# Favorite non-alcoholic drinks? (pre-poll discussion) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656 "2014-10-07T15:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/21 "2014-10-07T18:53:02Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Milk. In fact, if I were to be told I could only consume one food for the rest of my life (and that it would completely sustain me) I would respond “Milk” without hesitation. > > I’m down to two gallons per week, now. Just curious: what do you think of buttermilk and/or non-cow milk? > [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > My favorite drink: > > Starbucks quad-shot of espresso over ice, large cup, ice all the way to the top. I got my start on coffee with iced coffee, long before there was a Starbucks. Even now I have no problem with cold coffee. As I heard long ago: You can get used to anything but a rock in your shoe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/22 "2014-10-09T21:00:09Z")
Listed in the order I drink them in the course of the day: Orange juice Water Dr. Pepper I like certain other types of juice, but don’t drink any of them regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/23 "2014-10-09T21:01:46Z")
Root beer float Chocolate malt ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/24 "2014-10-09T21:12:49Z")
Hi Zeldar, I reported your OP because I think it will have more legs if moved to CS, or anyway, out of the Game Room. Anyway, water. Anything else is a distant, distant second for me. Coffee, fruit juice, Red Bull would be distant seconds. Coffee every morning, fruit juice and Red Bull (I know, I _know_) a few times per week. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/25 "2014-10-09T21:26:41Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Hi Zeldar, I reported your OP because I think it will have more legs if moved to CS, or anyway, out of the Game Room. > > Anyway, water. Anything else is a distant, distant second for me. Coffee, fruit juice, Red Bull would be distant seconds. Coffee every morning, fruit juice and Red Bull (I know, I _know_) a few times per week. Good idea, **chiroptera** , and thanks for taking the initiative there. Maybe some sub-categories would make for easier / smarter polling. While we’re naming actual drinks, maybe we could come up with some categories. Colas / Pop / Soft Drinks Juices Creamy drinks What would be others? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/26 "2014-10-09T21:53:12Z")
Water by a mile. After that I have a soft spot for cherry limeade, watermelon agua fresca, and Japanese peach water. Iced tea is good too. I may drink 4 or 5 sodas a year tops, just not into it. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/27 "2014-10-09T23:01:10Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I got my start on coffee with iced coffee, long before there was a Starbucks. Yep, love iced coffee too. That’s what I have when I’m at home. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/28 "2014-10-09T23:36:49Z")
Seltzer. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/29 "2014-10-10T10:25:28Z")
Coffee (morning) Seltzer San Pellegrino Lemonade (with seltzer) Pommegranate juice (with seltzer) Iced Tea (unsweetened) Tea (evening) Ginger Ale or Coke (very occassionally) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/30 "2014-10-10T13:31:08Z")
Coffee in the morning, or at work. Sweet tea, with a dash of lemonade, most of the day. Diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper, when I can get it. (Apparently the Dr. Pepper Corp. has decided that it’s a beverage with strictly regional appeal, and only distributes it to certain parts of the country. My local grocery says they can’t even special-order it. But it’s included in the myriad choices in the soda machines that Burger King has started using.) Cream soda. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/31 "2014-10-10T13:40:26Z")
I would live on bacon, ice cream and coffee if I could remain healthy on it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/32 "2014-10-10T14:40:23Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Hi Zeldar, I reported your OP because I think it will have more legs if moved to CS, or anyway, out of the Game Room. > > Anyway, water. Anything else is a distant, distant second for me. Coffee, fruit juice, Red Bull would be distant seconds. Coffee every morning, fruit juice and Red Bull (I know, I _know_) a few times per week. Things do seem to be picking up after that move! After we have 30 individuals contributing ideas (we have 22 at the moment) I’ll attempt a summary post of what’s been mentioned so far. I’d like to include some categories, so please mention those that seem appropriate to you – along with individual favorite beverages. It’s possible we may want to have several preliminary polls for this world-changing issue! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/33 "2014-10-10T14:57:07Z")
Hibiscus tea, AKA Jamaica Horchata ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/34 "2014-10-12T01:00:17Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just curious: what do you think of buttermilk and/or non-cow milk? Where’s that vomit smiley when we need it?? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/35 "2014-10-12T01:33:54Z")
Lassi. Mango or salt. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/36 "2014-10-12T10:15:58Z")
Categories that come to mind are: 1. “hot drinks” (coffee and tea will be the big ones), 2. “soda/pop” (PLEASE stop using “cola” as the first term for this – in everywhere but a restricted region of the US, that is a SPECIFIC kind of soda/pop); 3. Juices 4. Waters (plural, to include Perrier and the like – be sure to specify that these are NOT included in your “soda/pop” category, which is reserved for flavored carbonated drinks.) 5. Milk products, broadly speaking (includes lassi and shakes) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/37 "2014-10-12T10:21:22Z")
I just realized that horchata would be hard to categorize by my list of five categories. (I’d call jamaica a “juice,” even though it’s made by boiling the leaves of a plant – i.e., it’s a chilled “infusion,” a concept for which some people use the phrase “herbal tea,” which is silly, because tea is a specific plant – you know, the one with caffeine). Also, if you go with my five categories (plus an “other” category), I recommend renaming the “hot drinks” category so it can include iced tea and iced coffee (and cold yerba mate – yum!). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/38 "2014-10-12T11:18:53Z")
Sodastream-type home carbonated water. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/39 "2014-10-12T11:20:05Z")
I drink water (from the tap) almost exclusively, except for a couple beers during NFL games. After water, I’d say…actually, I can’t imagine drinking anything other than water. I used to drink all soda, all the time, but switched to water around ten years ago. For the first couple months, water tasted flat and boring. After a year or so, water tasted like the most refreshing, delicious thing in the world, and anything else (soda, orange juice, whatever) felt dirty and muddled. Drink water long enough and everything else becomes kind of gross. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656/40 "2014-10-12T11:20:27Z")
I think you should expand on milk to include milkshakes, malts, thickshakes, etc. My beverage of choice is Coke Zero. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-alcoholic-drinks-pre-poll-discussion/700656.md?page=3)