Herewith, a long-overdue disclaimer:

Liquorstore Bear is NOT a clinician of any stripe. I am not even a human being! I am a small bear with a big predilection for drinking.

But I do live with humans who also like to have the odd drink. And after over a decade of wine, beer and spirits tasting with them, we’ve all had occasion to muse, “Am I an alcoholic?”

For me the answer is simple: YES.

For my parents the answer is NO, at least for now.

But the three of us are always pondering a bunch of alcohol-related questions:

• What precisely IS an alcoholic?
• What is the BEST way to include alcohol in your life and still HAVE a life?
• At what point does a person (or bear) become an alcoholic?
• Are there people (or bears) who simply CANNOT drink?
• Can you be an alcoholic, then cease to be an alcoholic?
• Can an alcoholic become a moderate drinker?
• What’s the precise cost/benefit ratio when it comes to drinking? 

Over the coming weeks and well into 2018, Liquorstore Bear will be tackling these and other ambitious questions. Full disclosure: this is WAY above my paygrade (and I don’t even have a paygrade). But Oprah says follow your passion, so that’s what I’m gonna do, my fellow inebriates. Stay tuned!