Another vote for Adnam’s Ghost Ship, if you like ale.
I did try Nanny State after a recommendation from my daughter, but not to my taste I’m afraid. Hardly “Awful” though.
Im going to have to see if any of these are available in the States.
Local curry house does non alcoholic Cobra. A touch sweet but great with a curry.
My sister-in-law cannot drink alcohol, or rather suffers significantly if she has more than a tiny amount. She very much enjoy ‘virgin’ mojitos, and I have to say they are quite palatable to me, indeed making a refreshing drink with or without alcohol.
I imagine you can ask for a virgin mojito in a bar, though in my experience the quality of mojitos is quite variable and often disappointing - unless you make yourself.
The way I make them is: for a half-pint glass (double for a pint glass, my own choice): a good handful of fresh mint leaves (too much is better than not enough) and 2/3rds if a fresh lime, depending on size. It also works with defrosted frozen limes, but needs a bit more, so a whole one ( we buy limes when cheap, and cut loads into thirds and freeze. Partially defrosting in the microwave works, until softening but not warm. Loads of mint in the garden.) Add sweetener according to taste & preference: some people prefer sweeter than others. Typically 2 rounded teaspoons of sugar, or 2-3 artificial sweetener tablets (not saccharin as it has an aftertaste).
Crush the lime and mint - at home I do it in the glass, with a tool intended for the job, but anything will do - the aim is to thoroughly bruise the mint all over, likewise the lime skin, while squeezing out all the lime juice. If making alcoholic I then add white rum - my idea of full strength is ~50ml to the half pint glass, but as indicated if can be reduced or omitted (or increased!). If not using rum add a splash of soda water at this point. Crush a bit more with the liquid. Then add soda water, a handful of ice, and more soda to finish filling, and give a gentle stir to mix. Ice proportion can be increased or decreased to taste. Serve with a straw, cocktail umbrella or slice of lime, and a flourish!
Stopped drinking alcohol about ten years ago, during a training period in preparation for a sports event.
Back then I suddenly realized how much energy alcohol drains from the body and how much better I feel without. Better moods, better sleep, no hangovers anymore etc…
So after the sports event, I did not start drinking anymore, not missing it one bit.
The haderst part was changing the social routines when having a nice dinner or going out with friends.
And changing the social routines at work, where many events involve some alcohol (birthdays, jubilees etc.).
My feeling is that even nowadays, unless one is pregnant or driving the car or on medication, there is no socially acceptable excuse for not drinking alcohol.
Really? Not my experience at all. Pub quiz nights, friends for dinner, social BBQs…nobody bats an eyelid or says a word to a request for lime and soda or any other non alcoholic drink. Perhaps it is dependant upon circle of friends, cultural or geographic influences etc?
Angostura bitters: an essential component of a good Manhattan. It’s also a great ingredient when making puddings 
Like @timmo1341, this is not my personal experience. The reaction to “I don’t really drink any more” varies from none at all to, “Really???” My social life is largely shared with my wife, and we do this together. When I’m out without her, I just use as few or many explanations as I think the audience needs.
And when you don’t it is really apparent how people organise their life around alcohol.
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So 1000% totally right. For me it’s rather liberating. I was always ‘have a couple, then stop’ drinker, but when you’re not drinking you tend to observe a lot more, and see just what you’re referring to.
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Yes, liberation’s the word for what happens when you give up alcohol Bart. Breaking away from the drinking habit’s a very good thing indeed, and you feel so much better for not poisoning yourself on a regular basis.
I say live and let live, all in moderation usually is the safe way.
Interesting read.
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Primary alcohols are defined as compounds having a hydroxyl (OH) group bonded directly to a carbon atom. Alcohols vary by the number of carbon atoms in their molecule…methyl, ethyl, butyl etc have increasing numbers of carbon atoms. All alcohols are highly toxic, with the exception of ethyl alcohol, which is moderately toxic.
Why the difference? Ethyl alcohol is produced by yeast fermentation. Whenever foodstuffs go off, moulds and yeasts will start to grow and ferment the sugars in the food, creating ethyl alcohol. Humans are therefore able to metabolise ethyl alcohol and remove it from our blood circulation before it does too much damage, however it is still a toxin and its metabolism results in other toxins being formed. Alcohol and its metabolites have been associated with various physical illnesses including various liver diseases, pancreatitis, osteoporosis, various cancers etc. as well as mental disorders like depression, anxiety and paranoia. One of the reasons alcohol is so dangerous is that dependence starts a lot earlier than most people realise and organ damage may take 20 or 30 years to manifest, by which time addiction makes quitting extremely difficult. Also, drinking even quite small amounts very regularly can lead to mental problems. The massive increase in the number of anti-depressive medication prescriptions in recent times is very likely driven by the increased general use of alcohol, which even in relatively small quantities can have very detrimental effects on the brain, interfering with sleep patterns and altering neurological pathways. Regular alcohol consumption will also change the make-up of gut flora, wiping out certain beneficial species which are replaced by yeasts and gram negative bacteria, both of which can cause a variety of symptoms like vitamin and mineral deficiencies, leaky gut etc. This may not sound serious, but the overgrowth of certain gut bacteria have been associated with depression and anxiety and the repeat binging typical of alcoholism
Struggling with this generalisation. I had a feeling rather more factors were in play; social, bio-medical and more. I see plenty of non-drinking depressives.
I have no issue with describing alcohol as a toxin, and indeed a depressant
Relatively small amounts of alcohol taken very regularly can cause fairly serious depression. The drinking is seen as insignificant, so the only apparent symptom is depression, for which help is sought.
Of course depression can be brought on by other factors, but given that alcohol is a widely used coping mechanism for all types of mental and social problems, its not much of a stretch to link alcohol to depresssion and depression to an increase in anti-depressive medication use
Interesting. Can you point me to the studies that have found this effect?
Thanks,
Jan
Hi Jan,
You can use Google Scholar to find all the papers that have a PDF associated with the reference. There are plenty of papers that conclude that ‘problem’ or ‘heavy’ drinking and depression are co-morbid. However you’ll encounter the same problem I did in that there is no general agreement between publications as to what constitutes a standard drink or light/moderate/heavy drinking. Given that, I ascertained how much alcohol per day is considered to be problematic and from there calculated that 2 x 175ml glasses of wine per day, based solely on the daily alcohol content is all it takes to qualify as a problem drinker. Yes I was surprised too!
Of course the other variables are % proof of the wine, body weight, water/fat ratio, whether the drinks are spread throughout the week or consumed all in 1 day etc. etc , however the surprising fact is that it doesn’t take a great deal of alcohol imbibed on a daily basis to qualify as a heavy drinker.
Co-morbid does not mean or even imply causation. That’s the problem with your analysis, @Blackmorec. You have stated that, “Relatively small amounts of alcohol taken very regularly can cause fairly serious depression.” I have never heard of this in the past, and the ‘problem’ with how you look at this is not that there is no standard definition of “a standard drink” or “light/moderate/heavy drinking,” but rather that you’ve mentioned nothing at all about your theory of causation.