A look back at 2021 in Thirst Colorado magazine

Thirst Staff Reports

Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” perhaps summed up 2021 in labeling it “the least bad year of the last two years.”
Here at Thirst Colorado, we tried to make the best of a difficult year by publishing nearly 200 stories in our magazine and on our website, and covering all the bright spots in our Colorado lifestyle, culture and craft scenes.

Looking back on the year, we noticed a few trends in our coverage that helped us make sense of a strange year, and encouraged us to look forward to more changes and adventures in 2022.

Karen Hoskin, Montanya Distillers’ Co-Founder, Co-Owner and CEO

Crafted for community

While Colorado’s libations crafters slowly recovered from the pandemic, they didn’t lose sight of their mission. They continued to contribute to the community. Six Boulder-area breweries came together this year to help the community heal from tragedy.

Our craft industry also was looking out for the planet. For one, Montanya Distillers led the industry into a more sustainable future by reaching plastic-neutral status.

Playing through the pandemic

At Thirst Colorado, our mission has always involved the intersection of those craft leaders with our Colorado lifestyles. This year, we focused on some safe and socially distant outdoor recreation, including some cross-country skiing recommendations and tips, and our definitive list of state parks that are not to be missed.

Our April suggestions for snowshoe excursions close to the Front Range seem timely again as many of us urbanites are jonesing for some snow.

We covered recreation across the state, from spring adventures in Grand Junction to the newly designated National Scenic Highway of Legends in southeastern Colorado, and all points in between.

Our resident golf expert Jay McKinney also traversed the state to find the 18 most scenic golf holes.

Photo courtesy of Iron Mountain Hot Springs

Hot for hot springs

After all that recreation, a lot of you apparently want to rest your weary muscles. Our most popular story of the year was this list of free, natural hot springs around Colorado. We also started the year with a roundup of luxurious hot springs around the state to visit after a big day on the slopes.

All kinds of art

Music and other kinds of art also helped us through the pandemic, so we gave some love to our local artists and performers.

Highlights included this wildly creative Colorado filmmaker, this Boulder County woman crafting truly unique custom jewelry, and the guy behind some of Denver’s most iconic (and giant) murals.

Our spotlights on the high notes of our Colorado music scene included the soulful bluegrass of Saja Butler and the Afrofuturist hip-hop of The Grand Alliance.

Feeding the state

Finally, we made sure you didn’t go hungry through all your Colorado culture and adventures. We published a variety of Colorado-centric recipes, such as Kristin Owens’ home-tested Palisade peach cobbler.

Booze isn’t the only thing Coloradans are crafting. We also introduced you to craft sauce makers spicing up your home kitchens, and some Colorado farmers producing healthy, sustainable meats.

We were also excited to highlight Colorado’s best and most creative restaurants, having found one of them in a hospital, of all places. Contributor Kristian DePue profiled the Birdcall founders when they opened their new Colorado Springs location and launched a mission to provide 200,000 free meals to frontline medical workers.

Cheers to a happy and healthy new year. Let us know what you thought of our coverage this year, and what we should include in 2022.