Bartenders, Why Don't You Understand?

[MissHaberdasher]

I am still getting used to the gluten free thing. I've been mostly gluten free since July 2011 (mostly because I have made a lot of mistakes). I happen to enjoy going to bars and getting pretty drunk with some of my friends and just having some dumb fun. My only problem is I have a quiet voice and bar tenders DO NOT understand why I ask for specific brands of alcohol. I explain I'm gluten intolerant, and they say "well what about beer?" ... d'oh. I don't expect them to know everything but the mild anxiety that comes along with willingly ingesting a drink that I know nothing about is beginning to get bothersome.

I've been trying to research alcohol on my own (google) and get so many mixed messages. Three Olives is gluten free on one site and highly dangerous on another.

Basically, what kind of mixed drink am I able to order in ANY bar and feel confident that I won't have the worst hangover along with gluten poisoning the next day?

What do you guys order?

[ravenwoodglass]

I go with either wine or a clear rum and coke. If you often go to the same place you could also ask the bar manager (during an off time, perhaps afternoon) to order you some Redbridge or another gluten-free beer. If you are a regular they will often comply.

[Skylark]

I usually don't drink fancy mixed drinks. It's too hard to be certain they are gluten-free. I'll order a martini, gin & tonic, a good sipping whiskey (distilled alcohol doesn't bother me), a glass of wine, or hard cider.

[Jestgar]

tequila and lime juice.

Are you looking for something sweet? I'd go for something with fruit juice rather than a mix.

As a general statement, all distilled alcohols should be gluten-free.

[Adalaide]

I long ago quit drinking, but if I hadn't Jose would probably be my best friend. He and I used to be quite close and had a lot of good times together. I'd mix my tequila with coke, 7up or even dr. pepper on occasion, but mostly I mixed it with more Jose and a large stash of limes.

[hexon]

I always go for whiskey sour. But like others have mentioned you should be good with any distilled alcohol so long as some kind of gluten containing additive wasn't added after for flavor or coloring. The one good thing I walked away from organic chemistry lab with was knowledge of distillation. Basically your alcohol evaporates out of your mixture (of water, alcohol, yeast, grains) before anything else does due to it's lower evaporation point, and is then condensed into a separate container. So this leaves behind the things you don't want in the original container. So unless you are one of the unlucky few who are SUPER sensitive, you should be fine with distilled alcohol drinks. I've tried various vodka, tequila, rum, and everclear mixed drinks without issue. What really stinks is that apparently liquor companies aren't required to have their ingredients on the bottle, which I learned after taking a gamble with a colored, flavored vodka once. Thankfully it turned out fine.

[ravenwoodglass]

So unless you are one of the unlucky few who are SUPER sensitive, you should be fine with distilled alcohol drinks.

I am one of those unlucky few. If you are new to the diet you may want to go with alcohol that is not distilled from gluten grains and then when you are well healed do a challenge with it. Chances are good you will be fine with distilled gluten as only a very few of us react.

If you are new to the diet you may have trouble with any alcohols until you are well healed.

[jackisue]

Lucky for me, my favorite drink seems to be safe. (For now, at least. I'm very new to this and I'm learning that I may want to avoid certain things in the beginning... still hammering that out.)

But I usually go for Banana Malibu Rum mixed with Pepsi. It's like drinking a liquid circus peanut. Heavenly.

J

[hexon]

Lucky for me, my favorite drink seems to be safe. (For now, at least. I'm very new to this and I'm learning that I may want to avoid certain things in the beginning... still hammering that out.)

But I usually go for Banana Malibu Rum mixed with Pepsi. It's like drinking a liquid circus peanut. Heavenly.

J

Don't you love those weird soda combos! I learned if you mixed Capt Morgan's Spiced Rum with Sprite it tastes like cream soda. Craziness!