šŸ» Welcome to Fingers!

Fingers is an independent newsletter by me, Dave Infante, about drinking culture, being online, and beyond, read by thousands of people each week. Itā€™s a smart, funny, and utterly unorthodox mix of award-winning journalism, interviews, and cultural criticism about how, what, and why we drinkā€”and the money, power, and politics that shape the answers to those questions.

With each edition of Fingers, youā€™ll get new, thought-provoking, original coverage of some vital aspect of drinking in America, unsoftened by mainstream publishersā€™ ā€œbrand safetyā€ concerns, and unbought by the booze business advertising dollars theyā€™re concerned about in the first place.

Youā€™ll also join a growing community of people who like drinking, thinking, and occasionally thinking about drinking. If youā€™re looking to make your inbox a little less sober and a lot more fun, Fingers is for you.

šŸ† Awards for Fingers

  • Second place: Best Newsletter - North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards (2024)

  • Finalist: Best Newsletter - International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards (2024)

šŸ—£ļø Praise for Fingers

  • ā€œi love dave's newsletter. you will too!ā€ā€”Charlie Warzel, staff writer at The Atlantic and co-author of Out of Office

  • ā€œDave is one of my favorite newsletter writers. I started reading him last year when I saw one of his beer memes.ā€ā€”Lyz Lenz, 3x author and publisher of Men Yell at Me

  • ā€œDave is the best beer writer in America. Smart, informed, funny, and occasionally outraged. Heā€™s equal parts enthusiast and gadfly, and well worth a few measly bucks a month.ā€ ā€” Joe Keohane, journalist, editor, and author of The Power of Strangers

  • ā€œI love Fingersā€ā€”Walt Hickey, executive editor of Sherwood News and editor/publisher of Numlock News

  • ā€œFingersā€¦ is largely focused on the spirits and drinking world, but itā€™s also got a very healthy muckraking streak to it, and reports on a lot of labor issues in the beverage industry that anyone who cares about working conditions will find fascinating whether or not you know what a double IPA is which I still do not to be honest.ā€ ā€” Luke Oā€™Neil, editor/publisher of Welcome to Hell World

  • ā€œAs beer writing (and craft beer itself) seemingly gets more boring with each passing year, Dave somehow manages to continually produce a beer business newsletter that is wildly entertaining and totally subversive. How does he do it?!ā€ ā€” Aaron Goldfarb, drinks reporter and author of Hacking Whiskey, Gather Around Cocktails, and moreĀ 

  • ā€œThe content is good.ā€ ā€” Kate Bernot, beer reporter and editor, Sightlines and Craft Beer & Brewing

  • ā€œA particularly astute and hilarious reporter who covers drinking culture, being online, and beyond.ā€ ā€” Austin L. Ray, Georgia Brewsletter

  • ā€œDavid Infanteā€™s free and highly entertaining newsletter about beery matters.ā€ ā€” Stan Hieronymus, Appellation Beer

šŸ¤ Consider becoming a paid Friend of Fingers!

Fingers is a reader-funded newsletter. When you become a member, you get:

  • Every full-length new edition of Fingers, packed with original reporting, deep expertise, and incisive commentary about drinking in America.

  • TheĀ Fingers Weekender, a news digest optimized for hungover Sunday scrolling that I send to paying Friends of Fingers every Sunday.

  • Full access to the entire Fingers archive with 2.5 years (and counting!) of coverage.

  • Full access to all the interviews and bonus reads on The Fingers Podcast.

  • Commenting privileges and subscriber-only discussion threads.

  • The warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing youā€™re supporting independent journalism.

All for just $8 per month, or ~17% off when you buy an annual subscription:

Do you work in beverage alcohol or an adjacent industry? Great! Use this handy form letter to convince your boss to let you expense Fingers.

šŸ“° Fingers in the media

My recent coverage of the beer industry as a writer-at-large for VinePair can be found here.

The boozeletterā€™s memes and shitposts about drinking in America are always free, and youā€™ll love ā€˜em. Follow Fingers today.

Stiff Bezos and get your books via Fingersā€™ curated Bookshop page, where Iā€™ve listed personal recommendations for books on booze, labor organizing, climate change, and more.

I receive a small cut of the profits if you purchase a book through my shop. So if youā€™re not sure youā€™re ready to commit to a subscription, but still want to support this project, The Fingers Reading Room is a great way to do it.

šŸ‘ØšŸ» More about Dave Infante

Iā€™m two-time James Beard award-winning journalist with a strong voice and a passion for storytelling. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Splinter, HuffPost, The Guardian U.S., Thrillist, PUNCH, and others. In addition to publishing the boozeletter, I work at VinePair as a contributing editor and columnist covering the beer business. For more, follow me on Bluesky, or check out my website. I live in Richmond, Virginia.

If youā€™re an editor, podcast host, or video producer who wants to commission or book me, or discuss reprinting one of my stories, or anything else, please get in touch: [email protected].

šŸ“§ More about Fingers

Fingersā€™ logo and banner art were drawn by the very-talented Friend of Fingers Daniel Fishel. Check out his work, then pay him to draw stuff for you, at o-fishel.com. I make the rest of Fingersā€™ artwork myself, which is why itā€™s so bad.

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You can always see all available free #content on the website.