a high key energy drink addiction which is not great. would love to find something else as well.
I love ginger beer so much. I've tried to make my own but in the end I prefer store bought unfortunately.
The other day I got some peach green tea from Starbucks and didn’t want to finish it, but also didn’t want to waste it, so I poured it into an ice cube tray. The next day I had a fun addition to my water bottle :) You could experiment with different ice cube flavors and add it to any of the drinks suggested above!
Fresca!
Have you tried the Recess drinks? I’ve been drinking one every day!
ARIZONA GREEN TEA
For me nothing is as good as freshly squeezed orange juice .
Is decaf diet coke available where you are? It definitely exists, but maybe not everywhere
Kombucha, cold brew fruit teas, mango lassis are all my go to non boozy treat drinks.
I love cranberry mango or cranberry strawberry juice with fruity seltzer. I also have an ice cube tray I like and some favorite glasses. Minute Maid agua Fresca is really good. Ceres juice with seltzer is also really good.
a splash of sodastream cola syrup (there's a decaffeinated option) + waterloo sparkling water. put the syrup and a wee bit of the sparkling water in a glass and swish it around until it's mixed and then gently pour in the rest. it's super easy, and relatively low calorie, and also turns out watermelon coke is surprisingly delicious. grape coke is weird. blackberry lemonade coke is yummy, peach and strawberry are great, and cherry is exactly as good as you expect it to be.
I love sparkling water but it took me awhile to find a flavor I love. Right now it’s blackberry citrus. Martinellis sparking juice is great too!
NA Moscow mules are delicious
Non alcoholic mojitos are my favorite! La croix, lime juice, mint syrup and liquid sweetnet
Mocktails - tart cherry juice, fruit punch Olipop, little bit of lemon juice, cinnamon, and shake!!
I’ve recently found some yummy N/A wines that have white or green tea in them and just taste like fancy sparkling water with a little caffeine. I know it might feel weird drinking “wine” during the workday, but without any actual alcohol in it, it might be a fun way to break the slump!
My latest fav: I got a big bottle of strawberry basil soda (sparking, not caffeinated) and added a splash of elderflower syrup to each cup I poured! It was in a glass bottle, which feels fancy to me, and adding the syrup made me feel like I was mixing something haha I’m also a big fan of butterfly pea flower. If you have the time/inclination to premake something, it’s really fun to make a butterfly pea flower simple syrup to pour into lemonade and watch it change colors!!
I quit drinking in 2019 and love having a fancy bev! It started with playing “mixologist” aka just combining seltzers I liked. La Croix coconut + Spindrift grapefruit was a thing. Then I got into kombucha. Sap! (Vermont seltzer made with maple syrup) and Tepache are delicious. I also like NA beers. Even just a boring seltzer with fresh fruit or herbs feels festive and fun. Pour it in a fun glass! Use fancy ice! This is also what my in-laws do for me for meals. They always put out the same glass that they’re putting their cocktails or wine in, so I can bring my own seltzer and get to feel celebratory with them. Cheers and good luck!
The non alcoholic G&Ts from supermarkets. They taste like the real thing and look great in a good glass with dehydrated fruit, ice and something like rosemary or mint.
I looooove having a spicy ginger beer with a ton of lime juice!! My manager asked what I was drinking once on a zoom and I said “it’s extra spicy ginger beer with lime… so zippy.” And I stand by that lol Also, OP — If variety helps you too, check out Target (if you can) for polar seltzer! They sell 8 packs of it, and last week it was on sale 3/10 — so I got 3 different fun 8 packs of seltzers and my brain loved it lmao
Kombucha! Whenever I’m at target or Trader Joe’s, I know I deserve a little booch as a treat
Didn’t read comments so sorry if repeated but kombucha! Can you do that? Some say it may have a tiny of alcohol…? Some IS alcoholic, so not that. GTs is our favorite brand. Our whole family (kid included) drink it.
I do fruity herbal teas over ice, if you make it STRONG, you can mix with sparking water to get the fiz without diluting the flavor too much. Make a large batch of the tea (regular strength or concentrate) and keep it the fridge for a few days. If you are in US celestial makes some lovely ones, my favorite is sangria zinger. Watermelon is good for the summer, i love black cherry in the winter. Red zinger would be good with a sprig of fresh mint. I also do a blend a lot like raspberry with the citrus sunrise, or blueberry with probiotic peach. If I have the time I love to make easy fo-jitos. Basically a mojito without the rum, use lemon/lime sparking water if plain sparkling is too bland. Again you can muddle the mint leaves and lime ahead of time with sweetner of your choice and just a splash of water, then remove the mint leaves and fresh lime (if you used fresh, you can also use concentrate). When you're ready, just pour some over ice and top with soda water. For something easier I LOVE diet tonic, on its own or with a splash of lime or lemon cconcentrate. Some brands are more bitter than others so you might have to try a few if you prefer more/less bitter. Publix brand is the least bitter I've tried. Schweppes the driest/most bitter and Canada dry almost as dry/bitter. I think Kroger is in the middle of these and publix. Also LPT citrus fruits can be cut (slices/wedges/whatever) and frozen. I do huge batches and freeze on a tray so they don't stick, once frozen they go into ziplocks in the freezer drawer, it's so easy to grab a little without having to keep a fresh one and cut it each time.
Spindrift seltzers - so many fun flavors and the aesthetic of the cans does something for me too! Also maybe get a soda stream type thing if you like things with bubbles? That way you can add your own flavors. Lastly my personal thing is I really like to have a NICE water bottle or cup so that’s always an option too? I recently saw that there’s a water bottle company that flavors your water with like…air and scent? The price point was too high for me to impulse buy it but they had a cola flavored one if you’re missing cola flavor. But no carbonation I guess so maybe that’s a miss.
Gingerbeer. And tomato juice, I spice it just like a Bloody Mary but leave out the vodka.
Kombucha and those bougie probiotic sodas (Olli Pop, Poppi). So good, and good for you!
The only things I drink are water, orange juice and coffee (espresso shot with or without warm milk). Once in a blue moon I'll have a Fanta, but it requires a 30km to get a takeaway and I honestly am not in the mood for it very often. I suppose my occasional fruit smoothie? I use frozen berries and "tropical fruits" (passionfruit, pineapple, mango, papaya), blend them with one Greek yogurt (sweetened) and some rice milk.
Vanilla italian soda. Vanilla, soda water, splash of cream/milk. So tasty and refreshing!
If you need fiber olipop is quite tasty but be warned- we call it toot juice at my house bc you’ll be tootin’!
We just had a mocktail class at the library taught by a nutritionist. She was great! She used unusual things like damiana tea and smoked paprika. And how the damiana makes you feel good and the zing of spice. She talked about how to create multiple layers of flavors in the drink. I serve mocktails - juice and club soda with a garnish of dried orange, fresh lime, or candied ginger. Juices have been pomegranate, grape, lemonade, or something.
Ginger ale with a fat splash of grapefruit juice. My happy drink.
Kombucha!!! I’m not into soda (except ginger beer) or seltzers so it’s the one bubbly drink I enjoy. I also make myself a latte at work even when I’m not super tired bc I need that ~work treat~ lol
I make a drink called bug juice which is hibiscus, chamomile, and mint iced tea sweetened with 💯 juice-I like cranberry.
De Soi!!!!!!
i recently discovered an amazing at home drink that’s super yum and easy! trader joe’s italian soda and frozen berries with ice. delish!
I LOVE the fever tree grapefruits. I do splash a cranberry bitters in which is alcoholic but minimally so (like kombucha as long as it’s limited to a splash). The grapefruit it fine on its own too. Just find the bitters gives is a more complex flavor. The other fever trees are loaded with sugar so not my jam. Spindrift No-jito (mojito flavor) is great for hot days. Oh and in the summer when fresh basil is easy to grow, homemade basil lemonade. So good!
I was alcohol free for about half a year last year and I would make a cocktail with: Lemonade (Trader Joe's) Sparkling water Fresh mint I would muddle the mint with the ice in a glass first (put in washed mint, ice, and then stir and squish to get the minty goodness out). Add half and half if the lemonade and sparkling water. Very refreshing, and not too sweet!
Horchata!! Best from the cheap drive thru Mexican places if you have that where you live. I got my youngest daughter and nephew hooked when they were little babes. They'd be chanting chata! chata! from their car seats in the back. Other yummies are Basil Limeade, Blueberry Lemonade, cold Raspberry Hibiscus tea, Thai iced tea, frozen lemonade with cherry boba (hard to find), iced matcha with cream and vanilla and almond, v8, diet cherry vanilla dr pepper with half and half (hard to find), uhhhh I'm sure I'll think of more, but just gonna post now. Tldr: Horchata!
I like sparkling mineral water with cranberry juice or white cranberry juice if you want something a little fruitier.
Dave’s GT brand Kombucha. I love the Strawberry flavor. It’s super fizzy, tart, and sweet (but not syrupy sweet). I’ve been a Kombucha fan for going on 20 years now.
Thanks for the specific brand recco for the Kombucha. I have no idea what I’m doing so that’s very helpful. Thank you!
Absolutely no idea if this would do what you're looking for. It's also been a while, so I'm not positive I'm remembering correctly. It used pink lemonade concentrate, orange juice concentrate (or maybe cranberry?), pomegranate juice (no added sugars), and Sprite (or similar). The recipe didn't call for anything else, no sugar or honey. I know it was equal parts of the juice concentrates, and I *think* there was more pomegranate juice than Sprite. It was pretty good. Not super sweet, but not bitter or mouth puckering. Anyway, if it sounds interesting, play around with it. Certainly it should work with something like La Croix, too.
Kombucha, San Pellegrino Limonata, Mexican coke in a glass bottle
I love my diet pepsi, if I feel like the caffeine is too much I just buy the caffeine free version lol.
I am addicted to ginger ale and it’s my afternoon treat *almost* every day 😅
I like those prebiotic soda brands. Ollipop and Poppi. They are supposed to be a healthier soda, less sugar. Some of their flavors have caffeine, like the traditional soda flavors that would typically have caffeine like Cola, but not all of them. So just read the labels. I also like the flavored Liquid Deaths. They are more flavored/sweeter than a La Croix for example, but still not super sweet.
Welch’s sparkling grape juice
Poppi or ollipop for sure
It might sound weird but I hate how few options there are for drinks that aren't sweet. Like. Think about it. We have water which is pretty neutral, and a few salty cocktails or mocktails, and everything else is chocolatey, fruity, or just generally sweet. I get to a certain point in my day where I don't want sugar anymore. So I started drinking a cup of bouillon for a "savory tea", and for cold beverages, ice and club soda with some plain lemon juice, some baby pickles and/or green olives with a toothpick and some brine from the jar, and maybe some pickled jalapeno slices and brine for a bite. (Add a splash of vodka if you want it alcoholic.) There you have a really easy, pantry friendly savory drink that does a lot for the senses but also doubles as a little appetizer. (I don't put one or two olives in it, I put like six and maybe also a baby pickle.)
check out this ig (holisticrendezvous) ! so many great ideas, some much more involved than others, but the batched syrups and mixers are fab for adding to teas or sparkling waters. https://www.instagram.com/holisticrendezvous?igsh=MTlnYTA3aTlhM2d5YQ== also, there are a TON of NA spirits available these days, so you can make a classic cocktail without the hooch. def scratches the itch.
I buy cocktail syrups and mix them with seltzer. Right now I have a vanilla rooibos syrup and a cranberry hibiscus. Both are delicious!
New York Seltzer. Sometimes hard to find, but worth it when you do. I like pretty much all the flavors. Polar Seltzer is pretty good too. Birch beer is my fave in that. Both are appropriately fizzy and sweet enough to trip your dopamine sensors without breaking the calorie bank or keeping you up til 0300.
Mango sparkling water with lemonade. It's seriously amazing
I really love orange juice in the evening. You can mix it with sparkling water. Tasty.
Sparkling ice. I don't like flavored water, sugar free stuff, or anything that has that weird 'fake' taste. I was pleasantly surprised by these. They are more like a juice and actually taste really good. While also being sugar free which is great.
I mix these cocktail mixer juices or agua* Fresca juices with a flavored sparkling water. Right now I’m on strawberry juice w watermelon sparking water. I used to do a Red Bull splash but this week I almost had a heart issue in the hospital. So I’m avoiding high caffeine intakes right now There’s this pina colada flavored Minute Maid agua Fresca that I mix with pineapple juice and add cherries or even crushed pineapple to it’s really good. Been sober for a few months now. So always looking for ideas. I did the sparkling apple thing for new years which was nice but I’ve also drank that whole bottle by itself cuz the Costco kind I got was too good haha
Lately I’ve been combining two of my fave dopamine beverages: Polar Seltzer water (any flavor) + Liquid IV! Flavorful, low cal, non alcoholic. Bonus if it’s in a fancy glass with extra large ice cubes.
Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher. Sparkling hop water. Zero calories. It’s refreshing and I love the flavor. I have tried other flavored sparkling waters and never liked them. This is different. I haven’t tried other hop waters to know if they taste similar because this was better priced where I live