There are tons of reasons to choose a drink without alcohol - but people tend to have this idea of non-alcoholic drinks as boring.
They couldn't be more wrong.
It's easy to understand where that idea might come from if you don't think beyond water, juice, or your basic cola or lemon/lime soda. But there's a whole WORLD of drinks out there to make your tastebuds do the same happy-dance they do when they get tacos.
Reddit user Far-Refrigerator-2 asked:
"What is the most underrated non-alcoholic drink?"
Let's get your tongue dancing.
Hugs
Food Fruit GIF
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"Drinking a mango lassi is like being hugged from the inside."
- Apprehensive_Goal811
"I once had an awful case of neverending diarrhea in southeast Asia and just randomly ordered a cold mango lassi from a bistro."
"That settled my stomach immediately and it's my favourite drink whenever I'm about to eat something adventurous or spicy."
- BudovicLagman
"That sh*t is amazing! Sweet mango, sour yogurt, I can seriously enjoy that any time of the day."
- Somerandomedude1q2w
A Tart Tongue
"Gingerale and cranberry juice!"
"There's a tart little tang to it that just hits you on the side of the tongue. 50/50 ratio."
- Pyanfars
"Throw a slice of lime and a slice of orange in it and you have my favorite at work drink!"
- IGotThatYouHeard
"Swap ginger ale for a lime Bubbly or Berry La Croix for a crisper, less sweet combo. Over crushed ice it tastes like $12 cocktail."
- delmersgopher
Arnie Palmer Alert
"The Arnold Palmer - half lemonade, half iced tea."
- JohnnyRoanoke
"ARNIE PALMER ALERT!"
- thisortheapocalypse
"Greatest beverage of all time."
- mcqueen424
"Arnold Palmer is overrated."
"It is identical to putting lemon in sweet tea yet we convinced the world that if we go through the trouble of making lemonade it’s an entirely different drink."
- badnbourgeois
"Au contraire mon frère. It is not the same."
"Lemonade has sugar added to it and it also dilutes the iced tea."
- JohnnyRoanoke
Drinkable Chocolate
"Chocolate milk."
- Levi_2k4
"How is this underrated? I've never met a monster, I mean, a person that doesn't like chocolate milk."
-ChakaZG
"I’m the monster"
"I think chocolate milk is terrible. I also don't really enjoy hot chocolate or coffee. Am I a monster?"
-daltonwright4
Beer Bros
he's not actually drunk root beer GIF by hoppip
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"Root Beer."
"Yeah, there are the big brands (Mug or A&W) but since I gave up liquor there's a fun and a challenge to trying many different brands which vary in different ways ( creamier, sweeter, drier, etc.)"
-Groovy_Chainsaw
"Not to mention the related world of birch beers and sarsaparillas — sioux city's a good one."
-mcpusc
'Yes - Birch beers too. If I get a bit burned out on root beer I'll go to birch beer for a week or so."
-Groovy_Chainsaw
"I like your style dude"
-blofly
Ginger
"Ginger beer. It's like ginger ale, but spicier."
-Grentain
"Ever add more ginger to ginger beer?"
-HerbertKroopen
"I have not, though I frequently add ginger beer to ginger."
"I am the ginger. The ginger beer is in me."
-Grentain
The Sweetest Shirley
"When I was a kid the bar my dad would bring me to always used the syrup from the maraschino cherry jar for the Shirley Temple."
"One of the bar tenders would always fish out extra cherries for me to snack on before he would make my dad’s drink."
"Those were the best Shirley Temples."
-wiggysbelleza
Cloudy Apple Juice
"Apple Cider."
"Once accidentally drank 3 litres of it in a day. So good"
-Lilliebun94
"I mentally added ‘vinegar’ to your comment and was thinking WTF?? 3L of apple cider vinegar?"
-BronzedLuna
"Ah right, we call that cloudy apple juice in the UK."
"Cider is alcoholic, same % approx as beer (3-10%)"
-ALA02
"We have hard cider here too but the cloudy juice is delicious."
"Warm it with cinnamon and allspice and just a dash of clove, sweetened with honey... makes your whole house smell like apple pie."
-Sleepdprived
Science Slaps
Soda Love GIF by McDonalds
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"A McDonalds fountain Coke"
-Commander_Fem_Shep
"This is the correct answer"
-theinternetswife
"Did you know that they run all the soda lines under the ice wells so the soda is always ice cold for much longer than anywhere else. Deliciously cold and crisp!"
-RainbowWheelofDeath
"I’ve heard they get a slightly different formula than what goes into the bottles and that’s why it tastes better. Maybe cuz it’s mixed from the sludge right there and not sitting in plastic for months?"
"I don't know all the science; all I know is that sh*t slaps"
-Financial_Warning_37
Little Jars For The Win.
"Lime Jarritos."
-someredditdude13131
"You sir, are a man of impeccable taste."
"I always end up getting either the tamarind or piña ones because aside from Hispanic markets I can't ever find the lime ones around."
"If you ever see it, the Mexicola one is solid as well"
-oh_hai_mark1
"Most any jarritos in my opinion."
"The guava, grapefruit, mandarin, and lime are all contenders for my favorite depending on the day my dude. Hard to pass up a jarritos at the taco truck :)"
-XtheGreat
Sharkleberry
"Sharkleberry Fin Kool-Aid."
"I gave up beer and soda and mostly drink water but once in a while I'll make some Kool-Aid and I gotta' say that next to black cherry Sharkleberry Fin is the best flavor."
-PunchBeard
"The only Kool-aid flavor I like.'
'Weird how relevant the top answers are. My go-to drinks are this, Arnold Palmers, and ginger ale. All 3 were mentioned near the top."
"Guess I should probably branch out and try more of these, since a good portion of AskReddit has the same tastes in drinks as me."
-daltonwright4
"My 'Dad Joke' is when someone asks my favorite fruit I say 'Sharkleberry.' "
-PunchBeard
Muddle It
Drink Cocktail GIF by Absolut Vodka
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"Fresh basil, lime, and strawberries muddled in the clear soda of your choice (I like Sprite or Ginger Ale) 🍓 🍃 "
- Practical-Item-5808
Cookout Cheerwine
"Cheerwine, more specifically from the fountain at Cookout."
"It is by far the greatest thing to ever come out of North Carolina and makes a killer float."
- LawPup23
Carbonated Milk?
"Milkis."
"It’s like carbonated milk, but it doesn’t really taste like milk. Lot of people think it’s gross."
"It’s really not, only thing bad about it is sugar level."
- nice_wholphin
Make It So
Star Trek Drink GIF by Paramount+
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"F*ckin tea man."
"Hot tea, iced tea, sweet or unsweet, earl grey, chamomile, lemongrass, mugwort, ALL THE TEA MAN."
- maloudin
Umbrella Optional
"1 part pink grapefruit juice (preferably cocktail, not the pure actual juice, though that's good too) to 2-3 parts seltzer."
"Get really crazy and do 1 part pink grapefruit, 1 part cranberry to 3 parts seltzer."
"Lots of ice, festive drink umbrella optional (but oh so amazing)"
- goblyn79
Clean Water And Smoke
"Lid eugenia tea."
"I don't know about the world, but this drink is very popular in my country."
"It tastes like super clean and distilled water mixed with a little sugar, green tea and a scent of smoke (idk how to explain this but it’s that specific smoke when you burn the dried body of rice plants)."
"It’s super refreshing and can quench your thirst. My late grandma from my mom’s side introduced me to this, and bro the sh*t’s goooood."
- PFVN_Dragon
It's The Quenchiest
Fade Away Drinking Water GIF by kai
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"Water straight from the fridge!!!"
"Ten years worth of thirst was quenched just by typing this."
- rviejn
Non-Americans Are Skeptical
"Regular lemonade."
"Simple syrup, lemon juice, and still water. Tart, sweet, SO refreshing on a hot day."
"Non-Americans are so skeptical because whatever the f*ck they call lemonade in Europe apparently sucks donkey balls, but I'm telling you: regular ol' lemonade is SO f*cking good."
"Add a little mint or some fresh berries if you're feeling narsty."
"(also you can add booze)"
- boiling_my_piss
The next time someone asks you out for a drink, you're probably not going to slam a few rounds of chocolate milk - but it's nice to be reminded that it's an option, ya know?
Drink up!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
