Alternatives to wine and beer

[ohyouBadBadkitten]

Cant really drink much at all at the moment, and coming to the conclusion that low/no alcohol wine and beers are all pretty grim. I'm a real ale/dry red wine kind of lady.

So I am looking for alternatives for
A)down the pub. Needs to be sharp (don't like sweet things) but I'm not allowed grapefruit as it messes with my medication.

B) at home. Am thinking some sort of posh cordial mixed with sparkling water, but will this satisfy and which ones?

Ginger ale or tonic water with lots of ice and lemon

Lime cordial and soda water in the pub.

Elderflower cordial is nice for home.

A I usually have soda water and lime.

B Schloer kind of stuff. Although it's a bit too sweet for me to have lots.

Lime and soda or lime and sparkling mineral water.

angostura and tonic

rock shandy: lemonade or ginger ale with angostura on ice
Malawi sandy, lemonade, Orange juice, angostura on ice.

at home, iced tea or iced coffee

Look into your bitters. I have rhubarb as well as angostura and there are loads others. I have them in tonic water.

Ginger ale is nice with fresh lime juice.

Bitter lemon with plenty of ice yuuuum

Bitters are a great idea. Will def try those in tonic water.
Lime cordial and soda water sounds good. See to have vodka and lime in my student days. Thank you. Will report back!

I find a tonic water with ice and lemon hits the spot almost as well as a gin and tonic. It is my drink of choice in the pub when I am driving.

Bitter lemon is another "grown up" soft drink. At home cranberry juice with sparkling mineral water or lemonade is refreshing, especially on a hot day.

cranberry mixed with ginger beer is really very nice :)

Make sure that the lime cordial is Rose's and not a cheapo one.

I have elderflower with fizzy water

Some brilliant ideas here I'm going to try loads of them out. Dh came back with tonic water, angostura bitters (couldnt find any others) fizzy water and belvoir lime and lemongrass cordial. And a lemon.

I'd forgotten about ginger beer, I love it! (we used to brew our own alcoholic version, boy was that rough!)

Need to make some ice cubes!

I really like Jamaica ginger beer, as it's got an extra kick which makes it less sweet and more grown up. Otherwise there are now a lot of very nice cordials around, and bitters is a great idea for reducing the sweetness. A bottle of lemon juice is also handy. I think you have to experiment to find what hits the spot.

I foresee lots of experimenting is going to happen...

Try Brewdog's Nanny State which is a proper beer brewed to 0.5% abv. So Brewdog have the weakest and strongest beers in the world.

Wow! I am def going to try and get hold of that beer. Sounds like it is very hoppy which is right up my street.

Merlot grape juice sounds interesting, one to put on my list of things to try :)

Have a look at Brewdog's website. Not sure if that was a one off brew or whether they have it a a regular. I'd love it if they did, it would be ideal for 'designated drivers'.

Couldn't see it in their online shop. Pity.....

Cranberry juice on its own is quite tart - also good mixed with grapefruit

Soda water with ice down the pub. It's either free or about 20p. Otherwise you can pay silly money for soft drinks.

Crabbies also do a non-alcoholic version of ginger beer, DH says tis very good.

Line runner, Soda water is a bit plain, for me, ESP compared to beer!

Xmasbaby, wish I could have grapefruit. My favourite pregnancy drink was grapefruit and bitter lemon.
Will look out for crabbies.