“Non-alcoholic” beers typically have about a half a percent of alcohol in them. It’s maybe not much for most folks, but it’s there. And the Muslim teaching about alcohol, at least, is “If a gallon would intoxicate, then one drop is forbidden”, which seems like a strong enough prohibition to cover event that half percent.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, the LDS position on coffee doesn’t explicitly mention caffeine, that being a later interpretation since the active ingredient was discovered. IIRC, the original position was to ban “coffee, tea, and other hot drinks”, which means that, from a sufficiently strict point of view, even cocoa would be forbidden. Individuals will, of course, vary in how strictly they interpret it.
Teetotaling Conservative Protestant Christian here.
Since 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV) says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil”, we don’t even carry “fake” drinks around at parties, because someone might see us with, say, a Virgin Mary, and not understand that it didn’t have any actual alcohol in it, and think poorly of us. Like, “Well, she goes to a church that is very strong Temperance, but I saw her with a drink at so-and-so’s barbeque last week…” Makes for a bad Christian witness, to both unbelievers–and to our own brethren and sistern in Christ, bless their peapickin’ little nosy hearts… Don’t wanna have Pastor think he saw you drinkin’. So, you carry around a Pepsi.
I wouldn’t recognize a mixer or a mocktail if you served it to me without a label on it; I’d probably think it was some kind of fruit punch.
Just adding a data point for you…we (wife and I) don’t drink now (used to), and we absolutely LOVE mocktails/mixers. Wife is hooked on virgin Pina Coladas and I am a slave to Bloody Mary mix. Sometimes we serve sparkling grape juice or apple juice (carbonated non-alcoholic in champagne-like bottles) on special occasions.
I think if I spent more time in bars/clubs/whatever I would. Sometimes my SO will ask a bartender for a virgin drink but she’s yet to receive one.
I don’t know what de-alcoholized wine/beer is, but I would probably avoid it on the grounds that it sounds nasty.
Someone said earlier that folks who shun alcohol on moral grounds want everyone to know, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. My SO’s grandparents are teetotalers and religious (though I don’t think that’s the reason) and they don’t really go broadcasting it. I had no idea, really, until she mentioned it.
As for sweet drinks, I adore them. I’ve a can of Sunkist Cherry Limeade sitting before me right now. Tastes just like an Icee.
Hmmm.
I know of at least one Irish Catholic who has signed “the pledge” and is thus unable to drink alcohol, who nonetheless enjoys pouring Bailey’s on her ice-cream. I suspect that is probably frowned on.
Ireland, believe it or not, has a higher percentage of teetotallers than most other European countries. Whether from religious beliefs, recovering alcoholism, alcoholism in the family or whatever reason, there is usually someone at every gathering who doesn’t drink. They usually get some sort of soft drink- lemonade, coke, rock shandy etc.
I know my dad doesn’t drink during Lent, and he always has Beck’s alcohol free beer…it will be a cold day in hell before my father can sit in a pub watching rugby with a glass of orange juice.
Non-religious and definitely not teetotal myself but isn’t tonic water out of place in this list? Reading previous posts religious non-drinkers seem (mostly) not to take non-alchoholic beer and wine partly because they have never aquired the taste and partly for the sake of appearances - and I guess the cocktail mixes might fall into the same category - but why tonic? Tonic is a perfectly good drink without the gin so why is it not in the same category as Coke or ginger ale? If I’m driving when I’m out with friends I’m likely to drink something like tonic. Sweet drinks like Coke are great cold on a hot day but I knock them back too fast.
As noted by si_blakely, what’s the difference between a Virgin Mary (tomato juice) and a Pepsi while piously demonstrating your teetotal credentials?
Is tonic water like ginger ale? I’ve seen it in the grocery store–it has a little teeny bit of quinine in it, right? Is it fizzy? I wouldn’t be averse to trying it if it tastes good, it’s just that I’ve never had occasion to buy it when there’s ginger ale right next to it, and I like ginger ale.
It’s just carbonated water with quinine. I’ve never had tonic water (sans gin or vodka or the like), so I don’t know how it would taste alone. Probably not as good as a ginger ale or a mixed drink.
Not Mormon myself, but I attended BYU for 3 years and lived in an apartment with 5 roommates.
My Mormon roomies would drink hot chocolate and also “herbal” naturally-decaf teas. They, at least, were interpreting the “hot drinks” rule as “caffeine.” But mileage certainly does vary.
Oh my heck (to use a favorite BYU expression). That was the one thing I could never get used to – all that sugar. Like eating cake and drinking a soda. Yech! It makes my teeth hurt just to think about it. Out of respect for my roomies I never drank coffee when I lived there, but when eating a sweet dessert I absolutely craved a nice cup of coffee with just enough bitterness to balance out the sweetness.
The current official interpretation is coffee and real tea–anything else is up to the individual. So herbal teas and cocoa are quite popular.
The capacity for sugar some people have stuns even me! I’ve never been able to drink soda with cake–except for that one time in college when there was no water, and I got a sugar high that lasted until the next day (one guy’s comment: “No wonder she doesn’t drink. She’s really ****ed up!”)–but I’ve heard that BYU students practically compete over who has more sugar tolerance.
But once you’re out of college, that sort of thing has got to stop or you’ll wind up 300 lbs. Most of my adult friends still love sugar, but definitely not in those quantities! And of course a lot of us have to mostly give it up.
A non-drinking Muslim friend of mine has an awful lot of photos of him pretending to down beers. He usually has soda or whatever but doesn’t make a big deal out of it. Though he refused to give me a shot of vodka he bought for charity, even when I told him to just set it down on a table and look away. Bastard.
Well, yeah, if you’re gonna secretly splash some rum into your already-opened can of Pepsi, I guess folks sure wouldn’t be able to tell you was drinkin’, would they? And that sure would be one over on them, wouldn’t it…heh heh heh.
But we all know Who would know you was drinkin’, wouldn’t we?
Another practicing Mormon here - I drink herbal teas, hot chocolate, and caffinated drinks without guilt, but rarely, just as a matter of taste. I understanding of the dietary laws does not prohibit the use of caffine or any other element unless I start getting dependant on it.
I will order a virgin Margarita or Pina Colada when I get the chance, I love them.
It is carbonated water with quinine and a whole lot of sugar/corn syrup to make it not totally bitter. It has as many calories per oz as coke. You can get diet tonic water as well.
Since you like sweet stuff, you’d probably find tonic water a little too bitter for your taste. But I’ve always found it very good with one-half to a whole lime squeezed into it. I suppose I like the lime as much as the tonic, and there’s not much you can do with just limes.
Then again, I buy diet tonic water; the regular stuff should be sweeter. However, I just thought of a couple of caveats:
(1) quinine is techically a drug, but I don’t know if it’s considered a stimulant. Still, some Mormons might consider it to be questionable.
(2) you have to be careful when drinking it, because too much can give you tinnitis (ringing of the ears).
Don’t wanna have Pastor think he saw you drinkin’. So, you carry around a Pepsi.