How to Mocktail with Debbie Podlogar
episode #270
If you're navigating the world of alcohol-free living, you've likely come across the term mocktails, but have you ever thought about why they're such a game-changer for staying sober?
Do you know how to take simple ingredients to prepare different drink options? Do you have any idea what a jigger is?
I didn’t know much about mocktails until our guest, Debbie Podlogar, aka Mocktail Mom, delighted us with her mocktail wisdom.
Debbie is a mocktail expert who started her journey with mocktails during a month-long break from alcohol.
Debbie started drinking in her forties and realized that during her break, she would need something to replace alcohol with to help her through.
When I first broke up with Chardonnay, I wanted to take a break from her. I just wanted to moderate. I want to drink less, and having alcohol-free drinks, alcohol-free wines, and things like that just helped me keep those bumper rails up and stay in my “sober lane.” Debbie Podlogar
In this episode, Debbie and I talk about:
Debbie’s Sobriety Journey: Debbie’s story about breaking up with Chardonnay and creating her Instagram account, Mocktail Mom
The Impact of Mocktails: Why mocktails have become Debbie’s “bumper rails” in staying sober
Mocktail Challenges: How to approach mocktails that taste like alcohol to avoid wanting the real thing
Debbie’s Favorite Tips: How to create your very own Mocktail Station using ingredients and tools that fit on a charger plate, how to transition from alcohol to alcohol-free alternatives without breaking the bank, and Debbie shares a yummy holiday recipe called December to Remember
Key Takeaway from this episode:
There are so many different, more satisfying alternatives to enjoying a “drink” without adding alcohol to the mix. You can make mocktails fun so you don’t feel deprived, and you can start with just a few simple ingredients.
Also, you can change your drinking at any age to feel better and try new things.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Mocktail Ordering Made Easy Guide
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Debbie: [00:00:00] Hi, Debbie. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Lori: I'm so excited. Also we're going to get down to the basics and like I was telling you, I'm not somebody who really creates a lot of mocktails, but I do appreciate someone who shares on your Instagram.
So openly and just showing up as yourself as I had mentioned before we started recording I I appreciate your Instagram so much and I've learned so much from you. So yeah, I'm so excited
Debbie: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, I think just sharing the fun of Alcohol free drinks the fun of sober living and that there's still good things to drink.
It doesn't have to be complicated
Lori: how do you define a
Debbie: mocktail? For me, I mean, it's just a non alcohol cocktail.
It could be, some people call it an alcohol free cocktail, a zero proof cocktail. For me, it's just... I guess something that kind of mimics, sometimes it can be almost like a one to one exact of a cocktail. I wasn't a cocktail girl before I broke up with Chardonnay. I was just a wine girl. At the end, I was just somebody who was opening up the screw [00:01:00] top wine.
You know, it wasn't like I was even drinking any fancy wine at that point, you know, at the end of my career. So for me, it's just a mocktail. It's just something to drink that keeps me from drinking alcohol. But it can be, it can be anything. It can be so simple. It doesn't have to be fancy. It can be fancy.
It can be elevated. It can be an elevated non alcoholic drink, cocktail, but it can just be, it can be some juices and some sparkling water, which I think is what a lot of people think of when you hear the word mocktail, right? They think Shirley Temple, right? There's a mocktail boom right now and it's totally evolving, completely evolving where you now have non alcoholic spirits.
I have Danny Trejo's non alcoholic tequila right behind me, which is delicious. If you want to make a margarita, you don't have to get complicated. You can keep it simple. That's a
Lori: great definition, anything that you're drinking that is not going to lead you to drinking alcohol, or it's going to give you that reward because don't you think, Debbie, you get that reward?
from having something non alcoholic? [00:02:00]
Debbie: For me, it's the bumper rails. It has been the, it has helped me stay on an alcohol free journey. When I first kind of broke up with Chardonnay, not kind of, when I first broke up with Chardonnay, I just wanted to take a break from her. I just wanted to moderate. I just wanted to drink less and having alcohol free drinks, having alcohol free wines and things like that.
Has just helped me keep those bumper rails up and stay in my now. So I call it a sober lane. I didn't in the beginning, I would never have said sober. I was like, Oh, that would have meant I had a problem, you know? So I was very, I would never have said that at the beginning. Now I'm like, I love it. I, I love the sober lifestyle and having alcohol free drinks, mocktails has helped me stay sober.
Lori: Oh, I love that. We're going to get more into your story and what led you there. So I just wanted to get that definition out there because. You see it a lot now, mocktails. Like when I quit drinking in 2013, I wasn't seeing mocktails anywhere. You know, it was very much like, well, what am I going to drink at my first Christmas?
And I did try the [00:03:00] fray wine and I tried the fray champagne and I mixed it with orange juice. And then I was like. Yeah. So I will be very open and honest about that. I've talked a little bit about that on the podcast, but literally this is the first podcast I've ever had about mocktails because I do feel like there may be some confusion.
It could be something that you just define as, this is a mocktail, like I'm drinking my Perrier. If I, if I mixed it with something, maybe like an ice water that I love those ice water mixes or, you know, something else. It's like. That to me could be a mocktail. Then you go out and you see now the evolution of the mocktails.
They're on the menus. I was just telling you, I just got back from four days in Vegas. They are prominent on the menus.
Debbie: I'm so happy to hear that.
Lori: Oh yeah, absolutely. But there's still a lot of alcohol around and it was, you know, not something that I ordered because again, I'm very basic, but my son ordered one.
He ordered one in a restaurant that we went to. [00:04:00] And he loved it and it was a strawberry lemonade, but it was on the mocktail menu and he absolutely loved it. And my son is 22 and he hasn't drank yet, hopefully, never will, so. I think seeing him and his generation being able to see mocktails on the menu
Debbie: is huge.
It's huge. It's huge. And I think it's the word that most people understand is it's a non alcoholic drink. You know what I mean? I think it's the, it's 60 times more searched, the word mocktail. then like non alcoholic cocktail on Google. So whereas maybe something with a tequila and a non alcoholic tequila is a non alcoholic cocktail, but people use the word mocktail, they know what that means.
You know, they kind of like, Oh, Oh, I know what that means. You don't have to really explain it too much. You know? Oh, I got
Lori: that. We all think that we should know this kind of stuff. And honestly, that's why we're starting at the very basics here. What led you to becoming the [00:05:00] mocktail
Debbie: mom? Okay. Ironically.
So I, I want to take a little break from my Chardonnay. I just was exhausted from wanting her so much, you know, thinking about her so much thinking like I don't want to live like this anymore. I was approaching 50 and I was like, I want to stop drinking as much. That's how I got to mocktail. So I. Thank you.
I was taking a little break, January of 2021. Actually, my first day of not drinking was December 31st of 2020, but I was like, I'm going to try to do a dry January. So during that time, the very beginning, I mean, literally day one, I was like, what am I going to drink? Cause I wanted, I want to drink something.
I was not drinking a Shirley Temple. I didn't want to have. I didn't want to have nothing, you know, I wanted something. I felt like I need my little reward at the end of the day. I'd been so, you know, it was my habit. And so I went to Total Wine and actually purchased a, on I think December 31st, that first day I bought a non alcoholic wine.
That was the first thing I bought. And then I think it was like maybe New Year's Day or maybe the second or something. I went back to Total Wine and I [00:06:00] bought a margarita mix. And I bought a ritual zero proof tequila alternative and I came home and I made a margarita and my husband told me a couple, he told me a couple of things maybe to add to it.
I'll talk about that later, added some stuff to it and it changed my life. And I was like, if I can drink this, like it had a bite to it, it, you know, it gave me that, like, I love the bite of my Chardonnay. So it was like, I felt like if I could have this. Why? And, and wake up and feel good, not have a hangover, not have a mommy wine headache, not wake up with a, you know, a pile of shame from, Oh, I did it again.
That, that discovery of that first non alcoholic tequila or non alcoholic margarita, which wasn't anything fancy. I didn't even make it with lime juice. I mean, I literally bought margarita mix. So you don't even have to be, you don't have to make it from scratch. You know, you can just buy some of the mix, some of the good mixes that are out there.
And that changed my life. That was when I discovered alcohol free drinks, mocktails. And then on day [00:07:00] nine, I guess on January 9th of that year is when I started my Instagram account. And I was like, what should I call it? What should I call it? And I was like, well, I followed a guy, Sober Dave over in England.
I followed Dave. I'd followed him for a long time. I had been window shopping sobriety. I'd been watching people. And so I was like, should I call it Sober Deb? You know, it was my, I was trying to just, just name my Instagram, my new Instagram. I didn't. Tell anybody in my real life, nobody knew I wasn't drinking.
Even my husband when he was helping me make that little drink, didn't know. I wasn't saying like, I'm not drinking. I just was like, Oh, can you help me? I didn't tell anybody. So I was like, but I needed an outlet to share what I was learning and to share my frustration of like, what am I going to drink? You know?
And I just, I was bored in the evening because I wasn't zoned out. And I didn't want to do puzzles and I didn't want to color. So I was like, what can I do? And I was like, well, I can make videos and tell other people about these new drinks I'm finding. And that was how I started. So the account, the account, I called it mocktail.
Mom is my Instagram handle, mocktail mom. And so mocktail. Mom is when I started January 9th, 2021. It was just to share what I was learning and share, you know, the fun [00:08:00] of. of not drinking, but drinking, you know,
Lori: congratulations. How many, this, I've got so many questions now. This is just, this is huge. So in nine days, you found the mocktails, you found that drink.
I had to realize you're in it. Yeah. I mean, honestly, the rewards, because, you know, it, it is so rewarding to have something that you enjoy. You know, we feel like we're going to miss out when we take away the alcohol, right. Because, hey, I can raise my hand to the fact that yes, I love the taste. I absolutely love the taste of the alcohol.
What I didn't love after 30 years at 45 when I quit drinking was the fact that I was waking up so pissed at myself for so many years, so down on myself and my capabilities and not being able to fully function. I felt like I was starting to miss out on a lot of life because of alcohol, right? So the taste, my goodness, I had to give it up, right?
Right. And again, I told you my experience with that first Christmas and, and tasting the [00:09:00] faux drink and just being like, okay, this is going to lead me, I feel like, to the real stuff. But what I want to ask you during that first 30 days, that dry January, it seems like you decided, did you decide during that time because of the mocktails that you were experiencing, because of starting an Instagram and sharing your videos?
Did you decide, hey, I'm going all into this lifestyle?
Debbie: I can't say I decided to go all into the lifestyle at that point. I definitely just wanted to keep going. I just felt so good. Not on day four, you know, it was like, oh my, I mean, I, it takes a while. I was, it takes a while for that. For the good feeling to come, you know, how to go through the hard stuff in the beginning of not drinking.
It was hard in the beginning, but I felt so good by the end of the month, I just wanted to keep going. I didn't have like a, this is my lifestyle yet. I definitely didn't feel that. I just felt like, okay, maybe I can go 60 days. And I just kind of set like another goal. And [00:10:00] then I hit 60 days and I was like, maybe I can go a hundred days.
Maybe I can get to like triple digits. And I just got, it, it got, it became almost like a game, you know, just became fun. It became fun to keep going. And there were so many good things to drink. You know, I didn't feel deprived. I didn't feel like I was missing out at all. I wasn't. I was, I had, I lost nothing.
I only gained good things in my life from those first 30 days.
Lori: And it sounds like your Instagram account was a huge motivation for you to keep going.
Debbie: I think it kept me accountable, you know, because I mean, I think about even right now, like if I, not to say, I mean. Right. Things can happen or whatever. I'd never say forever.
I don't know. You know, I don't know. I know right now I'm not drinking, but at the same time, my Instagram account keeps me accountable. My, the ladies in my membership keep me accountable. It would, it wouldn't just be if I decided to take a drink or whatever, decided to drink or whatever. It wouldn't just be me drinking.
[00:11:00] It would be like, okay, I'm now, it's. I don't want to say it's affecting other people. It's not right. It's everybody has to make their own decisions, but I feel like I, I love my community and I want to support them and being a support to them includes remaining alcohol free, but I'm not depriving myself.
It's not hard at this point. It's not hard. Not hard. Yeah.
Lori: Yeah. No, I totally get that. When I started doing Instagram in 2015, two years after I stopped drinking, I started that anonymous account, 250 and beyond, because I wanted to start opening up. None of my friends or family knew that it was there, but I wanted to start talking about it.
And that was a great motivation for me. At two years of sobriety to be able to start sharing. That's the reason the podcast exists. That's the reason that, you know, I did keep going because around that two year mark, it was kind of like, well, what's next for me. And I feel the same way. You know, we can never be guaranteed what tomorrow brings or what our future brings.
But for today, you're out there and you're helping a lot of folks. You're helping people find this other [00:12:00] option. And there's a lot of folks out there that don't know about it yet. And so. I think it's just fantastic. I want to talk about the numbers on your Instagram account. And then I want to ask you something because you referred to Chardonnay as her.
So I want to talk a little bit about that. Last week when I was doing more research and tightening up the questions here, how big your Instagram account is, but not knowing the exact number right now of how you, how many people you have following you on that account. Can you talk about how that account...
grew over the past
Debbie: couple of years. First of all, I have had so much fun. I mean, I feel like I am like a kid in a candy store. I'm in the I'm on the playground. I've made so many friends with brands, with other influencers, with which, whatever, it sounds so funny to say other influencers, influencer, only people I want to influence are my children, you know, but like, it's just so silly to me, but whatever, you know, other people in this space and sober accounts, it has been so much fun.
So I don't really care in the terms of like followers, whatever, but it is a lot of fun and to [00:13:00] have a video go viral. It is the absolute craziest experience of my entire life. So I had a video go viral last February, I think it was February, March. I don't know. I think I was like around 20, 000 followers, somewhere in that, whatever.
And it just exploded. And it was all thanks to Don Lemon, who said that women above 40 were past their prime. And I could not get it out of my head. What he said, I could not get it. I was like, who, what is wrong with him? Women over 40, like we are just getting started. I'm just getting started. This is what's going on in my head.
Who is he talking to? I'm just getting started. I'm thinking about all the things I've been through in life, all the hard times. So I made a video and I just literally was just like, you know, I've been through breast cancer, divorce, lost both my parents. I mean, the list was even longer than things I mentioned on the video.
And meanwhile, I'm making a drink talking about how when life gives you lemons or when life gives you Don lemon. Make a mocktail, you know, and that life isn't over. Who are you [00:14:00] kidding? Who are you kidding? Like, we're just getting started. Anyway, so anyway, all that to say, that video went viral and it was so much fun and it still, it's crazy.
Anyway, so that happened and that kind of changed my, it changed the trajectory of my account, which has been a lot of fun.
Lori: Wow. No, that's fantastic. Even when you were saying what, February of 2022, that went viral, you were at 20, 000. People following that account?
Debbie: February of 2023. Oh, 2023.
Lori: 20, 000 people following you.
And the reason that I'm saying this, because I don't believe in, like, the number of followers or anything. A lot of people are engaged on your account. That's what matters the most, right? I just
Debbie: want to be an encouragement to people. So it's been fun for that space to grow. It's been so much fun. Yeah, and that's,
Lori: that's my point.
It's like people are searching for other alternatives and finding somebody who's bringing so much value to their feed. That's why they're there and you showing up as yourself. Who is Don Lemon? Tell our listeners.
Debbie: So he [00:15:00] is a former. I, I don't know. I guess he was a CNN. I guess he was a news reporter. I don't know what he was doing on there, but he was an anchor.
I don't know who he is, but he thought he understood women over 40 was very wrong. He was an anchor on CNN. He got fired, but yeah, I mean, my account's over 100, 000 now at this point. I mean, it's, it's absolute insanity. It's absolute insanity, but it's been so much fun, Laurie. Like I. I'm like, I just absolutely love it.
It's been fun.
Lori: I can tell that you love it. And that's why I wanted to ask you the numbers, because that shows that you're showing up there and that you are providing that value and that people need it. That's what that shows, honestly. Just the encouragement. So well done on
Debbie: that. Thank you. Fun's not over.
And it's certainly not over for us over 50. Not over. Jeez. Oh my
Lori: goodness. That's so silly. Dumb lemon.
Debbie: What an idiot. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I was like, I gotta make a mocktail.
Lori: I love it. What was the let me ask you this before we move on. What were the comments like
Debbie: on that video? Oh, my gosh, [00:16:00] the comment.
I mean, so many women. I mean, it was like, you know, what I loved about it is that the comments what I loved about it is that it doesn't matter. Republican, Democrat, Democrat, Liberal, conservative, it did not matter. He spoke to all of us and we were all like, Oh no, no, no, we're all on the same team with this one.
Like it didn't, all of our, you know, opinions, differences, whatever it was, we all put those to the side and we were all like, Oh no, you are messing with the wrong people.
Lori: That is so classic. Congratulations on that. Thank you, it was very fun. You had said the only people that you want to influence are your children.
How has that been for you since you started this Instagram, you started your mocktail
journey?
Debbie: Well, they're hilarious. My older daughter's in college and she's like, you know, mom, oh, my friends follow you. You know, it's so funny. But yeah, so it's been fun. My younger daughter is not on Instagram. She's 16.
So that's a topic of conversation. She's not on Instagram right now. But yeah, that's a, that's a hard line to, anyway, that's a hard, that's a [00:17:00] hard thing in our house right now. The, the social media component raising children, but yes, what else matters? My legacy, you know, you go to a cemetery, they don't have a follower count on people's headstones.
Nobody cares. Nobody's going to care. I could be gone. Nobody cares. But what really matters is my children, my grandchildren one day, you know, that's what matters is if I can make a difference in my kid's life. And it sounds like you are trying to be a good mom. Yeah. We've been girls and I've been through some hard times together, but I feel like we have very good relationships.
Not perfect. You know, at all. But I'm very, very thankful. I feel like that, at least. There's definitely hard days, right? I'm raising a teenager still at home. I have a daughter who's engaged. There's hard things in life and there's hard things, you know? Relationships are hard. Raising children are is hard.
Having an adult daughter is hard. It's so much fun and there's so many good things, and I feel like we have such a great, we do have a great relationship or relationships, whatever we wanna call it. Yeah. And they're close, even six years apart, but they're very close. It's really sweet. When Madonna got engaged and [00:18:00] we went down and surprised her, like for a little party afterward, after she got engaged.
And she saw her sister, like she started crying when she saw her little sister, like, and yeah, it was, it's very sweet. Their relationship is very sweet. So I'm very thankful. That's
Lori: fantastic. And I love too that her friends are following. Isn't that hysterical?
Debbie: Oh mom, so and so, she has your Mocktail Mom sticker in her car, you know,
Lori: so cute.
So
Debbie: cute. Yes. She was in the homecoming parade and her little sorority was going by and one of the girls like, Fuck you, mom. Plus, I love you girls. They're so cute.
Lori: Oh, congratulations, Debbie. That's so fantastic. Thank you. When you refer to Chardonnay as her, can you talk a little bit about that relationship?
Have you named her? I have. She
Debbie: really felt like a friend. Yeah. And when, gosh, I'm going to cry. When I first stopped drinking, I mean, I felt so embarrassed that I missed her. I missed my stupid [00:19:00] wine. I remember being at Trader Joe's to go grocery shopping and in Kentucky where I live, we have the grocery store and then you have like the wine shop.
It's like a separate entrance, whatever. It's how we do it in our state. So I mean, I went in there looking for non alcoholic options and I remember I wanted to lay down on the floor in the Chardonnay in the aisle of the white wines. I remember thinking, I want to lay down on the floor and flail around like a two year old and have a temper tantrum.
Like, I miss you. I miss you. Do you miss me? That's how I felt. She felt like a friend. Like she'd been there for me through my divorce. She'd been there for me, you know, through my own illness, having breast cancer, you know, ironically can't, you know, the worst thing you can do. Right. It's like, but no, I was still drinking at the time.
And I missed her. So yeah, I kind of call her her color. She or whatever. She was a friend. So stupid.
Lori: Yeah, I know that most people listening to this right now, including myself, [00:20:00] totally relate to this. And I just thank you for sharing that because I've talked a lot about that relationship. I, I always describe it as my ride or die, you know, it was there for me and you know, we can hear these wonderful stories of, Oh, I don't, I didn't miss it.
I gave it up. I didn't like it anymore. You know, whatever. There's so many of that. But then there are those of us and most of us walking around with this sadness and this grief and this longing for our old friend, for our past selves when we were drinking It's tough, and it takes a lot of time to work through, and so I really appreciate you.
sharing that with us. And then also just, you know, being really open and honest. Trader Joe's was my, that was my place
Debbie: to dab. And then we went to other ones and then what else? Oh, you have this on special. And then they tell you, Oh, you want to taste it? I mean, it was like, it was like a little wonderland in there.
It
Lori: was, it was very difficult, but that is one of my shops that we go to and we still go to, but... I would talk about like, just walking through the checkout line, I wanted [00:21:00] the, the people to congratulate me on not buying any kind of wine. You know, I just like, this is a really big deal, people.
Debbie: It is a big deal.
It is a big deal. That's why we have to you feel like you could smell it? Like, in the beginning, when I had to walk to like, the back of Total Wine to find the non alcoholic options. And I had to walk past all my old lovers, you know, Josh, you know, and Kim Crawford. And I felt like I could smell it. I literally like, it was like Pavlov's dog.
I was like, salivating. It was crazy, but it was just the habit of years and years and years of drinking too much. Yeah,
Lori: absolutely. And it is so relatable. And so thank you so much for sharing that. And it does take time. Was there a moment where you felt like. I'm not experiencing this anymore. Do you remember when that was or like something clicked for
Debbie: you?
I don't remember exactly, but I, I don't have that feeling now. I mean, I don't, and I'm so thankful. I don't know if that was like at day a hundred, you know, five months. I don't remember when that finally clicked, but it was like, it was [00:22:00] just different. It was like all of a sudden I wasn't feeling that feeling anymore.
Didn't want it as much as you. Yeah,
Lori: it's, it's one of the toughest challenges we have, like, how long is this going to take to where I'm not thinking about it? I'm not smelling it. I'm not struggling when I go into Trader Joe's and we all have our own timeline on that. And I can just say from my own experience, you got to keep going without it.
To make more and more of that distance between you and her or you and your ride or die. Let's get to the how to mocktail portion of this. So we're all going to learn from you today, Debbie, where do we start? But can we start with setting up a mocktail station?
Debbie: Yes. Number one, don't get overwhelmed. Step one.
Step two, be open to trying new things. Step three, if you don't have all the tools or whatever, you're fine. You can improvise. So I would recommend like if you were just, just getting started, you're not even setting up like a mock, a bar [00:23:00] cart or a mocktail bar. You're just maybe setting up, put a charger, you know, a little charger plate.
On your counter in your kitchen, have a little place where then maybe you're cooking dinner. I know for a lot of women, myself included, I'm not a big cook, I'm more of a microwave or myself, my poor children, but you know, but the kitchen or that dinnertime hours, a lot of time when people are like, Oh, I need something to drink.
So put a little charger, you know, plate and add a couple of things on there. So maybe you have a shaker cup. I didn't even, I hadn't used a shaker cup maybe once in my life, twice to make a lemon drop. I mean, I wasn't a cocktail maker. So find it in the back of your cabinet. Dust it off. If you don't have one, use a protein shaker cup or a mason jar.
You don't have to have an actual cocktail shaker cup to make a non alcoholic cocktail or mocktail. I would recommend having a muddler. I didn't even know what a muddler was. I'd never heard of one. I knew I, you could be a person who muddles around. I didn't know what a muddler was, but if you don't have a muddler, it's just something to kind of smash up.
Like, let's [00:24:00] say you're making like a drink, maybe it has like fruit in it at the bottom and you maybe smash it up. You're muddling, but you could use like a wooden spoon. Every mother in America has a wooden spoon. You can totally improvise. You don't have to use the exact thing. I would say have like something people, it's a jigger, like the bartenders, they measure.
I didn't even know what that was called. It's a jigger. You don't have to have that. Get just something like, I mean, I can't see anything without my reading glasses on those jiggers. The print is so tiny. I can't read it. So get one of those. I think it's OXO is the brand. They sell it like Walmart or whatever.
And the numbers, you know, you can read half an ounce, one ounce. I mean, I don't want to get out my reading glasses to make a drink, you know? So find something you can measure with that. You can actually see the lines on it or whatever the measurement. Maybe have like a long spoon to stir. You don't have to have a bar spoon.
Use a teaspoon, you know, one of the ice teaspoons or something. So you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a couple of like basic tools to make a drink. And then I would say one thing I would really recommend for people to do is to have maybe [00:25:00] some new glassware. You don't have to go to Macy's and re register like you're getting married and it's, you know, for glassware.
Go to a consignment shop. I'm not a big secondhand shopper, but like go to a consignment shop. I have found some beautiful, like I bought a coupe glass there. I didn't own a coupe glass. I didn't know what a coupe glass was. What is a coupe glass? It's like, has almost like a little bowl at the top that has a stem.
Looks like a martini glass, but instead of being like a V, it's like a little bowl. So I don't know if that's describing it. Anyway, you make like an old Cuban in there or something. I didn't even know what these things were. I don't want to complicate things too much, but all that to say, you can find The reason I'm saying to go get some new glassware is to create new memories because for me, I had my, my wine little tumbler, mommy, best wine, best wine ever.
Best mom ever is the tumbler I used to drink my wine out of literally, you know? So one morning I woke up, this was like probably that January of 2021 I woke up and my best mom ever wine tumbler was sitting next to me on the bed, like bedside table. And I [00:26:00] thought, Oh my gosh, I did it again. I did it again.
I got into the wine last night. And it was because I was using my old glass, my old tumbler that I used to drink all my wine out of. So I recommend getting some new glassware. You don't have to spend a lot of money. Find a couple of new glasses, find something pretty. You're going to feel like, okay, it's a special drink I'm having and you're creating new memories for yourself.
This is for somebody who maybe wants to break up with Chardonnay or stop drinking so much, whatever. you don't have to drink mocktails on anything fancy, but it just makes it a little more fun. I wasn't pouring things into fancy glasses, but I do enjoy that now. I wasn't garnishing anything. And now I do.
So what else? I would say like ingredients, like if I had like a must, like basic must have ingredients or just starter ingredients, I don't know if they're must have, but starter ingredients maybe would be like ginger beer and you can get zero sugar ginger beer. One thing for people when they switch to mocktails is then sometimes they're not only worried, but sometimes your sugar intake can go up.
You don't need to, that's not going to help your, it's not going to help me in menopause is having more sugar, you [00:27:00] know, or after menopause, post postmenopausal is that what I am postmenopausal PM. Okay. So whatever stage you're in, sugar is not going to help at any point in your life, basically, even for my teenager.
So ginger beer, you can get zero sugar ginger beer or low sugar lime juice. I would recommend squeezing your fresh limes as best, but like, come on. I mean, we buy limes, they sit on the counter, they die or, you know, they shrivel. There's things you can do with them. We can slice them. We can dehydrate them.
You garnishes for like a year, or if you don't want to have fresh lime, you know, if you want to squeeze your fresh lime juice, buy some bottled lime juice. Like it's not the end of the world. Every bartender is probably like cringing right now. It's okay. Like it's okay. You don't have to be a professional to not drink.
You don't have to become a mixologist. You don't become a bartender. I would say have a sparkling water and maybe like, as like a low sugar cranberry juice just to kind of get started with like, you can make a mule, you can make something simple with that. And then if you want to elevate it maybe or get a little fancier, maybe add a non alcoholic whiskey [00:28:00] like a ritual brand or, Oh, Monday is really good.
I mean, there's a lot of non alcoholic spirits companies now.
Lori: Anyway, one of my challenges is how much time is this going to take? How much money am I going to be investing in this because I am somebody who will go out and buy all the stuff and then maybe not follow through. And so thank you. I appreciate you starting with just like the charger and that's it because that's what it is.
It's, it's the basic. And I feel like, too, what you did with it, you created this project for yourself and you had something because, like you said, two of those things that we hear, you stop drinking, we'll do a puzzle, color, those are all really helpful, right? But if it's not working for you, like somebody would tell me, you know, you got to meditate to relax.
No, I'm
Debbie: not going to do it. Think about all the things I have to do.
Lori: Exactly. Yes. So finding something like that, you really made that project for yourself and you had something that was rewarding and that was fun and that you were learning because I feel like that's such a part of it. You know, we're drinking for such a long [00:29:00] time or even you start drinking in your forties.
I mean, You don't even have to be drinking for that long. When we're drinking, it's one thing. It's like a one track mind. You're drinking. That's an activity. And when you stop, you get that opportunity to try new things and to learn new things. And doesn't matter if you're 85 and you're doing this, like it's never too late to learn something new.
So I feel like this is a really great. project to have also, and you can go and get all the stuff if you want, or you could start really basic, like whatever works for you, because. We need that. We deserve that kind of stuff. And so yes, I didn't know what a jigger was. I did know the muddler, the shaker cup.
I've never had one. I do appreciate you talking about the fact that you weren't mixing cocktails before this. No, I wasn't a cocktail drinker
Debbie: either. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like just buying the wine. That was it. That was it. Yeah. I wasn't making any cocktails. I mean, bartend, I'm sure I horrify people with how I make whatever.
I don't, [00:30:00] it's keeping me sober and I'm encouraging other people to try new things. We've
Lori: got to take that encouragement and that inspiration from other people and then make it our own. And I feel like going into the holidays as well, and the reason why I wanted to have you on and releasing this episode the day before Thanksgiving here in the States, like, I know that going to an event, going to a holiday party or something, and when we're not drinking, we want to have that tasty reward.
We want to have something for ourselves and speaking to somebody tomorrow who's maybe hosting Thanksgiving or is going to a Thanksgiving dinner and they haven't gotten anything for themselves. This is a wonderful start.
Debbie: Good. Absolutely. You could make, you could, I mean, with just those ingredients, I mean, you could, this is as basic as it gets, so you could just make yourself a sparkling water, splash of cranberry and a lime wedge or, you know, squeeze a lime.
It's going to look like you're having like a vodka and cranberry, right? And I don't, not that you have to make, drink something. So other people think you're drinking, but sometimes it's, you feel more [00:31:00] comfortable if you're at the family event and you don't have to announce that you're taking a break from alcohol and maybe cause people don't really don't care what you're drinking, but you feel, I feel more comfortable if I do have something in my hand, I do feel more comfortable even now, almost three years in, it's like if I go to a party, I want to have a little something in my hand, but I don't want to.
Have a hangover, you know, I don't want to drink alcohol. Anyway, yeah. So yes, you can definitely go to Thanksgiving and there's tons that they can, that you can be drinking without
Lori: alcohol. I love that you mentioned total wine. I don't think I've ever been in a total wine. I'm trying to think of the one above mouth.
That's
Debbie: where I would go. Same kind of thing. Same deal.
Lori: Similar. So you can go to their, or can you get it now in the grocery stores? Can you get the non alcoholic tequila and the wines? Can you do
Debbie: more and more? It just depends on where you are. Like I hear from my, I have a brand new Kroger that just opened grocery stores, just open near my house.
And I live in like outside of Louisville, Kentucky, but they, I went in day one into their wine shop and they had seven non alcoholic wines available, which [00:32:00] compared to three years ago is. A huge explosion just for a, you know, a grocery store. So, like, I found one of my absolute favorites, which is Geen Sauvignon Blanc.
It tastes like the real deal to me. It tastes exactly like a Sauvignon Blanc. I can, it's a, and and it's a hundred calories, the entire bottle, so it tastes like real wine. Wow. It is. It is real wine. It just doesn't have the alcohol in it, and it's a hundred calories. So that's one thing that your listeners will enjoy is knowing when you're drinking non-alcoholic, you know, drinks.
Especially the non alcoholic wines, many of them are lower, lower in sugar. I shouldn't say that. I shouldn't say all of them. Because I think you mentioned... It's, I think it's said fray, but it's fray. It looks like F R E or whatever. Theirs are higher in sugar. So I would say you still have to read labels and stuff, but in general compared to the counterparts, non alcoholic wines are a lot lower in sugar.
But for holidays, I mean, for Thanksgiving, I mean, one thing that I'm, I'm going to do this year, so easy. So tonight, you know, when you're making your turkey, whatever your stuffing takes, take an ice mold, [00:33:00] put some, if you have cranberries and some rosemary. Pop it in the ice cubes and the ice molds, put a little bit of cranberry juice and orange juice in, make ice cubes pretty and tomorrow for Thanksgiving, there'll be beautiful ice cubes.
Put them in a pretty glass and you can top it either with sparkling water, you can top with a non alcoholic white wine. It looks so fancy. No one will ever know. And you'll not only not just no one will know, you'll feel you have something beautiful to drink on Thanksgiving and it's, you know, it's not.
Thanksgiving used to be a drinking day, right? Was it for you? Like it, cause it was like, I'd start while I was like cooking. So it was like, it was like, and then we'll watch football and woo, I don't remember anything. Next thing you know, I don't remember anything. It
Lori: was the hardest, it was the hardest holiday and I quit drinking in August.
So it was, that was pretty close to after I quit drinking. And it was Wednesday, this Wednesday, November 22nd, when this episode airs. Is referred to as blackout Wednesday. So I would start drinking Wednesday night. That would be it. It's so important because so [00:34:00] many people are challenged with if you were drinking while cooking, barbecuing, anything like that.
And you just, with the tips that you shared, bringing in that new association, this is a different glass. I don't drink wine out of this glass. I don't drink alcohol out of this glass. This is my alcohol free beverage glass, right? You're bringing in those new memories, and if you are at this first Thanksgiving, this first Christmas, this first holiday, whatever you're celebrating, and you feel like, you know, this is going to be tough, set yourself up beforehand, and go with something like this.
And then you could also skip it. I mean, that's a whole other podcast.
Debbie: Yes. No, that's true. That's true. No, but be prepared if you are going, you know, you have your boundaries or stay in an hour or whatever, whatever your time is, but like be prepared and be prepared for what you're going to say. When somebody offers you a drink, just kind of get yourself ready.
Get your mindset ready. That's key. That's everything to success.
Lori: It is key. There are so many great tips here. You mentioned the brands. At first, I want to ask you about Sauvignon Blanc. What was the name of the brand? It's Gießen. [00:35:00]
Debbie: Okay. This is so funny on my Instagram. I have called every brand the wrong name.
So this is how I've learned is because they've reached out to me to say, It's not Geissen, it's Gießen. They're now actually a sponsor of my podcast, which I, I love them. I have been talking about them for so long. So like to now actually have a relationship with them, I love, love, love their product.
Geissen, G I E S S E N, and it's out of New Zealand. I actually had their winemaker on my podcast and it was so much fun to learn about like how non alcoholic wines are made, how they started, cause they make actual, they're known for their regular wines, their full headed. Anyway, whatever. Sorry. Did I answer your question?
I'm sorry. I'm like a rabbit. Yeah.
Lori: Going off on a tangent here. No, I love that. I absolutely love that. And that's the important part to remember about the influencing. You know, you were using that brand and before, and that's why, like if you love something and you're sharing it,
Debbie: that's what, that's what it's about.
Yeah. Definitely. I'm not talking about anything I don't
Lori: love. Yeah. No, me either. Do you have a resource [00:36:00] guide that you can share with
Debbie: our listeners? I do. So I have a non alcoholic resource guide. I don't know. We can put in the show notes if you want and people can download it, but yeah, it just has some, some tips and tricks and some, a couple of little recipes and stuff to, to get through the holidays.
Yeah.
Lori: Awesome. Okay. And then do you share the brands? in that guide as well. I do have
Debbie: some brands listed in there. Yep. I have some brands. Okay.
Lori: People want that. Let's just talk real quickly before we wrap up our wonderful conversation, Deb. I'm going to have to have you back. I call you Deb. You can call me anything.
My sister's name is Debbie. Oh, yes. And I'm so used to saying Deb. I like you. That's why I'm going to call you Deb.
Debbie: I like you too.
Lori: Before we wrap this up, if anybody out there test this out, let's say they're like me and they had that faux mimosa on Christmas and they end up feeling a little bit down.
Has this come up for you before? Have you heard from other people like, Oh my gosh, I don't think that I can try the zero proof tequila or anything like
Debbie: that? Absolutely. And so if, [00:37:00] if mocktail is going to be a trigger or the alcohol free ones, like I have some friends. Who can drink mocktails, they cannot drink the alcohol free wines because it's too much of a trigger.
You know, it's too close to the real deal. I had Chris from Sands Bar on, I forget what it was, I think there was a certain beer he was telling me, he tasted it. And he was like, Oh no, it was too close to the real deal. He's like, I, it just took me down memory lane and he's like, I don't need to go there, you know, but other things he can drink and it's totally fine.
So I think you just have to be aware of what's, you know, what's going to cause if it's, if this is not working for you, don't drink it. Like no problem. No worries at all.
Lori: Yeah. And like we talked about in the beginning, you can define anything as your mocktail or something special for you. You can name it.
Do you ever name your drinks? I know that you did with the Don Lemon, right?
Debbie: Yeah. Oh, I just named one the other day, a Havana Dream, because it's like an old Cuban, but my dad loved, my dad has both my parents have passed away, but my dad's dream was to go, to go to Cuba. He never made it before he passed away.
And so I named the drink, the Havana, [00:38:00] Havana Dream after my dad, you know, just in honor of him, memory of him. So he always wanted to go to Cuba. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. I have a drink. I'm calling it December to Remember. You know, kind of like, you know, because this is, you know, if you have a holiday season without drinking, it will be a December to remember, you know, your memories won't be fuzzy.
You won't have Amazon surprise packages showing up, you know, the next day. I mean, it was always like Christmas for me. So, you know, I was like, Oh, what did I order? Who ordered this? Who ordered this? I mean, how many, right, how many Amazon packages came? And I was like, who ordered this? And I opened it. I'm like, Oh, Oh, maybe.
And I'd look at my Amazon history. Oh, 1130 at night. Oh, that would have been me. I ordered it. You know, like, who am I kidding? Anyway, all that to say, I don't know. Did I answer your question? Yes, I do want to run. I do name my drinks. Sorry, I'm onto Amazon now. I order, I name my drinks.
Lori: Yes, sometimes I do.
That's the thing. I remember watching Sex and the City just like that. And Cynthia Nixon's character was drinking too much and she ordered Quit Like a Woman, the book, and it came and she did not remember ordering it. I'm like, Oh, I totally get that. I totally get that kind of stuff. A December to remember.
Do you [00:39:00] have that recipe that you can share with our listeners?
Debbie: So December to remember this drink is so good, simple and fun. Okay. So what you can do is you, and you can make it keto friendly if you use like, you know, there's so you can, you can edit this, but this is just like, Easy recipe. So you're going to take some chocolate syrup.
So we all Hershey's syrup, right? Take some chocolate syrup, put it on the plate, crush up, then on a different plate, crush up real finely a candy cane. That's going to be for your rim of your martini glass. So take one of your, find a martini glass in your house or whatever, any pretty glass you want to use.
So you're going to. Dip the rim of the glass into the chocolate and then dip the rim of the glass into the crushed up, finely crushed up candy canes. Put that in the freezer for a minute while you're making your drink. Okay. Then your drink is three ounces of cream soda. Okay. Quarter of an ounce of chocolate syrup of your Hershey's chocolate syrup or something keto.
A drop [00:40:00] or two of peppermint extract, two ounces of half and half, and you don't want to shake it because it's cream soda. So you don't want to shake it. So maybe put some ice in, give it a stir, get it cold, and then strain out the ice. Grab your martini glass back out of the freezer, strain out the ice, put it in your glass, and then you can garnish with like one of your little mini.
Candy canes. It looks so pretty. It tastes delicious. It tastes like Christmas. I mean, it's just that chocolate peppermint. It's like a little chocolate peppermint patty with the cream soda. It's perfect. So holy moly. There you go. There's your you go. Easy. I love it. It's so easy. Thank you so you know, you're not, you can buy at the grocery store so you don't have to even walk into the Total Wine or the BevMo if that's a trigger to you to walk past all your old friends.
This is something you can make with things from the grocery store. So simple.
Lori: Oh, fantastic. Yeah. This was so fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing all your tips. I'm going to have you back. You must come back and honestly, we will [00:41:00] do this again because there are so many more questions that I have for you, but this is starting off.
So if you're listening to this, we've talked about some really simple tips. This was so helpful to me to just have you. You know, a shaker cup, a muddler, a jigger, you know, getting that new glassware going and, and maybe doing some treasure hunting this weekend or, or tomorrow or whatever it is, you know, going into those consignment stores and looking, because you can find some beautiful things there.
That you would not typically drink out, but man, if you're doing this hard work and getting sober and living this alcohol free lifestyle, get yourself a new glass
Debbie: or 10. Absolutely. Yep. Have fun with it. Yes. Have fun with it.
Lori: Have fun with it. It's so important. Are there any final words that you would like to leave our listener with?
Someone who is out there and just, you know, they're, they're curious about going alcohol free. They are not sure if they want to go all into this. Can you talk about. Some final words for these sweet, sweet souls.
Debbie: I think just have fun. [00:42:00] Don't be afraid to try new things. I feel like you're going to kiss some frogs.
You're going to have a mocktail that you're like, Oh, it's not for me or an alcohol free wine. You're like, Oh, I don't like that one. Just keep trying. Keep trying new things. Find what works for you. Find what you enjoy. What's going to help you surf the urge. What's going to help you, you know, get through the holidays, get through whatever stage it is that you're doing alcohol free.
And who knows, maybe it will be a lifestyle, you know, or maybe it's just for a season or for a health challenger. You know, just for whatever reason, but don't be afraid to try mocktails, you know, yeah. And
Lori: have fun with it. It's so important. We, we deserve to have fun and, and you're never too old for that.
That's what I will say. Have you influenced your friends and family, people outside that you have, you know, showed up with your mocktails or they see you on Instagram, have you influenced other people to give this a try in your
Debbie: life? Yeah. In my real life. Yeah. Actually my older sister, you know, one thing I think, you know, for when we're going through hard times, alcohol.
It can be a, a comfort and we're going through a really hard time. Drinking at night is not going to change anything. And [00:43:00] so yes, she's been able to have, continue to have her mules using Q mixers, ginger beer and not have regular alcohol in it. So yes, I've been absolutely able to influence people in my life to, that there are good options, good alternatives.
You can still have a drink, still have that ritual, but not be drinking.
Lori: Well, Deb, thank you so much. This has been so much fun for me.
Debbie: Thank you. Thank you, Lori. Yes, we
Lori: did it. We will see you back here again.
Thank you.
Hey, there! I’m Lori, the host of the To 50 and Beyond podcast.
Where aging and living alcohol-free are celebrated.
To 50 and Beyond is about self-discovery, living for today, and designing an alcohol-free life that alcohol can’t compete with.
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