Decoding Cocktails

Kip Moffitt (@kipmoffitt) is the head bartender of Superbueno (website, Instagram). A Mexican-American bar that opened for just over a year in Manhattan’s East Village and was just awarded the #2 spot on North America’s 50 Best Bars list.

The genesis of the bar came from Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez (@hopignacio) and explores the intersections he has experienced as a resident of New York who is from Mexico.

Kip and I talked about Mexican ...

Jeremy Wochnick and Erin Nysse work for The Barrel Mill (website, Instagram), a barrel cooperage in Minnesota. We met when they were exhibiting at the American Craft Spirits Association’s conference in Denver this year and had a great conversation. They agreed to sit down to talk all things barrels, infusion spirals, sustainability, and more.

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While I am pretty darn educated ...

Last week Mexican authorities raided the home and office of Tequila Matchmaker (TM), also known as the Additive Free Alliance. For many years, their forum has been a place for agave distillate fanatics to visit along with their work to certify tequilas that are free of approved additives that are not required to be listed on a bottle’s label.

Their work has begun to affect sales of major brands that are not shown to be additive-fre...

André Darlington (website, Instagram) is the author of 12 books, including the one we discussed, Cowboy Cocktails.

In 2020, André became the first cocktail writer to circumnavigate the globe since Charles H. Baker a hundred years ago. A record of his journey became Booze Cruise: A Tour of the World’s Essential Mixed Drinks.

A few things worth noting that I found fun from our conversation

• There was heavy Spanish and Mexican influence...

Heyward Gualandi works for Root Shoot Malting (website, Instagram), a 5th-generation family farm in Loveland, Colorado. We sat down to talk about their investments that helped them leave the commodity-farming market, which is good for the business but also allows them grow more flavorful crops, which ultimately creates better tasting beer, whiskey, and food.

There is a lot of talk these days about the impact of terroir on agave and ...

Marten Lodewijks is the Director of Consulting for the Americas for IWSR (website). So what is IWSR? What do they do? As their website says, “For over 50 years, IWSR has been the leading source of data on the global beverage alcohol market.”

We discussed the importance of data, analysis, and where the beverage industry might be headed. We also discussed the importance of not allowing data to cause analysis paralysis and the reminder...

Chris Tunstall co-founded A Bar Above with his wife Julia in 2013. They were early into the online content game with their YouTube channel and broke into the podcast space in 2014, the same year they released the first online Mixology Certification course. They’ve gone on to create several other classes on subjects like batching, syrups, infusions, and more.

In 2016, they moved into the barware world, designing and manufacturing too...

Nicolas Palazzi is an engineer turned spirits importer. Originally from Bordeaux, France, he lives in Brooklyn, where PM Spirits (named for his father, Paul-Marie Spirits) is located.

I first became aware of PM via a Roffignac cocktail I had in New Orleans at Peychaud’s Bar. It was PM’s blanche armagnac named COBRAFIRE and a raspberry shrub. It was a stunning drink, and isn’t the branding fantastic?!

One thing Nicolas discussed durin...

Alex Jump (Instagram) is a founder and the senior manager of operations for Focus on Health. Prior to this, she led Death & Company’s Denver bar program.

I wanted to kick off the year with this conversation with Alex for two reasons.

One, many of us use the beginning of the year to reset our lifestyle and dietary goals and the no-and-low segment of the drinks business is thriving. Now more than ever, there are great flavors to take...

Today you’ll hear from Asali Echols, Alex Nisnevich, and Casey Beck about the documentary they’re currently making about the past and present of tiki culture.

Mentioned: Donn Beach, Trader Vic’s, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Chockie Tom, Sam Miller of Acme Bar, Smuggler’s Cove

Learn more via their website and Instagram pages. You can also visit them directly on their Kickstarter page and see its trailer below

Thanks for listening. Feel fre...

Things I mentioned

* Visiting Demetrius Cain of Nobletons Distillery

* Podcasts from the year: My conversation with Banhez about wealth creation in the agave space, Will Elliott about Maison Premiere, Steve Grasse about building a brand, and Kevin Pigott of Tullamore D.E.W. on poetry

* What percentage of my inventory is from smaller producers?

* The article on the Sherry Renaissance

* Books: A Sense of Place by Dave Broom, The Creative ...

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Margie Lehrman is the CEO of the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA). She has led the organization since 2016.

So what is a craft distiller? The ACSA defines one as:

* A distillery that values the importance of transparency in distilling, and remains forthcoming regarding their use of ingredients, their distilling location and process, bottling location and process, and...

Mike (@barkeeping_it_real) and Janell Bass (@janelllenfertbass) are the creators of Ponyboy Slings (@drinkponyboy). They were encouraged to pursue this avenue as a result of some well-received work they did in their consulting venture, Punchbowl Project.

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We met this year at Tales of the Cocktail and had a great afternoon together. As I heard the story about how they met and ...

Daniel Singer (@filthydaniel) is the CEO of Filthy (website, Instagram), a company working to change the way people think about things like cocktail garnishes.

Not only did I love this conversation, but Daniel’s comments about entrepreneurship requiring a high pain tolerance and his resolve to banish negative thoughts because they are not worth the energy landed heavily on my heart.

Mentions: Julia Momosé, Kumiko, Simon Ford, Luxardo...

Hannah Sharman-Cox, Siobhan Payne, and Dan Dove are the co-founders of The Pinnacle Guide (website, Instagram). Outside of their work on Pinnacle, Hannah and Siobhan oversee London Cocktail Week and Dan runs an agency called Global Bartending.

Pinnacle is an awards program for bars inspired by the Michelin Guide. Rather than win a category, as in many other competitions, like “best hotel bar” or “best bar in [your city], Pinnacle wi...

Julie Figueras oversees National Brand and Trade Advocacy for CNI Brands. Alex Jandernoa is the Director of Brands and Education for CNI. We got together to talk about Banhez Mezcal and the co-op that governs it, UPADEC.

Brands/styles: teqpetztate, arroqueño, espadin, barril, tobala, karwinskii, cuishe, NETA

Miscellaneous: milpa farming, bagaso, 9 states where mezcal can be made, ensamblé vs. single varietal, Zapotec

Thanks for readin...

Hannah Williams is the beverage director of Blue Hill Farm and Donovan Ingram oversees their coffee and grain team programs among other responsibilities.

I first became aware of Blue Hill via the Netflix show “Chef’s Table”, in which chef Dan Barber is featured. His book “The Third Plate” transformed how I think about agriculture and food.

Mentions: Probitas rum, Chartreuse, BUNA coffee, Irving Farm, Real Organic Project, King Grove...

Kristin Pike is the founder of Northern Rose Spirits, which carries products from Canada like Fundy Bay Gin and Strawberry Rhubarb Moonshine by Still Fired Distilleries, Miele Amaretto & Amermelade aperitivo by Les Spiritueux Iberville, Eau-de-vie de petit-lait by Famille Migernon.

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Kristin and I sat down to chat about her business at products at this yea...