Mindful Drinking & Moderation in Midlife: Low No Drinker Podcast
Welcome to the essential podcast for anyone in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond who's ready to drink differently. While Gen Z gets all the headlines for being sober curious, let’s not forget that the real moderation revolution is happening in midlife – and this is your space to explore it without judgment, pressure, or expectation.
Join me to discover the people, places and brands making it easier than ever to live a life less intoxicated, whether that's for tonight, this week, or forever.
I get it – as a midlife moderator, you're not looking to reinvent yourself completely. You want drinks that taste like the ones you already love, new and exciting options with something special to offer, experiences that enhance rather than shorten your evenings, and practical advice that fits your busy, demanding life.
I’m Denise Hamilton-Mace, founder and editor of Low No Drinker Magazine – the leading global publication for mindful and sober curious drinkers and a professional public speaker on all things low, no and light.
My goal with this podcast is to help you feel more confident and more comfortable in your choice to explore a life less intoxicated, and to help you find, understand and enjoy the drinks that make it possible.
If you are, or aspire to be the type of savvy moderator who recognises that drinking less is not a binary decision for you, who knows that coasting with mid-strength drinks, alternating through zebra-striping or bookending the start and end of your night with something non-alcoholic are all viable options then this show is for you.
And you’ll leave each episode feeling motivated and supported to keep energy for the things that matter most: family, health, career, and living life on your own terms.
Each week on the Low No Drinker Podcast, you’ll get to either:
Meet the Makers: Join me in intimate conversations with the experts, founders, brewers, distillers, and visionaries who are creating premium alcohol-free drinks that don't compromise on taste. Discover their personal journeys, what drives their innovation, and why their products are perfect for the discerning midlife palate.
Mindful Moderation Solo episodes: Practical deep-dives into the questions that matter to sophisticated drinkers who want to moderate smartly, with topics like:
- Why do premium alcohol-free drinks cost the same as full-strength versions when there's no alcohol and no tax?
- How can I find an alcohol-free red wine that actually tastes like the Malbec I love?
- What's the real difference between no, low and light alcohol options?
- How do I navigate social situations when I'm the only one moderating?
- What are the best functional drinks for midlife energy and wellness?
This isn't about going completely dry or following someone else's rules. It's about making mindful choices, exploring sophisticated alternatives, and practising practical moderation that suits your lifestyle. Whether you're a Gen X professional looking to improve your health, a busy parent wanting more energy, or someone who simply wants to enjoy better mornings while still celebrating life's special moments, this podcast helps you drink your own way.
Mindful Drinking & Moderation in Midlife: Low No Drinker Podcast is perfect for mindful drinkers, sober curious adults, midlife moderators, health-conscious professionals, premium alcohol-free enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the low, no and light or mid-strength alcohol lifestyle.
Mindful Drinking & Moderation in Midlife: Low No Drinker Podcast
Advent 16: Finding Alcohol-Free Drinks You Genuinely Love
YOUR DATA, YOUR CHOICE: WEIGH UP THE TRUE IMPACT OF DRINKING FROM LIGHT – MEDIUM – HEAVY DAYS WITH THE DRINKING IMPACT CALCULATOR AT https://mindfuldrinkinginmidlife.com/products/drinking-impact-calculator
On Day Sixteen of the Mindful Drinking Advent, we’re talking about just how far low, no and light alcohol drinks have come — and why if you’ve tried one, you definitely haven’t tried them all.
This episode encourages you to keep an open mind, experiment like you once did with full-strength drinks, and treat low/no as exploration rather than restriction.
From pubs and supermarkets to specialist online retailers, there’s never been more choice — and plenty that genuinely tastes fantastic.
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🌱 Reset the way alcohol shows up in your life with the 4 Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset
https://www.lownodrinker.com/4weekreset
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🧮 Drinking Impact Calculator: What you get vs. what it costs
https://mindfuldrinkinginmidlife.com/products/drinking-impact-calculator
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🗣️ Join the growing community on Substack
https://lownodrinker.substack.com/
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🧐 Take the quiz and find out what's REALLY driving your midlife drinking habits
https://www.lownodrinker.com/
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💰 Get 10% off drinks at Wise Bartender with code LOWNODRINKERMAGAZINE
https://wisebartender.co.uk/lownodrinkermagazine *
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*Some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, Low No Drinker may earn a commission. Thank you.
Hiya and welcome to day 16 of our mindful drinking audio advent. Today we're talking about low no that actually tastes fantastic. My name is Denise Hamilton Mace. I'm your mindful drinking mentor, and you're listening to the Mindful Drinking and Moderation in Midlife podcast, which is going daily for December. Now, a few years ago when I was still working in bars and restaurants, the low no or light alcohol offering behind the bar in any of the venues I worked in or went socializing in was absolutely dire. It was non-existent. In fact, I can remember a rep from Liars, the alcohol-free spirits brand, coming into one of my bars, and I was completely dismissive of him. Absolutely lovely chap. But at the time, myself, my bar manager, my ops director, none of us were very interested in it. Now I go into my local pubs. Two of them are Young's pubs, the others are independent, and I look around and there are displays in the middle of the bar of all the different alcohol-free drinks they've got. And they've got gins and beers and lager on draft that is alcohol-free. They've got a cocktail menu. In spring, they had a dedicated spritz alcohol-free menu. Things are changing, and that is fantastic news for those of us who like to drink differently. The range and the quality of these drinks has also expanded exponentially. There are gins that taste like actual gin, beers that taste like actual beer, wines that taste, well, wines they're working on it. But my point is that there are so many options for you out there now. There really is no excuse to say that you can't find anything that you like. I often say to people when they tell me that they tried an alcohol-free drink and they don't like it and they're not very good, and I ask them how many have you tried? And they'll normally tell me, one or two. And then I say, What's your favorite full strength drink? And let's imagine they say a glass of Sauvignon. And then I'll ask, How many glasses of Sauvignon Blanc did you try before you found your favourite one? And they can't tell me because of course nobody knows how many glasses of wine, how many bottles of beer, how many cans of cider we have tasted in our 20, 30, 40, 50 year drinking career. But what we do know is that we tasted some god-awful ones in that time. And yet we continued to persevere. We kept trying, we kept tasting, we kept going back. And if the drink tasted awful, what did we do? We just knocked it back, went to the bar, and asked for something different. If you gave that same opportunity to low, no and light alcohol drinks, I promise that you will find brand new favorites that you absolutely love. There are simply too many choices out there for you not to find something that you adore. So my message today is all about keeping an open mind when it comes to low-no and light alcohol drinks. Going on an exploration and finding things that you want to try. Treat yourself. Don't look at this as restriction, don't look at this as lesser. When you go into the supermarket and you're grabbing your beers for the weekend or your wines for your dinner party or whatever you're getting for your guests who are coming on Christmas Day, grab yourself a few low, no, or light options that look exciting, that look interesting. Something like, uh, depending on where you listen to these numbers, anything from 80 to 95% of people who buy low or no drinks also buy full-strength alcohol drinks. And a lot of that takes place in the supermarket because obviously it's very easy, and there you'll find brands that you recognize. However, I would also recommend that you go and check out dedicated online retailers because that's where the real gold is. When you check out sites like Dry Drinker, Wise Bartender, uh, the Alcohol Free Drinks Company, Alcoholfreydrinks.co, uh, mid-strength drinks, there are online retailers whose sole purpose is to bring low, no, and light alcohol drinks to the masses, and that is where you'll find creative drinks, you'll find unique flavours, you'll find different styles, you'll find alternatives, you'll find drinks that have 0%, 0.5%, all the way up to mid-strength drinks. There's so much to experiment with, and some of it is absolutely divine. Now, of course, not all of it is. I never pretend to you that everything is is fabulous, but like I said before, not every full strength drink you've tasted is fabulous either. Give them a try and make sure you come back and tell me what you've found that you adore because I'm always excited to try some new things. Now, behind today's door of the advent, when you open it, you'll be taken to uh day 16, of course, and at the bottom you will find my personal selection of some of my favorite, favorite low, no, and light drinks that I've tried over the year. So give those a go. Let me know what you think. I'll see you tomorrow for day 17. And until then, cheers to a Christmas less intoxicated.
