I took the Dry January challenge and have found that eliminating all alcohol from my life has been far easier than cutting back or drinking moderately. I’ve also found so many unexpected benefits for my health – like deep restful sleep, improved digestion, and a clear mind – that I’m honestly weighing when (or whether) I should resume drinking wine with dinner. Since I love to cook, I’ve thought for many decades that eating would be less enjoyable without pairing my meal with wine. I’m surprised that this month taught me that isn’t true – at least for me.
I actually decided to stop drinking in the early morning hours of Christmas Day (after a very fun Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner party on Christmas Eve), so technically it’s been 37 days for me. I’ve made the time to write in my journal every morning about the differences I’m noticing in my health by abstaining and why I think that this break has been positive for me.
The question I’m dealing with now, on the final day of January, is whether I want to begin imbibing again – and under what circumstances?
I learned during the course of the month that my biggest trigger for wanting a glass of wine isn’t actually sitting down to eat – it’s while I’m cooking. Consequently, I’ve searched out some refreshing non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy while I’m cooking which have made this “sober curious” experiment a relative breeze.
First of all, I can’t recommend any of the non-alcoholic wines that I’ve tried. All of them have been unpalatable – ranging from execrable (at worst) to not very good (at best). Each of them I tried left me wondering “why in the world am I drinking this when a glass of water would taste so much better?”
Since the NA wines didn’t work for me, I sampled several non-alcoholic beers. The best I found has been Untitled Art. Perhaps because Untitled Art makes a wide variety of craft beers that contain alcohol, they know how beer is actually supposed to taste when they brew their non-alcoholic varieties. I haven’t bought from them online yet, but we have found several of their non-alcohol beers at Total Wine. I’ve tried four varieties so far, and the two that I like best are NA Juicy IPA and NA American Gold. NA American Gold tastes more like mild lager, with a nice crisp finish, and only 35 calories. NA Juicy IPA will cost you a whopping 55 calories, but it has the upside of a pleasant citrusy flavor and plenty of hops. I’m actually hard pressed to figure out which I like better!
And speaking of Hops, for zero calories, you can’t beat HOP WTR. I received two cans of HOP WTR as a free gift from Thrive, and decided that HOP WTR is a great option for times when I want something a little more thrilling than another can of LaCroix LimonCello, but don’t want to pop open an NA beer while I prepare dinner. My absolute favorite HOP WTR is Mango, but I also enjoy the Blood Orange, Lime, and Classic, which is definitely the “hoppiest” of the four, with kind of a piney scent.
I also made the acquaintance of Seedlip this month. Seedlip is made by a British company that uses recipes dating back to 1651 to distill small batches of herbs and other botanicals separately. They then mix them together to create an interesting libation that has no alcohol or sugar. Seedlip sells three different blends: Seedlip Garden 108, Seedlip Grove 42, and Seedlip Spice 94. Seedlip Garden 108 is by far my favorite with its subtle fresh scent of spearmint, thyme, and rosemary. I like mixing it with tonic water over ice, adding a few dashes of bitters, and a squeeze of lime to remind me of the gin and tonics I enjoyed in my roaring 20’s! I need to experiment some more with Seedlip Grove 42 (which has a citrusy ginger scent) and Seedlip Spice 94 (which, like the name, smells like allspice to me) and will report back later.
Perhaps the most interesting and sophisticated non-alcoholic spirit I tried was Wilfred’s Alcohol Free Bittersweet Aperitif. To me, Wilfred’s is a dead ringer for Campari. Like Seedlip, Wilfred’s is also made in Britain, and is a complex mixture of distilled and natural botanicals. I definitely taste the bitter orange, rosemary, and clove flavors – but maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to detect the “touch of rhubarb” that the makers assure me is present. I’ve had Wilfred’s with tonic water over ice, and with a tangerine La Croix sparking water. I think that it is absolutely delicious – if you happen to have the right version of the bitter taste receptor gene TAS2R38 that makes bitter things palatable – which my recent DNA results tell me I have in spades! (You can tell how much I like it because the bottle is half empty!)
I would have loved to share my thoughts about Pentire – but alas, the box with three bottles was badly damaged in transit – and I’m still waiting for the replacement shipment. So, perhaps I’ll continue my dry January experiment into February, and will let you know what I think.
But back to my original quandary. What lessons did I learn from Dry January, and when do I want to consciously begin drinking alcohol again?
My common sense tells me that my body has only begun to heal from the decades’ worth of abuse that frequent imbibing has caused to my internal organs. I’ve asked myself whether I honestly want to give up the bliss of restful sleep (with plenty of wild dreams during my REM cycles) or whether I want to experience heartburn or a muzzy head again? And of course, the answer to all three is an emphatic NO!
So, I think that I will listen to my body and take it one day at a time. My hope is that I will only choose to drink when there is a very good reason – like a celebratory event or an incredible dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant.
But for now, perhaps I will keep my options open and not beat myself up if my dry February gets a wee bit damp.
