The Temperates Essays
Culture & Commerce
The show's gold goblets became a real chardonnay. The same season, the one contestant who didn't drink disappeared from his own story. With Love Is Blind: Boston premiering October 14, here's what to watch for.
By Tara Oporto · September 2026
More essays
22 essays
Culture & Commerce
A wine magazine stamped today's date on a conversation recorded nineteen months ago. The question the episode leaves hanging was answered in January, and the answer is not the one it implies.
September 2026
Notes to Self
I stopped drinking regularly in 2022 and now budget five drinks a month. Here’s what the evidence says about how changing your drinking changes future cancer risk.
September 2026
Culture & Commerce
Distillers laid down billions in barrels for a decade of drinking that never arrived. What the glut says about drinking less.
August 2026
The Temperates letter
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One essay every Sunday on drinking less and choosing with intention. Free, plus occasional Temperates updates.
Culture & Commerce
Non-alcoholic beer has won the argument about whether it belongs at the game. The next fight is making it as easy to choose as alcohol.
August 2026
Culture & Commerce
One old fashioned at my brother's wedding, in a year of drinks that were fine, taught me what "harmless" really means.
June 2026
Notes to Self
For the last two and a half years, alcohol has occupied very little space in my life. I assumed I had arrived at the destination. A few months ago, while writing about a long lunch at Ballyowen Golf Club, I noticed something I couldn’t quite name. The same feeling has shown up since at restaurants, on vacation, and at home.
June 2026
Notes to Self
My son came home from college two days ago. What caught my attention wasn’t the beer. It was that he felt the need to change his state before walking into a completely normal moment.
May 2026
Culture & Commerce
The study was real. The headline wasn't the whole story. And the part it left out matters more.
April 2026
Culture & Commerce
A viral post said drinkers get sick less often. The research says look at who's in the other group.
April 2026
Notes to Self
Yesterday, I was at a golf club for a wedding tasting. And I realized something almost immediately. I didn’t want anything.
April 2026
Notes to Self
For decades, alcohol mostly competed with other alcohol. Beer versus wine. Wine versus spirits. Brand versus brand. That dynamic may be starting to change.
March 2026
Notes to Self
A deep dive into 7,000 TikTok comments reveals the real reasons younger consumers say they're drinking less.
March 2026
Culture & Commerce
It's in the same cancer category as tobacco. Fewer than half of Americans know it.
February 2026
Culture & Commerce
The big game's alcohol ads were the same old script. Except for one empty glass.
February 2026
Notes to Self
Scroll any thread about Gen Z and alcohol and you'll get the same two explanations. Those answers are tidy. They're also incomplete.
February 2026
Ordering Differently
Dry January menus are having a moment. Some feel thoughtful. Others feel like an apology printed on cardstock. The difference matters.
February 2026
Culture & Commerce
Indiana won its first national championship. Coors Light made a can. By fall, it had a two-story bar.
January 2026
Culture & Commerce
In Taylor Sheridan's hit, alcohol is compassion, grit and a good time. The nurse who asks a question is the villain.
January 2026
Notes to Self
The real disagreement people have about drinking isn't about how much. It's about what the drink is supposed to be 'for' in the first place.
January 2026
The Temperates letter
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One essay every Sunday on drinking less and choosing with intention. Free, plus occasional Temperates updates.
Related
If you found this useful, read Read and listen, Tara Oporto, author, The book and Lesstober: drink less this October.
