I am launching this site just a short time after committing to ending a long and storied relationship with alcohol. I am of that category of drinker who now and again (depending on mood) starts out the event already planning to be the last person standing by the end of the night or the next day, as sometimes occurs. I don’t drink at home or even daily. No, my form of hard drinking is out-on-the-town social, social to the extraordinary.

Because I can often go out and have two or three drinks, come home, and go to bed like a regular person, I have joyfully ignored the nights that go much further than that. But, good gracious, no willful ignorance can forget those three-day hangovers.

In this intro essay, I will not go into the myriad reasons I made this decision to stop drinking. But suffice it to say, at my age (early 50s), my body has been screaming out at me for years, “THE GIN & WINE PART OF THE PARTY IS OVER, MADAME!” I have been a hard-drinking, throw-down kind of drinker for decades – in love with the sting of liquor, the flourish and drama of being out and about with a cocktail in one hand (and a cigarette in the other back when we could smoke at the bar), the ritual of putting on my make-up, dressing up, and heading out into the night wondering where gin-fueled revelry might lead me. 

Although I am no longer imbibing liquor and such, I do still love the ritual, flourish, and drama of a lovely cocktail in my hand while I am out for dinner, at a show, or seeing a band at a bar, you know the usual public places a liquor drink or wine has its place. And, so, I am deeply invested in learning more about this ever-growing trend of zero-proof cocktails, cordials, booze approximations, wine, and so forth. These products act in the capacity of alcohol but do not actually contain alcohol. They are grown-up options that allow the non-alcohol drinker to have more than a club soda with lime or a Topo Chico or a Shirley Temple while everyone else brazenly sucks down fancy alcoholified (a new adjective I coined) spirits. These drinks have the sting and bite of a good ole’ liquor drink but use herbs, spices, vegetables, citrus, and more to create unique and appealing textures and flavor profiles.

The reasons people don’t drink alcohol are many. Some are taking a short break, some don’t want the sugar, calories, or toxins. Some abstain for cultural and religious reasons. Some are focused on the health and wellness offered by the ingredients of non-alcoholic spirits.

For me, I love the idea of having a drink in my hand made with such thought and care (and hopefully healthy-ish ingredients). With my alcohol-laden beverages, I would savor those first glasses of exquisite liquid (it’s only after about three glasses that the savoring turns into swilling). Being out on the town is a production of sorts (in my book), and sipping gorgeous drinks gives me the drama that I crave, the same drama that has all too often gotten me into all grades of trouble. Also, with a zero-proof cocktail typically comes hospitality and care, which is essential to me in any restaurant and bar. I want to feel warm and fuzzy and fabulous. I require all restaurants and bars to make me feel that way at all times. It’s my money and time; I will never settle for less.

Good hospitality matters. Unless I am a stranger traveling in a wholly different country or environment – that is another blog for another time. Not everyone will agree with me on the matter of demanding good hospitality here in the U.S. of A. But, what you expect from your time and money is wholly up to you.

And so here we are. A few days in, I committed to life without alcohol. This isn’t a travel narrative – my quitting drinking isn’t a journey filled with mock ordeals (hangovers, however, ain’t mock; those suckers, self-induced as they are, are real). But, like many travel narratives that describe stops on a trip to a particular end, you may end up hearing me tell the miseries and joys of swilling a real gin and soda down my gullet or sipping a whole bottle of Juan Gil Jumilla (swoon).

But I’ll say this: I have no destination in mind. I just want my body to feel good again and to still hit the town when the mood strikes. Let’s see what taking alcohol out of the equation does for me. That means I will observe and analyze these zero-proof concoctions and see what they do for my body, soul, and spirit. And, here on Zero-Proof Body: Life Without Alcohol, we’ll talk about the party of life without that other kind of spirit. Ah!