Dry January is a resolution. Sober October is a choice. January is easier to start and easier to quit, October is harder to start and tends to stick. If you are picking one, pick the month whose social calendar you can actually survive.
The case for January
Momentum. The whole culture resets with you, bars are quiet, nobody is pouring at dinner, and half your friends are doing it too. The downside is the same thing. A resolution shared with everyone is easy to abandon with everyone, and by January 17 the group chat has usually negotiated a collective surrender.
The case for October
Nobody drifts into Sober October. You choose it against the current, with football on, holidays approaching and patio season barely cold. That makes it harder, and it makes finishing it mean more. October finishers report the same thing again and again, which is that the month proved the evening ritual survives without the alcohol in it.
What to pour, either month
The mistake in both months is replacing a cocktail with something sweet. A negroni drinker handed a fruit spritzer feels the loss immediately. Bitterness is what makes a drink read as adult, which is why the Phony Negroni and Amaro Falso hold the 6pm slot where seltzer cannot.
For January, the Dry January favorites piece covers the month. For October, the Sober October page does, including how much to stock for 31 evenings.
Or both
People who do both describe them differently. January is the annual service, October is the proof it took. Ten months apart, they bracket the year neatly, and the second one is always easier than the first.
Dry January vs Sober October: Which Month Is Yours?
Dry January is a resolution. Sober October is a choice. January is easier to start and easier to quit, October is harder to start and tends to stick. If you are picking one, pick the month whose social calendar you can actually survive.
The case for January
Momentum. The whole culture resets with you, bars are quiet, nobody is pouring at dinner, and half your friends are doing it too. The downside is the same thing. A resolution shared with everyone is easy to abandon with everyone, and by January 17 the group chat has usually negotiated a collective surrender.
The case for October
Nobody drifts into Sober October. You choose it against the current, with football on, holidays approaching and patio season barely cold. That makes it harder, and it makes finishing it mean more. October finishers report the same thing again and again, which is that the month proved the evening ritual survives without the alcohol in it.
What to pour, either month
The mistake in both months is replacing a cocktail with something sweet. A negroni drinker handed a fruit spritzer feels the loss immediately. Bitterness is what makes a drink read as adult, which is why the Phony Negroni and Amaro Falso hold the 6pm slot where seltzer cannot.
For January, the Dry January favorites piece covers the month. For October, the Sober October page does, including how much to stock for 31 evenings.
Or both
People who do both describe them differently. January is the annual service, October is the proof it took. Ten months apart, they bracket the year neatly, and the second one is always easier than the first.