September 14, 2025 • 36 mins
During this Happy Hour edition of Eat Drink Smoke, Tony and Fingers review the AJ Fernandez Blue Cheese cigar.
Topics this episode include:
Another alcohol maker reports grim financial news. What does it mean for KY bourbon? Tony makes a tomahawk steak! ‘SNL’ announces cast additions, including ‘Please Don’t Destroy’ standout and TikTokers.
All that, and more on this edition of the Happy Hour!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Blue Cheese, which I admit to you is the weirdest
name for a cigar in the world. It is a
holy unappetizing name. But this is what provide a cigar
club and they're LCA, They're Limited Cigar Association. This is
what they named it with one hundred dollars bill label
right there. Te Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz and that
(00:26):
is America's favorite amateur drinker. Fingers, my boy. I find
everything we do at Eat Drinks smokeshow dot com. That
is the name of this cigar. This cigar is the
Blue Cheese. It is a six by fifty two, which
means it's six inches long. Always makes Fingers boy laugh.
And fifty two that is the ring gauge, the diameter
of the cigar, or how thick it is around again
(00:46):
with the laughter, I sixty four ring gauge would be
a full one inch around. This is really the height
of the size that I like for the ring gauge.
And I'll tell you what Fingers feels. Sturdy, feels fine.
I could almost use a little more weight to it,
but good in the hand, exactly what I would expect
from a toro.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, absolutely, I find that the hand feel is darn
near perfect. I do like the band. It is very unique.
I wasn't expecting you to hand me a cigar today
that I had a band that looks like one hundred
dollars bill but it's miniature.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
If you are a very very tiny person, this would
be just right. So I can't use this in the casino.
Can't use this in the casino nor the gas station. Drat.
You can try it on your kids, see what, see
what happens?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, I don't usually recommend handing my children.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Listen, they'll think it's money and they'll do chores and
then you can sit easy while you smoke that cigar.
It'd be like sucker, sucker. Yeah. Okay, So this is
by AJ Fernandez, and I like what AJ Fernandez does,
so they're the ones who are wrapping this one in
this six by fifty two. This is if I've got
(02:12):
it right, because I've seen it written a couple of ways. Now,
this is a Habano rapper nic a Roguin and the
binder in the filler. Now it might be different depending
on on the batola. It doesn't really make sense to me,
but this is the way I've got it, and this
is what I'm going with, and I'm telling you there
(02:33):
is there's a a little bit of spice that comes
off the cigars. We've just lit this up. There is
a I don't know what that is. That's nutty. There's
a wood, there's a this is gonna sound so dumb.
There's a smokiness. I can't say I've ever described a
(02:53):
cigar like that, but that's where I get. I get
from this right off the bat. For me, thousand Island,
it's because it's because it's named blue Cheese. Everybody see
what I did there, blue cheese. So he said a
thousand Island.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
No, I was gonna say, there's a nice bit of
spice on it. And then also I get the nuttiness
as well.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
But is it a heat? Is it a heat? Spice? Right?
It is completely through the throat, yeah, which is kind
of a not in the cheek, not in the tongue,
totally through the throat. So that's why I said smoky. Okay,
But I mean, if you disagree, I could say so,
but you can say I know. The thing for me
is that spice.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It really really lingers on the roof of your mouth
and does not go away.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
It is staying with me.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Whether it's I I see what you're saying, where it
goes in the throat. I don't know if I would
call it smokiness. Maybe Russian.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Nice? Nice? Russian is Thousand Island, by the way, is
it really? Yeah? There's slight variations, huh. Slight variations from
the people at Elsie provide a cigar club made by
A J. Fernandez. This is the Blue Cheese has a
lot to say, the AJ Fernandez Blue Cheese. But we
can agree. We can agree this is an absolutely horrific name.
(04:12):
Wow for it's a terrible name for a cigar. What
did I say? What did I say? That was so shocking?
It's just not a good name for us.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I think what you said that was most shocking is
Russian dressing on Thousand Island. Dressing are the same thing because,
according to artificial intelligence Tony, Russian dressing is spicier and
more complex due to ingredients like horse radish.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
There's no worse radish. It's a lie. It's a lie.
You know what we lie? Now.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
We love to do lists on this show. At some point,
maybe we should review everything that we have smoked over
these past six years and come up with the top
three dumbest cigar names.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I love it. The answer is yes. Let's get back
to the Blue Cheese by aj Fernandez. This six by
fifty two. You want to break this up into thirds,
Grab your notebook? What did you eat today? What did
you drink today? Should I ask what you ate today?
Fingers moly?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Well, I mean it didn't have Russian dressing on it,
but if you really want to know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Didn't have any level of special sauce? No, but it
did have an apple turnover chaser. Of course, of course
it did. And I hope you left room because I
made tomahawk.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I really, really, really we need to start discussing what
we're doing on the show before I get here.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I did make tomahawks. What did you eat today? What
did you drink today? All affects your palette. Then take
your notebook, take the cigar and break it up at
the third's first, third, second, third, final third? What are
the flavors that you're getting out of each third? Then
when you try that cigar a month from now, six
months from now, for whatever it is, you do it again,
you check your notes, you be able to get your
through line. An idea of what your flavors are, what
(05:57):
you were really getting out of that? What's in saying
here's that habano wrapper is habano spice right constantly? What
we get from that? It isn't the thing. The question
before us is do you get any level of blue cheese.
I'm saying smoky. Someone else could say tangy, but I
(06:20):
still don't think it has that blue cheese zip. That's
not the flavor here as far as I'm concerned. You
might disagree.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
No, I don't disagree with you. I just the habano rapper.
It's what you expect for me, except you know, minus
that smoking as you're talking about, you get a nice
bit of spice. But then also that that nutty and
wood that you were talking about is there as well.
I'm just going to be curious as we move into
(06:51):
more of the first third of the cigar, what's going
to happen.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, exactly, because as we're smoking, there's a little bit
of that black pepper that's picking up on the on
the other end, on the on really the back of
the tongue is where that's picking up. This is the
blue cheese, AJ Fernandez, this is the toro fingers with
Woy is this in your humidor for eleven dollars a stick?
(07:18):
I don't know, but I mean so far the answer
would be yes. I am unsure as well. I can
appreciate that there's something odter going on here, and I
want to be clear. This is not a flavored stick. No,
that is not what's happening here. This is not flavored
at all. There is a flavor coming out of it,
(07:40):
and I don't know if this is something I can
do on the regular. I actually think this is gonna
screw with the tomahawk. M that's interesting, tomahawk. How how
did you season the tomahawk? Well? I seasoned it with love.
Oh there, it is honestly salt and pepper, kosher salt,
coarse black pepper. That's what I went with.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
If you would have gone with a thousand Island dressing.
AI argues that it is sweeter than Russian dressing. It's
creamier and often contains pickle relish.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, you found one thing with AI, And look at you.
You're like, I'm part of the new age kids.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
The whole world of artificial intelligence is right in front
of me in this thirteen inch laptop.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You haven't gotten that much this week, have you no,
I have not the blue cheese from aj Fernandez eleven
dollars a stick. If you try it, let us know
what you think of it. And did you check out
the posts over at Instagram Eat Drink Smoke podcast because
we left something for it if you've been listening to
the podcasts. So another day and another bit of news
(08:49):
about this bourbon economy that just isn't going well. And
it's not that Bourbon's going away. Can't say that enough.
Bourbon is not going away, fingers bioy, thank god, but
it is obvious that things for some people are gonna
be rough, and they're gonna be rough for a few years.
It's Eat Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz. That is fingers Bloi.
Find it all at Eat drinksmokeshow dot com, follow us
(09:11):
on Twitter, exit Go, Eat Drink Smoke and Instagram Eat
Drink Smoke podcasts. Constellation Brands, which owns Corona and Modello.
Modello has been doing solid. It took over for bud
Light as the number one beer in America after bud
Light had its marketing fiasco. They do High West Bourbon
and they do the Prisoner Wine, which has been pretty
(09:31):
popular over the last few years. They took to the market,
to the stock market, and they said, yeah, things are
not good. We're downgrading. And I believe the quote I
have it here from the Lexington Herald Leader, macroeconomic headwinds
affecting consumer demands. We go now to our economic correspondent
Fingers below for more Fingers. When they say macroeconomic headwinds
(09:55):
affecting consumer demands, what does that really mean? It means everything.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
He's getting more expensive and people are struggling to buy stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Thank you, Fingers, We appreciate that. Heart. God I fight
in last I should really show up to rehearsal. That's
really it. People are struggling. They don't have the money
for this. And this is where it gets super super insane.
So everybody knows. We do radio in addition to this, right,
I do a morning show in Indianapolis. I have a
(10:26):
nationally syndicated midday talk show. Fingers One Way does a
talk show at a Michigan On the show this week,
I had Charles payin from Fox Business and I grab
them once a month, maybe a little bit more, and
kind of dig into some of these things. And I asked,
if we take a look at GDP gross domestic product
three point three percent. That is a country on fire
(10:48):
in terms of production. But manufacturing is down, which makes
no sense. And we've got the tariffs yet somehow retail
spending is also up, and real wages are up point
seven percent this past month and it's approximately five percent
for the year. It's these two things don't align. The
(11:08):
costs are going up, the manufacturing's going down. The tarris
makes things more expensive. We've got a bigger GDP than before,
and we've we've got more better wages than before. And
I said, what is your take on this economy goes?
What actually is the economy? It's good for some and
it's bad for others. He actually had a very kind
of for him a hour almost outlook in that if
(11:33):
you're already swimming in cash, dude, there's cash to swim in.
If you're not, the moments aren't there right now in
the market in other places, these these little things being
more expensive, and we're talking about bourbon. What about just insurances?
You moved, You're dealing with this insanity. Holy crap, This
ain't great at all.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I think people were hoping that eventually you would actually
see uh uh, prices go down, and we'd have a
deflationary cycle with some of the stuff like slowing of inflation.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I don't want deflationary. That creates a whole nother but
I know what you meant.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
You know, when you're talking about insurance rates that have
gone through the roof, if you housing that's gone through
the roof, if people would like to see not only
those prices slow the growth I actually come down. So
that's what I mean by deflationary. And some of the
sectors that you know, we talk about, whether it's housing,
(12:32):
whether it's insurance, but it's clear that that's not going
to happen anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I just moved six miles away from my previous home
and was told that my insurance was going to go
up two hundred.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Dollars a month a month.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Insane, Absolutely insane, because you would think that I moved
across the country, different state, it's going to be the same.
Something happens to my car, it's going to be the
same mechanics, is gonna be the same. Body shops and
yet well, well it's a different area. It's so uh
needless to say I've gone insurance shopping. Uh yeah, it's
(13:10):
it's all crazy. So if you're you were struggling to
begin with, and then groceries continue to go up. Uh,
and now you're looking at bourbon prices, you know it
can continue to go up. But the thing also you
need to keep in mind, and we've talked about this previously,
younger people aren't drinking.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
No, they're absolutely not like they used to. So they
were expecting over their Constellation brands sales to be down
two percent. They've been down six and they are they
expect and they still keep this Beer is flat, wine
and spirits overall down twenty twenty crazy percent. You're gonna
(13:50):
be laying people off. You're gonna be you want to
talk about a weird thing about layoffs. I don't know
if you caught this story about Salesforce. No one's talking
about it. It's layoff, but they're not calling it layoffs.
They're referring to it as as some kind of AI
kind of joy. And I should be full disclosure. I'm
(14:10):
not angry with Salesforce. I probably have a fund somewhere
I'm invested in that has Salesforce. I'm not doing an
ad for Salesforce. I just really do like full disclosure.
They have said because of AI, they have laid off
four thousand support roles. Four thousand people don't have their
(14:31):
jobs because of AI. Now, I don't care who you are,
and I don't care where you're from. That's a layoff.
Salesforce laid off four thousand people, but they don't call
it that. It hasn't been discussed as that. No. AI
has enabled us love the terminology there to lay off
(14:52):
four thousand people, four thousand. Now, I'm not an anti
AI guy, and I am okay with innovation. And it
is very very clear that some people are going to
have to find other work. And it's very clear that
learned to code isn't going to work now for the
next future because AI is going to do a lot
(15:12):
of that coding. But it's a great example of they
didn't move to AI because it was there. They moved
to AI because how can we lessen our overhead? Ooh,
here's four thousand people. We don't need anymore because we've
got Ziggy the supercomputer. It's a quantum leap reference Ziggy
the supercomputer. In order to get things, these things done,
(15:35):
Ziggy doesn't go on family and medical leave.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Ziggy doesn't call him sick, Ziggy doesn't come in late,
Ziggy doesn't demand to work from home.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
We're gonna see this. It's like Ziggy's perfect Daddy loves Ziggy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I mean, this is going to be a really crazy
time for the next ten teen years to see how
the economy transforms into this AI. And then on top
of it, as robotics get more and more sophisticated in
manufacturing and building new plants, things like that, how much
(16:11):
of it is going to be manned by robots as
opposed to to human beings. It's going to be fascinating
to watch. And I worry for younger people. Why, well,
certain fields, you know, if you're if you are into
computer programming, if you are in you got an art degree,
(16:34):
I worry if what your job prospects are going to
be like five ten years from not. Of course, everybody
thinks at the time that something's going to take over,
But the economy it changes and morphs with the times,
and maybe there are things that we probably don't even
think are possible now that will crop up five ten
(16:54):
years from now, and people will adapt, and.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
People will adapt, and they always do and they always
have to. Now, having to go through the adoption period.
That's not easy for some people. But on the other side,
people like, oh, this is the way it is now
and you've recreated it. And yes, the whole expression of
adapter dying, that's very, very real. We've got much more
(17:17):
to get to, including we have a tomahawk teat sweet. Yeah,
I'm gonna go get that right. That sounds I'm wonderful. Yes,
the tomahawk steak, oh love it. Don't always make it
because if I'm making a ribbi, I make a ribbi,
and this is a tomahawk rabbi. And basically it's just
(17:40):
fun with a bone. Dee, thank you, eat, drink, smoke.
It is your cigar bourbon extravaganza. I'm Tony Katz. That
right there is America's favorite amateur drinker, Fingers moy and
today it's a foody extravaganza. Got these tomahawks. Wanted to
bring these to you right here. The tomahawk ribbi is
(18:02):
basically it's not how you see it. It's just the
ribbi there that features the bone. Right. It features the
very long ribbone looks like an axe. It's a ribbi,
but usually a very very thick cut Ribbi fingers bloy.
So in this we didn't go reverse seer, which is
something you could do with this, and I'd love to
see you play with that as you do this. I
(18:25):
did this with a grill and with an oven. When
people are grilling, they forget their purpose. And so as
we're writing the new book, I've said too much out
Hopefully if we know what we're doing this Christmas, do
we know what we're doing we're writing a book. Yeah,
(18:45):
the grill can cook it all the way through, and
you can do a tomawk on the grill all the
way through, no question. But the grill is to get
a specific flavor and for specific purpose that seer that
you can get from a grill to I lock a
little bit in, but to create a little bit of
that crust that's everything finish in the oven. And that's
(19:07):
exactly the way we did this. We had this. I
had the grill at over seven hundred degrees Weber Genesis
pro pane. It did the job. They're not a sponsor,
by the way, they should be, but they're not. And
I did four minutes a side fingers Well, this is
just simple a kosher salt that I got on sale,
and this is coarse black pepper. I like it better
(19:30):
than fine. I've started using it. I get it at Costco.
And what I have found is that just for these
kinds of things. For my brisket, which I did one
over the weekend, which is a whole burnt end story
which I will get to, it is to me it's
a much better flavor. There's something really more popping about that. Okay,
this is my first tomahawk? Is it really? Yes? It is? Well,
(19:50):
take a plate. I'll keep talking about preparation, and I've
got it cut. So when you cut it, you'll see
you've got like what looks like a center of the
tomahawk there, and then you've got what's around it. So
there's the cap and then there's the eye. And honestly,
whatever you give me is fine. And you cut it
off the bone, then you cut the cap, and you
slice the eye, and then you slice the cap separately.
(20:12):
I believe, is it Tyler Florence is not the name
of the chef. That's the way he does it. I
thought that that seems pretty dang accurate to me. So
I sear this on each side four minutes. Then from
there it went into the oven at three seventy five
to cook. I'm looking for medium, rare, medium, and I'm
(20:36):
not interested in anything higher than that. I originally thought
ten minutes, ten minutes was not enough. This was do
do Do, Do, Do, do Do do sixteen minutes. Now some
people recommend thirty minutes. I'm sorry. I think you'd end
up with a well done steak and you ruin it.
I did sixteen minutes in the oven at three seventy five, preheated,
(21:00):
not getting up to three seventy five, preheated to three
seventy five. Then I let it rest for ten minutes. Fingers.
People are impatient. They want to eat. Yes, I get it.
We can't. We cannot say it enough. It is impossible.
Let it rest, booboo, let it rest, yeah, can you?
(21:23):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
The amount of times I have smoked a brisket and
people want me to hack into it right away, as
soon as you as soon as you pull it off
the smoker. It's like you're you're asking for a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It can't It's not that it can't work, it's that
it won't work right. No, it won't work right. When
you think of a brisket, a brisket is like seventy
three percent water. You can start eating, man, you starting,
don't worry about I'll talk. Look at the amount of
fat on this. I know it's not beautiful. It is
a ribbi and it rendered pretty well. He's going in.
He's so happy. A brisket's like seven twenty three percent water,
(22:01):
and so even when you're cooking it, you're still have
a tremendous amount of water in there. This is a muscle,
it's been working. That's why you need low and slow
and everything else. Well with the brisket.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Two chances are you waited sixteen hours or more to
smoke this with prep and everything. What's another hour and
a half to two hours of letting it rest? And
this is amazing. That bite I had just had a
perfect amount of fat on it. That crust is perfect.
That the crust is great, which is why the seer
(22:30):
matters so much. As high as you can get your grill,
but I'm.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Telling you if you can't get over five hundred, and
people can disagree with me, if you cannot get over
five hundred, you're not gonna see it right. That's my take. Now,
some people might say, Tony, you really need to be
over at seven hundred or higher in order to do this.
Do you need a seer function on your grill? Not necessarily.
(22:54):
You just need a grill that can handle the higher temperatures.
That's it.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
That course salt mixed with that course pepper. It really
makes a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
This. You hit a home run here. Yeah, I'm a
big fan. Now, some people might say you need fresh
cracked pepper. I'm not gonna tell you no. You do
it the way you want to do it. But this
is the way I did this one the presentation. Do
you have to burp? Do you need a moment? Are
you gonna be all right? Is it because you're chewing
(23:26):
and being on radio?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
That's exactly these mics pick up from time to time.
When I take a little sip of coffee, I can
only imagine when I'm knee deep in a Tomahawk steak,
what's coming across the airwaves right now.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Absolutely hit a home run, and a lot of people,
like you said, are apprehensive about finishing off in the oven.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
They want to do everything on the grill. So that's
the part two of this. You have it, it's your friend.
You're able to get heat, to get the proper temp
without losing the rest and without worrying about it on
the grill and something burning and over charring and everything else.
If you feel your oven run hot, if you're unsure
tent the steak. I'm not talking about a hard wrap
(24:10):
with foil, a little peak to it, loosely wrapped. Not
a Texas crutch. No, not a Texas crutch, which is
when you wrap your brisket in in tinfoil, insteat a
butcher paper to try and get past the stall. But
you can do that. I love this And the thing
about Tomahawk, if you want to do tomahawk, this is
(24:32):
solely a presentation story, it really is. But if I'm
serving it, I'm serving it sliced, right, I'm cutting it
off the bone. Then I'm cutting that cap off. It's
really easy to see with the eye. Then I'm cutting
the eye of the rabbi. And then I'm serving it
all in this sliced way with the bone on there.
If you're serving it with the bone, people have got
(24:54):
to have a lot of room and some really big place.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
So the question, though, is if you have a tome
Hawk just for yourself, you're not serving it to a group.
It's like, this tomahawk is mine. There are three ways
to eat it. Yeah, One you cut it off the
bone immediately. Two you cut it off the bone and
then you slice it into slices like you said. Or
three you just pick up the tomahawk in your left
hand and just bite right in.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Everybody will do that once, everybody. It's like it's like
popping the bubble wrap. It's going to happen. Everybody has
to do that once. If you're in Philadelphia, you're gonna
run up the rocky steps. Well not you, fingers, but
other people they're gonna run up the rocky steps. Yes,
you're gonna do that. You're gonna take that photo. You're
(25:38):
gonna have nothing. Do I have steak my teeth? No, no,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
But I like how you just glossed over as if
you would be running up the rocky steps.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Oh god, no, I thought that was I thought that
was implied, okay, that I would not be running up
said rocky steps. But that's a tomahawk right there. And
this is a great example of how to use your
grill and your oven. And do not think that it's wrong.
It's not wrong. Also I said sixteen minutes, go twelve,
(26:06):
see what happens. You want a little bit more, go twenty,
see what happens. Also, know your oven I haven't set
at three seventy five. You might want it set at
a lower temperature because you feel more comfortable with how
that's gonna judge, or you know how to judge where
that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
After starting, you kept it at that temperature the whole time.
Didn't You didn't shut the of and off and leave
it in there seventy five the whole time.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
I could have, right, I do that shut off thing.
If I'm doing let's say a roast in the oven,
I'm gonna let it cook for hours. Yeah, that'll happen.
But now I left it at the three seventy five
because this is in some places four inches thick. Yes
you got you gotta get to the middle of it.
And this thing is a perfect medium all the way around.
I mean perfect Now ribbis, I do medium strips, I
(26:49):
do medium rare. I want a little more of that
fat to melt, because you've got a ribbi. So that's
what I do. No, I think you should be very
happy with what you accomplished here. Today. We should be
more of this. Okay, I want more, Rabbi. I don't
think there's any question that should happen in my life. Well,
(27:10):
get yourself another Ribbi. I will. But we have to
do news of the week. Oh we do, Yeah, we're
doing that. It turns out tea drink smell common Tony Kats,
and that right there is America's favorite amateur drinker fingers.
Why this is the Blue Cheese. It is made by
AJ Fernandez for Pravada Cigar Club. They're limited series right here.
(27:33):
It's smoky. Now, some people are gonna say, well, it's
named blue Cheese because it tastes like blue cheese, which
I'm telling you is a terrible name for a cigar.
That said, it is smoky. This is the Habano Rapper Nicaraguan.
And the binder and the filler, which is weird because
I've seen it described with a Brazilian metal fena in
a different size and a different vitola in the what
(27:53):
I think is the Robusto. This is a Toro six
ye fifty two. I can't imagine that it's a different blend,
but everything's possible, and it is definitely a smokiness in
the throat. There's a little bit of black pepper spice
that built on the back of the tongue. There's definitely
some wood. Where are you at with this?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
That spice has definitely dissipated for me. Whether it's I'm
getting used to it, I don't think I am, though,
I think it has actually subsided a little bit more
of that wood and nutty notes for me, it has.
The burn has been very even, it has been low maintenance.
(28:35):
The hand feel is there, like you mentioned previously, so
far really good smoking experience.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, aj Fernandez. The construction on this is right on,
very very good. What weird? I didn't do a shallow
of a cut. My cut is way deeper than I
normally go. I when the cigar on the cap, that's
where you cut from starts rounding. That's where I cut from.
And I went a little bit lower than that on
this one. I didn't. I didn't mean to. But it's
(29:02):
smoking great. That's me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
So what about the is the jaw a little bit
too easy? Is it almost distracting? Because you cut it's
still a touch tight?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And maybe that's why it's working because I opened it
up a little bit more with a bit of a
deeper cut, and so I'm not I have nothing to
complain about. Well, if it's a little tight, have you
done the old pension roll. I haven't had to, right,
It's not plugged up, it's not blocked. It's just a
little bit tighter than I would have normally gone with,
but not enough to affect me. I'm like, I'm willing.
I'm willing to work for my love. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I like to when it's a little too tight on
the what I like to do is do the old
pension roll. And if that doesn't work, I just look
at it and say, loosen baby pinsion.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Roll your thumb, your forefinger. You roll the cigar back
and forth. You don't want to crack the wrapper, but
you do want to move the leaves. You want to
get things going a little bit, get a little squeeze
in there. Some cracks are good. Open things up, get
some better airflow, better combustion. Then next thing you know,
you're smoking a cigar. It's time. Fingers are raised molloy
for News of the Week.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
So there has been quite a bit of upheaval with
Saturday Night Live and their new cast Tony. They've let
some people go and they've added some people, and you know,
we don't usually talk about what goes on it's Saturday
Night Live, No, But what I found interesting is they've
added five new cast members, three of which it seems
(30:27):
like a lot of their work and what they're known
for is TikTok.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Very weird. Yeah, I saw that too, that they they've
made their bones in shorts and other things, and I
saw them like, yeah, I have no idea who these
people are. There are people out there who are famous
and you have no idea who they are at all.
What I find fascinating is they made their bones on
social media. They made their bones on TikTok. That's where
(30:52):
they're famous, that's where their money is. But they get
to be on TV am. I. I mean that's a
very you know, it's it's like saying I'm a blogger,
but I just got printed by the Wall Street Journal.
There's still something to it that.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And also just think if you get on TV, it
can really expose you to that world to increase your
TikTok followers.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yes, because everybody's watching on TV isn't super old and
they're all gonna be on the TikTok.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Oh, they're gonna first ball google the person, and then
after that they're gonna google what is TikTok.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
They're gonna google. Yes, they're gonna ask jeeves. Thank you,
that's your line. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
But the reason why I brought this up is because
we've had this discussion before about how, especially during the pandemic,
where a lot of people who uh consider themselves stand
up comics weren't really touring and doing stand up They were,
you know, doing videos on YouTube, but things like that
building their audience to where old school, grizzled professional comedians
(31:58):
were saying, well, geez, these guys, these ladies, they didn't
come up through the ranks like we did. They don't
know what it's like, man, and their their style is different,
maybe because they did not become famous, you know, by
by the daily grind of going to Yuck Yucks in
(32:19):
Omaha and you know, doing the whole tours and going
from opening to middle to finally a headliner.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Is it your take that the comics aren't as good
as they used to be or the or that is
comedy somehow less than it used to be. It's just different,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
I think there's something to be said for uh not
being able to develop that muscle over a period of
months and years of going on the road and dealing
with crowds when you're already walking in with some sort
of credibility that was built outside of a comedy club.
(32:57):
I think that that that definitely influences how you get
your chops and uh So some would say it's not
as good. I don't know if that's fair. I am convinced. Remember,
I do radio. The audience is there. I never see them,
I never hear them. If I'm getting heckled, it's via
social media.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yes, stand up is a very very very different beast
all together. It's a different beast. And let's say, being
an entertainer, I would argue, I, I don't think I
could ever be a stand up although I'm willing to
try it. I know that I'm an entertainer. I've done it.
You've seen me sell at the rooms. I've I can
(33:38):
put this together. I will leave you with the night
where you say, damn, that was fun. Stand up is different.
It's it's respect and I don't who am I to
say except I'm a consumer in that In that regard,
I don't I don't think anything could possibly replace what
time on the road and those crowds and playing for
(33:59):
four people the chuckle hut, yeah, could ever possibly do it?
Two of them walk out.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Last time I did stand up, I was in front
of four people, yes, at a comedy club, and I
remember specifically, I had a bit on country music and
I was getting into the bit and I looked down
and there are four people.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
They moved up to the front.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
This was during the comedy boom, which was actually turning
into a bust in the nineties, where towns had have
two or three comedy clubs that had no business having
maybe even one comedy club.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So there's four.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
People in the audience and I'm looking down doing this
country music bit, and the sitting there with cowboy boots
and a cowboy hat, and I could actually at that
point feel the sweat coming out of my forehead. And
that was the last time I went on stage. I
thought to myself, I can't do this to myself, and
now I regret it.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I should have muscled through. So do it now. Oh,
nobody wants to see breaking in thirty eight year old. Oh,
a thirty eight year old I caught that that's all
they want to see. Don't care. There are no rules,
there's no age issues. What is what's wrong with you?
I get up on what's the deal with airplane food? Dude?
Will you? Will you pick the night we'll put you
(35:10):
on stage? That's not gonna happen. Oh why not? The other?
A whole comedy thing, a comedy showcase, closer fingers floy
Oh boy, no? Why not? Do you do you? What's
your best? Two minutes? That's so many? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I always have to remind myself that we have to
stay FCC compliant. But the amount of work and time
that goes into coming up with thirty minutes of material,
it takes at least thirty minutes.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, you know what maybe best? You don't you know?
It's the stand up comedy. The best is when you
hear like Jerry Seinfelder or Chris Rock talk about Jerry
Seinfeld tells us, I think it's Jerry Seinfeld tells a
story about Chris Rock. He worked on a joke for
ten years. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. The timing, the wording, the presentation,
(36:09):
the preparation, the syntax, the tone, all of it. And
you have to when you're doing it.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And one of the reasons why I think you have
to get on the road is you have no idea
how a crowd's going to react to a joke. You
may think that you've got some strong punchline and they
don't laugh at that, and then you have another bit
that you're kind of like Iffy and it kills.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You're only going to get that feedback on your material
if you go out on the road. It's a practice, baby,
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice? Practice practice?
I've heard that. Yeah, it's a it happens to be true.
Is that in Jersey? Yes, yes, it's right next to
Shecky's chuckle Hut
Blue Cheese, which I admit to you is the weirdest
name for a cigar in the world. It is a
holy unappetizing name. But this is what provide a cigar
club and they're LCA, They're Limited Cigar Association. This is
what they named it with one hundred dollars bill label
right there. Te Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz and that
(00:26):
is America's favorite amateur drinker. Fingers, my boy. I find
everything we do at Eat Drinks smokeshow dot com. That
is the name of this cigar. This cigar is the
Blue Cheese. It is a six by fifty two, which
means it's six inches long. Always makes Fingers boy laugh.
And fifty two that is the ring gauge, the diameter
of the cigar, or how thick it is around again
(00:46):
with the laughter, I sixty four ring gauge would be
a full one inch around. This is really the height
of the size that I like for the ring gauge.
And I'll tell you what Fingers feels. Sturdy, feels fine.
I could almost use a little more weight to it,
but good in the hand, exactly what I would expect
from a toro.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, absolutely, I find that the hand feel is darn
near perfect. I do like the band. It is very unique.
I wasn't expecting you to hand me a cigar today
that I had a band that looks like one hundred
dollars bill but it's miniature.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
If you are a very very tiny person, this would
be just right. So I can't use this in the casino.
Can't use this in the casino nor the gas station. Drat.
You can try it on your kids, see what, see
what happens?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, I don't usually recommend handing my children.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Listen, they'll think it's money and they'll do chores and
then you can sit easy while you smoke that cigar.
It'd be like sucker, sucker. Yeah. Okay, So this is
by AJ Fernandez, and I like what AJ Fernandez does,
so they're the ones who are wrapping this one in
this six by fifty two. This is if I've got
(02:12):
it right, because I've seen it written a couple of ways. Now,
this is a Habano rapper nic a Roguin and the
binder in the filler. Now it might be different depending
on on the batola. It doesn't really make sense to me,
but this is the way I've got it, and this
is what I'm going with, and I'm telling you there
(02:33):
is there's a a little bit of spice that comes
off the cigars. We've just lit this up. There is
a I don't know what that is. That's nutty. There's
a wood, there's a this is gonna sound so dumb.
There's a smokiness. I can't say I've ever described a
(02:53):
cigar like that, but that's where I get. I get
from this right off the bat. For me, thousand Island,
it's because it's because it's named blue Cheese. Everybody see
what I did there, blue cheese. So he said a
thousand Island.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
No, I was gonna say, there's a nice bit of
spice on it. And then also I get the nuttiness
as well.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
But is it a heat? Is it a heat? Spice? Right?
It is completely through the throat, yeah, which is kind
of a not in the cheek, not in the tongue,
totally through the throat. So that's why I said smoky. Okay,
But I mean, if you disagree, I could say so,
but you can say I know. The thing for me
is that spice.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It really really lingers on the roof of your mouth
and does not go away.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
It is staying with me.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Whether it's I I see what you're saying, where it
goes in the throat. I don't know if I would
call it smokiness. Maybe Russian.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Nice? Nice? Russian is Thousand Island, by the way, is
it really? Yeah? There's slight variations, huh. Slight variations from
the people at Elsie provide a cigar club made by
A J. Fernandez. This is the Blue Cheese has a
lot to say, the AJ Fernandez Blue Cheese. But we
can agree. We can agree this is an absolutely horrific name.
(04:12):
Wow for it's a terrible name for a cigar. What
did I say? What did I say? That was so shocking?
It's just not a good name for us.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I think what you said that was most shocking is
Russian dressing on Thousand Island. Dressing are the same thing because,
according to artificial intelligence Tony, Russian dressing is spicier and
more complex due to ingredients like horse radish.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
There's no worse radish. It's a lie. It's a lie.
You know what we lie? Now.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
We love to do lists on this show. At some point,
maybe we should review everything that we have smoked over
these past six years and come up with the top
three dumbest cigar names.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I love it. The answer is yes. Let's get back
to the Blue Cheese by aj Fernandez. This six by
fifty two. You want to break this up into thirds,
Grab your notebook? What did you eat today? What did
you drink today? Should I ask what you ate today?
Fingers moly?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Well, I mean it didn't have Russian dressing on it,
but if you really want to know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Didn't have any level of special sauce? No, but it
did have an apple turnover chaser. Of course, of course
it did. And I hope you left room because I
made tomahawk.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I really, really, really we need to start discussing what
we're doing on the show before I get here.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I did make tomahawks. What did you eat today? What
did you drink today? All affects your palette. Then take
your notebook, take the cigar and break it up at
the third's first, third, second, third, final third? What are
the flavors that you're getting out of each third? Then
when you try that cigar a month from now, six
months from now, for whatever it is, you do it again,
you check your notes, you be able to get your
through line. An idea of what your flavors are, what
(05:57):
you were really getting out of that? What's in saying
here's that habano wrapper is habano spice right constantly? What
we get from that? It isn't the thing. The question
before us is do you get any level of blue cheese.
I'm saying smoky. Someone else could say tangy, but I
(06:20):
still don't think it has that blue cheese zip. That's
not the flavor here as far as I'm concerned. You
might disagree.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
No, I don't disagree with you. I just the habano rapper.
It's what you expect for me, except you know, minus
that smoking as you're talking about, you get a nice
bit of spice. But then also that that nutty and
wood that you were talking about is there as well.
I'm just going to be curious as we move into
(06:51):
more of the first third of the cigar, what's going
to happen.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, exactly, because as we're smoking, there's a little bit
of that black pepper that's picking up on the on
the other end, on the on really the back of
the tongue is where that's picking up. This is the
blue cheese, AJ Fernandez, this is the toro fingers with
Woy is this in your humidor for eleven dollars a stick?
(07:18):
I don't know, but I mean so far the answer
would be yes. I am unsure as well. I can
appreciate that there's something odter going on here, and I
want to be clear. This is not a flavored stick. No,
that is not what's happening here. This is not flavored
at all. There is a flavor coming out of it,
(07:40):
and I don't know if this is something I can
do on the regular. I actually think this is gonna
screw with the tomahawk. M that's interesting, tomahawk. How how
did you season the tomahawk? Well? I seasoned it with love.
Oh there, it is honestly salt and pepper, kosher salt,
coarse black pepper. That's what I went with.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
If you would have gone with a thousand Island dressing.
AI argues that it is sweeter than Russian dressing. It's
creamier and often contains pickle relish.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, you found one thing with AI, And look at you.
You're like, I'm part of the new age kids.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
The whole world of artificial intelligence is right in front
of me in this thirteen inch laptop.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You haven't gotten that much this week, have you no,
I have not the blue cheese from aj Fernandez eleven
dollars a stick. If you try it, let us know
what you think of it. And did you check out
the posts over at Instagram Eat Drink Smoke podcast because
we left something for it if you've been listening to
the podcasts. So another day and another bit of news
(08:49):
about this bourbon economy that just isn't going well. And
it's not that Bourbon's going away. Can't say that enough.
Bourbon is not going away, fingers bioy, thank god, but
it is obvious that things for some people are gonna
be rough, and they're gonna be rough for a few years.
It's Eat Drink Smoke. I'm Tony Katz. That is fingers Bloi.
Find it all at Eat drinksmokeshow dot com, follow us
(09:11):
on Twitter, exit Go, Eat Drink Smoke and Instagram Eat
Drink Smoke podcasts. Constellation Brands, which owns Corona and Modello.
Modello has been doing solid. It took over for bud
Light as the number one beer in America after bud
Light had its marketing fiasco. They do High West Bourbon
and they do the Prisoner Wine, which has been pretty
(09:31):
popular over the last few years. They took to the market,
to the stock market, and they said, yeah, things are
not good. We're downgrading. And I believe the quote I
have it here from the Lexington Herald Leader, macroeconomic headwinds
affecting consumer demands. We go now to our economic correspondent
Fingers below for more Fingers. When they say macroeconomic headwinds
(09:55):
affecting consumer demands, what does that really mean? It means everything.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
He's getting more expensive and people are struggling to buy stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Thank you, Fingers, We appreciate that. Heart. God I fight
in last I should really show up to rehearsal. That's
really it. People are struggling. They don't have the money
for this. And this is where it gets super super insane.
So everybody knows. We do radio in addition to this, right,
I do a morning show in Indianapolis. I have a
(10:26):
nationally syndicated midday talk show. Fingers One Way does a
talk show at a Michigan On the show this week,
I had Charles payin from Fox Business and I grab
them once a month, maybe a little bit more, and
kind of dig into some of these things. And I asked,
if we take a look at GDP gross domestic product
three point three percent. That is a country on fire
(10:48):
in terms of production. But manufacturing is down, which makes
no sense. And we've got the tariffs yet somehow retail
spending is also up, and real wages are up point
seven percent this past month and it's approximately five percent
for the year. It's these two things don't align. The
(11:08):
costs are going up, the manufacturing's going down. The tarris
makes things more expensive. We've got a bigger GDP than before,
and we've we've got more better wages than before. And
I said, what is your take on this economy goes?
What actually is the economy? It's good for some and
it's bad for others. He actually had a very kind
of for him a hour almost outlook in that if
(11:33):
you're already swimming in cash, dude, there's cash to swim in.
If you're not, the moments aren't there right now in
the market in other places, these these little things being
more expensive, and we're talking about bourbon. What about just insurances?
You moved, You're dealing with this insanity. Holy crap, This
ain't great at all.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I think people were hoping that eventually you would actually
see uh uh, prices go down, and we'd have a
deflationary cycle with some of the stuff like slowing of inflation.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I don't want deflationary. That creates a whole nother but
I know what you meant.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
You know, when you're talking about insurance rates that have
gone through the roof, if you housing that's gone through
the roof, if people would like to see not only
those prices slow the growth I actually come down. So
that's what I mean by deflationary. And some of the
sectors that you know, we talk about, whether it's housing,
(12:32):
whether it's insurance, but it's clear that that's not going
to happen anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I just moved six miles away from my previous home
and was told that my insurance was going to go
up two hundred.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Dollars a month a month.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Insane, Absolutely insane, because you would think that I moved
across the country, different state, it's going to be the same.
Something happens to my car, it's going to be the
same mechanics, is gonna be the same. Body shops and
yet well, well it's a different area. It's so uh
needless to say I've gone insurance shopping. Uh yeah, it's
(13:10):
it's all crazy. So if you're you were struggling to
begin with, and then groceries continue to go up. Uh,
and now you're looking at bourbon prices, you know it
can continue to go up. But the thing also you
need to keep in mind, and we've talked about this previously,
younger people aren't drinking.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
No, they're absolutely not like they used to. So they
were expecting over their Constellation brands sales to be down
two percent. They've been down six and they are they
expect and they still keep this Beer is flat, wine
and spirits overall down twenty twenty crazy percent. You're gonna
(13:50):
be laying people off. You're gonna be you want to
talk about a weird thing about layoffs. I don't know
if you caught this story about Salesforce. No one's talking
about it. It's layoff, but they're not calling it layoffs.
They're referring to it as as some kind of AI
kind of joy. And I should be full disclosure. I'm
(14:10):
not angry with Salesforce. I probably have a fund somewhere
I'm invested in that has Salesforce. I'm not doing an
ad for Salesforce. I just really do like full disclosure.
They have said because of AI, they have laid off
four thousand support roles. Four thousand people don't have their
(14:31):
jobs because of AI. Now, I don't care who you are,
and I don't care where you're from. That's a layoff.
Salesforce laid off four thousand people, but they don't call
it that. It hasn't been discussed as that. No. AI
has enabled us love the terminology there to lay off
(14:52):
four thousand people, four thousand. Now, I'm not an anti
AI guy, and I am okay with innovation. And it
is very very clear that some people are going to
have to find other work. And it's very clear that
learned to code isn't going to work now for the
next future because AI is going to do a lot
(15:12):
of that coding. But it's a great example of they
didn't move to AI because it was there. They moved
to AI because how can we lessen our overhead? Ooh,
here's four thousand people. We don't need anymore because we've
got Ziggy the supercomputer. It's a quantum leap reference Ziggy
the supercomputer. In order to get things, these things done,
(15:35):
Ziggy doesn't go on family and medical leave.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Ziggy doesn't call him sick, Ziggy doesn't come in late,
Ziggy doesn't demand to work from home.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
We're gonna see this. It's like Ziggy's perfect Daddy loves Ziggy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I mean, this is going to be a really crazy
time for the next ten teen years to see how
the economy transforms into this AI. And then on top
of it, as robotics get more and more sophisticated in
manufacturing and building new plants, things like that, how much
(16:11):
of it is going to be manned by robots as
opposed to to human beings. It's going to be fascinating
to watch. And I worry for younger people. Why, well,
certain fields, you know, if you're if you are into
computer programming, if you are in you got an art degree,
(16:34):
I worry if what your job prospects are going to
be like five ten years from not. Of course, everybody
thinks at the time that something's going to take over,
But the economy it changes and morphs with the times,
and maybe there are things that we probably don't even
think are possible now that will crop up five ten
(16:54):
years from now, and people will adapt, and.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
People will adapt, and they always do and they always
have to. Now, having to go through the adoption period.
That's not easy for some people. But on the other side,
people like, oh, this is the way it is now
and you've recreated it. And yes, the whole expression of
adapter dying, that's very, very real. We've got much more
(17:17):
to get to, including we have a tomahawk teat sweet. Yeah,
I'm gonna go get that right. That sounds I'm wonderful. Yes,
the tomahawk steak, oh love it. Don't always make it
because if I'm making a ribbi, I make a ribbi,
and this is a tomahawk rabbi. And basically it's just
(17:40):
fun with a bone. Dee, thank you, eat, drink, smoke.
It is your cigar bourbon extravaganza. I'm Tony Katz. That
right there is America's favorite amateur drinker, Fingers moy and
today it's a foody extravaganza. Got these tomahawks. Wanted to
bring these to you right here. The tomahawk ribbi is
(18:02):
basically it's not how you see it. It's just the
ribbi there that features the bone. Right. It features the
very long ribbone looks like an axe. It's a ribbi,
but usually a very very thick cut Ribbi fingers bloy.
So in this we didn't go reverse seer, which is
something you could do with this, and I'd love to
see you play with that as you do this. I
(18:25):
did this with a grill and with an oven. When
people are grilling, they forget their purpose. And so as
we're writing the new book, I've said too much out
Hopefully if we know what we're doing this Christmas, do
we know what we're doing we're writing a book. Yeah,
(18:45):
the grill can cook it all the way through, and
you can do a tomawk on the grill all the
way through, no question. But the grill is to get
a specific flavor and for specific purpose that seer that
you can get from a grill to I lock a
little bit in, but to create a little bit of
that crust that's everything finish in the oven. And that's
(19:07):
exactly the way we did this. We had this. I
had the grill at over seven hundred degrees Weber Genesis
pro pane. It did the job. They're not a sponsor,
by the way, they should be, but they're not. And
I did four minutes a side fingers Well, this is
just simple a kosher salt that I got on sale,
and this is coarse black pepper. I like it better
(19:30):
than fine. I've started using it. I get it at Costco.
And what I have found is that just for these
kinds of things. For my brisket, which I did one
over the weekend, which is a whole burnt end story
which I will get to, it is to me it's
a much better flavor. There's something really more popping about that. Okay,
this is my first tomahawk? Is it really? Yes? It is? Well,
(19:50):
take a plate. I'll keep talking about preparation, and I've
got it cut. So when you cut it, you'll see
you've got like what looks like a center of the
tomahawk there, and then you've got what's around it. So
there's the cap and then there's the eye. And honestly,
whatever you give me is fine. And you cut it
off the bone, then you cut the cap, and you
slice the eye, and then you slice the cap separately.
(20:12):
I believe, is it Tyler Florence is not the name
of the chef. That's the way he does it. I
thought that that seems pretty dang accurate to me. So
I sear this on each side four minutes. Then from
there it went into the oven at three seventy five
to cook. I'm looking for medium, rare, medium, and I'm
(20:36):
not interested in anything higher than that. I originally thought
ten minutes, ten minutes was not enough. This was do
do Do, Do, Do, do Do do sixteen minutes. Now some
people recommend thirty minutes. I'm sorry. I think you'd end
up with a well done steak and you ruin it.
I did sixteen minutes in the oven at three seventy five, preheated,
(21:00):
not getting up to three seventy five, preheated to three
seventy five. Then I let it rest for ten minutes. Fingers.
People are impatient. They want to eat. Yes, I get it.
We can't. We cannot say it enough. It is impossible.
Let it rest, booboo, let it rest, yeah, can you?
(21:23):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
The amount of times I have smoked a brisket and
people want me to hack into it right away, as
soon as you as soon as you pull it off
the smoker. It's like you're you're asking for a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
It can't It's not that it can't work, it's that
it won't work right. No, it won't work right. When
you think of a brisket, a brisket is like seventy
three percent water. You can start eating, man, you starting,
don't worry about I'll talk. Look at the amount of
fat on this. I know it's not beautiful. It is
a ribbi and it rendered pretty well. He's going in.
He's so happy. A brisket's like seven twenty three percent water,
(22:01):
and so even when you're cooking it, you're still have
a tremendous amount of water in there. This is a muscle,
it's been working. That's why you need low and slow
and everything else. Well with the brisket.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Two chances are you waited sixteen hours or more to
smoke this with prep and everything. What's another hour and
a half to two hours of letting it rest? And
this is amazing. That bite I had just had a
perfect amount of fat on it. That crust is perfect.
That the crust is great, which is why the seer
(22:30):
matters so much. As high as you can get your grill,
but I'm.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Telling you if you can't get over five hundred, and
people can disagree with me, if you cannot get over
five hundred, you're not gonna see it right. That's my take. Now,
some people might say, Tony, you really need to be
over at seven hundred or higher in order to do this.
Do you need a seer function on your grill? Not necessarily.
(22:54):
You just need a grill that can handle the higher temperatures.
That's it.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
That course salt mixed with that course pepper. It really
makes a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
This. You hit a home run here. Yeah, I'm a
big fan. Now, some people might say you need fresh
cracked pepper. I'm not gonna tell you no. You do
it the way you want to do it. But this
is the way I did this one the presentation. Do
you have to burp? Do you need a moment? Are
you gonna be all right? Is it because you're chewing
(23:26):
and being on radio?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
That's exactly these mics pick up from time to time.
When I take a little sip of coffee, I can
only imagine when I'm knee deep in a Tomahawk steak,
what's coming across the airwaves right now.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Absolutely hit a home run, and a lot of people,
like you said, are apprehensive about finishing off in the oven.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
They want to do everything on the grill. So that's
the part two of this. You have it, it's your friend.
You're able to get heat, to get the proper temp
without losing the rest and without worrying about it on
the grill and something burning and over charring and everything else.
If you feel your oven run hot, if you're unsure
tent the steak. I'm not talking about a hard wrap
(24:10):
with foil, a little peak to it, loosely wrapped. Not
a Texas crutch. No, not a Texas crutch, which is
when you wrap your brisket in in tinfoil, insteat a
butcher paper to try and get past the stall. But
you can do that. I love this And the thing
about Tomahawk, if you want to do tomahawk, this is
(24:32):
solely a presentation story, it really is. But if I'm
serving it, I'm serving it sliced, right, I'm cutting it
off the bone. Then I'm cutting that cap off. It's
really easy to see with the eye. Then I'm cutting
the eye of the rabbi. And then I'm serving it
all in this sliced way with the bone on there.
If you're serving it with the bone, people have got
(24:54):
to have a lot of room and some really big place.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
So the question, though, is if you have a tome
Hawk just for yourself, you're not serving it to a group.
It's like, this tomahawk is mine. There are three ways
to eat it. Yeah, One you cut it off the
bone immediately. Two you cut it off the bone and
then you slice it into slices like you said. Or
three you just pick up the tomahawk in your left
hand and just bite right in.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Everybody will do that once, everybody. It's like it's like
popping the bubble wrap. It's going to happen. Everybody has
to do that once. If you're in Philadelphia, you're gonna
run up the rocky steps. Well not you, fingers, but
other people they're gonna run up the rocky steps. Yes,
you're gonna do that. You're gonna take that photo. You're
(25:38):
gonna have nothing. Do I have steak my teeth? No, no,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
But I like how you just glossed over as if
you would be running up the rocky steps.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Oh god, no, I thought that was I thought that
was implied, okay, that I would not be running up
said rocky steps. But that's a tomahawk right there. And
this is a great example of how to use your
grill and your oven. And do not think that it's wrong.
It's not wrong. Also I said sixteen minutes, go twelve,
(26:06):
see what happens. You want a little bit more, go twenty,
see what happens. Also, know your oven I haven't set
at three seventy five. You might want it set at
a lower temperature because you feel more comfortable with how
that's gonna judge, or you know how to judge where
that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
After starting, you kept it at that temperature the whole time.
Didn't You didn't shut the of and off and leave
it in there seventy five the whole time.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
I could have, right, I do that shut off thing.
If I'm doing let's say a roast in the oven,
I'm gonna let it cook for hours. Yeah, that'll happen.
But now I left it at the three seventy five
because this is in some places four inches thick. Yes
you got you gotta get to the middle of it.
And this thing is a perfect medium all the way around.
I mean perfect Now ribbis, I do medium strips, I
(26:49):
do medium rare. I want a little more of that
fat to melt, because you've got a ribbi. So that's
what I do. No, I think you should be very
happy with what you accomplished here. Today. We should be
more of this. Okay, I want more, Rabbi. I don't
think there's any question that should happen in my life. Well,
(27:10):
get yourself another Ribbi. I will. But we have to
do news of the week. Oh we do, Yeah, we're
doing that. It turns out tea drink smell common Tony Kats,
and that right there is America's favorite amateur drinker fingers.
Why this is the Blue Cheese. It is made by
AJ Fernandez for Pravada Cigar Club. They're limited series right here.
(27:33):
It's smoky. Now, some people are gonna say, well, it's
named blue Cheese because it tastes like blue cheese, which
I'm telling you is a terrible name for a cigar.
That said, it is smoky. This is the Habano Rapper Nicaraguan.
And the binder and the filler, which is weird because
I've seen it described with a Brazilian metal fena in
a different size and a different vitola in the what
(27:53):
I think is the Robusto. This is a Toro six
ye fifty two. I can't imagine that it's a different blend,
but everything's possible, and it is definitely a smokiness in
the throat. There's a little bit of black pepper spice
that built on the back of the tongue. There's definitely
some wood. Where are you at with this?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
That spice has definitely dissipated for me. Whether it's I'm
getting used to it, I don't think I am, though,
I think it has actually subsided a little bit more
of that wood and nutty notes for me, it has.
The burn has been very even, it has been low maintenance.
(28:35):
The hand feel is there, like you mentioned previously, so
far really good smoking experience.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, aj Fernandez. The construction on this is right on,
very very good. What weird? I didn't do a shallow
of a cut. My cut is way deeper than I
normally go. I when the cigar on the cap, that's
where you cut from starts rounding. That's where I cut from.
And I went a little bit lower than that on
this one. I didn't. I didn't mean to. But it's
(29:02):
smoking great. That's me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
So what about the is the jaw a little bit
too easy? Is it almost distracting? Because you cut it's
still a touch tight?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And maybe that's why it's working because I opened it
up a little bit more with a bit of a
deeper cut, and so I'm not I have nothing to
complain about. Well, if it's a little tight, have you
done the old pension roll. I haven't had to, right,
It's not plugged up, it's not blocked. It's just a
little bit tighter than I would have normally gone with,
but not enough to affect me. I'm like, I'm willing.
I'm willing to work for my love. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I like to when it's a little too tight on
the what I like to do is do the old
pension roll. And if that doesn't work, I just look
at it and say, loosen baby pinsion.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Roll your thumb, your forefinger. You roll the cigar back
and forth. You don't want to crack the wrapper, but
you do want to move the leaves. You want to
get things going a little bit, get a little squeeze
in there. Some cracks are good. Open things up, get
some better airflow, better combustion. Then next thing you know,
you're smoking a cigar. It's time. Fingers are raised molloy
for News of the Week.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
So there has been quite a bit of upheaval with
Saturday Night Live and their new cast Tony. They've let
some people go and they've added some people, and you know,
we don't usually talk about what goes on it's Saturday
Night Live, No, But what I found interesting is they've
added five new cast members, three of which it seems
(30:27):
like a lot of their work and what they're known
for is TikTok.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Very weird. Yeah, I saw that too, that they they've
made their bones in shorts and other things, and I
saw them like, yeah, I have no idea who these
people are. There are people out there who are famous
and you have no idea who they are at all.
What I find fascinating is they made their bones on
social media. They made their bones on TikTok. That's where
(30:52):
they're famous, that's where their money is. But they get
to be on TV am. I. I mean that's a
very you know, it's it's like saying I'm a blogger,
but I just got printed by the Wall Street Journal.
There's still something to it that.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And also just think if you get on TV, it
can really expose you to that world to increase your
TikTok followers.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yes, because everybody's watching on TV isn't super old and
they're all gonna be on the TikTok.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Oh, they're gonna first ball google the person, and then
after that they're gonna google what is TikTok.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
They're gonna google. Yes, they're gonna ask jeeves. Thank you,
that's your line. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
But the reason why I brought this up is because
we've had this discussion before about how, especially during the pandemic,
where a lot of people who uh consider themselves stand
up comics weren't really touring and doing stand up They were,
you know, doing videos on YouTube, but things like that
building their audience to where old school, grizzled professional comedians
(31:58):
were saying, well, geez, these guys, these ladies, they didn't
come up through the ranks like we did. They don't
know what it's like, man, and their their style is different,
maybe because they did not become famous, you know, by
by the daily grind of going to Yuck Yucks in
(32:19):
Omaha and you know, doing the whole tours and going
from opening to middle to finally a headliner.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Is it your take that the comics aren't as good
as they used to be or the or that is
comedy somehow less than it used to be. It's just different,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
I think there's something to be said for uh not
being able to develop that muscle over a period of
months and years of going on the road and dealing
with crowds when you're already walking in with some sort
of credibility that was built outside of a comedy club.
(32:57):
I think that that that definitely influences how you get
your chops and uh So some would say it's not
as good. I don't know if that's fair. I am convinced. Remember,
I do radio. The audience is there. I never see them,
I never hear them. If I'm getting heckled, it's via
social media.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yes, stand up is a very very very different beast
all together. It's a different beast. And let's say, being
an entertainer, I would argue, I, I don't think I
could ever be a stand up although I'm willing to
try it. I know that I'm an entertainer. I've done it.
You've seen me sell at the rooms. I've I can
(33:38):
put this together. I will leave you with the night
where you say, damn, that was fun. Stand up is different.
It's it's respect and I don't who am I to
say except I'm a consumer in that In that regard,
I don't I don't think anything could possibly replace what
time on the road and those crowds and playing for
(33:59):
four people the chuckle hut, yeah, could ever possibly do it?
Two of them walk out.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Last time I did stand up, I was in front
of four people, yes, at a comedy club, and I
remember specifically, I had a bit on country music and
I was getting into the bit and I looked down
and there are four people.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
They moved up to the front.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
This was during the comedy boom, which was actually turning
into a bust in the nineties, where towns had have
two or three comedy clubs that had no business having
maybe even one comedy club.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So there's four.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
People in the audience and I'm looking down doing this
country music bit, and the sitting there with cowboy boots
and a cowboy hat, and I could actually at that
point feel the sweat coming out of my forehead. And
that was the last time I went on stage. I
thought to myself, I can't do this to myself, and
now I regret it.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I should have muscled through. So do it now. Oh,
nobody wants to see breaking in thirty eight year old. Oh,
a thirty eight year old I caught that that's all
they want to see. Don't care. There are no rules,
there's no age issues. What is what's wrong with you?
I get up on what's the deal with airplane food? Dude?
Will you? Will you pick the night we'll put you
(35:10):
on stage? That's not gonna happen. Oh why not? The other?
A whole comedy thing, a comedy showcase, closer fingers floy
Oh boy, no? Why not? Do you do you? What's
your best? Two minutes? That's so many? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I always have to remind myself that we have to
stay FCC compliant. But the amount of work and time
that goes into coming up with thirty minutes of material,
it takes at least thirty minutes.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, you know what maybe best? You don't you know?
It's the stand up comedy. The best is when you
hear like Jerry Seinfelder or Chris Rock talk about Jerry
Seinfeld tells us, I think it's Jerry Seinfeld tells a
story about Chris Rock. He worked on a joke for
ten years. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. The timing, the wording, the presentation,
(36:09):
the preparation, the syntax, the tone, all of it. And
you have to when you're doing it.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And one of the reasons why I think you have
to get on the road is you have no idea
how a crowd's going to react to a joke. You
may think that you've got some strong punchline and they
don't laugh at that, and then you have another bit
that you're kind of like Iffy and it kills.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You're only going to get that feedback on your material
if you go out on the road. It's a practice, baby,
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice? Practice practice?
I've heard that. Yeah, it's a it happens to be true.
Is that in Jersey? Yes, yes, it's right next to
Shecky's chuckle Hut
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