The Curious Bartender Podcast podcast | Listen online for free

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5 of 53

#53 Jeffrey Morgenthaler - Writing & Educating, Clyde Common, 50 Best Bars, Trends, Cocktail Culture Old & New,
Jeff Morgenthaler has been a defining voice in the bar world for more than two decades. Bartender, blogger, and author, he’s shaped modern drinks culture through his long-running blog — still one of the most valuable resources on bar technique — his years at Portland’s much-missed Clyde Common, and his influential writing, including The Bar Book. Today he continues to travel, teach, and inspire, sharing clear, grounded insight into every corner of cocktail craft.Jeff played a part in my own development early on, too. His blend of logic, humour, and precision helped validate the path taken by so many of us, and his influence on the industry — direct and indirect — is larger than most realise.Although Jeff and I have known of each other for nearly twenty years, this was our first time sitting down together. The conversation ranged widely across the landscape of bars, technique, and drinks culture.In this episode you’ll hear how Jeff found his way behind the bar, why baijiu deserves more appreciation, how to make your own cola, the early-2000s figures who shaped both our careers, how he riffs on eggnog, the common mistakes people make when batching syrups (and how his tools can fix them), what it’s really like to write a book, our thoughts on the World’s 50 Best Bars, what defines a truly great bar, and plenty more.www.jeffreymorgenathaler.com
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2:17:45
#52 Jota Tanaka - Japanese Whisky, History, Fuji Gotemba, Four Roses, Distillation, Mizunara
In this episode of The Curious Bartender Podcast, we welcome Jota Tanaka, Master Blender for Kirin’s Fuji Gotemba Distillery and Executive Fellow, Kirin Whisky. His career spans brewing, winemaking, American bourbon and Japanese whisky.Jota joined Kirin Distillery Co. in 1988 and after roles in Japan and the United States, including a period at Four Roses Distillery where he helped launch the Small Batch range, he returned to Japan and became Master Blender of Kirin Whisky in 2017.We explore his career, the story of Fuji Gotemba at the foot of Mount Fuji, and the evolving world of Japanese whisky including its history, methods, sensibilities, controversies, consumption and future.Fuji Gotemba Distillery bio: https://www.fujigotemba-distillery.com/en/takumi/01/
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#51 Camper English - San Francisco Bars, Making Clear Ice, Alcohol as Medicine, Water Sommeliers
Camper English is a San Francisco–based drinks writer and educator, best known for his long-running website Alcademics.com, an invaluable resource for bartenders and drinks enthusiasts alike. He’s the author of Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails (2022) and The Ice Book.I sat down with Camper recently in San Francisco to talk about the city’s distinctive bar scene — from its historic haunts to its cutting-edge cocktail bars. We then dive into the fascinating world of ice (a subject Camper has explored more deeply than anyone), discuss Doctors and Distillers, and wrap up with a conversation about mineral water — including how to make your own.Doctors & Distillers - https://alcademics.com/doctors-and-distillers-the-remarkable-medicinal-history-of-beer-wine-spirits-and-cocktails/The Ice Book - https://alcademics.com/the-ice-book-by-camper-english/📷 Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tristanstephenson/📚 I've written quite a few books on spirits and cocktails - https://www.thecuriousbartender.com/
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#50 Dr. Harold McGee - Science of Food & Drink, Smell & Aroma, Foundations of Flavour, Tea, Writng
Harold McGee is a man that requires no introduction if you are someone who has worked in food and drink in any capacity at all. In 1984 he published McGee On Food & Cooking and brought the science and technology of cooking and flavour to the masses. A second edition in 2004 served as the practical manual for any chef worth their salt, and elevated Harold to the status of godfather - or perhaps even god - of culinary science. More recently, he published a book called Nose Dive, which investigates aroma and smell, which is a topic we explore during our conversationAlso on the menu:Why humans enjoy bitterness, how herbs have co-opted us, how salt makes food more delicious, how water opens up the aromas of spirits, what happens when wine matures in the bottle, why some drinks have ‘length’, how evolution and culture have shaped our flavour preferences, what we mean when we say a drink or dish is balanced, what the next frontiers of flavour science look like, and much more.📷 Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tristanstephenson/📚 I've written quite a few books on spirits and cocktails - https://www.thecuriousbartender.com/
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#49 Serge Valentin - Whisky Fun, Scoring Whisky, Brora & Clynelish, Independent Bottlers, Weird Whisky, Wine Casks, Maturation
Today I am speaking with Serge Valentin. Serge is a whisky expert and the founder of a whiskyfun.com - which is widely regarded as the go-to review repository for whisky tasting notes and scores on the internet. Over the past 23 years Serge has tasted over 20,000 bottles ranging from entry level staples to some of the rarest in the world. His scoring system has become the de facto benchmark by which many measure the quality of a dram, and Serge has become a cult hero amongst the world’s whisky geeks.On the episode we discuss tasting whisky - personal preferences over objective goodness, the hubris of blind tasting, whether whisky is too serious, the role of independent bottlers, how whisky changes in the bottle, recent exceptional whiskies, weird whisky, the founding of whiskyfun.com, the importance of education, changing tastes, whisky myths, and much more.
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