Wanted: savory drinks that aren't coffee or tea.

January 9, 2016 8:32 AM

The no list: sweetener, caffeine, alcohol, ginger. I don't want anything that tastes sweet. I truly, truly hate coffee and nearly all tea. So tired of water and milk. Help?
posted by frykitty to Food & Drink (77 answers total)

Bovril.
posted by Solomon at 8:34 AM on January 9, 2016 [8 favorites]

People seem super excited about bone broth all of a sudden.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:36 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Broth
Shrubs ("drinking vinegar")
Tomato juice or other vegetable juices
Clamato
posted by dayintoday at 8:36 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Bouillon. Water it down a bit more if you like.
posted by yesster at 8:36 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Kvass is always good, though it has a tiny amount of alcohol.

Also tomato juice.
posted by pyro979 at 8:39 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Believe it or not, most meat broth drinks, and Clamato, are full of sugar. *sad sigh*
posted by frykitty at 8:41 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Club soda or tonic water. Add a sprig of thyme. Lavender soda may hit "floral" more than "sweet".
posted by Nyx at 8:41 AM on January 9, 2016 [5 favorites]

Numi makes a line of "savory tea", various vegetable flavors.
posted by The otter lady at 8:42 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: LaCroix has several mineral waters with flavors like coconut and grapefruit with 0 sugar. They also have some mixed flavors like pineapple/apple in slightly different cans. They sound sweet because of the fruit, but they are actually pretty tart.
posted by soelo at 8:50 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Shrubs ("drinking vinegar")

Shrubs have sugar in them. (The recipes I've found have equal parts sugar and vinegar, plus whatever sugar comes from the fruit in them.)
posted by asterix at 8:51 AM on January 9, 2016

Most drinking vinegars ("shrubs" or "cures") are also full of sugar, although they don't taste at all sweet. But I'm slightly confused about your wording. Are you avoiding sugar altogether or just not interested in drinks that taste sweet?

I drink straight lime juice diluted in water or club soda. Cucumber water is only lightly flavored--I actually find the water infuser bottles useful for that. You can use all kinds of herb or veggies (mint is good; the above-mentioned thyme; citrus, carrot) and it's not sweet, although it's also not strongly-flavored.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:52 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

I've been enjoying tulsi (holy basil) tea lately - you can get it loose or in teabags, plain or with various added flavors.
posted by moonmilk at 8:56 AM on January 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

Kombucha: pretty easy to make your own.
posted by experiencing a significant gravitas shortfall at 8:56 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Bone broth! I made a batch of pho broth (omitting the sugar but using all of the other spices) last week and have had a mug of it before bed every night. It's wonderful.
posted by joan_holloway at 8:56 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Are you avoiding sugar altogether or just not interested in drinks that taste sweet?

Both. Sweet drinks just send me back to sugary stuff, which I am avoiding.
posted by frykitty at 8:57 AM on January 9, 2016

here in chile, "hierbas" are very common (particularly after a meal). they're leaves from various plants that are are infused in hot water. so they may not be what you want (they are "teas" in a sense), but they do not contain actual leaves from the tea plant.

translating from that link, these include ginger (ok, skip that one), boldo (native to chile), cinnamon (leaves, not bark), oregano, piper aduncum, rosemary, justicia pectoralis, and lavander (at this point the article mentions a page 2 but has no link!)

edit: "cedron" is another common one - we had one in the garden, back when we had a garden - that is apparently translated as "lemon beebrush". and you can also stick a slice of lemon in hot water.
posted by andrewcooke at 8:59 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Believe it or not, most meat broth drinks, and Clamato, are full of sugar. *sad sigh*

Not if you make your own, they're not! You only need meaty bones, a crapton of water, maybe an onion and a couple cloves of garlic, a little bit of vegetable scraps to round out the flavor (a carrot, maybe the tops from celery stalks) and water. Dump the bones and veg into a pot, cover water over the whole thing, bring it to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours and you're done. You'll get something pretty thick, so to make a beverage, you can dilute it.

I made a really great chicken broth out of a one-pound package of chicken wings, one onion and one garlic clove and that's it. I ended up with 2 cups of really thick stock, which if you're looking more for a beverage you could then dilute with another cup of water.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:02 AM on January 9, 2016 [14 favorites]

I just drink the chicken stock that comes in a box. I add a bit of salt and a little bit of butter and then throw a mug in the microwave.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:02 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh - and in her book "How To Cook A Wolf", the food writer MFK Fisher suggested actually saving the water from when you boiled vegetables; you drain the vegetables out, but save the water in a jar in the fridge. She said that mainly the water could be the base for a future soup stock, but she also said it made a surprisingly refreshing drink.

To be fair, that particular book was written during World War II and she was heavily into sustainable cooking during wartime, and that idea's always sounded a little...odd to me. But - not entirely off the ranch, I admit.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:04 AM on January 9, 2016 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I have the same desire and have mostly come up empty. Can recommend V8 juice, though. It's not fully zero carb; about 10g of carbs in an 8oz serving (compare 26g for 8oz of Coca-Cola). Plain tomato juice is also about 10g carb / 8oz.

Kombucha is sugar water with some tea.
posted by Nelson at 9:07 AM on January 9, 2016

Marmite (no sugar)

Bovril has been mentioned upthread, but you can also make your own beef tea
posted by Vortisaur at 9:11 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

100g of Bovril, dried, has 1.7g of sugar.
posted by Solomon at 9:17 AM on January 9, 2016

Low tech: water with slice of lemon or other citrus, a couple frozen raspberries, green herbs like mint or basil or cilantro, and/or cucumber, etc. After a couple hours, the water takes on the taste of the soaking fruit/herb/vegetable.

High tech: Blend any of above items into water, grapefruit is especially good, tumeric root.

Super high tech: use a juicer. My current favorite is 4 celery stalks, big handful of baby kale or spinach, parsley or cilantro, 1 lemon peeled.

Texture: 1.5 T of chia seeds soaked in 1 cup of water take on a tapioca-like texture in a few hours and contain fiber and texture. Add to any beverage.

Creamy: soak a handful of raw cashews in a cup of water and blend after a few hours with a high tech blender to get creamy.

Warm: warming above cashew milk is nice. Can add soaked chia seeds too.

Coconut water is all over the place though some is sweetened or sweet-tasting.
posted by RoadScholar at 9:18 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've mentioned barley tea in other related asks before. Despite the name it has nothing to do with tea. Basically it's crushed roasted barley that comes in a giant teabag that you throw in hot water for a minute or two, or cold water for longer (I prefer it cold, personally). It's got a nice savory barley flavor, almost close to a very malty beer, and contains no sugar, or really anything other than barley and water. Amazon sells fifty bags for ten bucks.
posted by Itaxpica at 9:23 AM on January 9, 2016 [17 favorites]

So tired of water and milk.

FTR, milk has 13 grams of sugar per cup.
posted by fairmettle at 9:25 AM on January 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

Unsweetened hot chocolate: just melt some unsweetened chocolate in hot water, then use an immersion blender to make it smooth and delicious.

I actually do this (using semi-sweet chocolate) in unsweetened rice milk. The unsweetened chocolate version will probably be pretty intense, but maybe you'll like it.

It _will_ be caffeinated.
posted by amtho at 9:27 AM on January 9, 2016

Does your exclusion of tea cover just tea or all herbal infusions? The ear doctor (of all people) had me cut down on coffee / tea, and I've settled on the mint flavor from these guys (which apparently you can't get on Amazon but does exist) as my go-to hot liquid in a mug.
posted by Dr Dracator at 9:27 AM on January 9, 2016

Also: Savory Tea.
posted by amtho at 9:28 AM on January 9, 2016

You can get flavored broths from Swansons. They do a really nice broth base for making hot & sour soup base I will often just hit up in a mug with no additives on a cold winters day.

Lemon Barley water is refreshing, easy to make & you can control the amount of sweetness you add, the tartness of the lemons is great.

Malted Milk powder added to milk can change up the flavor a little. It is a bit sweet but it comes from the malted barely & not added sugars.
posted by wwax at 9:31 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Salty Lassi?
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:36 AM on January 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

What kind of water? Because some of the mineral waters have their own distinct taste and/or are naturally carbonated ie: Badoit, San Pellingrino, Gerolsteiner, Spa (red) etc.
posted by squeak at 9:37 AM on January 9, 2016

Fresh mint steeped in hot water makes a lovely drink.
posted by Dysk at 9:44 AM on January 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Club soda or tonic water.

Big difference! Tonic water is as sweet as any other pop, but club soda is just carbonated water. I have carbonator at home and drink gallons of club soda.
posted by xris at 9:45 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Dough (Afghan yogurt drink)
Salt lassi
Barley tea or corn tea (there's no tea in either of them as far as I know); ditto cherry blossom tea and kombu tea (not the fermented "kombucha" thing)
posted by wintersweet at 9:49 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Miso soup. Easy to make in a mug - comes in paste form, just add hot water.
posted by Gordafarin at 9:56 AM on January 9, 2016 [21 favorites]

Bloody Mary mix. I usually add extra black pepper, horseradish, and red pepper to mine. I like pepper.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:58 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

A little bit of umeboshi paste in hot water. Experiment with the amount to avoid the alkaline aftertaste you can get if you add too much. It's definitely not sweet, but nicely tart and salty.
posted by corey flood at 10:01 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Reishi (or other mushroom) powder mixed into hot water, and Persian Doogh: salty/minty yogurt soda.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 10:10 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Not exactly savory but cucumber and water?
posted by raccoon409 at 10:16 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I will drink water with a few drops of bitters.
posted by RobotHero at 10:17 AM on January 9, 2016 [7 favorites]

Upon preview: RobotHero beat me to it! But to second the suggestion:

Any kind of unsweetened carbonated water/effervescent beverage (club soda, etc) with a dash or two of Angostura bitters.

Yes, bitters are a liquor infusion, but their use is limited to no more than a few dashes so the adverse impact of alcoholic sugars is so minimal it's almost not worth mentioning. Bitters can also be made at home (to your liking and preference, naturally) without added sweeteners. It sounds like you want to avoid things that trigger you to desire sugar, and bitters do not taste so much sweet as they do herbal, savory/umami, and of course bitter.
posted by nightrecordings at 10:22 AM on January 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

Unsweetened cranberry juice (100%, not the 'cocktail' stuff) cut with seltzer.
posted by gyusan at 10:24 AM on January 9, 2016 [5 favorites]

Target sells an unsweetened cucumber-and-mint-infused sparkling water. It's quite tasty. (Especially with gin.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:28 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Non-alcoholic beer? Some of them are quite nice.
posted by sively at 10:42 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Although I'm not big on drinking chicken broth, it turns out that I think the packets that come with ramen noodles are delicious as mug of beverage. As opposed to buying a lot of cheap ramen and throwing out the noodles, in my local Asian grocery I can find jars of tom yum broth paste, packets of instant miso, shabu-broth mixes, etc. You said many broth drinks you found were sweetened, and I can't guarantee that none of these has any sugar in them, but I know they're not sweet-tasting.
posted by aimedwander at 10:59 AM on January 9, 2016

I'm not sure if this counts as "coffee" but I occasionally like to have a cup of Postum instead of regular decaffeinated coffee. The taste is quite different. Plus it makes me feel a bit like a geriatric Mormon, although that is of uncertain benefit.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 11:04 AM on January 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

Sparkling (carbonated) water, flavoured with more sour (vs sweet) fruits like lime, lemon, and maybe grapefruit. Or just straight up carbonated water. I gave up my coke zero habit and have replaced it with cans of sparking water -- i get the same cold and carbonation fix, without the sweet.
posted by cgg at 11:13 AM on January 9, 2016

Some aloe drinks might work for you. Try different brands. Some just taste like aloe, which I intensely dislike but it might be what you want. Others have verious fruit flavoirs , which I like quite a lot but sounds like it would be too sweet for you.

Tonic water can be found in the form of diet tonic water, so no actual sugar. It is fairly bitter.

I drink diet coke like it is going out of style. I don't care for coffee too much, but will drink mocha (coffee with chocolate) sometimes. You would likely have to make your own from scratch somehow as commercial versions are definitely sweetened. But coffee and chocolate are both bitter flavors before adding sugar.
posted by Michele in California at 11:36 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Barley water? Boil some washed barley in a pot. After a while the water turns cloudy and its consistency becomes a little thicker. I add a spoonful of rock sugar to a potful of barley water. It was my one alternative to coffee and tea (caffeinated), hot chocolate (sugary), milk (don't like it) and water.

You can chill it and have it cold.

Or maybe you can try reduced-sugar soy milk.
posted by rozaine at 11:43 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Non- alcoholic beer. Of course, it probably has sugar and/or carbs that convert to sugar.
posted by SemiSalt at 11:49 AM on January 9, 2016

Yeah, diet tonic water is my jam. Canada Dry has a lime-flavored version, too. La Croix sparkling water could also be your thing.
posted by limeonaire at 12:00 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

A splash of wine (1/2 TSP?) in a tall glass of water gives it a little bit of flavor but not enough alcohol to have any effect. It's light, refreshing and makes it seem like you're drinking something more interesting than water.
posted by stray thoughts at 12:14 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you make your own horchata, you can make it without sugar.
posted by yclipse at 12:23 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ayran: a Turkish yogurt drink. Mix equal parts unflavoured yogurt and water, add salt to taste. Serve chilled or with ice.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:30 PM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Champurrado or Atole with no sugar would still be delicious. Also - If you make your own broth with no sugar, you could always freeze it into ice cubes to heat up later to make it really convenient.
posted by belau at 12:34 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you're looking for a hot comforting beverage in the similar vein to coffee or tea but not, you might enjoy Crio Bru. It's made from ground roasted cacao beans and brews like coffee. You can add cream, almond milk, coconut milk, etc. if you want. And I second bone broth, homemade with veggie scraps, chicken bones, a splash of apple cider vinegar and lots of water, cooked in a slow cooker for 24 - 48 hours or in a pressure cooker for a teeny amount of time.
posted by ms_rasclark at 1:12 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Seconding ayran.
posted by jcatus at 1:16 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you do like V-8, but find it bland you can add some balsamic vinegar to it. I often heat it up in a mug and add balsamic, maybe even some cracked black pepper and garlic salt. They also sell a spicy version, but I just buy the basic and add red pepper or sriracha, etc. if I want some heat added.

I also heat up unsweetened almond milk. I'm not sure that's different enough for your requirements, and to me it's got a bit of a sweetness to it (even with no sugar added), but I understand the desire for something different. I drink a ton of tea and seltzer water, and when I get tired of them, heated V-8 and almond milk are my go-to beverages.
posted by dawg-proud at 1:25 PM on January 9, 2016

My grandmother likes to drink sauerkraut juice.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 1:27 PM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Miso soup? You can buy various packets of instant mix stuff for not much money - some are plain, and some have floaty bits of tofu, or spinach or kelp. I always add more water to mine as I find some too salty for me.

I know you said no tea, but what about sencha - which is Japanese green tea with toasted rice in it. It's somewhere between savoury and sweet to taste, has no added sugar and smells like...well...toasted rice.

Both of the above helped me when I did the whole no-carb thing last year (and the sugar cravings were the WORST!)
posted by ninazer0 at 1:32 PM on January 9, 2016

Throw some spices into some unsweetened almond milk. I personally like chai spices (I mix a chai spice blend in with my hot cocoa.) But you can make some spiced milk with no sugar. In general unsweetened almond milk is satisfying like milk but without the sugar.
posted by Crystalinne at 1:40 PM on January 9, 2016

Chicory?

(Might be too close to coffee.)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:31 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I really like unsweetened chocolate almond milk. When I first bought it I thought it might have a naturally slightly sweet taste, but it doesn't. Yet somehow, the chocolate taste is still pleasing and it makes a very refreshing cold drink.

A little apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar in ice water (with no sweetener) takes some getting used to, but if you like Italian dressing or other sour things you may find it grows on you. I drink it a lot because vinegar helps my digestion and is supposed to be good for blood sugar issues.

Plain, whole-milk kefir is delicious, although again you need to get used to the sour taste.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:03 PM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you all for your suggestions! Several of them sound doable.
posted by frykitty at 3:15 PM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I've marked some best answers that I'm going to try right away. I'll come back and mark some of the more complicated ones if I try them.
posted by frykitty at 3:28 PM on January 9, 2016

My girlfriend doesn't like caffeine and avoids sugar so she drinks these roasted grain drinks with me in the morning. They're actually pretty tasty (on my phone so no links, sorry):

Cafix
Postum
Pero
Roma
posted by overhauser at 3:39 PM on January 9, 2016

I like the flavored balsamic vinegars in soda water. Like bitters, you only need less than a teaspoon or to taste. I buy mine from Golden Fig in St Paul, but you may find a local producer. Golden Fig has basil, black peppercorn, & clove/cinnamon versions that are all good as drink flavors.
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 3:43 PM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

When you say "Tea" do you mean camellia sinensis, or anything that you have to soak in hot water of a vaguely plant-like nature? Cause there are a tonne of not particularly sweet herbal things. Rooibos, cocoa husks, lemongrass, (also lemon thyme, yum), orzo (a kind of barley euivalent, coffee-ish in taste), peppermint, etc etc.
posted by smoke at 3:57 PM on January 9, 2016

Response by poster: anything that you have to soak in hot water of a vaguely plant-like nature

This, pretty much.
posted by frykitty at 4:52 PM on January 9, 2016

I really love dandy blend, available on Amazon.
posted by bookworm4125 at 8:20 PM on January 9, 2016

Kefir was already mentioned so doogh. Really great.
posted by aeighty at 10:23 PM on January 9, 2016

An Altoid or two in hot water gives it a bit of a kick without being very sweet.
posted by stray thoughts at 12:07 PM on January 10, 2016

You might want to try cold brewed cacao. I made it once, and it was nice.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:35 AM on January 11, 2016

Aquafaba is the water of soaked lentils. Mung bean water is particularly nutritious.
posted by PeaPod at 1:19 PM on January 11, 2016

Behold the reason people often buy a SodaStream... and don't put any flavoring in it. :-)
posted by talldean at 12:30 PM on January 12, 2016

Ayran and non flavoured kefir. And buttermilk.
posted by Karotz at 4:43 PM on January 12, 2016

Coconut milk diluted with broth and warmed is delicious! And easy to throw together in a mug. You can also add things like curry paste or spices, but it's lovely all by itself.

Nthing LaCroix. I tend to really dislike both sparkling water and flavored water, but I like the LaCroix. It's refreshing and carbonated enough to come close to satisfying my soda cravings, too.

In the summer, make your own tomato juice by pureeing fresh tomatoes and straining them over a large bowl, letting it sit for awhile to get all the juice out. Store in a pitcher in the fridge, serve over ice (both because it' great cold and because ice helps further dilute it), add salt if desired. Yes, tomatoes got carbs, but this is going to be much lower-carb than premade juices, and it's likely not something you're going to be consuming at the same rate many people consume soda, coffee, and tea.
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:27 PM on January 12, 2016