What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

Water.

piss

@Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net

your mom

g00d post
- you will never escape your past

Full sugar ginger beer. Nobody fucking sells it anymore, it's all suger-free or watery lemony nothing.

I just wanted as much fermented ginger as you can cram in some water, is that a hard ask?

That being said, I've tried making it myself, and never succeeded. I can't find any good online recipes.

Heck yeah spicy sugary ginger beer is the best
I make it myself all the time! Pick up some organic ginger (so it still has microbes on it) and some distilled or spring water (or leave tap water out overnight to dechlorinate). Start with 1 cup of water and grate in small piece of ginger (skin and all) and add 2 tsp sugar. Repeat once a day for 3-5 days until foamy.

Then take two quarts of water in a large pot, add 1.5 c sugar, the juice of two lemons (this is important! It doesn't work without them), and as much ginger as you want, bring to a boil, and then take off the heat and add 2 more quarts to bring it up to a gallon. Allow to cool to at least 90 degrees F, then mix in your starter and strain into bottles (I like to use plastic seltzer water bottles and strain through a fine mesh wine filter bag). Leave it in a relatively warm place for a week or so, burping the bottles occasionally as the pressure builds. Sometimes not all my bottles will take off, so I'll pour a little from one of the successful ones in to restart the fermentation.
- Ooh, thanks - I may give it another try with those instructions, because I'd genuinely love to succeed. When making the starter, do I do that in a sealed bottle at room temp?
Pre covid I used to be able to buy this really spicy stuff but like you said, no one sells it anymore. I want ginger sediment and I want to feel my sinuses burning
might be a big ask depending on where you are in the world, but have you had/thoughts on Bundaberg?

like, if you're from america, it's night and day compared to something like canada dry - but it's probably weak piss to a real ginger enjoyer
- I do have thoughts on Bundaberg, though I don't know if the UK version is different to others.
  
  We have a sugar tax, and since then Bundaberg has been half-sugar, half-sweeteners, which is still just, blegh for me. Also, xanthan gum for some reason?? It's above average in terms of flavour, but as I say, I do consider that a low bar.

Putting tea and coffee aside, for sober events it has to be a lemon, lime and bitters or its low-sugar sensible cousin, the soda, lime and bitters.

If just beverages in general it has to be black tea. If money weren't an issue I'd drink exclusively watermelon juice or grapefruit juice or a blend, or avacado smoothies.

I have many preferred beverages, both alcoholic and sober but uhhh...

On the day to day, I drink coffee more than I do water, but I absolutely have to give a huge shoutout to horchata. Mana of the fucking gods right there

Haven't made horchata in ages, that sounds really fuckin' good rn

Coffee

Currently on a kick of non-alcoholic spirits with good tonic. Seedlip is nice. Lyre's Italian orange is too. Going to see if I can find and try Monday Gin as it's apparently more juniper-y but, not holding my breath as it turns out that the flavor compounds in juniper just don't like most human-safe solvents and most non-alcoholic spirits that I've tried don't have nearly enough bitter. May need to go for "very low alcohol" rather than zero for a satisfying character.

Also, I've been enjoying honeybush tea. I'm making blends myself that are turning out rather well. Raspberry leaf helps add tannins that it is missing for a more tea-like flavor and mouth feel. I'm still tuning the recipe but, found that I get a nice Earl-y Grey with 4g honeybush, 1g raspberry leaf, 0.5g lavender flowers (food grade), 2-4 drops bergamot oil (food grade) for a 200-250mL cup.

As for why I'm "teatotalling" these days (not that you asked but the question seems inevitable), ethanol doesn't seem to agree with my nervous system anymore. So, rather than have hang-xiety and other downsides, I've decided to cut it, maybe take up brewing milds again at some point because I enjoy the flavors And caffeine has been getting its effects unpleasantly amplified lately so, same deal, reducing it significantly.

This user salutes those that choose to not drink and those who choose to as well 🫡
- Agreed! My biggest issue is that I have enjoyed the flavor more than the intoxication for over a decade. And some flavors are hard or impossible to obtain without the ethanol (and generally just plain impossible if at a pub).

In terms of soft drinks I think a spicy ginger beer is my favorite, but its rough to find non alcoholic beverages that arent either coffee/tea or sugar drinks for big babies.

good filter coffee
litres of water
the fuckin thirst crusher, solo

How do you make your coffee?
- i'm a bit of a wanker, so i have a Moccamaster classic now
  
  i previously just had a pourover setup - hand grinder, cheap kitchen scales, knockoff Chemex pourover flask (Bodum i think) and some reusable fabric filters. 16:1 ratio with good beans.

Cream soda is underrated as hell and I will die on that hill.

Don't drink soda much though, usually go for water, green tea, coffee with some creamer of some sort, or a flavored lemonade

Do you prefer pink or clear cream soda?
- Not sure what the difference is

Anijsmelk

It's warm milk (oat is best obv), sweetened and w/ anise

v good sleepy time drink too

Looks yum. Is it easy enough to make yourself?
- Should be!
  
  Here in the Netherlands it's usually just made from like a powder bag thingy, but you can make it yourself by basically infusing like it's tea but with anise seeds instead
  
  idk what good ratios would be but you should be able to find recipes online
- Right so a bit like chai masala, you can buy premix or DIY. I guess where I am it'll be hard to find the bagged stuff so making it from scratch could be fun! Thanks

You’ll never guess.

Permanently Deleted

Oh, another fun thing if you grow any herbs, throw a little fresh herbs in a soda. Like fresh basil in orange soda, rosemary in pineapple, mint in lime, etc.

Coffee. Mostly espresso based drinks (lattes, cappuccinos, whatever I feel like making)

But I also enjoy Vietnamese filter coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

One of these days I’ll try making a café Cubano as well

Matcha in various forms is also great.

i mostly drink water, but i have a near-compulsive diet soda problem.

Black coffee. It's so soothing.

Chai Tea, the spicier the better. Heavy on cloves and black pepper especially.

Love a good cuppa tea

coffee, and i ain't snobby enough to have an inbuilt preference on how its made. but i like it dark as night and powerful.

fun thing to do but it's way too much work on the regular is loading up the espresso machine with some cinnamon and cayenne pepper so it kicks you in the head, tongue, and ass

toilet

Vimto is my main source of hydration, but I do enjoy a glass of cold brew with a good amount of milk and a sprinkle of Demerara sugar.

I grew up in an Italian household, so I drank tons of espresso and chinotto. Chinotto is basically the only pop I'll drink anymore.

Dr Pepper

Wooder

Are you from Balmer?
- No

Sometimes i reduce some strong roobois, chill it, then pour it into some soda water. Dress it up with some sweet or citrus if that's your tastes.

A nice cup of Indian style chai: black tea, ginger, cardamom, optional other chai masala spices. It should be hot, strong, spicy, sweet, yet refreshing even in the hot afternoon weather of India

or Indian style coffee: strongly brewed or mixed with chicory (personally I like just brewing with Monsoon Malabar beans), mixed with sugar, and milk boiled to the point it slightly caramelizes

The sad thing for me is that I am vegan so I miss out on the milk experience. Most vegan milks don't come close in hot drinks for me. But I'll share the recipe for the closest I've gotten: 1 part soy milk, 1 part nut or grain milk (any, eg. almond or oat), 1 part coconut milk.

There are also some vegan milks that have this kind of blending out there like Not Milk or Wondermilk

Oh also shout-out to that one kombucha I had and tried replicate at home, oak and sage iirc, tasted like a fancy alcoholic drink without the alcohol