The First Drop: Tough Year. Thank You.

Given the season, I’m super grateful to have the chance to welcome you to one of those “things I’m thankful for” columns.

I’m thankful for my wife and children, and semi-thankful for the dog, who still needs to stop eating remote controls.

It’s an understatement to say that it’s been a hell of a year, so I’m thankful both for barrel-strength bourbon and for the growing number of well crafted zero-alcohol options to keep me away from it.

I’m also thankful for seltzer and soda, for coffee and yerba mate, for Spindrift, Topo Chico, Essentia and all of the CBD drinks that are trying to capitalize on the fact that it’s been a hell of a year.

I’m thankful for an incredible edit team at BevNET, NOSH, and Brewbound, including our art staff and freelancers. I’m also thankful for Barry Nathanson, and admire so much the job he’s done as an industry guide and family man.

I’m grateful that I haven’t had COVID-19. I’m grateful for the people who have had it and lived. I’m thankful that the ones who didn’t live had people who loved them, and I hope they knew that.

I’m thankful for scientists, who are developing really important cocktails: vaccines.

I’m thankful to have the privilege of covering a business filled with incredible dreamers who are as hard-working as they are visionary, and who have continued to put in the work, even as the past year’s events made a hard journey even more unpredictable.

I’m thankful for the industry friends who will take my calls and continue to explain the business to me, and who are willing to lend an ear when things aren’t so great. I’m thankful for the ones who won’t take my calls as well, because it means that I have to work that much harder to get stories delivered.

I’m thankful that I can still get up and run around and exercise, even if it hurts a lot and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Such is middle age.

I’m thankful for books. They are a fortress of refuge in hard times.

I’m thankful for the Blue Note Tone Poet series, which has kept me listening to something other than election news.

Speaking of news, I’m thankful for Martin Caballero and Brad Avery, who keep the whole industry steeped in it.

I’m thankful for our columnist, Gerry Khermouch, who competes with us and writes for us at the same time, because his work really classes up the joint.

I’m thankful for John Craven, whose fascination with beverages has built a platform that has supported, with great decency and sacrifice, a deserving crew through a trying time.

I’m thankful on behalf of the entire CPG wing of the beverage business that they aren’t having to face down what the restaurant and bar owners are right now; it’s one thing to lament the loss of that fraction of sales that comes from on-premise, it’s another to have on-premise sales be the whole enchilada. Here’s hoping we can all work together to bring restaurants back to health next year.

I’m thankful that restaurant owners are dogged and inspired, and are teaching lessons about pivoting to stay alive and busy nearly every day.

I’m thankful that Expos East and West, NACS, Fancy Food and, yes, BevNET Live weren’t held this year, so that more of us can make it to Thanksgiving. I’ll be thankful when they’re back, though, for sure.

I’m thankful that I’ve had so many great experts join me for Office Hours, and I’m hoping for so much more sharing in the future.

I’m thankful for hop tea, craft beer, and red wine. I wish there was more time to enjoy all of them, every day, but I’m really looking forward to enjoying them all this Thanksgiving.

I’m thankful that we all get the chance to do this next year, and for you sharing the stories with us that have helped illuminate a fascinating industry.

I’m thankful that, after all these years on the job, faced with one last column for the year, I found this old chestnut kicking around in the columnist’s bag of tricks.

And I’m thankful for you, for indulging me on it, all the way to this last period.