Liquid Language

The Glass Should Always Be Full

Jason reflects on the community-building aspect of sharing a drink with friends.

There are two things that make drinking one of my favorite hobbies. It’s the wide variety of tastes and the experience it creates with conversations and laughs between people. I’ve read many stories and marketing reports about how drinking establishments create community. In my professional life, I help businesses do that.

But it all came together for me as a consumer this past February when I went to my favorite coffee shop in town. I placed my order and started hunting for a vacant seat where I could plug in my laptop. The only seat available was at a large table that two groups of people had already nestled into. I took a seat and opened my computer to start working. An hour later I hadn’t touched a key. An amazing conversation started with the other occupants of the table about the song playing, “A Boy Named Sue.”

That experience made me think about how people have always bonded over a shared beverage. I pictured discoverers packing their favorite fermented concoction before taking sail, war heroes in fox holes with a canteen of coffee, and brilliant artists huddled around absinthe debating their latest creations. What amazes me is that we are in search of the same outcome, whether it’s a bunch of old, tired men sitting around a bar on the banks of the Louisiana bayou or a group of sophisticated women at a wine tasting on the Upper West Side. We want to enjoy our time and build a community. Employees meet after work to celebrate completion of a big a project with a drink. Friends on raft trips relax in a shady spot on the river with an ice-cold beer from the cooler.

I moved around the country quite a bit before settling here to start a family and even when I curse the unpredictable spring weather I’m glad there are so many great choices for drinking here. Hand-crafted beers and sodas, vodka from Honor in Lawrence, four coffee roasting companies, fresh milk from Shatto, and plenty of drinking establishments, including the newer Firefly Lounge in Westport, make Kansas City a terrific town.

Kansas City is leading the charge for a wide range of unique beverage choices, so be supportive because these companies need you as a fan more than ever. Don’t let the economy talk pull you away from your morning coffee rituals or happy hour with the girls. Share memories, tell stories and build your community while throwing one back.

Jason Burton

Jason Burton is the Senior Brand Manager for Houlihan’s Specialty Restaurants. He also writes and illustrates for several national and regional food and beverage publications. He’s a research nut who loves experimenting with his blender, juicer, or ice cream maker. If it’s drinkable, Jason will try it. His son Cooper is the first in line to try most of his drinks.