On Drinking, And Its Place In My Life.
(But it actually starts with my husband.)
Five years ago, my husband Bjork decided he was going to stop drinking alcohol right away.
At a holiday dinner with friends in 2018, as the server took our drink orders, he leaned over to me and whispered, “I think I’m going to quit drinking for a year.” I was shocked. It seemed sudden and out of the blue, but there was some weight behind it. He was thinking about his life, his night activities, and our family – especially our daughter, who was one year old at the time.
I had my doubts, but this decision right there, in fact, turned into a year of not drinking. And a year turned into two years, and two years into five years. And now here I am writing this post.
I never made any kind of positive announcements about my drinking the same way she did, but an unintended consequence of Bjork not drinking anymore was that I started drinking less. Now I’m slow to enjoy myself, a few times a month I go out to eat with friends, but the biggest change for us is that we no longer keep alcohol at home. And to be honest, this change has been a big one for our family.
The hardest part about this decision and one of the things I miss most about having a *drink* at home is being able to mark the moment as special. A special dinner is one thing, but drinks? Drinks are complimentary, free, and make it feel like the real thing – whether it’s a birthday, a holiday, or just celebrating being together on a Tuesday evening after work.
It seems obvious, but what I’ve learned is that drinks don’t have to be alcoholic to make a special moment. Lucky for all of us who are looking to drink less, we live in an age where non-alcoholic (NA) drinks are becoming more and more popular… how do I say this? Good. Like, good taste. There are so many options out there that are really fun and create that “this is special” moment that you can get in a cocktail or glass of wine.
So with a deep love for special occasions and five years of NA beer tasting under our belts, here is a list of our favorite NA beers.
I poured them all so you can see the color and clarity better, and photographed them all in my scratched up old IKEA beer glass. Enjoy!
