Placeholder thread for when I have more to say. For now, I will drop this bottle of apertif that doesn't suck.

Herbal bitter with a good mouthfeel. I like to drink it with mineral water and a twist. A friend of mine who runs an NA shop recommended doing a pepper rim. Might try that tonight.

Poor form Reid. Make the thread when you have something to say, not when you don't.

Please relax.

I feel like there's a much bigger market for this than there ever was, and I'm curious why. Athletic Brewing is a great example. I see the stuff everywhere now, and have decided to carry it on our menu. Previously NA options were either Beck's or Heineken 0.0 at my place, and I'd order a few cases every couple of months for the bar. I order Athletic weekly.

I've never thought of carrying NA spirits, but I would absolutely love to see that option at some of the restaurants and cocktail bars I go to.

For me, it's about moderation and being more comfortable with the social pressure of drinking when I'm doing dry January, but I'm wondering what people who are sober think of NA spirits? I know sobriety is not a one size fits all approach, so for those of you who are sober, is this industry a boon or a slippery slope for you?

I've yet to try a non-alcoholic "liquor," and will only occasionally request a mocktail (like 2-3 times a year). Don't have much interest in any of this...

I LOVE the Athletic Brewing Hazy IPA rice lager. Tastes just like a really great lager. Fantastic stuff.

That's the extent of my knowledge.

I wonder if this stuff is marketed more to people who are sober-curious (for lack of a better term) and need a bridge of familiarity before thinking about the lifestyle change.

Also pregnant women.

You're happily sober and from talking to you, I note that drinking as an activity simply doesn't have a place in your life, alcohol or not. Please correct me if I'm misrepresenting you.

A mocktail, on the other hand, is still a very social thing and the similarity in some of these flavor profiles scratches a lot of the same itches that a cocktail does, so it perhaps makes sense that a non-drinker just doesn't have a use for them?

Drinking used to do two things for me:

1. Provide me with sensory curiosity and satisfaction vis-a-vis mouthfeel, flavor profile, etc
2. Get me drunk

#2 has no place in my life any more. In its absence, there are a lot of things I used to love -- whiskey, expensive wine, cocktails -- that hold no allure because now I mostly associate them with sugar. Like, I used to LOVE whiskey. Just the thought of it now conjures an image of chugging maple syrup -- not terrible appetizing.

Beer and sake are the outliers. I do miss the taste and feel of a good beer, and may even return to drinking it some day; and whenever I'm eating sushi or ramen, I can't help but think that a good sake would go well with it.

But outside of those two specific drinks, all the other stuff holds no allure to me, in both the sensory and intoxicant sense. I think it's just the net effect of getting sober and neoplasticity: My brain has rewired itself to associate spirits and cocktails with feelings of insulin spike, muscle inflammation, and ultimately, being very tired. [shrugs]

Maple syrup is delicious

Trag, thanks for that response. You might actually dig this Ghia stuff. If you ever try it, lemme know here.

As for now, I'm about to crush a shower (NA) beer after a hard run and before family errands

not gonna lie, i do like NA old milwaukee

Sipping one part ghia (pictured in OP) and one part Waterloo pineapple sparkling water at the moment. Really good sweet/bitter balance. The 85 degree weather outside helps this cocktail make sense for the holidays.

We're on an unending fertility journey so we've explored a lot of the NA options. At first I was mostly just doing it out of solidarity with my wife, but it has sort of shifted my sense of drinking, social pressure, and routine. Sometimes I want a complex drink at the end of the day but don't actually want to drink alcohol, so I think there's a place for NA stuff beyond our specific situation.

Athletic's beers are unreal, by far the best on the market and so much better than the one-off NA beers from big brewers (Lagunitas, etc.). Started seeing these at a lot of bars nearby too, which is a nice option to have--sometimes I want to keep hanging out at a bar but don't need another drink.

We've tried Seedlip as a spirit replacement with mixed results--you can make a really nice G&T replacement but the range is somewhat limited.

Currently enjoying the various offerings from Lyres, which are a bit more complex (I think they use pepper oil to give it a bit of a bite). You can't really sip them on their own but they work well in mixed drinks. Their amaretto replacement is delicious.

Haven't tried Ghia yet but I'm intrigued.

Today I learned that the hip acronym is AF and not NA.

I've tasted a few AF gins, but hated the mouthfeel. A lot of what. I've tasted gets the botanics right, though. I don't think I've tried Seedlip. Is it light bodied or very viscous?

Athletic is so good. However, I was disappointed in their stout. Again -- wrong mouthfeel.

Yeah I know what you mean--I think Athletic's IPA is a little weak in terms of mouthfeel (whereas the hazy is a little more robust). The Clausthaler dry hopped is really excellent for a darker AF beer.

I'll have to try the seedlip again, we kind of shelved it for the winter. The "garden" variety was the one we used the most (for G&Ts).

Looking at seedlip (and ghia's) marketing, it's a good thing we've established ourselves on the first page of this thread, mickey. I get the feeling that in less than a year's time, AF is going to be an influencer's game. No instagram story is safe.

Guys, I mixed in some matcha with this Ghia stuff and it's wild.

Just a plant-based AF explosion

Had a German NA last night that was pretty mediocre. Made me long for Athlete.

Name names.

It was Bitburger. It was a lager of some sort.