Zebra Striping: The Modern-Day Temperance Movement?

Every connoisseur learns on their drinking journey to ride the mercurial nag of temperance. In time, Wild West weekend binges with Colt 45 mellow into gentle pony bottles clip-clopping across the bar. 

A true connoisseur knows better than to beat a dead horse, and they know when it’s time for an old horse to learn a new trick. Enter “zebra striping”, a fancy name for a simple new way to make sure you don’t embarrass yourself in public.

What is zebra striping? It’s a fun term for alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages during a drinking session. On, off. Or hot, cold. Wax on, wax off. Mr. Miyagi’s preferred mode of consumption.

How the Zebra Earned Its Stripes

Zebra striping didn’t arrive in the world of beer fully formed. Rather, the term has long been in use within all sorts of fields – programming, military strategy, land use… Anywhere an alternating pattern can help optimize function, you’re liable to strike upon a zebra stripe.

Let’s run through a test case, in regards to drinking. It’s Tuesday evening. You’re eating dinner with a potential customer. You want to display a degree of roguish charm and bonhomie without losing the ability to dictate complex contractual terms to the client, perhaps relating to a warranty or length of guaranteed customer support.

So you start off strong, ordering a double whiskey on the rocks. Your client is impressed, and feels the door is wide open to imbibe to their heart’s content. They, too, order a double.

You both finish your doubles as the steaks emerge, steaming. The waiter asks if you’d like another round. You let the client order first. Then you order a hop water. 

You repeat this pattern again, at which point you have had four drinks, and your fawning client has now had eight drinks, without even realizing you were zebra striping. You’re now in the power position, and perfectly set up to close the deal before dusk.

Benefits of Zebra Striping

There are some fairly clear-cut benefits to zebra striping. First, it slows your intake, allowing you to metabolize alcohol at a rate more suited to full cognitive function. Second, it keeps you hydrated. If you split every alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic option, you’re in line to find a nice buzz without needing an IV. Third, you can stay in the game longer, physically and mentally. 

It’s often not realistic to drink alcohol all day. It certainly isn’t healthy. By zebra striping, you can effectively spread out a mild session of drinking throughout an afternoon, opening you up to all-day tailgating, beach housing, NASCAR-ing and more. 

What Should I Drink When Zebra Striping? 

The world is your oyster. Common choices would include non-alcoholic brews, seltzers, waters, kombuchas or sodas. There is a general preference to keep the drinks carbonated, but there’s no reason an agua fresca wouldn’t mix well between beers. Less sugar and carbonation may well aid digestion. 

Zebra striping is more than simple drinking restraint, however. It could very well be a creative path forward for drinkers, or even brewers. Consider a synergistic drink combo – a lime pilsner coupled with a lemongrass kombucha. A bourbon barrel stout paired with a nitro cold brew. There are opportunities to play with the palate while also benefiting one’s health.

Drinkers can tailor their combination to a specific taste, and a brewer could gain a fun addition to their menu, perhaps on a daily rotation. Imagine a curated zebra-striped flight: sour, citrus seltzer, stout, vanilla seltzer, saison, cucumber-mint spritz…

And why stop with simply liquids? Zebra striping as a concept could equally apply to solids. Perhaps you zebra stripe your farmhouse ale with a lemon seltzer and poppyseed muffin. The idea is to keep you in the moment, or in the session, rather than put you on the sidelines. Anything that contributes to the continuity of your sensory experience is zebra striping at its finest.

The Price of Striping

Some may object to the idea of spending $8 on a non-alcoholic beverage while out at the pub. Understandable. This practice is rooted in foresight, and there are workarounds. Consider this hypothetical test-case. You leverage a Costco membership and purchase a 24-pack of La Croix. Before hitting the pub, you stuff two La Croix in your pockets, and two in your backpack. You’ve now doubled your potential drinking viability at a wholesale price, without increasing the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed. 

Better yet, skip the bar and buy a 24-pack of Michelob Ultra, alternating between beer and seltzer during the weekend’s jazz in the park. You’ll probably end up being the most hydrated person within city limits.

Black and White Thinking

In today’s health-conscious drinking climate, zebra striping is a wonderful compromise between the “drinking” and “health” aspects of alcohol consumption.

The term and trend is very Gen-Z, but the idea is nothing new. At its core, zebra striping is moderation, and compromise. It adds to one’s experience, sacrificing nothing. It can be leveraged to extend time, save money, reduce ill health effects, and increase social opportunity. 

Whether you ascribe to the “trend”, zebra striping is rooted in sound logic, and offers the chance to drink creatively, adapting your drinking choices to your needs and the surrounding environment. In doing so, you uphold a true connoisseur’s standard — that of knowing the right time and place for every drink, and most importantly, knowing one’s limits. If there’s one thing craft beer can teach us, whether in drinking or brewing production it is this: Stay within your means; or die.