taking a sip

slurp ♡

I’m having one of those days where I’m unsure what to do with myself. I’ve been pacing around the house, doing various small tasks, but not fully committing to anything. I just googled, “How much protein in 6 pieces of shrimp?” I am considering taking a walk, but the sky keeps threatening to rain. Normally, this is the time I would go to the deli to fulfill my quota of leaving the house once a day. I usually buy a beverage of some kind. I generally opt for a seltzer or a Diet Coke.

Drinking my little mid-afternoon beverage is one of the last things I have that feels like a reward. I quit drinking alcohol in 2014, and recently quit smoking cigarettes after 15 years. If anything, I need my beverage now more than ever. Lately, every social event is a new chance for me to get existential, spiraling about how to have fun without the aid of drugs, alcohol, and my dearly departed American Spirits. At least I have Diet Coke, the liquid (and spiritual) equivalent of smoking a cigarette.

There you have it. I, Molly Soda, am finally writing about soda. More broadly, I’m interested in beverages and what they signify, especially within online girl spaces. Content about a woman’s need to collect/have as many beverages at her disposal (at brunch, on a nightstand, in the car running errands, during a hangover) is prevalent online. I scroll Pinterest and see photos of women with nicely manicured nails holding Starbucks drinks in their cars; a photo of a woman holding a half-gallon water jug with encouraging phrases printed on it like, “That’s it!” and “Keep drinking!”; a can of diet coke with lipstick on the rim; paparazzi photos of a celebrity holding a smoothie.

We live in a world of $20 smoothies and mood-boosting seltzers. Women go viral for adding sugar-free syrups to their water. You’re more “rat girl summer” if you drink blue Gatorade but more “seal girl summer” if you drink matcha lattes. What we choose to consume plays a large role in how we see ourselves and what we want to signal to a broader audience. I want to break down some of the non-alcoholic drinks I consume, think about, and see online.

Diet Coke/Diet Soft Drinks

Nothing is more chic than cracking open a can (it must be a can) of DC on a hot summer day. It’s edgy because of the aspartame. You know that it’s not “good for you,” but you don’t care. I didn’t get into drinking Diet Coke until a few years ago. One sip and suddenly my aversion to artificial sweetener faded and I was open to the universe. Drinking a Diet Coke is chasing a feeling. I’m a girl in a gas station parking lot sipping out of a large Styrofoam cup or a girl walking down a crowded city street drinking it out of a can with a straw. I’ve recently gotten into Diet Dr Pepper to switch it up a little, and while sometimes I prefer it, it doesn’t feel the same. Diet Dr Pepper isn’t a special club that certain girls belong to. If I search for “Diet Dr Pepper aesthetic” on Pinterest it’s mostly pictures of Diet Coke anyway.

Morning Caffeine (Coffee, Matcha)

I don’t think I’ve ever been so clued into everyone’s caffeine consumption as I have been in the past few years. Emma Chamberlain has partially built her online persona and subsequent coffee brand off of how much she loves coffee. I guess the Gilmore Girls did it first. Now it’s less drip coffee from the diner and more espresso shot at home from the Breville Barista Express (or a Nespresso machine) mixed with non-dairy milk. It sounds more complicated, but it’s not snobby. No one is making pour-overs. If anything, everyone is trying to simulate second wave coffee shop drinks at home through the use of various creamers and syrups. Starbucks’ cultural influence remains: pink drink; iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso; vanilla sweet cream cold brew; the infamous pumpkin spice latte. Matcha lattes are considered a “hot girl drink” because of their ties to wellness. It conjures up an image of a woman in a green face mask staring in the mirror, drinking a pale green liquid out of a metal straw. Am I basic if I order a pumpkin spice latte or am I doing it in an ironic way? Am I pink pilates princess aesthetic if I order a matcha?

Water and its Vessels

I don’t leave the house without my water bottle. It’s a yellow 26 oz Yeti Rambler. The term “emotional support water bottle” comes to mind. Remember when the Internet went crazy about VSCO girls in 2019? Half of that trend/aesthetic centered around the use of a specific type of water bottle: the Hydro Flask. Vessels are constantly going in and out of style. Right now, it’s the Stanley Cup. I want one, despite the fact that it is essentially a Big Gulp with a handle and has no function in my life because it is meant to be placed in a car’s cup holder and will most definitely spill if I attempt to throw it in my tote bag. I’d have to walk around all day just…holding it. My obsession with the Stanley Cup is probably the same as my desire to go to a strip mall and walk around for the vibes. I have this fantasy of getting in my car (I don’t drive), gently placing my Stanley Cup full of ice water that came out of the refrigerator door (this is key) into the cup holder, and running errands. I’m just a girl from the Midwest, after all. It’s unclear what water vessel the city girls are into right now. 

Smoothies/Juices

A few months ago, I went to a taping of the Drew Barrymore show and Chris Appleton (world-renowned conceptual hairstylist according to his YouTube) premiered his “Apple-disiac” Erewhon smoothie. Unfortunately, no one in the audience got to try it. This was coming directly after the buzz around Hailey Bieber’s “Strawberry Glaze” Erewhon smoothie. Chris’s purportedly supports healthy hair, while Hailey’s is good for your skin. Like matcha, smoothies and juices fall into the general “that girl” wellness category. There’s a nod to luxury in consuming green juice. I’m not sure why mushed up fruits and vegetables are so expensive, but they are. On the Internet, a picture of a smoothie is colorful and vibrant. At home, my smoothie is brown because I put too many random ingredients together.

Seltzer/Alcohol-Free Alternatives

For someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, seltzer is a major part of my life. The rate at which seltzer selection has grown since I quit drinking eight years ago is exciting and absurd. I’m lumping all of the CBD, mood-boosting, wellness, nootropic (what is that?) drinks into this category as well. I have a screenshot on my phone of a picture of Bella Hadid kissing a signed can of her mood-boosting seltzer brand Kin Euphorics. I’m not sure what adaptogens are but they are in every $7 seltzer at the deli. Even the lower-sugar alternatives to regular sodas like OLIPOP and Poppi contain prebiotics—unclear what those are still—I think that just means there's some apple cider vinegar thrown in there. It feels like the days of the sexy seltzer are numbered due in part to the recession and the growing embrace of the messy girl aesthetic/relatability online. 

Drinks as Performance

Is there a New York Times article on 2girls1bottl3 yet? There should be. The duo makes complicated mixed drinks in public spaces (McDonalds, the pool, in front of some escalators) while dressed up in coordinated outfits (Starbucks uniforms, Mean Girls costumes, Jersey Shore cosplay). They stare blankly at the camera as they make their beverages. Little seems to be known about them, but they aren’t the only girls on the Internet doing this deadpan mixology. The TikTok user viperdeme regularly makes comically large coffee drinks, accompanied by a brunette friend, on her channel. I even attempted to make my own deadpan giant drink video (solo) for my TikTok. It ended up sitting on my counter and melting because I had no one to share it with. I would occasionally walk past it throughout the day and take a sip. Even the #WaterTok videos have their own performative nature to them. The sheer number of sugar free syrups combined to create a water that tastes like birthday cake is akin to making a potion. The girls are tinkering and we’re all watching.