Sparkling grape juice and I are not going to get on…

Wow! Eight days into my challenge and I’ve already raised £1270 for PAPYRUS thanks to lovely friends, colleagues and strangers who’ve donated so generously. Add £1000 from my company, Anglo American, and we’re smashing it! Brilliant progress and I hope it continues as I plough on through my year of sobriety.

A big shout out to the fantastic team and fellow challengers at One Year No Beer (OYNB) who have blown me away with their support, insights and honesty over the past week. I know this challenge is going to be hard – otherwise it isn’t a challenge, right?! – but I know it would be infinitely harder without OYNB. So thank you. And if anyone else is thinking of taking a break from alcohol, I can recommend signing up with them; I’m not sure I’d be at Day 8 with such a smile on my face without their support.

So, what have the past 8 days been like? Well, oddly ok actually. I’m worried that the lingering effects of laryngitis have helped me not really want a drink and that now I’m feeling better, the old wine witch will reappear with a vengeance but so far, so good. That said I have been testing some alcohol free (AF) alternatives, all in the name of research you understand…

We had dinner on Saturday at one of my favourite local restaurants, Lussmann’s in Harpenden. I would usually spend £31 on a bottle of their delicious New Zealand Sauvignon, but instead opted for a Bitburger 0% at a fraction of the price and  was pleasantly surprised.

I’m not much of a lager drinker but genuinely couldn’t tell the difference between this and the real thing. Happy days!

It felt strange not having wine with dinner – I can’t remember the last time I didn’t – but it was a lovely meal with great company so not having wine didn’t really bother me. One meal down, many more to go…

On Sunday we had a trip to Ronnie Scott’s to meet my brother and his girlfriend for a spot of lunchtime jazz. Again – and there’s a pattern emerging here – I would usually have a bottle of Ronnie’s finest NZ Sauvignon but had already looked at the drinks menu online so knew what I was going to order instead (a fab tip from OYNB – be prepared!) and enjoyed two Nojitos (mint, lime and cloudy apple juice) instead. Perfectly delicious, perfectly refreshing and £10 the pair!

Which brings me on to sparkling grape juice. As it’s my birthday today and I would usually have a glass of fizz (or several), I was drawn to the AF display in M&S which had a sparkling grape juice in a bottle with a cage and a cork so it looked like proper fizz. I caved. I bought some. I cracked it open to have with a piece of cake and realised that I just have to accept that I DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL ANYMORE AND THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO CHAMPAGNE. It looked like apple juice for god’s sake.

So, I’m back on the tea and wondering whether it’s ok to hibernate until next January…