Drinking In 2008: A Brief Overview

Bostonist drank a lot of beer in 2008: to celebrate the continued existence of barbecue, the fleeting joys of autumn, Valentine's Day, the birth of Christ, winter as a whole, lunch, the scarcity of certain brews and the abundance of others. We drank dark beer to celebrate deliciousness. We found every excuse to use the word firkin and to put beer in our dessert.

However, we did not drink the beer with the shards of glass in it. Nor did we get trashed with Stop & Shop's vanilla extract.

Will Meyers told us all about Belgian beer, and then we drank all the Belgian beer, funky or otherwise. Jonathan Alsop taught us how to comport ourselves at the Wine Expo, the Food Monkey told us about Caipirinhas, Dale DeGroff showed us what East India Cocktails are all about, and some Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails told us how to mix a Widow's Kiss. The latter threw a swell party, and everyone wore their finest hats. Seven hundred homosexuals descended upon an unsuspecting Tequila Rain. Hendrick's commingled with celery juice, cucumbers, and chamomile.

Bostonist learned to slurp wine and describe it as "pineapple turnover" or "puppy." Some $45,000 Chateau Petrus went up for auction, and Paris Hilton put prosecco in cans.

We drank Ward Eights by the pitcher on election night, scoff-laws on Repeal Day, Harvard Cocktails and Yale Cocktails on the occasion of some kind of sporting event involving some university or other.

Fortunately, Bostonist began 2008 with a review of hangover cures.

Top, right: Bostonist went to Charlie's, a lot. Left: Guests at LUPEC's "USO Show" fundraiser (see gallery.