Beverages:
A STATE OF THE UNION, AND AN EYE TO THE YEAR AHEAD
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t’s been exceedingly difficult to get a true, honest sense of the emerging trends when it comes to beverages this past year and what lies ahead in the near future. Covid-19 has so muddled the data and the established beverage trends that it might be nearly impossible to predict what we are going to be drinking but we might be able to foresee how we are drinking in 2022. Industry-led research is practically bleating that folks just want to get back to normal, they want to spend as much as they used to in bars and restaurants, and that they want to go as frequently and with the same enthusiasm as they used to. It might be true, but many Canadians have also been taking a slower, more measured response when it comes to how they are approaching those past habits. We are still (generally) having smaller get-togethers, with fewer households in attendance, we get out with friends less often, and most people are still more comfortable dining (or imbibing) at home. Younger adults might be heading 18 Culinaire | January/February 2022
BY TOM FIRTH out and partying like it was 2019, while other swaths of the population are returning to dine in a slightly different fashion. While hopefully, people are more aware of the need to support local businesses, in some ways this is leading to a trend towards “craft” or “localwashing”, where sometimes tenuous connections to local considerations are being made. Local is good. But what really is local or craft, and is it enough? So, you are local? So what? Are you good too? What are you doing well, and how are you when stacked up against other offerings, including international ones? Many producers are still using the craft banner, but choosing instead to focus on being independently owned and operated. Local, real people, making a quality product without corporate or foreign ownership is likely the best way to look at it. But it still has to be good, and still manage to compete in the market. After a brief break (wonder why) from some of the national level beverage competitions, it was fantastic
to be selected again to judge this past year at the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition and once again at the National Wine Awards of Canada. At these national-level competitions, it’s heartening to see that the bar continues to be elevated year after year. Canadian wine is world class, but at the same time distinctly Canadian, so we are seeing unique expressions of classic grapes – showing off our unique terroirs. I still find prices slightly high for Canadian wine compared to international examples, but there is no doubting the quality is superb. For the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition, it’s most exciting to see how good everything is. There are very, very few lousy examples - poorly made or poorly executed in their style. Among other things, our base ingredients like barley or corn, are capable of making top quality, but we also seem to have the right sort of expertise and skill base, to push the bar forward with fine examples. Honestly, outside of a few spirit styles specific to a country or appellation (I’m
