We would be the last people to mock catchy slogans such as Dry January or Veganuary if they help you establish better habits. The Chinese New Year started 9 days ago. The Jewish New Year arrives in the early fall. Never too early or late to start to make better habits.
Your humble narrator has never deliberately done a Dry January. Due to medication issues, I have done a Dry December as well as a Dry January. While many people will have their first drink of 2023 tomorrow, your humble narrator will still be on the sidelines.
I didn't drink all that much before but being held to zero makes social gatherings a bit tricky. You could argue that the bar scene is more accommodating with mocktails, sparking grape juice, and non-alcoholic beers.
We hear about the intricate process of craft beers, top notch wines, and top shelf spirits. Mocktails, well, get the short end of the stick.
If you spent your youth drinking screwdrivers, taking the vodka out of the orange juice is rather easy. If you liked your vodka with cranberry juice with a splash of grapefruit juice, well, there are a few problems before and after.
A bar will stock 100% orange juice. Ask a bartender if the cranberry juice is 100%. They will tell you it is 100% (it isn't) or they don't know (likely true). That splash of grapefruit juice is rare to find but likely to be 100%.
A bar with a good stock of fruit and yes, vegetable juices would be a better option than a lame mocktail with poor ingredients (high-fructose corn syrup) at a cost close to the real thing.
All juices; all 100%. A cocktail of equal parts carrot juice and orange juice is surprisingly refreshing. The orange cancels out the taste of the carrot. A cranberry juice cocktail with a splash of blood orange juice? Sign me up.
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The term juice bars are generally associated with young adults who are not of legal drinking age to listen to music. The juice in juice bars was not the reason young people went to juice bars.
An updated juice bar could combine celery juice with tonic water or a cucumber and watermelon juice drink or any of a bunch of different nutritional cocktails.
The bloody mary is a classic vegetable juice drink with spices. Bars don't compromise on tomato juice. Why compromise on cranberry juice?
Women might order cranberry juice drinks as relief for UTIs but can praise the antioxidants when asked.
Right now, people are paying outrageous prices for sub-standard ingredients (high-fructose corn syrup) for drinks nobody really wants to drink. They might be paying outrageous prices for good quality juices but at least they could be drinking non-alcoholic cocktails that taste good and add some nutrition along the way.
photo credit: Pure Green Chicago
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