Reply With Quote
One man’s meat... as they say! We all have different tastes so probably just that.
So I’ve never really ‘got into’ alcohol - my father was in the drinks trade and as a kid we always had a house full of booze, no locks on the cupboards and - rather against what you’d imagine - my brother and I never decided to pilfer some for a sly sip - it always smelt awful to me and I had no interest. Then growing up I started drinking lager like every other teenager, got drunk like everyone else but still didn’t really like the taste - tried whisky, thought it was ok, but stuck with beer as it satisfied my thirst as much as anything else. Then I met my now wife - who whilst not teetotal has about 2 drinks a year - and started working in the Advertising field in Soho which involved client lunches, drinks after work and all that. I often had a bit too much to drink - wine with lunch, beer after work - but oddly to this day I’ve literally never bought a bottle of wine to drink at home, I did buy the odd crate of beer but we never drank alcohol at home at all. The wine thing is odd - I think I drink it if I have to but can’t say I really enjoy it and it gives me instant gut ache if I drink it without food. In an odd way I associate alcohol with work not pleasure! I’ve never drunk enough to consider giving it up, always done it socially just to fit in I guess (and as a tall large tall man I don’t get easily drunk) - but after a year in lockdown - and with zero alcohol intake, which was so easy it didn’t even occur to me until I sat down with a cold pint in my hand last week - I found my first alcoholic drink in a year truly revolting (it was a craft IPA so I did make an effort!) A couple of days later had a G&T - again, revolting!
The upshot is that at 52 ’ve decided to admit I just don’t enjoy alcohol at all, in fact I never really have, so I’m not going to bother with it any more. I’m just curious if anyone out there feels the same or has a similar relationship with alcohol? I’m not sure whether my body chemistry doesn’t suit it, perhaps I have an intolerance to something in alcohol? Everybody tells me it’s amazing stuff and for 30+ years I followed like the emperors new clothes but the reality for me is - nope, don’t enjoy it at all. Am I alone??
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
One man’s meat... as they say! We all have different tastes so probably just that.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Fair play. No point drinking the stuff if you don’t like it.
I don’t drink shorts or wine, I don’t like the taste and don’t enjoy them. If that were the only booze I would be tea total. It’s the same for generic lager, awful stuff.
I do like a good pint though. Although during lock down my intake has dropped and I am more picky with what I drink.
I'm sorry to hear that RobDad. I do so I haven't.
My most enjoyable evenings are in a rustic pub having substance-altered happy chats with my cronies. I can't imagine them without the beer or farm cider; we would have to stick to the truth, and the jokes wouldn't seem half as funny.
The important message taken from this post is the fact you are being honest with yourself, which is easier said than done.
Good for you!
I have to say I read your story as my own - wife drinks only at social events and even then has the ability to stop after a couple. We don’t drink at home. I work in the City so drinking with clients and colleagues is a regular thing.
I started drinking at home during the first lockdown and it wasn’t doing me any good mentally or physically. In July I decided to give up alcohol completely until things were back to normal and 9 months later I’ve only just recently had my first couple of beers (which didn’t go down as well as I’d imagined). I’ve really enjoyed trying all the different non-alcoholic beers and found some of them actually quite refreshing (others not so nice).
I’ve managed to lose weight, feel healthy and become mentally focused with life and work. I’m not sure I’ll give up alcohol completely but I’m going to keep the 0% beers in the mix for that casual beer.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My mother is 62 years old and has never drunk alcohol at all.
Nothing stopping her, I suppose she just refuses to poison herself intentionally.
Not alone at all, I’ve been looking at a 12 pack of tiger and peroni since Xmas wondering what to do with them.
I’ve never really been a drinker. Yes I’ve gotten drunk on a number of occasions through the years but I’ve always been violently ill afterward so that’s why I’ll only drink a couple of times a year.
Having said that, I do like a cold bottle of Kopparburg mixed fruits on a hot day, I find that very refreshing, but I’ll only have the one bottle.
Some people don’t like mung beans.
I've never been one for a drink every day - that's borderline functioning alcoholism IMO - but I certainly did the heavy weekend binge drinking from 18-30 and enjoyed the occasional blast after that in a social situation; since settling down and family arriving both for me and my old drinking gang it's become virtually zero.
Last drink I had was a four pack of Desperados over Xmas and that was the first of 2020; last serious binge, and had to think about this, was in 2015. Don't miss it one bit TBH, life and priorities change.
I can drink a bucket - drink for drink and hold my own with most folk. Often last man standing at stags etc, but unless I have a reason to drink then I don’t. I rarely drink midweek, hardly ever drink with a meal unless in a restaurant (so not done that for a year obviously). Fact is when I’m not drinking I don’t miss it one bit. When I do drink I thoroughly enjoy it. It just doesn’t leave a void when absent
Last edited by RustyBin5; 25th April 2021 at 11:12.
I can take it or leave it. I enjoyed a Thursday night out with friends but only had a pint at the most. Then lockdown, and have only had 2 bottles since a year last March.
Spirits don't taste nice to me either either, hate whisky!
I think being in the job I was in (Police) and driving kept me off it from a young age. I was also keen on keeping fit.
Never smoked either😁
I was drinking far too much during last year, and it's a very easy path to follow. I'll just have a couple of glasses of wine, becomes a bottle. A can of cider, becomes four cans of cider. And so on.
Since February, I've been limiting myself to one bottle of wine in the house, for treat Friday - that and cutting out carbs, has helped me lose a lot of weight. I feel better and I am not spending money on booze. I have found that as there's less of me and that my tolerance has fallen, the amount ingested which gets you tipsy is also far less. However the day after the night before is worse. So recently, I've been asking what's the point.
I may not go as far as Robdad but the idea of cutting back even further is appealing.
How things change! I was in the police in the 1960s and that's what started me on it!Originally Posted by Rod
Yeah. I know where you're coming from.
I've started mixing proper Martini's again (shaken not stirred). The preparation slows down the consumption rate.
I was the opposite. With lockdown I saw no occasion to drink, as there was no socializing.
I did dry January and haven’t had an alcoholic drink since. Really not bothered.
Can’t say I was a big drinker. Only really a couple of beers at the weekend. So no big deal.
I’ve have since found it didn’t help my sleep, yes after drinking I would fall to sleep quicker, but sleep quality was poor.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Many Interesting and varied replies. Many mention weight loss but in fact that never happened for me - maybe because my business lunch drinking slow-down coincided with reaching middle age? - but giving up alcohol didn’t coincide with weight loss, in fact the opposite as food replaced the liquid lunches! - I have to say in regard to the fun bit of getting drunk, all the jokes and laughter etc, I’m probably somebody who acts a bit daft and doesn’t take himself too seriously even stone cold sober so that’s never really been an issue tbh!
I have to say I think my metabolism may have something to do with not enjoying alcohol. I’m not aware of having any allergies, not asthmatic or gluten intolerant etc - I can pretty much eat anything and feel fine - but wine and cider - in fact I tried Koppaberg and it was the worst reaction ever - gives me a really unpleasant stabbing pain in the guts if I drink it without a meal, painful enough to really put me off (and to put it into perspective, I can go for a curry or eat a really spicy chilli and have no reaction whatsoever). I have the same with proper orange juice if I drink it first thing. I wonder if there is something that my body really does not like? If I’m honest with myself I have thought of giving up a few times but (and again this is being very honest) I’ve always thought people that don’t drink are either recovering alcoholics or a bit pious/boring. I now realise it is perfectly possible to not really like the taste of it and just lack interest as a result!
As an aside, I’ve tried the non alcoholic alternatives which sadly either taste worse than the proper stuff, but also have the same effect in regard to gut-ache so that’s easily swerved. Need to find something to sup that isn’t Cola as I really can’t drink much of that before I can feel my teeth dissolving :)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You just haven’t found your tipple yet :-)
I only tried my first pint of Guinness about 8 years ago (I’m 43) It was love at first sip
I like an IPA the odd time, or a nice brandy, but it’s not if there’s no Guinness
Living alone, boredom was a factor. The way I look at it now, is that by not drinking or eating as much, I'm actually doing something - improving my health.
Sent from my POT-LX1T using Tapatalk
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
At least you are more likely to get a decent pint of Guinness in NI. I do like a good pint of Guinness but it’s so variable as to the quality of the pint you get over here.
Reminds me of the worst pint of Guinness I ever had (or didn’t because there was no way I was drinking it). I was in San Francisco with some mates and walked by a small ‘Olde English Pub’....went in for amusement value and also because it had a sign for Watneys Red Barrel (late 90s) which I assumed had all been destroyed for health reasons by then.
Anyhow,we got chatting to the barman and he was really proud of his Guinness and said he poured the perfect pint. We then sat dumbfounded as he proceeded to demonstrate this perfect pint. He partially filled three glasses with Guinness and then decanted/mixed the three glasses until he eventually had one full glass of Guinness....the word that best described the result was ‘smingy’.
I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.
Quit in 2004, i got into a very bad habbit in the early 2000. Its dangerous stuff that can quickly become a big problem.
True. I’ve been in a few bars in Europe where they hadn’t a clue but allowed me to pour my own. I know it doesn’t travel well, but poured correctly it’s not bad. Had great pints in a bar in Basel a few years back
I used to love a drink. Guinness, IPA and Whisky were my favourite tipples.
With the news that I had a borderline fatty liver from the Doc I gave up about ten years ago.
I still have the very occasional drink if out etc but that's it.
I do miss it though.
Cheers,
Neil.
I'm still hoping to grow out of enjoying it as much as I do. Trying to be more moderate, and succeeding mostly which is a step in the right direction. The more I can exercise the easier it is to be virtuous and skip a day, couple of days.
Last edited by Passenger; 25th April 2021 at 13:55.
I wouldn’t do tee total because the occasional pint in the sun is a pleasure. What I have done is cut out home drinking entirely. I didn’t drink much but I felt having a 4-pack in front of the television on a weekend was habitual and pointless. As a result I haven’t had a drink since Christmas and don’t miss it. Next drink I have is when we are able to socialise properly again.
What I’ve always despised about alcohol is the borderline bullying that goes with it. I’m in the military and there is no respect for those that want to abstain. The command chain enforce “three line whip” (ie compulsory) social events and the peer pressure to drink definitely borderlines harassment. Conveniently, this subject is never touched upon at diversity and inclusion training. A lot of it can be quite subtle...ensuring everyone ends up subsidising the heaviest drinkers etc. It’s all geared up to encouraging drinking beyond what is healthy.
I acknowledge this aspect, and have partaken at certain stages of my progress through life (rugby springs to mind).
My idyllic support for a session in a pub with my mates in no way allows me to ignore that it can easily become a dangerous and even fatal problem, as I have witnessed in my close family.
That’s a very good point and something which always irritated me. As you say it really is borderline bullying. I have to say, I can envisage a situation in the future whereby I’m included in a round of drinks ‘accidentally’ and a pint is stuck in front of me, and just to avoid making a fuss I might drink it - this is why I’ve never sworn to the teetotal thing in the past, if you aren’t bothered by alcohol then the odd drop doesn’t feel like you’re breaking any rules self imposed or otherwise. I don’t really like seafood but if a friend made a paella for me I’d eat it out of politeness, it won’t kill me to be polite and eat it! I just think I’ve realised I really don’t enjoy alcohol, and beyond toasts at weddings and the odd occasion where it is polite/social convention - like a toast at a wedding - I’ll just lock it in the ‘don’t really like it so won’t generally bother’ box!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes a very good point, which happens here a lot. When I was younger and didn't drink as much, I'd refuse a drink but the "Go on enjoy yourself! Have a drink" line would be used, as if you have to have a drink to enjoy yourself. Saying you're driving later, is often the only way to get people to change the subject.
Have to say I find this quite a fascinating topic. Many responses here seem to be mixing up a level of dependency and something to enjoy
If the OP doesn’t like the taste then good on him to not bother even if he feels there is some social pressure to join in. Much like you won’t get me watching a game of cricket.
Personally I like the odd malt whisky - maybe 2 doubles a week and the odd bottle of wine. Maybe 1 bottle a week opened with a decent meal and shared between 3 of us.
What I find interesting is that I can take it or leave it and it is purely for taste/social occasion that I partake
I often say that I wish I had the same relationship with food as I do with alcohol. I know many have it the other way round.
Food is my weakness and the difficulty is we have to put food in our mouths.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Interesting to read the replies here.
I enjoy the odd quality glass of wine or a decent beer but I have never been a big drinker. I was in a job where many of my colleagues often drank excessively. I have always been keen on maintaining my fitness and health and, to me, alcohol was one of those things that went against that ethos.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and was advised to cut out/limit alcohol and caffeine amongst other things. I have done this and to be honest I don't really miss it. I have the odd drink at the weekend but because I have cut it out for some time if I drink just a tad too much I get pissed really quickly having consumed very little and my hangover is terrible! I also used to drink tea on the hour every hour and now drink non - I thought I would miss it but it's amazing how you adapt!
I quit 2 1/2 years ago in my mid-forties following a dry January attempt.
Had recognised that my drinking had become habitual for some time. Best part of a bottle of red a night and more at weekends (for a long time!). In fact I genuinely could not recall the last day I had not had a drink. Many years realistically.
Also ex military so can recognise the comments above. It was very much part of the life and I took part fully!
Anyway. 2 1/2 years on and don't really think about it anymore. Lost 3 stone, gained a shed load of motivation, numerous health benefits with blood pressure etc and quite enjoy the non-alcoholic beers now available when in the mood.
Works for me. Never say never but no plans to go back.
Another example of the subtleties of making people drink at work: My work is keen to organise a “force development” event as soon as lockdown allows. This will be compulsory and self funded. They are currently looking at booking an expensive “all inclusive” drinking package location in London. So, the options will be effectively have one or two eye-wateringly expensive drinks or drink far beyond what is healthy. As I said, I’m no tee-totaller but as someone keen on looking after their health I would rather I control my relationship with alcohol and not have drinking culture forced upon me.
You are not alone. I'm almost 50 and the only alcohol I like or drink is red Rioja. I have maybe 6 glasses a year. I don't enjoy any other form of alcohol and never have. I went 12 years from 18 to 30 tee total and after that went to the very occasional glass of wine. As I get older, the less I enjoy white wine so have stopped drinking it.
Stopped drinking at 27 as like others have said it just never really agreed with me. The hardest thing for me was the insistence of others that I should be drinking.
Working for the Ambulance service I see the aftermath of excess alcohol on a regular basis in both binge and long term abuse formats. It takes much less than you realise to cause a problem.
Count me out thanks
Giving up booze has got to be the easiest way to weight loss. Three pints of beer and that’s about 1000 calories I reckon. That would take about an 8 mile run to burn off.
I suspect alcohol is probably the leading cause of the obesity problem in the UK.
The problem with alcohol is its addiction potential ... some of my closest friends died as a result of alcoholism which they never fully acknowledged ... they always considered they were not alcoholics but they could not function without their daily or weekend booze. I have attended AA meetings with an alcoholic GF ... I was allowed to accompany her to the 'open' meetings where friends and family were welcome. Until you've witnessed the despair of alcoholics at AA meetings you'll never be fully aware of the dangers of alcohol addiction. My former GF eventually died of alcohol related organ failure ... she was just 53 years old.
If you do not enjoy alcohol there is no need to pretend that you do ... and boasting about your personal alcohol consumption as if to prove your mastery of it is daft. Peer pressures can often encourage excess alcohol consumption ... but those encouragers might not be so enthusiastic when they suffer the consequences of their habits. One consequence of lunchtime drinking can be a drinker's incapacity to perform an efficient afternoon's work ... they're too merry and boastful and can set a bad example e.g. in an office environment ... some 'managers' are the worst offenders and do not earn the respect of their colleagues.
The only alcohol I enjoy is a good, strong still cider ... but only in moderation ... and never when driving. I abhor the taste and smell of beer and lager and there's nothing quite as repugnant as being 'breathed on' by someone who has drunk several too many.
OP you are not alone in your dislike of alcohol ... and you'll likely live a longer and healthier life because you'll never drink to excess.
Last edited by sundial; 25th April 2021 at 16:04.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
No-one says you have to like alcohol (although there are environments where it's expected), but I'm not giving up.
That said, lockdown has seen my intake decrease from fairly mild to very limited (ISO standards, of course!) and I have to admit that a pint of beer does goes to my head pretty quickly nowadays.
As someone (almost) said, drinking less is a good way to avoid putting on weight, which is part of the reason I've drunk less in lockdown (that and the fact that I tend to be a social drinker - A small lager with a meal at home or a tot of whisky or rum now and then being the exceptions - so the opportunities over the last 18 months have been few!).
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
The only alcohol I buy is to use in cooking - red wine for Boeuf Bourguignon or Chicken Ragu, white wine for risotto. I assume most of the alcohol is cooked off, as all these dishes take a lot of cooking.
I do enjoy a drink about 3, sometimes 4 times a week. Since retirement and lockdown it's a bottle of wine on a Friday, usually a Wednesday too, and from tomorrow (I'm in Wales) the odd pint in a beer garden when out for a long walk.
But what your company is insisting on stinks! How can they make it a combination of compulsory, self funding, and in a drink as much as you can environment? I'm flabbergasted, there must be a case to refuse this surely (easy for me to say I know).
The military! It’s a grey area...I guess technically it’s not compulsory...you could refuse but unless you can generate a good enough excuse, it’s frowned upon!
I don’t enjoy alcohol in most of its forms
Beer - no
Shorts - no
Wine - no
However, if on holiday I may have a cocktail - all hidden away in delicious fruit juices, so I don’t even think it counts
My doctor will ask me how many units
I say zero - he says “really?” I say “yes.... really”
Lol - it’s as if it’s expected
Good for the OP
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Aah understood. How about "I dont drink normally, and I'm not paying fifty quid (or whatever it is) for two drinks!"
Again, easy for me to say.
Amusingly, two things I enjoy - drinking Guinness, and collecting watches - have recently coincided.
Guinness do a special ‘Surger’ can - effectively the same composition as keg pints, but in a can (and different from the ‘widget’ cans). They pour very flat, but the gas within is agitated and released via a special Guinness surger unit.
In lockdown, the quest for a quality home pint has meant the genuine Guinness surger units go for a couple of hundred pounds, and are hard to come by.
Fortunately, my cheap ultrasonic jewellery cleaner - used for cleaning watch bracelets etc. - does exactly the same thing. A few cm of water in the cleaner, then set the pint glass in and ‘buzz’ it for a few seconds to generate a nice, creamy head.
Splendid.
Had one many years ago; good, but not quite pub quality. Better than standard tins of course
Level 2 is a complete draught set up in your garage ;-)
Last edited by demonloop; 25th April 2021 at 18:59.
I might drink once or twice per year if it's a social event, mostly work related, but I don't really like it. I much prefer a cold coke. When there's a round and you ask for a coke everyone gets shocked and you have 10 people pressuring you into a beer who are genuinely concerned that you don't want alcohol, I can't stand it.
Never been much of a drinker, don't like the taste of it, it makes me sick, like after 1 pint...
In my twenties, being a rugby player I would try and keep up, rubbish at peer group pressure!!, Once I finished I pretty much went tee total. I wouldn't describe myself as teetotal but probably have an alcoholic drink every few years.
When I worked in the middle East I was described as a Muslim without Islam
Lack of drinking and smoking makes justifying watch purchases much easier
Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
I too have endured the military drinking bullying culture. I was posted out to my first working unit in Germany. I was told in my first week that I would need to attend the bar on the Saturday evening for my intiation. I asked what form this took. There was a duck on wheels which had a hollow in its back, this would be filled with a shot from every bottle behind the bar, then topped up with beer and the contents of an ash tray (etc.!). I would be expected to drink it all, but if I couldn't manage it would be passwed around the bar. I declined the kind offer on the grounds that I had a peptic ulcer (I didn't). I was treated as somewhat of an outcast after that.
Within 18 months my peers were getting promoted, but I was being overlooked. I considered myself at least as good at the job, so requested an interview with the commanding officer of the squadron to ask why promotion was not coming my way. I was told I was not a team player so I explained that I joined in everything that was going. I was then told "yes, but you don't go in the bar". Being the type to not do things in half measures I made sure from that day on I was waiting outside the bar for it to open, was always the loudest drunkest person, and the last one to be thrown out at night. It was a regular thing to drink beyond the bar being closed on a Friday night, but staying in there sleeping until the bar opened again on a Saturday, and carry on drinking until Sunday evening when I would iron my uniform for Monday. Being wrecked on parade was a regular and not frowned upon activity. Six months of this bad behaviour got me promoted, at which point I never went into the bar again.
A while ago a female colleague at work told me that a mate of hers fancied me, but wouldn't consider me as a boyfriend because I didn't drink, and might be judgemental of the fact that she liked to have a glass of wine after work. This seemed a bit judgemental to me!
You don't have to go far to see the trouble that drunks cause every weekend in any town or city centre. I stick to the very occasional cider, which I don't manage to get the whole bottle of as my other half always wants to share it. I have never enjoyed beer, but I did enjoy wine. Now it takes me forever to drink a pint, and white wine gives me a headache. Every red wine I have tried has tasted like vinegar. Some of us are just not cut out for booze.
Well done OP - that’s something to be proud of IMO. I did a couple of dry months during lockdown and I barely missed it. However I do enjoy a nice cold beer in the sun, especially after a round of golf... I would really miss that if I gave the booze up completely.
I’ve never liked spirits. Probably something to be grateful for
Posting Permissions