What's your poison?

[Wind Swept]

As the poll question was, "What do you mostly drink?" I went with water, as I'm pretty much constantly drinking water at work.

However, in response to the topic question "What's your poison?" soda, tea, alcohol, milk and juice are all things of which I think I still drink too much.

[Young Val]

Like so many before me I find it impossible to give a simple, straight answer to this question.

Water: I like it, but I don't drink NEARLY enough of it. I prefer it cold, with lots of iced (crushed if available). I have a klean kanteen bottle and every day I tell myself I'll fill it up and drink it down twice (54 oz) but I almost never ever make it through even one. I am working on this. And failing. But still.

Soda: I have all but given up soda completely, except for local artisan sodas (there's a local, cane sugar root beer that is MIND-BLOWINGLY good. This is a rare, rare treat. Maybe once every three months? EXCEPTION: I drink regular old corn syrupy ginger ale when I'm sick. I can't get around it. It is pure comfort to me. I have never found a natural ginger ale that I've liked, sadly. Most of the natural ones taste terrible to me.

Coffee/Tea: While living in New York I was consuming a scary amount of coffee (about two or three POTS per day, solo). It got to the point where I was beyond jittery; my veins felt like they were congealing. I quit cold turkey (and gave up soda at that time as well--I grew up on soda and was a pretty serious Diet Coke addict at one time). The withdrawal was unreal. For the last two years I've had about 3 cups of hot coffee per week. Usually on the weekends, occasionally on a Monday morning.

I drink my coffee black almost always, unless I'm having coffee instead of dessert at someplace fancy (Daktoa lounge, 21 Club) and then I splurge with heavy cream and raw sugar. (If I'm having coffee WITH dessert the coffee remains black).

The problem came in the summer, because David and I figured out that cold pressing iced coffee at home is 1) simple, 2) way cheaper, and 3) far more delicious than spending tons and tons of money anywhere else all summer. I can't drink my iced coffee black. It must be sweetened. Usually I'd just plop some sugar in there, but I got a recipe for a slightly salty vanilla simple syrup from my friend Amanda and WOW. I will never drink my iced coffee any other way again. I also drink a 16oz iced coffee every single day from June through mid Septemberish (hot coffee this morning). Which means that cutting back down to my 3ish 8oz cups of hot coffee a week is going to be hard.

I love tea and prefer Earl Grey and English and Irish Breakfast for my black teas, and chamomille for my herbal tea. I am trying very hard to get on the green tea train, but struggling. In the cold weather, I may have one or two cups of tea per day. Always black, sometimes with honey.

Juice: I love pulp-free orange juice, apple juice, and grape juice, as well as cranberry juice combos (straight up cranberry juice is not my favorite). We almost never ever ever ever ever buy juice. We have it when we go out for brunch, or buy some when we're sick, or for a very rare treat. The exception is apple cider with which I am OBSESSED. We buy several gallons every fall. I love it hot. I love it cold. I love it.

Alcohol: I am wishy washy on my beer preferences, and tend to drink whatever is in front of me or whatever the person I'm with is ordering. This is girlish and stupid, and yet, I do it. On my own, I prefer ales, in particular wheat beers, pale ales, stouts, and hefeweizens. In the summer, I also love radlers and shandies. (And, Adam, Pacifico is wonderful. It's all we drink with Mexican food).

For wines, I like dry, dry whites with a hint of sweetness (A very dry reiseling is my favorite) and I prefer very smooth reds (malbecs and shirazes being the current favorites, there).

My liquor of choice is vodka, because it's easy and we always have some in the house. Although I will drink it straight, I prefer it in simple cocktails--my favorite being the Long Vodka: a dash of bitters over ice, fresh lime juice, a finger or two of vodka, and top it off with either tonic or soda. My other liquor of choice is tequila, which I love. I could do tequila shots all night, and also deeply love margaritas (on the rocks--never frozen--with salt, please and thank you). I'll drink pretty much anything in the way of booze, though, with the exception of rum, which I can't stand. Anything else is fair game.

During the week I only drink on Tuesdays, when David and I have a happy hour with a friend of ours. I have one beer (Summits are $2.50!) around 4pm and then water until 6pm, because I'm the designated driver. On weekends David and I will have a bottle of wine or two with dinner, and sometimes on date nights we'll splurge a little. We went to the Dakota Lounge (very swanky jazz club) this past Saturday and I had three martinis! (Under the table, but not the host, for those of you who know your Dorothy Parker. Anyone? Anyone?) So yay for public transportation!

Other: Smoothies and hot chocolate rock. I make them on a whim sometimes.

Milk: Is horrifying. I won't drink it.

[Wind Swept]

There's a local, cane sugar root beer that is MIND-BLOWINGLY good.

Might I ask which local, cane sugar root beer you're referring to?

[steph]

I did forget to mention that when I am nursing a baby, I brew 5 bags of mother's milk tea and dilute it to 1 gallon of iced tea, sweetened with just a touch of honey. It has a very licorice sort of flavor from the anise seed, so most people who taste a sip think it's too weird, but through my last 2 babies, I've grown to really enjoy it.

Oh, also when I'm early pregnant, I'll drink 1-3 cup of Celestial Seasonings Tender Tummy tea. Combining that with 2 different nausea meds means I can at least function well enough to keep my children alive. (Remind me why I'm planning on having another one? After that description, I'm not quite sure myself....)

[Young Val]

Wil, 1919 root beer!

[Wind Swept]

Wil

..................................... Derp.

But yes, 1919 is delicious.

[Young Val]

Gah. Chris! I'm so sorry. i am at work and not paying attention!

[Wind Swept]

I will probably survive...

I was secretly hoping you were actually referring to this local, cane sugar root beer.



I know it's available in the Twin Cities. Not sure precisely where, though...

[Young Val]

I've never seen it before! Now I absolutely must hunt it down, though. I love finding new things like that!

[Mich]

Now that I think about it, in terms of "weird sodas", my coworkers and I have been buying green tea ginger ale in twelve packs for work. It's really tasty. It doesn't really taste like green tea or ginger ale. I don't know how to describe it.

Also, I've noticed for a long time that people tend to claim a "Diet Coke addiction" over people saying any other kind of soda addiction, but the people who are in the throes of addiction rarely care to comment on what they find it so good. "It's just delicious and tasty and awesome" is what one particularly annoying addict I know says. Kelly, as a former addict, care to comment?

[Young Val]

Also, I've noticed for a long time that people tend to claim a "Diet Coke addiction" over people saying any other kind of soda addiction, but the people who are in the throes of addiction rarely care to comment on what they find it so good. "It's just delicious and tasty and awesome" is what one particularly annoying addict I know says. Kelly, as a former addict, care to comment?

Sadly, I'm not particularly proud of any of my "reasons" for my Diet Coke loyalty. I did think it tasted better than regular Coke, which seemed to, um, burn(?) in my throat. (Conversely, I thought regular Pepsi tasted better than Diet), but I didn't really drink it because I liked the taste. I grew up in a Diet Soda household. It's essentially all my mother ever drank at the time, so for me it began as a habit. Then of course, as soon as I was old enough to understand what "0 calories" meant, I became a zealot for it. There was an entire year where all I ever ate for lunch was a Diet Coke and a small bag of cool ranch doritos (I know, I know. Grossest lunch on earth). The another year it was a Diet Coke and a single breadstick. And so on and so forth. This wasn't entirely conscious. A lot of it was mob mentality. I'd love to say that teenaged girls are concerned with health and proper nutrition, but in my school that just wasn't the case. I drank Diet Coke because every girl I knew drank Diet Coke. It just became automatic. As a child and teenager was I was never very obsessed with or concerned about my body image or my weight or anything (I went through that phase in college), so I can't say it was a deliberate choice really. I drank Diet Coke because everyone drank it, because I couldn't remember ever not drinking it.

When I started learning more about food politics and all of that the thing I really struggled with the most was Diet Coke. I was never giving it up, not ever. They were going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. HFCS is just made from CORN. CORN is a VEGETABLE. OBVIOUSLY IT'S ALL OK. LEAVE ME ALONE.

Yeah. Breaking that habit was hard. :::shivers:::

Also terrifying how completely indoctrinated I was. Yikes.

[Petra456]

Juice: I love pulp-free orange juice, apple juice, and grape juice, as well as cranberry juice combos (straight up cranberry juice is not my favorite). We almost never ever ever ever ever buy juice. We have it when we go out for brunch, or buy some when we're sick, or for a very rare treat. The exception is apple cider with which I am OBSESSED. We buy several gallons every fall. I love it hot. I love it cold. I love it.

We have a cider mill not far from my house that has the BEST apple ciders. I am obsessed with their blackberry variety. I'm so excited that it's almost cider time that I can barely stand it!

[Wind Swept]

I'm so excited that it's almost cider time that I can barely stand it!

I new there was something good about waking up to find it's quite abruptly 46ºF.

[Petra456]

It went from about 90 degrees to about 60, and it's making want nothing but a pumpkin spice latte.

[starlooker]

Oh! Forgot to add that I love, love, love mixing most juice (not so much orange, but everything else) with club soda. Fizzy and yummy and not quite so sweet!

Also, love mixing 100% pure, sour cranberry juice (which we can't afford now, but when we could) with orange juice. Oh my gosh. So, so, so good.

[Luet]

I'm excited about the cooler weather. I'm sick of not being able to step outside without getting eaten by mosquitoes.

[Platypi007]

I'm excited about cool weather (we rarely get COLD weather here) the mosquitoes, yes, also I'd like to be able to walk outside without being suffocated from the intense heat and humidity. :D

Cool weather is wonderful because then I can drink coffee and tea to my heart's content (my bladder isn't always so contented at it, though). Nothing makes my day better than topping it off with a nice cup of hot tea (sometimes spiked with a little bit of bourbon).

[VelvetElvis]

Kelly, can I just copy your list? (me pretending to be Kelly:) Why, of course, Helen, my dear.

You heard it folks, she said I could.


Water: Reminds me of saliva and I have a hard time drinking it unless I am half dead of thirst. I make my self drink 6 oz of sraight water a day and that is with a lot of discipline.


Soda: In college I liked diet mountain dew before tests and during late night studying. I also used to like coke zero when I went out to eat. Now I drink sprite or tea (which is served sweet and cold around these parts).

Coffee/Tea: I drink coffee if I really need a push to get through my twelve-hour shift. That is roughly every other week and about 4-6 ounces. I take it one cream one sugar, but I will drink it black if there is none. As far as tea goes, I drink it a lot. It's almost all I ever drank growning up because that's just what people drink here. I will drink it unsweetened, too, but nothing really quenches a thirst like some lightly sweetened tea. I usually keep some around.

Juice: I like it. I try not to drink very much because I am aware that those calories could be better spent elsewhere. I only drink 100% juice when I do drink it.


Alcohol: My tummy doesn't like it very much anymore, but I love wine and whiskey.

Other: Sometimes I have milkshakes, but I don't consider that a beverage. It's a dessert.

Milk: I drink it when our milk is going to go out of date soon, but I don't really choose it as a beverage.




I have really bad teeth so a few years ago my dentist told me to avoid drinks with sugar. I switched to artificially sweetened drinks (like the sugar free koolaid stuff) until recently. I drink almost a gallon of that stuff a day, and i was just too many chemicals. I now drink 100% apple juice cut by a bit over 50% with water so it has fewer calories and sneaks in the water.

[Mich]

Sadly, I'm not particularly proud of any of my "reasons" for my Diet Coke loyalty. I did think it tasted better than regular Coke, which seemed to, um, burn(?) in my throat. (Conversely, I thought regular Pepsi tasted better than Diet), but I didn't really drink it because I liked the taste. I grew up in a Diet Soda household. It's essentially all my mother ever drank at the time, so for me it began as a habit. Then of course, as soon as I was old enough to understand what "0 calories" meant, I became a zealot for it. There was an entire year where all I ever ate for lunch was a Diet Coke and a small bag of cool ranch doritos (I know, I know. Grossest lunch on earth). The another year it was a Diet Coke and a single breadstick. And so on and so forth. This wasn't entirely conscious. A lot of it was mob mentality. I'd love to say that teenaged girls are concerned with health and proper nutrition, but in my school that just wasn't the case. I drank Diet Coke because every girl I knew drank Diet Coke. It just became automatic. As a child and teenager was I was never very obsessed with or concerned about my body image or my weight or anything (I went through that phase in college), so I can't say it was a deliberate choice really. I drank Diet Coke because everyone drank it, because I couldn't remember ever not drinking it.

When I started learning more about food politics and all of that the thing I really struggled with the most was Diet Coke. I was never giving it up, not ever. They were going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. HFCS is just made from CORN. CORN is a VEGETABLE. OBVIOUSLY IT'S ALL OK. LEAVE ME ALONE.

Yeah. Breaking that habit was hard. :::shivers:::

Also terrifying how completely indoctrinated I was. Yikes.

Man, thanks for sharing! Pretty interesting, but I guess it wasn't anything other than what I'd guess. Just force of habit and good advertising.

On another note, thank you for reminding me of cider all of the people who've commented on it. I SO LOVE IT. Can't wait until it's chilly outside and I can drink it hot without sweating. But it is also good cold. Which is why it is awesome.