No. 99 September/October 2022

There’s no reason to wait until New Year’s to make resolutions to improve the way you live. I have nothing against such holiday traditions, but I’m also of the opinion that the transitional phase between summer and fall is an excellent time for a proverbial shifting of the gears.

That simple satisfaction you found while savoring August’s perfect peaches and ripe tomatoes? Create those opportunities for yourself in the days ahead. That wistful feeling at the airport as you board your flight home after a much-needed vacation, thinking, “I should always live like I’m in the islands” (or Italy, or wherever your happiest travels take you)? Then resolve to make that happen, even if just a little, as you re-enter daily life.

Brad Thomas Parsons meditates on these questions in his essay, looking at the intersection of aperitivo hour and of simple food served well, and how they can contribute to living better. It’s an apt time to think about this, with Negroni Week taking place September 12-18, and with Slow Food International becoming the initiative’s official charity partner. We hope you’ll join us again this year in celebrating all things aperitivo (check out our Anatomy of an Americano, and head to negroniweek.com for more details), and in embracing a way of living that benefits you, food and beverage makers, and the planet.

Speaking of good living, globe-trotting gastronomes celebrate Spain as a place that prioritizes living life to its fullest, François Monti brings us the story of a delicious blurring of borders in the wine world, as sherry producers turn their talents to making vermouth. The French island of Corsica has long had a drinks culture all its own, and Lincoln Chinnery shares cocktails featuring the island’s own aperitif, Mattei Cap Corse. Hawai‘i, too, has long offered the promise of better living, and Jennifer Fiedler fills us in on the story surrounding the state’s signature juice blend, POG.

We’re also reexamining beer’s basic building blocks, getting to know beer scholar Theresa McCulla, taking a bartender-led tour of regional citrus sodas, and digging into Susannah Skiver Barton’s assessment of the craft spirits industry as it matures.

Happy Negroni Week,