The worst is when mocktails cost as much as cocktails. Like a non alcoholic whiskey sour will be $13, Shirley Temples are like $10
At least from my experience in NYC
What if I told you that you aren’t paying for the drinks but you’re renting the table/bar stool
For real, a shot of vodka doesn’t justify $13 for a drink, it’s the rent that does that
jokes on them, i’m just going to get water or fucking leave, i’m not paying 10 bucks for a beverage when you can buy soda at the store for 1$ per liter.
You wouldn’t be at the bar in the first place and if you were they’d want you to leave.
I’ve never order a mixed drink in my life. Got some flasks in college and will still take that and have a soda instead. With beers being $7 minimum I’m also starting to just slam a >9% IPA before going in and having water.
In some cases mocktails have ingredients that are more complex and harder to make.
Margarita with tequila? $12. Margarita without tequila? $12.
Even worse now is the non-alcoholic spirits you can buy that legit cost as much as the original alcoholic version, and then they use that in a cocktail.
Yes it Does taste just like the proper cocktail but your kinda missing half the point of the drink…
The restaurants/hotels I eat at usually have green tea.
Adults: Look at these tiktok kids eating tide pods!
Also adults: Waiter please pour me a glass of your finest toxin!
Ah, but it’s a very old pool of toxin, cooked over rotten plant matter from a swamp and aged in an obsolete form of container, and it made them significantly poorer to order it! /s
I stopped drinking about five years ago, and I often can find a mocktail or two that I like on most menus
Lol, this is especially the case when it’s my turn to be the designated driver in the group 🤣
At least I’ll stay hydrated! Hydrohomies for life!
I feel like this joke would have landed better 5, or maybe even 3 years ago. Every even remotely fancy restaurant I go into has jumped on the mocktail bandwagon and offers plenty of options for people avoiding alcohol.
I was just in Dublin and saw Guinness 0.0 in a bunch of places. Things are definitely shifting if that can exist in Ireland.
That’s great news! Occasionally I browse the NA beers and last week I thought how great it would be to be able to drink a Guinness! Maybe it arrives here sometime.
I’ve not had it, but someone (who also likes regular Guinness) told me that Guinness zero was genuinely great. Need to check it out sometime.
It really is. Like a lot of non alcoholic is crap (maybe if you’re a rare drinker it’s passable and unnoticeable). But Guinness 0.0 tastes very close to real Guinness. I’m not sure i could tell the difference in a blind test honestly.
they do sell them in the US
Of course they do. They sell them equally expensive without the expensive ingredients!
You are paying for way more than the sum of the parts when you order a cocktail, I’m not really sure why you’d suddenly be concerned about doing so when it comes to a mocktail.
Really? They’re kind a third of the price here.
Not everyone does it. Shady places charge equal price for virgin cocktails.
Price of drinks have very little relation to the price of alcohol.
Edit: in the US. Other places might have more esoteric booze tax schemes.
Basically water and a little juice, and they charge $8.
Even then, it’s not really accurate anyway. A cocktail is a bunch of ingredients mixes together. You can usually get them without the alcohol if you ask for it (obviously this doesn’t work for every drink). They list of cocktails is so large because there’s a lot of ways to combine a few ingredients to make different things. They don’t actually stock that many types of drinks or anything. They’re made on demends, and can usually be modified if you ask.
Cocktails without alcohol cost way too much for what they are. That would be like paying 15 bucks for a burger without meat.
Restaurants sometimes also have like dozens of types of beer, wine, etc. but the best non-alcoholic they can do is a water or a coca cola softdrink?
If you can remove the alcohol from any “cocktail” and still have more than just flavored ice or a dirty glass, you were drinking slightly alcoholic mocktails the whole time.
Old Fashioned mocktail is a cherry on top of a large ice cube that you’ve used to bludgeon some sugar and an orange.
A Sazerac mocktail is akin to an empty glass someone just drink a sweet lemony drink from. You don’t get the lemony drink, just the dirty glass.
A margarita mocktail is salty lime flavored ice. This is basically a daquiri mocktail too, adding a strawberry seems popular.
A Manhattan mocktail is a sweetened cherry in an otherwise empty glass.
A mojito mocktail is a bit more substantial, minty sugar water with a hint of lime.
A mint julep mocktail, again just minty sugar water.
A white Russian mocktail is just a glass of cream over ice.
A mimosa mocktail is just a nearly empty glass of orange juice.
The non-alcoholic parts of a cocktail are rarely more than a quarter of the volume if they’re made properly. Most cocktails are a half oz of sugar water and a citrus flavor. The other 2/3 of the volume (not counting the ice) is alcohol. Just order a soda, soda water (with or without a garnish), tea, or my favorite a Topo Chico and lime.
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One virgin martini please. Stirred.
handed cool glass with three olives in it
Thank you, kind sir!
Hey man, over half of that vodka is water anyway, so it’s all just a glass of water with some bitters.
First of all, a vodka martini isn’t a classic martini. That’s why you have to say “vodka” before martini if that’s what you’re ordering. A martini is made at any reputable establishment with gin. I’m sure you could say “rum martini” and any established bartender would raise an eyebrow but make your order.
That said, I order my martini the same way every time: pure Everclear stirred with a single ice cube. Wave a bottle of vermouth over the glass while looking in the direction of France.
One olive or three, never even numbers. I’m not a savage.
Then after I’ve vomited on the bar, they wheel me home on a dolly.
Edit: my actual standard order is Beefeater, extra dry, one olive. Keep it simple and classic.
At least in North America. I get the sense Europe still still thinks drinking is cool across the board.
Alcohol has been an essential facilitating element of human socialization in every human civilization since Mesopotamia
Which is cool
Which is cool
I disagree for health and a bunch of other reasons.
There’s a loneliness epidemic and low alcohol consumption rates are a contributor to that
Getting drunk and then talking to a bunch of people you don’t know is how people meet people. That’s an essential and long running aspect of human socialization.
If you regularly talk to new people and make friends in other ways then that’s fine. But clearly the majority of Lemmy/Reddit users aren’t doing that. And young people in general aren’t doing it either. Meeting strangers irl and chatting them up is how you make friends and alcohol facilitates that
There’s a loneliness epidemic and low alcohol consumption rates are a contributor to that
Are they? Sincere question, haven’t read a report or something like that on that topic.
Regarding the remaining part, I understand how you see that. Seems logical. However, I would claim that this is more of a problem in societies mindset itself and less one tied to alcohol consumption. If people are raised in a way that they learn how alcohol is necessary, and don’t learn other ways, if it’s even incorporated in the particular culture of a society, then it’s not surprising that those people have a hard time finding new friends.
There are plenty of counter examples, e.g., look at other cultures where alcohol is even forbidden or at least its consumption clearly discouraged. Even in western cultures there are plenty of people who found and prefer other ways. But sure, may of course not be the majority yet.Regarding a loneliless epidemic, I guess there is also a lot more to it than alcohol consumption alone. For example I have picked up on smartphone usage / social media consumption as related on that. (Which is a very superficial statement now, I haven’t read up on that.)
I really don’t understand this site’s/reddit’s fear of alcohol. Moderate drinking is not a problem. And it does assist with socializing, which seems like it would be beneficial for most people on here.
The idea that people here are afraid of/resistant to drinking, yet will use cannabis and other materials seems very strange. Just go to the bar and meet some people - it’s fun and it won’t hurt you. Alcoholism is obviously an issue, but alcoholism isn’t caused by moderate drinking. Just don’t be an idiot and you don’t have anything to worry about
Moderate drinking is not a problem.
From a health perspective, it certainly is.
No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.And it does assist with socializing
Which is a cultural thing. If people grow up seeing how alcohol is a social catalysator, they don’t learn that it’s perfectly possible to socialize without alcohol.
which seems like it would be beneficial for most people on here.
Idk, if that comes from a well-meant place, but it sounds kinda condescending.
The idea that people here are afraid of/resistant to drinking, yet will use cannabis and other materials seems very strange.
There are not just two kinds of people. From my experience those, who use cannabis or other drugs, are inclined towards alcohol use as well.
Human sacrifice was also pretty popular for a pretty long time, as was autocracy. Alcohol isn’t that bad, obviously, if bad at all, but age isn’t a good argument on it’s own.
Also; factually inaccurate. I’m not sure how much evidence of alcohol there is in the New World civilisations, and Islam, which forbids it, has been around for a millennia and a half.
Alcohol isn’t that bad, obviously, if bad at all,
Depends on what you understand by “bad”. Regarding health, it certainly is.
Yep. It also causes a lot of social disorder and addiction. The argument for it is that people like it.
If it wasn’t clear from context, I meant socially or ethically.
Socially or ethically, I think I know what you mean.
I am being pedantic now and say that it can even be bad socially and ethically as a consequence of that or as a consequence of health concerns.
You can’t ban something unless it exists and is a part of your society. Alcohol existed prior to Islam in Arabia and still exists there today. Legal Prohibitions do not cause a substance to disappear.
Alcohol is just fermented grain. Everyone had grain. Therefore everyone had alcohol. Including the Americas
So yes, there is evidence of alcohol consumption in the New World prior to European contact. Indigenous peoples in various parts of the Americas developed fermented beverages from local ingredients long before Europeans arrived.
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North America: Various tribes produced alcoholic drinks from berries, maize, and other native plants. For example, the Apache made tiswin from corn, and the Chicha was popular among many tribes in North America.
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Central America: The Aztecs brewed pulque from the sap of the agave plant. This drink was not only consumed for enjoyment but also held religious significance.
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South America: Chicha, a beer made from maize, was widely consumed across the Andean region. This beverage was integral to social and ceremonial functions.
These indigenous beverages varied widely in production, ingredients, and cultural significance but demonstrate that alcohol consumption was indeed present in the New World prior to European contact.
-
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and the options are sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, or water
This annoys me so badly.
I don’t drink carbonated beverages, so when I go into a place and don’t want beer then my options are basically coffee or water.
Fine in the mornings, but I don’t want a coffee at 5PM. So I guess it’s just water then huh
i’m a hydrohomie, i would be/am more than fine with that.
I mean, I just annoyed that milk isn’t even an option in a lot of restaurants. It’s something so basic, like.
Are you a cat?
actually milk is slightly acidic
jk
Sorry, the milk is for the kids’ menu. You can’t order from that.
I’ve been in plenty where you could just order milk. 🤷
Though usually those are chain restaurants that prioritize breakfast, might be why.
If the restaurant has a kids menu, it also has milk.
I like how the small fraction of adults that drink milk are downvoting you for actually giving helpful advice. Lol
To order for a kid? Or the sloppy steak?
OMG - i had forgotten the sloppy steak!
Check the menu for items that require milk as an ingredient. You might be able to order a glass even if it isn’t on the menu.
Like milksteak?
Like anything with a bechamel-based sauce or gravy, or custard/pudding/flan, or pancakes, etc.
Unless you are at an extremely expensive or extremely small restaurant, their sauces come premade in a bag from Cisco.
Despite what Lucille Bluth believes, vodka doesn’t bad in a few days after opening bottle. Milk goes bad quickly.
They usually have the milk on hand for cooking, or just the kids menu. If my family of 4 can easily go through 2 gallons a week, I can’t imagine a resteraunt having problems using up milk before it goes bad unless they over-purchase
^ This. Diet Coke/Pepsi if you’re LUCKY. Otherwise, water.
Do you people’s restaurants not serve iced tea?
The trick is “Unsweetened Ice Tea”, which not everyone has. :(
In some states iced tea would also be full of sugar. And “hot tea” is a dry teabag next to a cup of warmish water.
I have been all over the continental United States of America, except California, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, and that other state up there between California and Washington that I always think is Vermont, driving a truck and have literally never been to a place that had sweet tea but not unsweet.
I’ve seen a few the other way around, but that was in New England, about as far from sweet tea culture as you can get.
Maybe a gas station or a fast food joint that use the syrups instead of brewed, but you don’t want to drink that shit
I live in GA, where if you order tea it will be defaulted to sweet tea. However, I have never seen a place that doesn’t have unsweet - you just have to order it that way.
As an iced tea enjoyer, who has been to almost 40 states that is absolutely untrue. I’ve never been to any restaurant that serves sweet tea but does not serve unsweetened as well. Some places especially in the north don’t consistently have either, but in my experience, if they have one they always have the other
Nope. Plenty of places in the midwest only carry unsweet and “flavored”, not regular sweet tea. The flavor is usually extra sweet fruit flavored syrup like raspberry or peach.
Okay fair enough, I haven’t been to many Midwestern states, especially rural areas of those states. I was more referring to places carrying only sweet tea and not unsweet
Don’t forget fake sugar. And most of that “sugar” is actually corn we tricked into tasting like sugar.
I honestly hope you are making some attempt at a joke, and I’m just failing to get it…
I think it’s a high fructose corn syrup joke, but that’s more like squeezing all the sugar out of a cob of corn and pretending it’s juice concentrate in my mind.
What’s wrong with water? I usually just get water and ask for lemon slices to squeeze into it. Which is a game changer and they always have on hand because of the alcoholic drinks lmao
And diet sugar
’ll have a number 6 with extra dip. Big Smoke: I’ll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda. Make that diet, I’m trying to watch my weight.
Afaik, the only other options besides what you listed for beverages anywhere is milk, coffee and tea. And depending where you get them, the coffee and tea may as well just be sugar (or aspartame) too.
Well, coming from a tropical country to the US was a disappointment there. I used to be able to get a variety of freshly squeezed juices almost anywhere, and the only thing they serve around here are bottled OJ’s that barely taste like orange. It’s not even like there’s a limited variety at the grocery store, it’s just not a thing…
Juice is still pretty sugary, even fresh squeezed. They naturally have sugars in them which is why they are sweet. While a lot of premade juice also includes added sugars. There was a study posted somewhere on Lemmy not too long ago that showed most American’s sugar intake came from fruit juices and not sodas as previously thought.
Most juice has a lot of sugar. The ones that don’t don’t generally taste that good.
But bottle OJ tasting like shit is a real thing, they have to do so much to it to get it to last for more than a week on the shelf that all the flavor is sucked out of it.
idk, I make them at home with no sugar and it’s pretty good. But I guess expecting the sweet stuff plays a factor on your perception.
Even 100% freshly juiced fruit juice with no additives is a sugar bomb.
different kinds of sugar
Sugar is sugar.
It really doesn’t matter if it’s naturally occurring or added after the fact. It’s sugar.
Debating what kinds of sugar are better for you is kind of like debating which landmine is better to step on.
Don’t get me wrong, the occasional sugary beverage is fine. But juice is never going to be good for you. Even arguably.
Fructose isn’t good for you, either.
You’re trading HFCS for plain old sugar. Most fruits are approximately 50/50 fructose and glucose, while HFCS is between 42% and 55% fructose, with the balance being glucose.
Chemically and biologically, they are basically the same.
Yeah no added sugar. The juice generally contains enough sugar on it’s own. Fruit juice is about as nutritious as a soda. You’re taking the sweet part of the fruit and leaving behind the fiber and other nutrients.
Fruit juice is about as nutritious as a soda
Not even close. Different kinds of sugar, preservatives, and vitamins all have vastly different ratios.
Different kinds of sugar are all sugar when they get to your gut. Anything beyond “the body treats this like sugar” is just a pissing contest.
When you juice something, you’re leaving 95% of the nutrients in the fruit, extracting the sugar water, and telling yourself you’re drinking healthy. That’s just not the case. The meat of the fruit is where that stuff is at. The fact that some of it makes it in to the juice is incidental. It would be better to drink a glass of water and eat the orange, than to juice the orange. Unless you then throw the juice away and just eat what’s left of the orange. That’s probably the best thing.
Sugar is sugar, HFCS found in sodas and juice with added sugars is more concentrated, but your body still sees it and treats it as sugar.
Which it also just happens to see as something to hoard because for our entire evolutionary timeline sugar was a rare resource to be had. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that we began being able to have sugar whenever and however we wanted. Which on the timeline of evolution is nothing but a blimp, a speck of sand.
To be fair, the alcoholic menu us typically like this too. 95% of the menu is beer, wine, or vodka and some kind of syrup.
Even if it’s not on the menu, it’s not like you can’t get X neat or on the rocks.
You don’t like water?
Best beverage ever. Personally I couldn’t live without it
Yeah and almost any other drink contains water, what an effin’ rip-off!
/s
That is why I only drink pure vegetable oil.
Hey all you adults that will drink a glass of milk like it’s nothing: why you get so upset when someone pulls out their wife’s breast milk and chugs it down?
Fight! Fight! Fight!
… What??
Milk? Is this one of the McPoyles???
Gotta keep the bloodline pure
Alcohol gives me the shits. Milk gives me the shits. I’d rather just have water.
Water? Fish shit in it.
You also have shit inside you.
speak for yourself, fluid only diet
food goes in, food goes out right away
Huh. When you swim in the sea, you’re a shit-covered shit sack.
That’s enough thinking for today.
So do I
And fuck.
And then?
There’s the trend of restaurants having “mocktails”, which is cool, but they often charge for them based on their price for alcoholic beverages. I don’t really want a special lemonade for $14.
be me: go to restaurant => ouch ouch why is everything overpriced =< lol kek its 1 am and im drunk rn but the alcohol in coctails is not worth nearly 14 bucks you bellend
Wouldn’t they have milk available for coffee? Unless they only offered cream, I guess.
Either way, silly that you couldn’t order some.
A restaurant that doesn’t have milk is a probably a shitty restaurant anyway.
What kind of kitchen doesn’t have milk in it? Even the hardest-core vegan cafe would have some kind of passable milk substitute right?
Next thing you know they’ll be saying they don’t have salt.
Well yeah, exactly.
They might not have it in acceptable quantities for drinking, depending on the kind of food served. If they only keep it in stock for specific dishes, the front of house might not even know it’s there.
The bartender should have some for the White Russians
A proper white Russian is half and half or cream. Don’t worry I drank plenty of milk ones after I watched the Big Lebowski when I was 20 but it’s just not the same.
Not since the war started and they all got sent to the front (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
To be fair, how many baby cows are even coming to these restaurants??
Should be more than baby grapes!
Not sure about other countries, but the Russian branch of Burger King had some uniquely bad sense of humor when it came to their ads. The most known as was a world play between “Don’t get too spicy” and “Don’t shit yourself”, but there was another ad of chicken nuggets with a little chick in the corner telling something like “6 nuggets for 99 rubles!”. I found it hilarious to see a chick advertising their mom.
Sir, this is a steak house. We have hundreds of baby cows come here every year.
