‘Sobergasms’ Are On The Rise – But What Does That Even Mean?

If you’ve ever been on a first date, you’ll know how daunting they can be.

What will you talk about, what will you wear, what will you do if they end up being painfully boring and you want to get out of there but are crippled by politeness?

Even worse is the prospect of going home with someone for the first time after a date.

The mild panic, the newness, the unknowingness of the sexual experience that could be really lovely and nice or underwhelming and simply bad.

If you’re anything like us, both the date and the first time sleeping with someone new has probably been dulled by alcohol – a couple of cocktails, a bottle of wine, a few pints in the pub before heading back to theirs.

Such is the millennial dating experience – drinking. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just what we’re used to: first dates being in bars, initial sexual encounters being far from sober, mornings after being mired by sore heads and the deep, integral need for a Panadol.

But, it seems, times are changing. Where a lot of us in our late 20s and 30s couldn’t dream of having sex with someone for the first time sober, the younger generation are making it their mission.

Introducing ‘sobergasming’ – the sex trend that’s set to be fairly huge for 2025… and beyond. Especially among Gen-Z.

The idea is simple: enjoy more sober casual sex. Hook up without hooking up with alcohol. Go to bed and don’t wake up with a headache the next day.

Not only will you enjoy the sex more, but you’ll also be better equipped to figure out if you actually want to sleep with that person again.

Alcohol not only dulls our senses, it affects our memory. A questionable experience with someone might seem not all that bad if you’ve had a couple of drinks. Go in sober and you’ve got nowhere to hide. Everything laid bare, if you will.

According to Lovehoney, while 64% of the UK public have had drunk sex, just 49% of those aged 18 to 24 have done so.

This shift in Gen-Z attitudes isn’t just apparent when it comes to sex. The younger generation simply aren’t drinking as much.

Where first dates and hang outs were once dominated by alcohol, more and more young people are opting for sober outings, or sober lives in general.

And there might be something in that.