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When you think about beer or wine or spirits or any alcoholic beverage \u201cbeyond\u201d these categories, what do you think of? Is it flavor? Friends? Or maybe just a\xa0vibe? It\u2019s that last thing that I got stuck on recently thinking about cider and its place amongst all these options. For years, cider has been a steady 1(ish)% of the beer category in the U.S., where it\u2019s classified. But at a time when some segments are trying to tread water, like wine or beer, that steadiness seems \u2026 pretty good.

And in the context of trying to consider what it all meant, I came across Massachusetts\u2019 Artifact Cider Project. If you head over to their website at ArtifactCider.com, you\u2019ll find the company actually\xa0does\xa0sell its cider on vibes. One cider is for "late night bonfires" while another is meant for "brunch and beach." There's even a cider named Wolf at the Door that carries the vibe of "fight not flight," adding a layer of mystery to whatever that may mean to you, dear drinker.

Anyway, while in Chicago for the annual American Cider Association conference, it was a great excuse to seek out Soham Bhatt, co-founder of Artifact, and someone who I came to learn has an insatiable curiosity. It\u2019s that trait that led him to cider and as you\u2019ll hear, drives what he and the Artifact team continue to do in search of all kinds of drinkers. In this conversation we get philosophical about how hobbies turn into careers and what it takes to convince people to pick cider over other alcohol options. Along the way, you\u2019ll also get an appreciation for Soham\u2019s never-ending quest to learn more\u2014whether that\u2019s about cider, movies, people, or just about anything else. Whenever you last picked up a cider, be it for a search for flavor or something a friend just handed you, Soham\u2019s perspective will help you think about all this in another way. How vibes matter in the pursuit of something new.