The Modern Bar Cart Podcast

In this crossover interview with Chris Sands of the Uncapped Podcast and Braeden Bumpers of McClintock Distilling, some of the things we discuss include: A little Modern Bar Cart company history, including how our bitters are made and why we’re still cranking out podcasts after two and a half years. A discussion of whiskey tasting notes, and the strange world of online spirits reviews How Braeden and I set up our upcoming Bar Room Blitz event, which will take place on Friday, December 13, the day after this episode airs. There may be a few extra tickets released the day of the event, so feel free to check out the show notes page for a link to Eventbrite. We also conduct a tasting of three special McClintock Distilling innovation series releases, including a wheat whiskey, a gin collaboration, and a hop infused American Single malt created in collaboration with the Uncapped Podcast.

Some of the topics we discuss with Victoria Vergason of The Hour during this interview include: How Victoria used her globe-trotting career in international finance to build a colorful and diverse collection of vintage glassware and bar tools. The various changes in glassware size and shape as we moved from the golden age of the cocktail, to prohibition, and beyond. Why cocktail pitchers and rooster motifs really need to make a comeback. How history and culture had a direct effect on the design and materials used to make different glasses and tools, including camouflaged cocktail shakers, gun trigger mechanisms on jiggers and, even hand-painted cocktail glasses. The origins and implications of the “Three Martini Lunch” Why Victoria is branching out to create her own line of glassware and bar tools called “The Modern Home Bar.” Which famous artists and thinkers she would invite to her ultimate historical cocktail hour And much, much more

Some of the topics we discuss with Minimalist Tiki Author and rum ambassador Matt Pietrek Include: How Matt tended a rum hobby while working as a software engineer, and then blew that spark of interest into a full-fledged career as a rum author, historian, and consultant. Why intellectual honesty and a thirst for verification set great cocktail writing and scholarship apart from the merely good stuff. What “minimalist tiki” means - because let’s face it, when you’re looking at a recipe that calls for 8 or more ingredients, there’s not a whole lot of minimalism going on. Why the fates and fortunes of rum and tiki are so interconnected in the bar world. How Matt used a quantitative approach to laying out the most important tiki ingredients to have at your home bar. (Total software engineer move, by the way…) The four levels of improvisation in tiki What it’s like to self-publish a book in the age of Amazon and big publisher dominance. What to drink when discussing calculus with Sir Isaac Newton. And much, much more.

In this part two of this natural wine crash course with certified sommelier Joey Fox, some of the topics we discuss include: Why the term “natural” in natural wine encounters some of the same definitions issues as many products in the spirits world. Think “craft” or “small batch” - terms that are ambiguous and somewhat relative. Which multi-thousand dollar bottle of wine has been quietly produced as a natural wine without really any public knowledge. How Joey and other winemakers make progress on their craft and share ideas to advance natural wine in the public view. What the term “biodynamic farming” means, and what it holds for the future of both sustainability and flavor. How Old Westminster winery is undertaking a cool new project with hybrid grapes that could revolutionize the way we think about winemaking in America - a place where controlled denominations of origin aren’t held in as high regard compared to elsewhere in the world. What to drink while eating street food in Japan with Anthony Bourdain And much, much more.

Some of the topics we discuss in this fascinating natural wine interview with Joey Fox of Old Westminster Winery. What the term “natural wine” really means - and what you can expect from wines that fall into this category. How Joey worked his way into the natural wine world by way of tea, then coffee, then restaurants, then organic vegetable farming. How native yeast fermentation, lack of chemical additives and preservatives, and lack of fining and filtration can wildly impact the flavor profile of a wine. What the terms “skin contact,” “orange wine,” and pet nat” mean, and why you’re going to start hearing these terms a lot more How natural winemaking practices can take a grape that’s usually used to make “cougar juice” (AKA Pinot Grigio), and turn it into something extremely refined and food friendly. Which sparkling wine pre-dates Champagne by over 200 years. And much, much more.

In this continuation of our acid-driven conversation with Charlie Berkinshaw of Element Shrub, we talk about how to use specific acids in the cocktail world. In part I, we discussed citric acid and acetic acid, and in part II, we turn our attention to malic acid and lactic acid.

What’s shakin, cocktail fans? Welcome to episode 122 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast! This is a very special episode. It’s kind of a behind the scenes look at what the research and development process actually entails for people in the cocktail world like myself. I’m joined by my good friend and cocktail colleague Charlie Berkinshaw of Element Shrub, and together we debrief a video series we spent about 12 hours over the course of two separate days filming. In this series, we work our way through the four most common acids you’ll encounter in the cocktail world: citric, acetic, mallic, and lactic. Now, there’s a good chance you’ve heard some or all of those words in some context before, whether it’s on the ingredient panel of some food item or in a high school chemistry class. But, we’re examining these compounds through a strictly mixological lens so that you can understand some of the things going on below the surface in your favorite drinks.  

In this conversation with Tenth Ward head distiller and absinthe aficionado, some of the topics we discuss include: How Mark came to be the head distiller at Tenth Ward Distilling Co., and why their innovative approach to distilling made absinthe a really attractive choice as an anchor point in their core collection of products. What it’s like to build a flavor profile with herbs and botanicals that go through several phases of different distillation treatments. We cover where this can go wrong, and how to know when you finally get something right. Then we jump into the murky history of absinthe, which begins in mainland Europe, makes a splash across the world in the post-phyloxera drinking landscape, and then is forced underground for much of the 20th century. We teach you how to operate an absinthe fountain to louche and dilute your absinthe, with or without the traditional sugar cube. We debate the costs and benefits of the absinthe rinse method vs. the atomizer approach when building a Sazerac. And we even attempt to put to rest some of the apocryphal stories and malicious smear campaigns that kept absinthe out in the cold until very recently.

In this interview with Kevin Peterson of Castalia, some of the topics we discuss include: How Kevin and his wife Jane transformed the bottom level of an old mansion in Detroit into a scent shop by day that converts into an intimate 20-seat cocktail bar by night. Some of the differences between people who approach cocktails from a service industry background and those who come at the subject from a completely different area of specialization. What it’s like to pair fragrances and cocktails, and how Kevin thinks about “hacking the signal” of the drink to give guests a truly memorable experience. We also talk about lots of nerdy physiology stuff, including how the brain processes aroma, the difference between orthonasal and retronasal smell, and a whole lot of other things you probably didn’t know about aroma and flavor. We talk about our favorite flavor and aroma books, we trade theories about the Platonic ideal of baking spice, and we even find time to grab drinks with the man who changed the Spaghetti Sauce industry forever.

In this Bar Cart Foundations episode, we talk all about the concept of wash lines in cocktails and how to achieve a wash line that emphasizes the quality and intentionality of a drink.