thinking about it more I like sours (in the japanese chuhai-type sense, though the traditional kind is also good in a different way) because they answer my younger self’s question of “outside of wine, which makes sense to me for some reason, why would I buy an alcoholic drink when it costs significantly more than my usual coke and usually tastes worse” by tasting fruity and fizzy and selling for about the same price as a soft drink. at that point if I’m with friends and already buying something that isn’t water why not get a fun drink. responsibly
though funny enough I buy soda a lot less in restaurants here because 1. small cups 2. most places don’t do free refills and 3. those that do have a drink bar setup, so it takes more effort to refill. so I’m pretty sure I do end up spending more on alcohol than soda after all