# Being strongly encouraged to get a non-girly drink **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532 "2017-07-17T21:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/61 "2017-07-18T17:46:38Z")
Happy birthday **monstro** , and please celebrate in a way that pleases you most of all. That said, it’s not necessarily evil for a friend to encourage you, on such an occasion, to try new things. In a bar, of course, that involves certain precautions, so have a ride home arranged before you leave the house. Sweet but not-“girly” drinks include: rum and coke, kamikazes (vodka, triple sec, lime juice), stingers (brandy or vodka), margaritas (especially if they’ll coat the glass with half-sugar, half-salt), ouzo-pernod-sambuca (if you love licorice), and frankly, most shots the bartender is prepared to make. If you’re going to a bar/restaurant that has ice cream, get a chocolate milkshake with extra chocolate syrup and several shots of rum. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/62 "2017-07-18T18:29:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > A friend wants to take me out for drinks tomorrow for my birthday. She knows that I don’t like to drink and that when I do drink, I tend to go for the sweetest drink on the menu. In a playful way, she has let me know I should order more mature and sophisticated drinks now that I’m 40. > > What would be a respectable “non-girly” drink that I still might enjoy? Also, is it stupid for me to sucumb to this kind of pressure? I should just drink what I want to drink, right? Yet I know I will feel weird if I order something that isn’t cool enough. (I feel ridiculous even admitting this.) Order a glass of tonic water with a slice of orange in it. Or lemon, or lime. Tell your friend that is the kind of mature and sophisticated drink that a 40 year old should order. Then ask her why she didn’t order one. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/63 "2017-07-18T19:42:38Z")
I love gimlets. That’s with gin, of course. A vodka gimlet is not a gimlet. 😃 I had a boyfriend who drank Scotch, but I couldn’t stand the taste (even though I’m nearly 50% Scottish – guess it’s not genetic). One night he said he was going to get me to be a Scotch drinker. I wasn’t half-way through the first drink when he took it away from me and told me I was a waste of good Scotch. Apparently, I’d been grimacing with every sip. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/64 "2017-07-18T20:14:54Z")
Sounds like you have a working plan, so I’ll just say Happy Birthday. Although the geeky side of me did find a decent Holy Hand Grenade recipe online, if she refuses to make a recommendation. Also found dozens of horrible recipes, but one good one. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/65 "2017-07-18T21:03:21Z")
One thing I like when I’m at a bar and don’t feel like really drinking is a Ginger Ale with a splash of bitters. The bitters is alcoholic but as long as the bartender doesn’t go crazy you’ll hardly have any booze in your drink. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/66 "2017-07-18T21:45:56Z")
If you like apple juice/cider, you may enjoy a Washington Apple. Or go with what my mom said: “When I turned 40, I realized I didn’t have to give a shit what anyone thought anymore.” ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/67 "2017-07-18T22:19:15Z")
What gigi said. One of my best friends and workmates goes out drinking with us sometimes. Know what she drinks? Chocolate milk. We kid her about it, but I wouldn’t dream of pressuring her into drinking something else, much less alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/68 "2017-07-18T22:28:29Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > What gigi said. One of my best friends and workmates goes out drinking with us sometimes. Know what she drinks? Chocolate milk. We kid her about it, but I wouldn’t dream of pressuring her into drinking something else, much less alcohol. When I worked in a bar, someone once ordered a scotch and chocolate milk. :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/69 "2017-07-18T22:47:36Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > When I worked in a bar, someone once ordered a scotch and chocolate milk. :eek: :eek: :eek: There’s a Faulkner book (maybe Soldier’s Pay) in which a character drinks scotch and ice cream. IIRC, he melts the ice cream and adds scotch. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/70 "2017-07-18T23:07:41Z")
When single, Wife would go into a bar and order a boilermaker, drop the shotglass into the beer, then chug it. She claimed it was a girly drink. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/71 "2017-07-18T23:46:44Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > A friend wants to take me out for drinks tomorrow for my birthday. She knows that I don’t like to drink and that when I do drink, I tend to go for the sweetest drink on the menu. In a playful way, she has let me know I should order more mature and sophisticated drinks now that I’m 40. > > What would be a respectable “non-girly” drink that I still might enjoy? Also, is it stupid for me to sucumb to this kind of pressure? I should just drink what I want to drink, right? Yet I know I will feel weird if I order something that isn’t cool enough. (I feel ridiculous even admitting this.) Order a Shirley Temple and gently but firmly tell your friend that you would like her to stop telling you what she thinks you should be drinking. You’re old enough to do what you want. Cool is for losers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/72 "2017-07-19T00:26:58Z")
heh make her back up her mouth and just order a shot of anything 101or 151 saying she has to drink it with you and then laugh when they hurl at the second shot when I drank I wouldn’t stop until I was pretty much unconscious so there was as rule that I couldn’t drink anything straight and I had to drink it slow … no problem until this he man after watching me sip a few fruity drinks decided he was going to "show me how a real man drinks " Boss wasn’t there and new girl was serving …old timers at the bar got an amused " oh shit " on their face I pointed out the bottle of barcardi 151 a bottle of ice 101 (101 proof schnapps) and something else that tasted like you could use it to start a car on a cold day I said pour us a glass of each .and well drink for a while but who ever heaved first pays …well long story short 20 minutes later he was heaving in the parking lot and I was drinking straight from the MIXED bottle …he was out about a good c note or so … he never complained about what anyone drank again as far as I know … ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/73 "2017-07-19T00:29:54Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > heh make her back up her mouth and just order a shot of anything 101or 151 saying she has to drink it with you and then laugh when they hurl at the second shot > > when I drank I wouldn’t stop until I was pretty much unconscious so there was as rule that I couldn’t drink anything straight and I had to drink it slow … no problem until this he man after watching me sip a few fruity drinks decided he was going to "show me how a real man drinks " > > Boss wasn’t there and new girl was serving …old timers at the bar got an amused " oh shit " on their face I pointed out the bottle of barcardi 151 a bottle of ice 101 (101 proof schnapps) and something else that tasted like you could use it to start a car on a cold day > > I said pour us a glass of each .and well drink for a while but who ever heaved first pays …well long story short 20 minutes later he was heaving in the parking lot and I was drinking straight from the MIXED bottle …he was out about a good c note or so … he never complained about what anyone drank again as far as I know … Ahhh, I bet you’re proud. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/74 "2017-07-19T00:38:38Z")
I say get something really not sweet, and then make a pull out a bunch of sugar packets and add it, in full view of the friend. Or, okay, maybe some other playful banter back about it. Point is, if she offered the advice in a joking way, then tease back to let her know you’d rather not. Seems to work for me in situations with friendly teasing. She’s your friend, so I assume you don’t think she’s being an actual jerk, so just play along. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/75 "2017-07-19T01:10:48Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > heh make her back up her mouth and just order a shot of anything 101or 151 saying she has to drink it with you and then laugh when they hurl at the second shot . . . Light the shots on fire first? ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/76 "2017-07-19T01:21:12Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Champagne. But not the standard Brut or Demi-sec. Try a Blanc de Noirs or Noir or a Noir de Noirs (note that the last is also a brand of underwear.) > > You could also try a desert white wine. Saussignac is an interesting vintage. Then there’s Montbazillac and Cadillac. > > But really, if you don’t want anything alcoholic, don’t choose an alcoholic drink. Seconding this one. Some of the dessert white wines are amazing. One day I’ll get to try a Yquem, preferably when someone else is paying. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/77 "2017-07-19T01:24:11Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I had a boyfriend who drank Scotch, but I couldn’t stand the taste (even though I’m nearly 50% Scottish – guess it’s not genetic). One night he said he was going to get me to be a Scotch drinker. I wasn’t half-way through the first drink when he took it away from me and told me I was a waste of good Scotch. Apparently, I’d been grimacing with every sip. I drink Scotch, and my wife can’t stand the taste. I’ve never dreamed of trying to get her to be a Scotch drinker – not because I’m a darned nice guy, but because, uh, why the heck would I want her raiding my supply of Scotch? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/78 "2017-07-19T01:44:25Z")
I ended up ordering a girly beer–a framboise. My friend didn’t mind at all. Yay for keeping it real! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/79 "2017-07-19T03:23:22Z")
Yukon Jack is as sweet as you could want, and has a manly reputation. Potent, though, cutting it with grapefruit juice works well. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532/80 "2017-07-19T19:13:50Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I ended up ordering a girly beer–a framboise. My friend didn’t mind at all. Yay for keeping it real! Hey, I’m a beer snob from way back and sometimes a framboise just really hits the spot. Nothin’ wrong with that. And a belated, “Happy Birthday,” to you, **monstro**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-strongly-encouraged-to-get-a-non-girly-drink/791532.md?page=5)