EP 69 Finding Confidence In Your Alcohol-Free Life With Alyssa Heim

Hey friends, buckle up because today I have Alyssa Heim from Talk The Mock on Instagram joining me! Alyssa's journey is one for the books – she'll be sharing how she conquered her rocky relationship with alcohol, embraced sobriety, and stumbled upon her love for mixology along the way.

When she first embarked on her alcohol-free journey, Alyssa had to take a step back from the social scene to work on herself and solidify healthier habits. In our conversation, she gives all the tips and tricks on navigating those tricky social situations, having a positive mindset, and gaining confidence in sobriety. Her creativity also shines through as we chat about fun mocktail recipes and how to infuse spicy flavors into our booze-free beverages, so get ready for some seriously delicious ideas! Trust me, you won't want to miss out on her wisdom - you’re sure to be inspired!

Get in touch with Alyssa!
Instagram | TikTok

Mentioned Resources
Recovery Elevator

Thanks to Giesen 0% Wines for being our exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor!

Connect with Deb on Instagram: @Mocktail.Mom

• Grab a guide to help when dining out: Ordering Out Made Easy
• Join my wonderful membership community, Thriving Alcohol-Free: Mocktail Mom Membership
• Website: MocktailMom.com
• Celebrate your Authentic Freedom

You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Transcript

Deb: 0:01

Buckle up, friends, and welcome to the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I'm your host, deb, otherwise known as Mocktail Mom, a retired wine drinker that finally got sick and tired of spinning on life's broken record called Detox to Retox. Let this podcast be an encouragement to you. If alcohol is maybe a form of self-care for you, where you find yourself dragging through the day waiting to pour another glass, I am excited to share with you the fun of discovering new things to drink when you aren't drinking and the joy of waking up each day without a hangover. It is an honor to serve as your sober, fun guide. So sit back and relax or keep doing whatever it is you're doing. This show is produced for you with love from the great state of Kentucky. Thanks so much for being here and big time cheers. Hey friends, it's Deb. Welcome back to Thriving Alcohol-Free.

Deb: 0:52

It is me. I am sick. Can you tell it's me? It is definitely me, but I don't sound like me. But I'm so happy to be here today. I got dressed and out of bed because Talk the Mock is in the house on the pod today. Alyssa is here Yay, coming in with us from Minnesota. How are you?

Alyssa: 1:11

I'm doing good. I'm doing good. How are you doing? I know you're a little under the weather, but I didn't think that you sounded sick, so hopefully it's not.

Deb: 1:18

It just sounds so great. It sounds very strange, to me at least, but I'm so happy to meet you. I love following your account. You are so positive. If anybody is not following Alyssa, make sure you're following her on Instagram. Talkthemock is her Instagram account. You just exude just such positivity and your drinks are beautiful. I already loved you and then I kind of did a little deep dive. I stalked you a little bit today before our call. And not only are you making mocktails using like such fun ingredients, like my favorite candy, cadbury's to me, oh my gosh and Easter martini, those are so good.

Deb: 1:53

So I mean you just you make such creative content. You're you're a digital creator and your content is beautiful.

Alyssa: 1:58

So thank you for joining me today, thank you, thank you, thanks for having me. I know I've been following you for months and months, so when you reached out about the podcast, I was like, oh my God, I have to do this. Let's do it tomorrow.

Deb: 2:09

Oh, it's so funny. Yes, I'm so glad it worked out. Yes, I'm so glad it worked out. But yeah, I just I want to get into like how, how you became alcohol free kind of what you used to drink what got you interested in sharing mocktails online? Sharing Mocktails Online You're doing such a great job, so.

Alyssa: 2:23

I can't wait for you to share your story.

Alyssa: 2:31

Yeah, perfect, yeah, I'll get right into it. Yeah, so I've been alcohol free for three and a half years now and I didn't really get into the non-alcoholic industry until about a year and a half, maybe two years ago. I didn't really realize what was all out there and I think that the industry has been been booming the last couple years now. But so I've been alcohol free for three and a half years. I just had like a really unhealthy relationship with alcohol since, since the second I started drinking really when I started drinking as a young teenager and I really struggled with my relationship with alcohol for, you know, almost a decade and it just got kind of progressively worse over time and I just got to a point where I didn't like the path I was on and I didn't love who I was and I knew that alcohol was the majority of the issues that I had going on in my life and so I took it out and it was the best decision of my life.

Alyssa: 3:23

I love to stay positive on my socials, of course, but it was also the hardest decision I've ever had to make, for myself too. So there was definitely a time of struggle, but, yeah, I finally quit back in 2020. It was the height of COVID and really just changed my entire life around, and so, yeah, I've been alcohol free again for three and a half years and I love making non-alcoholic beverages and I kind of fell in love with it. Like I said about a year and a half ago, the whole industry and here we are making content now.

Deb: 3:56

Okay, so were you drinking like cocktails at home? Were you making cocktails?

Alyssa: 3:59

typically no no, I was not. Were you a professional with the shaker cup, like I didn't know what to do with of booze? I drink to get drunk and so I wasn't into the fancy like signature cocktails or anything like that. So no, I wasn't like a fancy drinker. I loved tequila, I loved my red wine, but realistically, like if I was out with friends and I wanted to get drunk, I'd probably drink just about anything. So it didn't really. Again, I didn't really drink for the taste much.

Deb: 4:45

Yeah, yeah, well, it's changed Now. It's changed right Now. You're like. Now I can drink for the taste.

Alyssa: 4:49

Yeah exactly, and that's been like one of the biggest things too is. So I started making these NA cocktails right, and I just I fell in love with it almost immediately. I started digging into the NA industry. I realized that there was all these non-alcoholic alternatives to tequila, to gin, to rum, whatever it was, and so I just started experimenting at home. And that's when I kind of fell in love with mixology and I had no real passion around mixology when I was drinking alcohol whatsoever, so that was kind of a fun.

Alyssa: 5:23

Surprise for me was like, yeah, I get to make these fancy little drinks, and like the whole ritual aspect of making your own cocktail at home was just kind of fun for me. I just like it lit my creative juices again. I had a little spark around it and I felt like I hadn't had that for a while and really like a big piece of that was slowing down and like taking the time to make something really beautiful for myself. Just I don't know it was. It's just a fun experience. I never get sick of it. There's always so many different flavors to play with and products to play with, and so I just love it all around.

Deb: 6:01

It's like it's self-care, right, because you can take your time, make a nice cocktail for yourself without alcohol. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely Okay so tequila was something that you drank. Have you found like a good non-alcoholic tequila that you love? Yeah, there's so many good ones. There's so many good ones.

Alyssa: 6:16

Yeah, I have a couple of them that I really enjoy and, like Deb, you already know this but you're not going to get like the true alcohol flavor of an, like an alternative tequila, or alternative like rum or gin or whatever the case is Right, because they take the alcohol out of it. Like I think a lot of times when people are looking into the non-alcoholic industry, they want something that tastes like just like the real thing, almost like the real thing, and it's like it's really hard to mimic those flavors and I think that with the non-alcoholic industry, they've come really far in the last couple of years with the flavors and with the ingredients that they're using. So it did. I will say, like it took me a little while to find something that I actually really enjoyed flavor-wise, but I really like Trejo Spirits and a tequila alternative.

Deb: 7:09

My favorite.

Alyssa: 7:10

That's my favorite, tequila yeah.

Deb: 7:12

Have you tried his gin yet? I haven't tried the gin yet.

Alyssa: 7:15

I haven't tried the gin, no, but I want to. I bet it's really good.

Deb: 7:18

I need to order it. Yeah, I need to order it, yeah.

Alyssa: 7:20

Yeah, so Danny Trejo's, and I didn't realize he's been sober for like forever, I think so.

Deb: 7:26

Yeah, yeah, I think like older, yeah, longer than I've been alive, yeah. A long time.

Alyssa: 7:31

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I love that one and I think the reason I like it so much is because it has like a smoky aspect to it, and I think a lot of the NA tequilas have some type of like smoky, almost like mezcal flavor to it, because it's easy to sort of put that into the product versus like the alcohol flavor. So I love that one. I love Monday's mezcal.

Alyssa: 7:57

Very good I think that one's a really good one too. That was actually the first spirit that I bought and the first NA spirit that I bought and the first NA spirit that I bought and started like making cocktails with and that was really what kind of set me off was. Actually remember this was around the holidays two years ago now I was like, oh my gosh, this is like a non alcoholic margarita with fake tequila, interesting Like, yeah, I didn't know it was even available. You know, the first couple years of my sobriety I was very know it was even available. You know, the first couple years of my sobriety I was very much like a club soda and lime girl, my diet Coke, my like sugar-free Red Bull, whatever. So I just I had no idea that the NA industry was even around and I think I just started figuring it out through social media. But yeah, so that was the one that kind of opened the NA doors for me. It was the Mondays mezcal.

Deb: 8:50

That's awesome. That's so awesome. So do you shop locally for stuff? You shop online.

Alyssa: 8:55

I do a little bit of both. So in Minneapolis there's several non-alcoholic bottle shops now I want to say there's like four of them and so one of my good friends, alexandra, she's actually opening up her own NA Bottle Shop in St Paul in the next like month or so.

Deb: 9:13

So shout out to her yes shout out to her she steals NA Bottle.

Alyssa: 9:16

Shop. They're opening, but there's a couple other ones in the Minneapolis area too. So Marigold opened probably about the time that I started creating content, so almost two years ago, or a year and a half ago, about, right? Um, there's one in Northeast, so they're all over the place, right?

Deb: 9:34

And that nice.

Alyssa: 9:35

Yeah, they're all over. They have everything that you could ever even dream of, and I noticed actually a lot of the larger liquor store retailers are carrying a lot of NA products too, like total wine Usually.

Deb: 9:50

Huge selection. Liquor store retailers are carrying a lot of NA products too, so like Total Wine.

Alyssa: 9:53

Usually they have a huge selection, right, yeah, exactly yeah, they have such a big selection and I think, again, the industry is booming, right? So there's tons of new brands that are popping up all over the place all the time. There's so many RTDs, there's so many spirits, and I've noticed a surge in like functional NA spirits too, so ones that aren't mimicking like a gin or a tequila or a rum, which is awesome to me, because not everybody wants the taste or wants to mimic. You know alcohol. So there's functional beverages that have different sort of like intentions behind them. I think a lot of them have like adaptogens and different herbs and spices and things to make you sort of to promote well-being or relaxation or energy or whatever the case is, which I think is so fun, because if you're really trying to avoid alcohol or cut back or take it out altogether, like you don't want it to be the main show, so I love the functional beverages. They don't have anything to do and you can't really even classify them as alcohol whatsoever.

Deb: 11:03

Yeah, like a non-alcoholic alternative? Yeah, do you have new glassware? Are there new things that you've incorporated into drinking your mocktails? I have so much.

Alyssa: 11:14

I have so much glassware. You love glassware, yeah.

Deb: 11:15

It's coming out of my eyeballs, I'm like, okay, and is it new? Is this new glassware or you already loved glassware beforehand? I?

Alyssa: 11:19

didn't, I didn't. I wasn't a huge glassware person. I didn't ever have a bar cart. When I was drinking booze, I was just drinking drink. Now it's actually a hobby and a passion of mine. My bar cart is overflowing with NA spirits. It is overflowing with glassware. I love Viscicraft. I don't know if you've heard of them, but they have higher end glassware. But it's not super expensive and I love it. It feels expensive and you can wash it and it's not like it doesn't feel fragile enough where it's going to break.

Deb: 11:57

Okay, it's not like your grandma's crystal that you're like. Yeah, it has.

Alyssa: 12:01

Yeah, they have the greatest designs, like they just have an elevated sense of glassware and you know like, depending on a glass you're holding, you'll feel like a certain way, like this is my coffee mug, but if I'm holding a nice martini glass like, I'm gonna feel you know a little bit.

Deb: 12:17

Yeah, it does. It changes the way you feel about what you're drinking and the whole experience. I did not realize that before I stopped drinking. I know because I said my best mom ever wine tumbler. You know I would fill up with my Chardonnay every night and then fill up again and again. But it's like, yeah, to have that glassware. It's so fun to have that part of the ritual, Totally, Totally. It changes the experience so much.

Alyssa: 12:38

Absolutely yeah. And then I love I've found a couple of really cool different types of glassware in thrift stores and things like that. Those are always fun to do. They in like thrift stores and things like that. Those are always fun to do. They're unique. Nobody else is going to have them. They're like so fun and eclectic a lot of the time, so I like to do that too.

Deb: 12:55

I love that. I have like the best coupe glass that I got at a secondhand store I think for like $2.

Deb: 12:59

And it's just, it's sturdy, it's just, it's beautiful. Yeah, it makes me so happy to drink out of it. I don was a deal. Yeah, what's the history behind this beautiful little glass? Okay, as you guys know, I love Giesen's 0% Wines. Their Sauvignon Blanc is my go-to on a regular basis. They recently launched a delicious sparkling brute 0%, which is quickly becoming a fan favorite. I am so proud to have Giesen as the exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor of the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast.

Deb: 13:27

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Deb: 14:32

Okay, so did you ever in a million years think that you would be sober and then think that you would be telling people online about an alcohol-free lifestyle? No, could you have ever imagined this? No, I didn't. Yeah, at the beginning of the pandemic. Could you have ever imagined this is your life four years later? Yeah, no, not at beginning of the pandemic. Could you ever imagine this is your life four years later?

Alyssa: 14:52

Yeah, no, not at all. I couldn't even fathom it, Like I couldn't have even dreamt it in my wildest dreams, I think you know because.

Alyssa: 14:58

I really, really struggled, like when I was younger, when I was a teenager, when I was in college, whatever. It was sort of just like this looming in the back of my head like yeah, I'm not a normal drinker We'll figure this out later, I'll become an adult and like cut back sort of deal, and it just sort of progressively ramped up over time and I knew for years that I would have to take it out of my life at some point if I wanted to live a happy, healthy life. And so it was just like this looming situation for years and years and it kind of just like ate at me. I tried every way to moderate, I tried every way to cut back and to kind of I was closeted too right. So not many people knew that I was really struggling, even the people who were really close to me. I was really good at hiding it for the majority of my time that I drank.

Alyssa: 15:56

Anyway, all this to say, there was definitely a point in my life where I could not fathom what life would be like without alcohol and I truly for a time believed that I wouldn't be able to get sober. I just didn't believe that I could do it and like function and be me for whatever reason. I think a lot of my identity was tied into my drinking and I felt like it made me fun and made me cool and exciting and interesting and all these things and I I hit a breaking point. I wouldn't say that I had like a specific rock bottom. I think there were many rock bottoms that added up slowly over time and then COVID happened and everything was shut down. I was serving and bartending at the time and so I was taken out of that industry, which was huge for me because I could do whatever I wanted when I was working and I drank all the time and was around the nightlife and stuff like that.

Alyssa: 16:59

So that was taken away. I wasn't working. I really just was kind of faced with like, what direction do you want to go? Is this who you want to be? And I also, you know, have family that's struggled with addiction and alcoholism and I've seen what that can do to a family and to people's lives and I just I just didn't want it for myself. I knew that I wanted more and I didn't want to go down that path anymore. So I did several things, like I joined some online workshops during the height of COVID. I got involved with a community online that I'm still involved with through Recovery Elevator. I don't know if you know that one. I love Recovery.

Deb: 17:39

Elevator.

Alyssa: 17:40

Yeah, I do too. Yeah, Paul and his whole team are amazing.

Deb: 17:44

Fantastic organization. I love Recovery Elevator, yeah same.

Alyssa: 17:47

Fantastic organization. I love Recovery Elevator, no-transcript. And I kind of, just once I got my footing, I didn't look back. I think the first six months were probably the hardest emotionally and whatever. But I started recognizing that I was lying to myself and alcohol was lying to me about like who I was and what I needed in my life and how I needed to show up. And I started realizing like who I was without alcohol and it was just kind of life changing. I got to prove myself wrong many times and it was a really cool experience. You know, like I don't need alcohol to have fun. I don't need alcohol to, you know, enjoy my life or to be funny or witty or this or that or whatever. Like I don't need it.

Deb: 18:52

How incredible. And you're so young, so young and beautiful. I mean you have such a bright future and thank you to have come to this. It's such a. You know, I know it was years of drinking, but you just are so young to come to this now. Such a gift for yourself and for your future self. Yeah, it is a gift.

Alyssa: 19:19

I say that all the time, I really do Because I think it's easy to feel almost victimized by it or have a negative outlook on. Well, this is like my life will never be the same and I can't drink and I can't go to the bars, and I can't do this and I can't do that and whatever. And it's like it's easy to get stuck in that mentality, I think for a lot of people. But you have to remember what a gift it is to you know, change the narrative and to make better choices for yourself and to live a life that's a lot more fulfilling and like clear and healthy, because it is a gift.

Deb: 19:47

Yeah, it's just changing that mindset you know yeah, absolutely. What have you been able to accomplish since that summer of 2020? Like, what new things you've been able to accomplish that you didn't think you'd be able to do, didn't see yourself doing because of alcohol?

Alyssa: 20:01

Yeah, I well, I got out of the service industry, which, by the way, I love that. No, no shame against the service industry, because I love it, and sometimes I almost wish that I was a server, because it was like the funnest job I ever had.

Deb: 20:13

Very fun. I was a waitress. Yes, very fun.

Alyssa: 20:16

Yeah, I got out. I got out of the service industry and I got, you know, a couple different jobs now at this point, that I would have never been able to do if I were drinking. To be honest, because I relied so heavily on alcohol I just wouldn't be able to have the mental capacity to do what I do now. I'm the healthiest I've ever been like mentally, physically, emotionally, right. I really started taking my health seriously. I lost some weight, I don't know. It's just everything's better. I could go on and on Like my relationships are so much better.

Alyssa: 20:48

I trust myself, I believe in myself and the direction that I'm heading now, which I could not say when I was drinking at all. I have way more money than I ever did when I was drinking Really, really, yeah, yeah. So just everything has kind of leveled up in a way, to be honest with you and I know that's not the case for everybody and it's not linear, right, like it's a roller coaster, just like everything else. I feel like it is all about your perspective and just because you take alcohol out of your life doesn't mean that you're like anything bad will ever happen to you ever again. Right, like I deal with hard shit, just like everybody else does, and really hard emotions, and it's the concept of like recognizing that I can get through anything without alcohol, and I know that and I believe that and, like myself, four years ago would have never believed that at all.

Deb: 21:41

Yeah, it's amazing what you can get through without alcohol. Yeah, because beforehand it was like, yeah, there's no way I can. Of course I'm going to come home and you know, de-stress with alcohol, you know with wine or whatever.

Alyssa: 21:52

Yeah.

Deb: 21:52

Yeah, that was the way. So how do you handle like, if you have cravings or like is there, do you have certain like rituals, besides non-alcoholic drinks and stuff? But how do you handle like cravings, alcohol, cravings for alcohol?

Alyssa: 22:05

Yeah, luckily, you know, I don't really have cravings at all anymore. I feel like I've been, don't really have cravings at all anymore. I feel like I've been. I ruined alcohol for myself, to be honest, like I had cravings the first, like I said, probably six months or so and, realistically, like this isn't the sexy answer or the glamorous answer, but I kind of just cocooned myself from the world and I had to do that. Everybody's situation is different and I had to do that. Everybody's situation is different. Everyone's relationship with alcohol is different, but like I was so heavily reliant on it at that point in my life that I knew, if I was around it, not ready to be around it.

Alyssa: 22:42

You know, again, this was the height of COVID, so like I officially got sober in July of 2020. So a lot of things, like everybody was in masks, a lot of things were still closed. You know we were, everyone was social distancing and stuff like that. So it was a little bit of a blessing for me because so it was a little bit of a blessing for me because, you know, not everything was normal. Like things were quiet, people were at home. So that gave me the time to slow down and really think about my life and where I wanted to go. Once things kind of went back to normal and that was a blessing for me. So again, the first six months were really hard. I had to stay away from alcohol to keep my sobriety.

Alyssa: 23:37

I had to learn how to manage my emotions and deal with my emotions without numbing myself, which was probably the biggest learning lesson in the beginning, because I was so used to just going for the bottle if anything got hard or if anything got overwhelming or scary or dramatic. That was my answer to everything. And so I had to process all of this shit that I hadn't processed for years, and so that was more of my focus was like okay, if I can just not drink for today and I can get through today and feel my emotions and just like show up the best that I can, then that's a win. And my first year was like me not really doing a whole lot other than that and like it was good enough for me. You know what I mean? I just I wasn't doing a ton. I wasn't.

Alyssa: 24:27

I didn't make my mocktail account, I didn't like go off and, you know, try to be a completely different person. I was really just like reflecting and processing and like just not drinking. So and so honestly I don't know if again, my own personal situation, but I feel like the non-alcoholic products would have probably triggered me a little bit at that point in time. Like I said, I didn't really get involved with the NA spirits and alternatives until I was like two and a half years sober or something.

Deb: 25:00

Amazing, yeah, and I think it's so good whether so I had the same experience kind of towards the end of COVID getting sober. But to insulate yourself, like that's okay, it's okay not to go to the party, it's okay to say like to yourself, like I don't have the sea legs yet I'm not ready for that. You know, it's too too much of a temptation, it's too much of like oh, we used to all go sit on the patio and drink together. You know, it's like it's okay to decline those offers Totally.

Alyssa: 25:26

And you have to, you have to.

Alyssa: 25:28

Yeah, it's like you have to decide what boundaries you need to build and everybody's boundaries are going to look different. But that's like a huge part of it too is because when you're drinking a lot of time, you don't have any boundaries. You're like so easily swayed to be able to manage expectations and like put up those boundaries. And that's a hard part of it too. It's like you're going to show up differently and people are going. You're going to have different types of relationships and communication styles moving forward. But that's necessary, it's essential.

Deb: 26:06

It's so good. Okay, so when you're out and about, I know one thing you talk about on your Instagram is just about being like confident in your answers, like when somebody offers you a drink. So can you talk about that a little bit?

Alyssa: 26:17

Yeah, I just think that, to just kind of play off of what I just said, it's like, especially with people who know you as a drinker and you're trying to cut back, take it out, whatever the case, like you need to be assertive, and this is my opinion and I agree like an assertive person. You know, and I've had to learn this over time too it's at the end of the day, you're looking out for your best interest in yourself, just like everybody else's for themselves, and so if you really don't want to drink, you need to kind of make that commitment prior to you going out and doing anything with anybody. Otherwise it's super easy to get persuaded into drinking, and I think everyone knows that, and you don't want to be mean and you don't want to be seen as like the party pooper or anything like that. But at the end of the day, you need to make the best decisions for yourself.

Alyssa: 27:06

And so I think having an answer, kind of prepped, or one of the things I like to say to my friends or to people who I talk to, who are just kind of navigating this, it's like if you don't want to drink today, tell people that you're going to be with, that, you're not going to drink today prior to going anywhere. I think that's a huge help because you're setting expectations before you get too deep into a situation or an environment. That's huge. I think. Coming with like a short and sweet answer of like I just don't want to drink today, I feel good without the alcohol, I'll stick to a mocktail, something like that, where it's like you're making the decision, You're not leaving it open ended for somebody else to make the decision for you. That, most of the time, is like a clear way to just set expectations.

Deb: 27:56

It's huge, yeah, to set those boundaries before you get there. Yeah, yeah, that's great advice, that's really great advice. Okay, before we go, what would be like your favorite? Like goats? Do you have a favorite go-to mocktail or is there something you order in particular, like if you don't have a mocktail on the menu?

Alyssa: 28:13

I'll try anything right. So like I love going to restaurants where it's like I haven't heard of that ingredient or like a lot of restaurants that don't carry any alternative like spirits, they'll just have their own ingredient list and kind of make whatever with different juices and herbs and spices, whatever. So I love trying those type of like martini sort of mocktails. But if I'm at home and I want to make a yummy mocktail, I'll typically go for some type of margarita, just because I love the NA tequila.

Deb: 28:46

So good yeah. Do you like the spice? Do you like to add spice? I love the spice. I love the spice. Yeah, yeah, I miss that spice. I don't know spice. I love the spice. Yeah, I love the spice. Yeah, yeah, I miss that spike, like I don't spice, but that like that heat, the. Yeah, yeah, it's nice to have you tried liquid cayenne extract.

Alyssa: 29:00

no, you should try it because it's got the like. It's not overpowering. If you put like one dropper into your drink, it'll give you that sort of like afterburn, oh okay. And it'll add to your drink, like it's not super spicy, to the point where you're like, oh my God, this is too much. It's just got a little kick and it's usually like on the tail end of the drink. Nice, if you catch what I'm saying. So yeah, I love adding that to different things.

Deb: 29:28

I'll have to try that. I'll try that. Yeah, I'll. Sometimes I'll put in like um, like a little bit of jalapeno, like you know, like you have a jar of jalapenos, like a little bit of jalapeno brine, oh yeah, tiny bit of that in Um. So yeah, just to kind of give it that little spice. But yeah, I'll try it.

Alyssa: 29:42

It's probably like a similar.

Deb: 29:53

Yeah, yeah, I love, yeah, I haven't yet, oh my gosh, oh, alyssa, you'll go nuts.

Alyssa: 29:55

You'll love Amethyst. I haven't heard anything negative about that at all. I feel like everyone's obsessed with that brand yeah.

Deb: 30:00

I feel like if anybody tries it, they love it. It's so good and it has that burn. There's a little bit of pepper in it we love the burn.

Deb: 30:09

We love the burn. We miss the burn. Yes, we miss the burn, but we love our sobriety. It's so amazing to live a sober lifestyle. It really is Okay. I cannot thank you enough for joining me today. Seriously, you are such a delight. So thank you. Thank you for having me. It's so fun to meet you and I just cheering you on on all that you're doing on social and the way that you encourage others is really, really beautiful.

Alyssa: 30:33

So I appreciate that. Thank you and everything that you do. I've loved this conversation.

Deb: 30:38

This was awesome. Thank you for being my guest. Thank you, Thank you Big time. Cheers to you for tuning into the thriving alcohol free podcast. I hope you will take something from today's episode and make one small change that will help you to thrive and have fun in life without alcohol. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social, send up a flare or leave a rating and a review. I am cheering for you as you discover the world of non-alcoholic drinks and as you journey towards authentic freedom. See you in the next episode.