On Pausing Alcohol
"Always carry a flask of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake." -- W. C. Fields
About six months ago, I stopped drinking alcohol. I feel much better, and I’m mad as hell about it.
I never really drank through my 20s and 30s, but grew to really enjoy whiskey through my 40s, coincident with “Mad Men”, and roughly a thousand academic studies that proved that alcohol is actually good for you. Win/win!
I had read that the sure sign of an alcoholic is someone who drinks at night, by himself, at home, so I decided to only drink at night, by myself, at home.
I was even scurrilously quoted as saying “the perfect day is 10 hours of caffeine followed by 4 hours of alcohol”, which I did indeed say, and which is still indeed true.
Unfortunately, in recent years, it’s become clear that most or all — probably all — of the scientific studies on the benefits of alcohol are fake, the scientists unwitting or witting victims of selection effects. As Michael Crichton says, “wet streets cause rain”, or rather wet streets don’t cause rain. It turns out that sick people often don’t drink, or subjects just lie to researchers about their consumption outright. There go the studies.
It is now pretty definitively clear that no amount of alcohol is good for you. Andrew Huberman recently summed this conclusion up on his podcast; the topic made me so enraged I never listened to the episode, but I did read the notes.
Andrew says “the best amount of alcohol to drink is no alcohol” — imagine someone who both hates and loves humanity that much.
Since I stopped drinking, I feel much better. I don’t need as much sleep, but my sleep is better. I’m more alert through the day. I’m cogent and focused at all times. I have more energy when I exercise, and it’s easier to control my diet.
It’s great, and I am super mad about it.
I feel like the color has drained out of my evenings[*]. Spending time with people is still fun, but now it’s hard to sit still and watch a movie or read a book and unwind at the end of a hard day. I’m more prone to just work until bedtime. Grump grump grump.
Frankly, I don’t know what Elon is doing farting around with cars and rockets and Twitter, why doesn’t he solve THIS problem[**].
And one of these days, I am going to get deeply, seriously, hammered.
But not today!
[*] A lot of people I know are substituting cannabis or hallucinogens for alcohol. I’m not, I won’t touch any of those things — a topic for another time.
[**] I’ve been trying all the alcohol free whiskeys, wine, and beer. So far, no luck on the whiskeys. For wine, Sovi is pretty good. For beer, there are quite a few good choices; I’ve become partial to Hopwtr, which is zero calorie hop-flavored sparkling water. I’m still not drinking either at breakfast, though I am tempted.
@pmarca We love Sovi. For wine you’ve got to try Oddbird and ISH sparkling wines. Both incredibly well made and flavorful (the alcohol is gently removed so it doesn’t damage the juice). Do you drink any NA spirits?
Shout out to @IanJBlessing for including us in this @imbibe article on Thanksgiving wine pairings.
And shout out to Imbibe for thinking of putting a non-alc option for every alcoholic one!
https://t.co/UbgwpwG1pG
Also, shoutout to @thesnaxshot for introducing us to Miguel in a roundabout way. The Snax Shot x Proxies party that brought @cfriedmann to New York was how we found out about the Proxies and dumplings pairing night later that week at Pinch.
New on The Zero Proof: We talked to @migueld about his killer non-alc program at New York's Pinch Chinese, his new collaboration with Proxies, and his work to make sure that everyone has a seat (and a glass) at the table
Check it out:
https://t.co/6ycUelWYR9
@drinkmarkdrink Before I go for non-alc spirits, how do you feel about amaro? Because I'm tempted to just recommend some killer originals (rather than imitations of existing spirits), but if you're not a bitter fan, we'll be way in the wrong direction.
Has anyone ever had a good drink brought to the table when the server says, "Our bartender can mix something up for you!" at a restaurant with no non-alc cocktails, beers, or wines listed on the menu?
Genuinely asking. We want to know where these places are.
@drinkmarkdrink So, for still wines, I'm going to just recommend Oddbird overall, and then Proxies, but ONLY if you're pairing them with food (they're made for that, not for drinking on their own). For sparkling, Chateau del ISH and Wölffer Spring in a Bottle are great.
Do not miss out on this. Athletic did it non-alc pumpkin beer right, and if you don't hurry, we may have already ordered all of it...
...I really thought four 6-packs were going to last longer
Fresh pumpkins are ready to be picked, and so is this fall favorite, Dark & Gourdy. Tap the link https://t.co/FJyR2DnFd9 to grab this porter-style brew with fall spices before it gets picked up by someone else 👀🎃
#AthleticBrewing#FitForAllTimes#PumpkinBeer
@LeAnna_Tate@ritualzeroproof@taylorswift13 I poured a huge glass of Acid League Wine Proxies, which I usually don't drink without food, but the Alev in this month's subscription collection was perfect.
Get to celebrate @thesnaxshot
turning 2 years old with our community today! 🥳
Today’s a special day for variety of reasons that in time will share more of, but for now let’s look back at best snax moments 🥲
issue that started it all on sober curiosity https://t.co/FR2L0ODWue
Get to celebrate @thesnaxshot
turning 2 years old with our community today! 🥳
Today’s a special day for variety of reasons that in time will share more of, but for now let’s look back at best snax moments 🥲
issue that started it all on sober curiosity https://t.co/FR2L0ODWue
Yes, I have glassware shaped like little birds. Yes, you can stick garnishes into their butts. No, you don't need to be anywhere near that ridiculous to serve great cocktails.
https://t.co/0xUbdg0bdw
@ZeroProofNation @loriberenberg Wait, but where did they get the extra shelf? Where is their cheese drawer? Where are the 38 bottles of syrups, shrubs, NA spirits, Wine Proxies, and DIY drink projects? One cannot imagine a life drinking nothing but Spindrift happy!
@SellsBryan@kimballhousebar Hmmmm... Not sure if this counts. Their menu explicitly lists that they have an NA cocktail (not defined), spritz, and white wine.
It's kind of halfway between listing it and not listing it at all... but they carry our stuff, so we know they do good work.
@AFCocktailQuest See, I feel like it's actually WORSE in those places (in my experience, anyway), because they do have more juice on hand... so I end up with fruit punch.