Alyson Lewis

What do you know about Sap!? Before trying these drinks, I knew little to nothing about it. In my head, I always confused it with maple syrup. I’m aware that these two things are in fact, different, but I never had a reason to seek out any answers. I guess it was just one of those things I was comfortable in my confusion of. I knew it was sticky and came from trees. That’s as far as my knowledge went. So when I saw the Sap! variety pack of maple seltzer, maple soda and sparkling birch, I thought I could use this as a learning experience.

Recently, I was thinking about alcohol. I don’t drink, and the main purpose of my beverage blog is to introduce products and recipes that are not alcohol-focused. I don’t enjoy drinking, because I don’t like the feeling of being hungover, and I don’t enjoy the post-drinking haze that sets into my brain. I feel foggy, uncoordinated and like every motion I make through the day is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Alcohol effects different people in different ways, but I actively choose not to have it as part of my life. What other people do is none of my business, and I have no opinion on what other people choose to do with their bodies. That being said, I’ve noticed an influx of drinks lately that tout having relaxing effects. I’ve tried a couple of them (reviews to come later), and my overall experience with them is that they simply make me sleepy. Tired and relaxed are different feelings for me, and I like to keep them separate. I’d yet to discover a drink that made me feel effectively calm without loopy side effects where I felt too tired to even walk across the room in a straight line. I think those beverages have a time and place, but that feeling isn’t “relaxation” for me. If I wanted to feel like that, I could just take two melatonin and watch cartoons until I rolled over and passed out face-down in bed. I wanted to explore something different.