What’s it like ordering coke or non-alcoholic beverages at bars in your country?

8 comments

1. Honestly if they have a problem with it they can fuck off but it’s rarely been an issue. I’ve worked as a bartender too and there’s tons of reasons everywhere from having to drive to medical issues to simply not liking alcohol that someone would not drink and it’s none of the bartender’s concern.

2. That strikes me as something very juvenile.

   I don’t drink alcohol, the last time anyone made fun of that was early in university years. The older you get, the less people care. At most, people may ask why I don’t drink but the majority never even mentions it. Even if I’m the only one in a group to order a coke, nobody cares.

   As for bartenders, I assume they care even less than anyone else.

3. Oh my… honestly, I almost never drink but somehow I never even tried to order something non alcoholic in the bars here… which J think is the best summary of the situation.

   I know that non alcoholic beer is available in pretty much every bar here, coke is probably also an option since it’s used for some of the drinks.

4. No one behind the bar would, a sale’s a sale. Some other people might make fun but they’re not worth interacting with.

   I’ve had a fair few cups of tea on nights out over the years when I’ve not been drinking. It’s probably my preferred option.

5. Why would anyone care what someone orders? They make money either way. There are „Brauhäuser“ (breawhouses) in Cologne where they wouldn‘t serve anything anything but beer or water but those are rare these days.

6. They’ll probably assume the customer is driving, going to work early in the morning or can’t drink due to health issues. Nobody is judging them over it. Some bars actually have pretty wide selection of creative non-alcoholic drinks to target such customers.

7. I’ve only been teased by a bartender once. I had a drink voucher and was using it for coke (it was valid for soda, beer, cider or long drink, and the prices are also in that order). He was teasing me about having a voucher for a free drink and choosing the cheapest option.

   He asked weather I was choosing not to drink because I never drink alcohol. I answered that on that night I was just not feeling up for it. He asked what I usually drink. Long drink, I answered. He laughed and gave me the coke and refused to take the voucher. “Use it for alcohol. You’ll get more value out of it.” So yes, I got teased, but I did also get a free soda.

8. I used to ask “do you have anything non-alcoholic that’s not coke” or something like it and sometimes bartenders actually took this as a challenge to offer me something exciting that was non-alcoholic, which was nice, or they just listed whatever they had and treated me like any other customer.
   Never was made fun of in any way.