The Modern Bar Cart Podcast

In this fascinating deep dive on American Whiskey, some of the topics I discuss with author and spirits judge Eric Zandona include: A quick rundown of a few pivotal points in our country’s whiskey history, including “The Taft Decision” and the pioneering female distiller who made her mark on the sour mash process. How early geographical and climatic constraints set the stage for the traditional whiskey styles that would come to define local drinking cultures in various regions of the US. Then, we get regional. We talk about the differences between Pennsylvania-style and Maryland-style rye whiskey, we look at Texas’s unique barrel aging conditions, and we investigate the funky, new world Single Malts of the Pacific Northwest. We also talk about some emerging legislation at the state level that classifies certain geographically limited categories, like Kentucky Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, and the new and intriguing Missouri Bourbon category. Along the way, we talk about why craft whiskey is so much better than it was five years ago, why more people should be talking about barrel entry proof, who serves the best Martini in London, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

This episode is a post-mortem examination of a large-scale, milk clarified cocktail that Eric recently helped to create for the wedding of his friend and co-founder, Ethan Hall. We thought this would be useful as an in-the-trenches analysis of how to take a cocktail from concept to reality at an ambitious but technically achievable volume of about 4-5 gallons for roughly 40 guests. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this wide-ranging and pine-scented conversation with Master Distiller Ryan Christiansen, some of the topics we discuss include: How time spent in his father’s hardware store as a child led Ryan to appreciate taking complicated equipment apart and bringing people and communities together.  What it was like to build Caledonia Spirits from the ground-up alongside his partner and beekeeper Todd Hardy. Why Barr HIll gin defies categorization as a London Dry, Old Tom, or New American style gin Some thoughts on the finicky and inconsistent barrel aged gin category, and what makes Barr Hill’s Tom Cat reserve product such a stand-out example of what a barrel aged gin could (and perhaps should more often) be. Along the way, we cover the tricky business of understanding where bees have been hanging out, some hints as to the location of the mythical “juniper extraction curve,” why “hazy Martinis” are set to be the next big cocktail craze And much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this conversation with Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione, some of the topics we discuss include: How Sam took his creativity from the writer’s workshop to the brewery, scaling Dogfish Head from the smallest commercial brewery in America to a top 20 craft brand over the course of two decades. What it means to make “off-centered ales for off centered people,” which requires us to travel back in time over 500 years to the publication of the reinheitsgebot - Bavaria’s infamous beer purity law. How Sam invented the practice of continual hopping using a vibrating football game that now resides in the Smithsonian. Why Dogfish Head’s acquisition by the Boston Beer Company was like a merging of kindred, yet complementary souls. What the future holds for Sam and his beer, including tropical fruit farming in South Florida, art and music collaborations, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this blockbuster Baijiu pairing and Chinese food smorgasbord, some of the topics we discuss with Brett Steigerwaldt and Derek Sandhaus include: The base grains, production methods, and flavor profiles of seven - count em - SEVEN different baijiu categories, including: rice aroma, light aroma, laobaigan, phoenix aroma, strong aroma, sauce aroma, and extra strong aroma. The relationship between baijiu and food, both at a basic level, and in the context of each different region and culinary tradition How different Baijiu styles “hack” the very foreign (to us) looking production method involving microbe-packed grain bricks called “Qu” and giant steamers to create flavors and aromas that are vastly different from one another. We also talk about what a phoenix smells like, how various traditional spicy and numbing ingredients affect how baijiu tastes, why food and drink exploration is an important act of cultural ambassadorship, And much, much more This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this wide-ranging conversation with Noah Rothbaum and David Wondrich, some of the topics we cover include: How Dave transitioned from English professor, to Esquire columnist, to full-fledged cocktail historian, and how that journey brought him to collaborate with Noah at The Daily Beast and on their current Oxford Companion project. The difference between writing about spirits and cocktails in the early 2000s vs. today, and how our relationship to “The Truth” (in quotes here) is different than it was during those early days of our great cocktail revival. Why long-form booze writing has (paradoxically) spawned a lot of attention and accolades in today’s age of listicles and tweet threads. And how conducting historical research is very similar to noodling for catfish. Along the way, we discuss why Beachbum Berry can’t stand the Pina Colada, where Dave hid that lump of Ambergris he’s been missing for the past several years, the merits of a good rum punch, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this fascinating conversation with Andrew Hellman of 1pt Co., some of the topics we discuss include: What an infusion IS at a technical level, and why you might consume more of them in your day-to-day life than perhaps you realize. How, with the help of his wife Anna, Andrew used his experience in finance and design to launch a new company aimed at changing the way we think about infused spirits. The painstaking design that went into One Part Company’s infusion hardware and consumable packets, from the Scandinavian aesthetics to the insanely easy infusion process. Andrew’s approach to sourcing ingredients and creating flavor accords to pair with specific cocktail formats We answer a timely listener question about scaling a homemade bitters recipe into something perhaps more commercially viable, We cover the merits of curated music playlists, the woes of sourcing lavender, what to drink with a grandma straight out of the Mad Men era of the 1950s, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

This episode is an introduction to a philosophy called "Epicureanism," a word that has become associated with those who seek out good food and drink. We begin by explaining who Epicurus was and what ideas he developed and spread throughout the Hellenistic world beginning in the 300s BCE Then we walk you through some of the important differences between Epicureanism and another philosophy called Stoicism And finally we explain why Epicureanism is a useful way to think about not only pursuing the sensory pleasures of life, but also more generally why it’s a tremendously attractive lens through which to view the strange and stressful world that we’re all experiencing in the here and now. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this well-shuffled, cleanly dealt interview with Dave Beck of Paverson Games, some of the topics we discuss include: How a trip to Scotland sparked the idea for a game that would challenge players to distill, age, and sell their own spirits...all thanks to an inheritance from a long-lost relative. Why Distilled is considered a “medium weight, Euro-style game, and what it looks like to make booze using cards, tokens, and distiller avatars. How the Kickstarter campaign for this product met its funding goal in less than an hour, on its way to eclipsing that goal by over 15,000%. Which technical distilling processes were creatively mixed into the game mechanics of Distilled, and which needed to be saved perhaps for a future edition, including heads and tales cuts, the Angel’s share, and pulling flavor notes from wood. How the game educates and introduces players to spirits from different cultures, using  avatars based on historical distillers from around the world - all with special recipe and abilities. Along the way, we talk about why American games are so confrontational, the simple joy of summoning elevators, how to order a proper brandy old fashioned at a Wisconsin supper club, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this tropical deep dive with home bar architect and Tiki expert Jayme Blaschke, creator of The Lagoon of Mystery and host of A Moment of Tiki, some of the topics we discuss include: How a brush with homelessness and an off-hand comment made while floating in a pool spawned a passion for tiki and led Jayme to build and cultivate his beautiful home tiki bar, The Lagoon of Mystery. A virtual walk-through of some of the building materials, design choices, and escapist landscaping that morphed Jayme’s Texas poolside patio into a transportive oasis that plays “Dive In” movies during the summer. Some thoughts on how to relate to Tiki culture as a white guy - which Jayme and I both are. We offer perspectives and concrete resources that will help you learn about colonialism, appropriation, and how to celebrate Tiki tastefully in the 21st century. A fun romp through the many genres of island-appropriate music that you can use to flesh-out your Tiki playlist - including exotica, calypso, bossa nova, and modern indigenous compositions that will whisk you away to a tropical landscape. Along the way, we discuss what kind of Tiki bar could boast a mechanical bull, how to avoid weevils in your bamboo, why NOT to drink green beer with J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, and much much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.