Brewskis. Suds. A cold one. Gawd, how I love beer!
Now, to make things clear, I love to drink. I am partial to
sparkling wine, a cold gin and tonic served up in a pint pub glass, a frost
margarita (frozen, shaken, doesn’t matter) or a warm decanter of sake in a
sushi restaurant. I am always happy and ready to tip back a decent merlot, I love
a good whiskey neat, like how a refreshing pina colada goes down and have gotten
to know and appreciate a nicely bottled calvados from France. But all those
drinks, be they hot, cold and otherwise, all take a back seat when it comes
down to the sheer pleasure I get when I grab a can or a bottle of beer from the
ice box and crack the seal. That ‘psssssst!” sound when the carbonation escapes
the beverage container is just as thrilling now as it was back when I was a
young lad. Somehow certain things, like a frosty can of beer out of a cooler on
a hot summer’s day, just stays the same, no matter how old you get.
Living here in Colorado has helped to rekindle my love of
suds. You can’t seem to swing a dead cat around here without hitting a brewery
and I am happier for it. Craft beers have been such a great change of pace, no
matter how much I love my Coors. But it wasn’t easy to make the switch at
first. I have been a big fan of quality wine for years and living in NorCal did
not help matters out any. For a while my partner and I belonged to a half dozen
wine clubs, something that came all too easy living right down the road from the
Anderson Valley. The wineries in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties made it all
too easy to join, especially when we were out tasting. By the time we hit our
third or fourth vineyard we were primed and ready to sign up for whatever
bargains they might have waiting and ready for us to indulge in. Really, who
doesn’t like bargains I always felt that shaving ten or thirty bucks off a case
was a good deal back then. Before I knew it I had fifteen or more cases of good
stuff squirreled away in the back room and more was coming in regularly. That kind
of collecting took a lot of dedication and concentration. Dedication to
drinking those fine vinos was not the problem, keeping up with the subscriptions
became the chore.
So, here I am, on the edge of the high plains, two wine club
subscriptions later and I am a happy man. I am surrounded by quality beers and
ales, I have legal mota all around me as well and thanks to all that quality
cannabis I am not the drinking man I used to be. Somehow I think it’s a good
thing and so does my partner, my waistline and my head space. I like to wake up
knowing what I did the night before. I like the idea of having a bowl of menudo
in the morning because I want it to have it, not because I need it. I like to roll
out the recycling container on Tuesdays and have it filled up with jars and
cans that contained foodstuffs, not just empty cases of Bud or pinot noir.
So it comes to no surprise to me to read that the liquor
industry is feeling a bit put out by their falling sales points in legalized
states. When it comes to choosing how get to get inebriated, is there really a
question on which way to lean? When you live someplace where marijuana is legal,
and when the price of a gram is just about what a quality six pack or a decent
bottle of wine will cost you, is it difficult to see why the volume of alcohol sales
just might go down? I like to figure that a couple of bottles of beer is about
the same as a glass of good wine or a few hits off a joint. There was an
article
I read not too long ago that averaged out the joy factor of a normal
evening, one spent with friends, one where you could get about the same amount of
satisfaction sharing a joint, a six pack or a bottle of wine. Now, I don’t know
about you but I am a man of limited means. I know that I love all three of
those things but sometimes I have to make a choice. My partner likes it when I
make these educated kinds of decisions, one based on our budget, not just
desire.
Maybe instead of fighting these things, the cannabis and
beer and wine industries just need to join forces. Weed and beer are already
decent bedfellows thanks to hops and mota being part of the same family tree. Quality
wine on the coast has their regions, cannabis is going the same route. Instead
of fighting for smaller pieces of the same pie we just need to get together and
help consumers make better choices, help them get what they want and need, and
maybe, help them make better lifestyle choices as well.
Maybe if they did we would find that we need just a bit less
to drink, a bit less to smoke. Maybe that sundown will look prettier with a
glass of sparkling in hand and a hit off the vape. Maybe that ski run, that yard
work, that art project, that housecleaning day, will all go down better knowing
that you can chase that fun and excitement and hard work down with a toke and a
cold one at the end of it all.
All I know is that it works for me. I tend to not like to
mix things up these days. I like my stone straight. I like my beer when I have
it. I like my wine when I know that there is nothing left to do at the end of
the day. I love waking up in my bed and knowing that is where I laid my head
down the night before.
But more than anything I love that I have a choice. Let’s
help keep it that way. Support your local dispensary, brewery and wine shop.
Sip local, smoke local and do it all wisely and with your good health at the foremost of
your thinking.
Salud!
Do it all, but do it with class!
http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/12/02/legal-marijuana-states-beer-sales/68571/
No comments:
Post a Comment