The Pregnant Boozer

Well, that title probably got your attention right? But I promise, it's not what you think it is. What it IS, is summer. And what that MEANS, is a LOT of people want to drink a LOT of booze on a LOT of patios. Or at my house. Or with dinner. Or at the beach. And as a girl who DOES love her wine, this IS a hard adjustment for me... being pregnant and all.

The truth is, I don't NEED the booze - I've been surprisingly okay without it until now. But now, honestly, I'm jealous. I'm jealous of the fun and relaxation that comes from sipping a cold cider or beer. I'm jealous of the fabulous taste of a room-temperature glass of a Cab-Shiraz blend. I'm jealous of the ability of these NON-pregnant people to have those WHENEVER they want, and have however MUCH they want.

So I thought it was time to get me some "pregnant booze". Meaning? Alcohol-free beer and alcohol-free wine. Going INTO this adventure, my predisposition was that it would all taste like SHIT, but maybe it would help me not feel so left out so was worth a shot. Coming OUT of this adventure, I have to say I'm more than pleasantly SURPRISED by this stuff! (products listed at the end)

First off, all this alcohol-free "booze" is available in a GROCERY store - which I know to many in other countries, is like, uh, so? But in Canada, booze is only sold in liquor stores, and beer & wine stores - that's it. So the fact that I also get to SKIP the liquor store, and don't have to pass slowly by all my fun favorites, well, that's a nice little added bonus!

Second, all this "booze" is affordable. For the two 6-packs, I paid $7-10 each, and for the wine I paid about the same. And for those in Canada - there's NO damn liquor tax!

Third, all this stuff is low on calories! Wait, did you get that? They're LOW ON CALORIES people!!! They're SO low I'm debating taking one to work to swig in the lunch room! Just to see the reactions of course, because telling a real beer from a fake beer is NOT possible without reading the label, so at first glance, there'd be a pregnant lady boozing it up in the lunchroom... Anyway, the two beers below are 60 & 90 calories (with 0g and 1g of sugar), and the wine has 180 calories in the ENTIRE bottle, with 15g of sugar. Not too shabby!

But most importantly, how does it TASTE? And how alcohol-FREE is it REALLY? Let's go one by one.

• The Inglenook Alcohol-Removed White Zinfandel, St Regis Reserve tastes SURPRISINGLY like real wine. While I fully admit I'm not normally a white zinfandel fan, the blush color, and the alcohol-free label had me willing to TRY it - and it actually tasted so much like a tasty little cold summer wine that I put it down to RE-READ the label, ensuring it really WAS alcohol-free. It's fruity and fun, and seriously, smells AND tastes like wine. As for booze content, there's less than 0.5% alcohol.
• The Beck's Non-Alcoholic beer AGAIN, tastes surprisingly like a REAL Beck's beer. While I've become much more of a cider fan in the last few years (the husband is gluten-free, so buying ME beer and HIM cider just seems mean), this non-alcoholic beer took me back to the good old days of ending a hard day with an icy cold beer on a patio. Of course it didn't end with me having TWELVE of them, but that one alcohol-free beer? Well at less than 0.5% alcohol, it really took me back to the good old days, and made me feel PART of the fun, instead of on the outside of it.
• And last but not least, O Doul's Amber Non-Alcoholic beer. Like its counterpart above (Beck's), this beer has gone through all the regular brewing processes and contains all the regular ingredients you'd find in your favorite amber beer - just with less than 0.5% alcohol as they remove it. Also like its counterpart, this beer was a LOT of fun to drink. Maybe it's that they come in REAL beer bottles, maybe it's that they taste like REAL beer, or maybe it's just that they've all done a damn good job in making this stuff taste so much like the real stuff, there's not a lot left to be jealous of anymore!

So if you're like me - knocked up and feeling left out - try one of the products above. You'll feel like you had a real drink, and with less than 0.5% alcohol, you don't have to have any guilt. Two BIG thumbs up from me, your pregnant boozer.

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