While covering the World Tea Expo last month, I frequently encountered the common question of "What do you write about?" For those of us with press passes at the World Tea Expo, the badges listed our publication, and while many people there with press passes were there covering the event for tea blogs or other publications, mine simply stated "Matters of Interest Blog" listed on my press pass.
After trying to say that I write about local events in Long Beach, such as the World Tea Expo, I have covered other events such as the Long Beach Comic Con, US Coffee Championships, and more. I also began to realize that I do a fair amount of writing about beer and whiskey, that I've written about wine, and that I had written about coffee at the US Coffee Championships. With that realization, in addition to covering local events, I said, "I write about beverages." Perhaps, in other words, I could say that I am a beverage blogger, right?
After trying to say that I write about local events in Long Beach, such as the World Tea Expo, I have covered other events such as the Long Beach Comic Con, US Coffee Championships, and more. I also began to realize that I do a fair amount of writing about beer and whiskey, that I've written about wine, and that I had written about coffee at the US Coffee Championships. With that realization, in addition to covering local events, I said, "I write about beverages." Perhaps, in other words, I could say that I am a beverage blogger, right?
It worked. Rather than trying to describe all the various topics about which I write at Matters of Interest, answering their question with "I'm a beverage blogger", they nodded and seemed to be content with that answer.
It is an interesting proposition to categorize myself with such a description, though. It is not as if I set out to become a beverage blogger or even write a lot about beverages. However, I realized that, due to kashrut, most foods and restaurants are off-limits for my experiencing (although I do write about kosher-certified restaurants), whereas many beverages are not. Yes, most wines aren't certified kosher, so they're out, as are many liqueurs that have wine in them (and, by extension, cocktails), but coffee, tea, and many beverages with alcohol are okay. So, I've written about them.
Of course, assessing those things which I have consumed gustatorily are not the only matters that I consider at Matters of Interest, but I am realizing that they are not an insignificant segment of my material. So, perhaps I need to consider that beverage blogging is something that I do and part of my [writing] identity.
It is an interesting proposition to categorize myself with such a description, though. It is not as if I set out to become a beverage blogger or even write a lot about beverages. However, I realized that, due to kashrut, most foods and restaurants are off-limits for my experiencing (although I do write about kosher-certified restaurants), whereas many beverages are not. Yes, most wines aren't certified kosher, so they're out, as are many liqueurs that have wine in them (and, by extension, cocktails), but coffee, tea, and many beverages with alcohol are okay. So, I've written about them.
Of course, assessing those things which I have consumed gustatorily are not the only matters that I consider at Matters of Interest, but I am realizing that they are not an insignificant segment of my material. So, perhaps I need to consider that beverage blogging is something that I do and part of my [writing] identity.
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