First and foremost

The world has always celebrated the pioneer.

 

You know the kind of person. The first person to reach the North Pole. The first to summit Mount Everest. The first to fly a plane. The first to sail around the world. They’ve all had stories written about them, statues made and honours bestowed. These are the pioneers we learn about in school.

 

Yet there have been a lot of other trailblazers in the world, who have done things first in a million different disciplines, who seem to go unnoticed. But why? Their stories are often just as dramatic or heart-breaking or joyous. They are often just as brave, adventurous, impetuous or foolhardy as their more famous counterparts. They too have often risked their fortunes, their reputations and sometimes their lives. They just don’t happen to involve frostbite.

 

This blog goes some way to celebrating the sometimes forgotten trailblazer. To try to tell the human stories of the men and women who did things first in the drinks industry. The entrepreneurs, the inventors, the geniuses, the charlatans or the just plain lucky. Whoever they were, and whatever they created, their stories are fascinating and I want to raise a glass to them. 

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I hope you enjoy reading about their firsts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.

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Jamie