ROGER'S DIARY OF THE END TIMES: It's "hard," or the softening of American drinking habits.

Perhaps a lifetime in the better beer business informs my cynicism, or is it our proximity to the bourbon revolution in Kentucky? 

My entire adult life has been dedicated to the proposition of enjoying the pleasures of alcoholic beverages in their time-honored sense -- namely, that they're alcoholic, and with alcohol comes a certain olfactory experience whether beer, wine or liquor.

So, why is everyone going soft with "hard" liquids designed expressly to not taste hard?

I may have answered my own question, and of course I realize that the "hard" revolution in indeterminate "soft" tasting alcoholic beverages (a) has always been with us (wine coolers, light beer, et al) and (b) owes to fundamental denial v.v. personal health; in short, a collection of numbers aimed at convincing drinkers that they can have it all.

Or: If kombucha is healthy for your gut, why corrode your gut with the alcohol "hard" kombucha contains?

And: Mass-produced vodka is odorless and tasteless. Couldn't you add your own tablespoon?

Each day I peruse social media in the morning, invigorated with the assurance that people can't possibly get any dumber.

By afternoon, I'm ready for some of that hard kombucha ... and could you hold the probiotics? Those give me a hangover.

The next drinks trend: Just put the word ‘hard’ in front of any beverage name, by Esther Mobley (SF Chronicle)

Think of a nonalcoholic drink you enjoy. Now put the word “hard” in front of it. Voila: You have a viable new product category.