this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
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Eh, I quit a few years ago. When you have to have conversations with yourself about it, it’s time. So cold turkey I went, luckily NBD for me. The only time I miss it is after a really trying, long day; or I’m just craving flavors that aren’t sugary drinks like soda. I don’t like sweet drinks very much. Alcohol lends an intensity to flavors that’s impossible to replicate.
Looking back at it I’m really glad I quit.
Anyway, hopefully added years/stopped shaving years off my life. We’ll see.
I like flavored seltzer water.
I destroy those since going sober. I think it's that carbonation itself has a flavor, and in cheap beer that carbonation was actually the majority of the feel/flavor. Occasionally I'll feel silly buying so much, but then I remember how much I used to spend on booze without batting an eye and grab another 12 pack for $2.85.
We also picked up a carbonation setup so we can make our own sodas and mineral water. Just to reduce plastic waste, I don’t think it’s cheaper than what you’re buying, though.
That’s good, and just fizzy mineral water too. Luckily the NA market for more interesting adult drinks is growing, so things like fake Moscow mules, Hop Tea, or other mocktails that have interesting flavors are starting to become more widely available and have zero alcohol. Not the same as the real thing, but generally pretty good and better than soda or other sugary stuff.
kombucha is really good for that, it may contain small amounts of alcohol but its really difficult to get it as potent before it turns more like vinegar. but the carbonation and even variations with hops are out there and are great.
I used to do edibles every once in a while when they became legal here and found that alcohol was terrible when high because Id just get dizzy so i started drinking kombucha and it was amazing
What is the intensity that can’t be replicated, burn of the alcohol?
Depends. Alcohol dissolves things that normally are only fat soluble so you can get an entirely different flavour from common foods (wine and beer tastings/pairings for example)
For fermented beverages the yeast and malt make a pretty unique flavour. Same with hops in a good pale ale or IPA. There's also the body and mouth feel that's hard to replicate without making alcohol. Residual sugars after fermentation are also kind of unique to alcohol since you always have normal sugars mixed in with other foods.
This is right. Alcohol is almost a flavor multiplier and also holds flavors that might be more volatile and disappear. That’s why if you were to completely remove the alcohol from a drink like gin or something it would taste wildly different and probably very flat even though the rest of the beverage is the same.