I keep seeing articles like this, but I think this entire narrative is being pushed by companies that have been selling tea and infusions as non-alcoholic gin and Rye at exorbitant prices. This article is a case in point. However, there is nothing novel about some people choosing not to drink or being unable to.
What I think is new is that we have smart watches that monitor various health metrics, including sleep and heart and stress. And these watches creat awareness of the impact that alcohol and other drugs have on our sleep and other factors. So I think the generational conclusion isn’t so much a new trend based on age, but I suspect aligns to the adoption of smart watches.
And then there was that multi year, piss-up known as the Covid & lockdowns in which people drank far more than historic averages, so the other fascinating conclusion in this article that people are drinking less could actually just people returning to past norms.
Then there was the insane price increases at bars and restaurants. Cocktails have nearly doubled in price and even bottles of low end beer have nearly doubled. So I get a lot more people wanting to hang out and drink at my place (I make cocktails) simply due to affordability and budget constraints.
Finally, there’s this whole return to office and spending time with clients and coworkers and I’m seeing the slow return back to prior behaviours.
President Krasnov is barely a month into his presidency, so I’d hold off on any conclusions for the time being.
LOL. I love how it’s framed as an “alcohol-free lifestyle.”
Sobriety is the default, not a lifestyle. The “lifestyle” is when you make drinking and getting drunk a part of your routine and identity.
When I came out to my grandparents as bisexual, they said “whatever makes you happy”.
When I came out to them as trans, we agreed “you gotta do what you gotta do”.
When I told them I was stopping drinking, my grandmother emailed me the next day, “This is a big lifestyle decision. Have you thought about this?”
I love NA beers. I just picked up 0% Guinness a couple of nights ago, and honestly it’s fantastic.
I not longer drink to try wasted and I don’t need the alcohol. I just like the taste of a beer.
I’d love to see a NA Modello at some point.
Need more recommendations please. I drink but my sister stopped and she’s probably the smarter of the two of us. But most of her falcohols suck. Alot.
I love Molson Excell
The NA Labatt Blue is pretty good too
That 0% Guinness really is impressively similar to the original.
I’ve been meaning to look into which NA stuff isn’t shit. Thanks for the tip.
Frankly, alcohol is expensive and a hassle to bother with, and that’s before the fact that my body doesn’t handle it very well lately.
Sure, it tastes alright, but that’s just alright compared to a nice cup of coffee, tea, or juice, which is all easier and faster to get, you can drink it anywhere and as much as you want, and generally tastes better. Why wouldn’t it taste better when most recent alcoholic beverages are trying to copy the flavour of normally non-alcoholic drinks?
Modern society is generations away from being under the pressures of hard, painful, and dreary work where you need a depressant to forget how difficult your work day has been, and the current youth’s not only forgotten why people needed such drinks in the past, but are even detached from the customs to drink such even from a traditional standpoint.
Not to mention that they have weed and vapes if they want to feel like some “badass deviants” as well.
The average person no longer feels the pressure to rely on alcohol they did in the past, not personal or peer in variety, so it’s no wonder that sobriety is becoming the norm.
Where is it becoming the norm? More common, maybe, but on the whole the vast majority of people I meet on a regular basis drink in some capacity.
