If you decide to go to a bar or pub without drinking you are often left facing the choice of what to drink.

You can actually plan this out in advance before you go out.Some major bar and restaurant chains actually have their menus on the websites so you can look at this before you go if you are worried about drinking options.

The key things are to choose drinks which you enjoy drinking and fit the mood or context of your situation and where you are. So, if you are going to be in one place for a long time and can choose the place maybe it is worth going somewhere where there are many options.If you will be bar-hopping then you can mix the options you choose.

So the options are:

Typical soft drinks: Coke, Pepsi, lemonades and other ‘fizzy drinks’

A couple of things to consider are:

Avoiding excess sugar.

This is a major issue if you choose Coke or orange juices and then knock back two or three during your evening out.

Avoiding excess caffeine.

In some bars and clubs you can actually have teas and coffees in place of alcohol. Whether you have this or Coke – again excess sugar is something to look out for. Having a lot of Red Bull can also be similar to the excess stimulation from caffeine.

Alcohol Free Beers and Wines

Alcohol free beer which I have spoken about before in this blog. There are more and more options depending upon where you live. You can also order cases of these beers over the internet or hopefully purchase from your local supermarket.

Just about every major beer maker has alcohol free versions from Becks Blue to San Miguel 0.0%. You can ask the bar tender about this and whether they will introduce it in the future.

Don’t worry about feeling like a fool – here in London at least, alcohol free beers have become very common and as I have said before, some bars even offer a choice of at least two alcohol free beers!

Another option is de-alcoholised mulled wine which is a great choice during winter and Christmas times.  The same goes for other wines although the options are less likely to be as widespread for now.

‘Virgin’ Cocktails

If you look at the drinks menu of many upscale bars and clubs, they will have a section on alcohol free cocktails, so-called ‘virgin’ cocktails.

You can also ask for your previous favourite alcoholic cocktail just without the cocktail.I went to one amazing bar in London and the barman spent about two or three minutes making an amazing tasting non-alcoholic cocktail.

I was sure that he had misheard me and it must have been an alcoholic cocktail but it wasn’t.

Water

This is the one which many people overlook. You can of course order sparkling or still mineral water in a bottle and pay for it.

However, there is no shame in ordering the odd glass of tap water – especially if you are feeling thirsty. In fact in London, one of the local newspapers once had a campaign to encourage people to order tap water rather than bottled water because of the environmental waste of having the bottled water.

Everyone needs 2 litres of water per day I think, so why not got at least some of your intake when you are in a bar! You will get used to peoples’ comments by saying it is inbetween your other drinks.

Mixers

You can also consider mixing drinks such as ginger beer and cranberry juice and other wonderful combinations.

So no more excuses! Please get out to your local bar – just without the alcohol!

Click here to check out my tools and resources to help you take control of your drinking.