John Mayer And Brandi Carlile Discuss The One Thing He Misses About Drinking After Getting Sober

Getty Image / John Shearer

Troubadour and current guitarist for Dead & Co. John Mayer recently hosted Brandi Carlile on his SiriusXM podcast. They discussed Mayer getting back into dating, writing a book, pep talks before going on stage, and life before sobriety.

John Mayer just recently hit 9 years without having a drink. His sobriety is said to have began after a 6-day hangover led to him making huge changes.

John Mayer And Brandi Carlile Miss ‘Ordering A Drink’

Brandi Carlile, who set Red Rocks on fire earlier this year with her hauntingly beautiful rendition of ‘Uninvited’ by Alanis Morissette, sat with Mayer and he brought up the thing he misses the most about drinking: the actual act of ordering a drink.

I rarely put much thought into the act of ordering a drink but last weekend I found myself at a steakhouse with my wife and we were drinking martinis. She remarked that hers was ‘perfect’ and me, a perfectionist when it comes to alcohol, told her I didn’t see any ice chips floating in the drink.

No less than 24 hours later, presumably because our phones are always listening to us, Instagram showed me a meme from Vinepair where it says one should say “make it skate” when ordering to request the tiny ice chips floating in the martini glass so it isn’t 100% strained. Honestly, it seems a bit redundant as a good martini should have tiny ice chips in there but that’s neither here nor there.

It wasn’t until I saw this clip of Brandi Carlile and John Mayer discussing ordering a drink that I realized I actually do enjoy the ceremony of it all. And for Mayer, ordering a proper drink was always a way to feel part of a society they felt like they didn’t belong for whatever reason. It almost sounds like ‘imposter syndrome’ for high society.

Here’s the clip:

You can check out the full episode of How’s Life With John Mayer and guest Brandi Carlile on the SiriusXM website and/or app.

Another clip from the interview that really jumped out to me was John Mayer talking about what he’d say to himself before getting on stage: