Oleksandr Karpus: alcohol is about culture and responsibility, not about filling pauses between toasts
"Don't you drink?" – this question still sounds like a challenge in many Ukrainian companies. We usually drink "to the meeting", "because everyone drinks" or simply "to have fun". But something is changing. More and more people are choosing a glass of wine with a meal rather than a bottle for the company. We talk about craft, about taste, about culture. And at the same time, we continue to live in a society where alcohol remains a quick way to relieve tension or gain confidence.
About how a new culture of conscious consumption is being formed in Ukraine, without moralizing and with respect for taste – LIGA.Life talked to Oleksandr Karpus, an alcohol collector and bar culture expert.
Tasting as a potential cultural revolution
– Do you observe the growth of a culture of conscious consumption – tasting instead of "consumption for the sake of intoxication"? Is it possible to teach a culture of consumption at all?
- Despite the growing number of tastings, themed events and educational initiatives, the culture of conscious alcohol consumption in Ukraine (and in many other countries) remains the exception rather than the rule. The process of change is extremely slow and limited to local environments.
The vast majority of people drink alcohol not for the sake of taste or knowledge of the drink, but for the sake of intoxication. And only a small percentage of people become interested in the drink as a cultural object on their own initiative, out of an inner desire to understand, not just drink.
