Vinegar?

Yeah, I made a joke. But you could try a teaspoon straight. People do, for alleged health reasons. Folk cures and such.

Sadly, nothing. I know this because I searched desperately while pregnant for a substitute and there is absolutely no equivalent. But I'm a red wine girl. If you're a white wine drinker, maybe watering it down with some bubbly water and making a spritzer will do the trick.

Yeah, it's red wine we like.

rainbaby, I like vinegar fine, but I need a glass of something I can sip.

In the past I've tried unsweetened cranberry juice mixed with pomegranate juice and selzter, but I can only get one of those three things where I live now.

I think I'm just going to have to suck it up.

I'm in exactly the same boat and would like to cut down, too. Wine with dinner is fantastic, but it does pack on the pounds, and sometimes I would drink more than I really wanted to and be too groggy the next day. I'm scaling back too.

Here are some things I suggest:

1. Iced Tea. I grew up drinking this as our standard table beverage. Unsweetened, it is nice and dry. I make a light brew which isn't too strong, and also make it decaf so I'm not up all night.

2. Seltzer. This is refreshing and not sweet, sparkly and goes with everything. It comes in a lot of flavors, if you like flavor. Another great thing about seltzer is that you can use it to make virgin 'mixed drinks' by mixing it with juices - cranberry, orange, apple cider, pomegranate - and plopping garnishes in - cheeries, citrus slices, mint leaves, etc.

3. Apple cider (non-alcoholic). Not too much, because then you're back on the calorie train, but it's a nice really special thing to have if you happen to be eating something roasty and wintery like squash, or pork, or roasted veg. This mixes really well with seltzer too.

Look for fruit syrups and don't dilute them so much. There are sugar free types.

Do you have any sparkling apple, cranberry, or pomegranate juices available? That sometimes works for me.

Or else just sparkling water. Oooh, or ginger beer or strong ginger ale.

An unrelated anecdote:
rainbaby, I like vinegar fine, but I need a glass of something I can sip.

I went to an olive oil tasting recently where they also had some vinegars. The woman behind the counter gave me a little cup of the first vinegar, and I drank the whole thing, and she looked abashed and said, "Don't feel you need to drink it all! You can throw out whatever you don't want!" and I was very confused because I had just been thinking how lovely it was to be in a place where I was allowed to drink an entire cup of vinegar.

And a behavioral suggestion:

Maybe brush your teeth when you get home from work? I find that it's weirdly a nice way to signal to my body that I'm home and the working part of the day is done, and it coincidentally kills any desire on my part for alcohol, because red wine does not go very well with minty toothpaste.

Waitrose have a really good selection of 'adult premium' soft drinks.

Does wine really cause weight gain more than the equivalent amount of fruit juice?

Maybe just cut down to a small glass?

From essexjan's link, this sparkling cranberry juice is wonderful. I used to be able to buy it at the local CostPlus and we went through gallons of it.

I can't have iced tea because of the caffeine, but I'll bet I could rustle up a fair approximation with rooibos. Sparkling water mixed with things is where we're headed, and we have a nice bottle of homemade strawberry cordial that will last for a while. Ooh, ginger beer could be good, just gotta watch the sugar. And maybe something with bitters in from Waitrose. Yeah, bitters could do the trick!

Dark Forest, a big part of the reason we're cutting down is the calories, but we're also limiting our intake because alcohol is a depressant, is tough on your liver, screws with my hormones, etc. So even if the calories are similar, it'll be worth it. But really, I don't see us drinking straight juice (too sweet!); we'll end up mixing it with sparkling water. Oh, and cutting down to a small glass would not work. Once the bottle is open we'll worry at it until it's gone.

I think the brushing teeth thing is brilliant, and I'm definitely going to try that! Good anchor to associate with the end of the work day and relax-y time.

If it's the tannins you're responding to, and if you're willing to give a little on the caffeine, you might try some strong and/or bitter teas.

On preview: okay, maybe never mind that, then.

How about non-alcoholic wines? (apologies if already mentioned somewhere above).

Decaffeinated tea. Not at all like wine, but a cup of hot tea is very satisfying and may have health benefits.

Dark Forest, alcohol is very high in calories, and wine has sugars, as well.

I think decaf tea is really the only route, right? If you water down the dark berry fruit juices (with seltzer or what have you), you lose the mouthfeel of wine. If you don't, you're not really saving enough calories, although you're giving the liver a rest.

The only other beverages I can think of with a depth and complexity like wine are coffees and teas. A tea is a nice relaxing ritual too. So something herbal or something in a yerba mate (which is completely decaffinated but really is robust)

I don't think I'll be able to find non-alcoholic wines here, but I'll try. The other thing, though, is that we're trying to save money, so a beverage that costs as much or more than a cheap bottle of red is not desirable. Sadly, decaf tea has enough caffeine in it to affect me, and any amount of caffeine at night is a doubly bad idea for me. I've got rooibos that works well, but it doesn't have enough of a bite... I'll have to see if I can get some yerba mate.

A 5 oz glass of wine is only 100 calories. Can you find something else to cut back on? Meat portions or starches, maybe?

Yeah, decaf tea is what I drink when I drink iced tea.

Does wine really cause weight gain more than the equivalent amount of fruit juice?

They're probably about equal calorie-wise, but I don't think anybody is suggesting drinking juice straight. When I make a seltzer/juice drink, I usually use only about a 1:3 ratio of juice to water. Many fewer calories. Also, I'm a lot less tempted to have the second glass than I am with wine.

Specklet, I thought of another: mint tea. You can make it with steeped dried mint leaves (or mint teabags), and it's caffeine-free, not sweet, and a good offset to some meals, particularly spicy ones.

I like mint tea but a cup of tea just won't fill the bill... although iced has it's appeal. I think that bitters in seltzer is gonna be the drink for me.

Ardiril, we're cutting down on carbs and reducing portion sizes just as soon as we have a handle on not drinking during the week. We really, really need to do both. Sigh.

Thanks everybody!

Oooo, how about adding a dash of angostura bitters, or grapefruit bitters, or rhubarb bitters to the seltzer?

Angostura bitters is what I was thinking, but oooooo rhubarb bitter!

My friend makes this wonderful lemon-rosemary water. I forget the exact proportions, but basically you have a crapload of (cleaned) fresh rosemary, and you pour water over it and leave it in a pitcher overnight and make a tea/tisane. Then, the next day, you... um.... I think you take the rosemary out, and you pour however much of the brew that you'd like into another pitcher, diluting it with seltzer/fizzy mineral water and more "regular" water (I think equal parts) before adding a bunch of cut lemon slices.

Somewhere in there the lemon flavor gets better. Maybe you keep it in there for another day. I don't know :P

I'm probably messing it up a whole bunch, but it's really lovely and has a slightly heavier/smoother mouthfeel than regular water -- perhaps something you might be missing from the wine.

Sport Tea is also an awesome beverage that gives you no-cal flavor without being so plain.

Going for the whole goat, eh? How about a sugar-free tonic water?

That sounds delicious, Madamina! And so does seltzer with bitters. THat oughta have a 'grownup' flavor that might fill the wine gap on weeknights.

Steep ginger and cardamom to make an extra strong tea (add a little honey if you'd like), and drink cold mixed with seltzer. You might try a batch adding hibiscus, which will give you something of a "red-wine" color and might be super tasty. (I haven't tried it with hibiscus yet.)

Ooh, lots of these sound lovely, and useful because I have similar wine-cutting-down ambitions. I find a physical distraction works well - pouring a glass of wine is a good ritual to divide day from evening, but putting some laundry on, emptying the dishwasher or a cup of camomile tea and early evening radio all work nearly as well for me.

Confused and/or ignorant question - when Americans say "seltzer" is that the same thing as sparkling water here in the UK? I ask because of this:

In the past I've tried unsweetened cranberry juice mixed with pomegranate juice and selzter, but I can only get one of those three things where I live now.

'Cos if seltzer = sparkling water, you should be OK with 2 of the 3, as you can get pomegranate juice at M&S. I've never seen unsweetened cranberry juice here though.

Seltzer is club soda, which is not sparkling water, at least not in the US. Sparkling water is mineral water with bubbles. Still water is (usually) mineral water, but always bottled water. Tap water is tap water. Seltzer is carbonated water. Soda pop without sugar or color and often without flavor. Or at least that's how I've always understood the distinctions, but then language is slippery and no meaning is ever fixed!

Confused and/or ignorant question - when Americans say "seltzer" is that the same thing as sparkling water here in the UK?

I had the same question and I'm American. I was beginning to wonder if there were regional differences in usage, or if I just didn't know what seltzer was.

When I say seltzer, I just mean any sort of carbonated water: soda, sparkling water, any kind of fizzy water... but I say "seltzer" because it makes me think of home seltzer bottles - so more fun and elegant than an aluminum can of soda.

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