From insurance to importing, Raj Sabharwal of Glass Revolution Imports has quickly become one of the country’s respected importers. Today we’re talking about Indian Whisky, Scottish whisky regulations, Mahon Gin, The Nectar of Life, and his independent rum bottlings. So flag down a bartender and order a gimlet, you’ll be getting thirsty really quickly.

This week we’re broadcasting live from Indy PopCon where we won Best Food & Beverage Podcast for 2018. So, as a special treat, we brought back one of our listeners’ favorite guests, Chef Chris Benedyk of Love Handle. We’re chatting about ChamTang, Tangquette, Eggo waffles, the passing of Anthony Bourdain, and old stone vs. new stone. It’s all over the place, as you’d expect from Indy’s most beloved breakfast chef. So grab a glass of Five Alive and listen to our episode about nothing.

Hampden Estate is one of Jamaica’s oldest distilleries and the producer of Rum Fire, a high-ester rum full of funk. Today we’re talking with the US importer, Nicholas Feris about the traditional production of the rum, the differences between dunder and muck, and how to use Rum Fire in a cocktail. You can taste hundreds of years of history and tradition in the rums of Trelawny, and Nick is as passionate as they come. As they say on the island… from Jamaica to di werl!

Just in time for annual Memorial Day cookouts, we’re talking about utilizing Japanese-style grills. Chef JJ Boston is on a mission to teach the world how to better cook outdoors using Kamado grills. Over a decade ago, JJ was first introduced to Big Green Eggs while cooking for a private client. He quickly realized that people that were purchasing these high-end grills didn’t know how to use them. He soon opened a restaurant / grilling classroom in the Broad Ripple neighborhood in Indianapolis to meet the need. He has since opened a second location in the shadow of Lucas Oil Stadium, and just released a new book called “Going Kamado”. So now, without further ado, it’s time to start GRILLING!

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The link between music and cocktails is impossible to ignore. Making cocktails at home? You put on a record. Going out for drinks at a cocktail bar? They’ve spent hours curating a playlist. Inebriated at 4:30am at Mac’s Club Deuce on South Beach? You’ve got $20 of Slayer tunes on the jukebox. This week’s guest, André Darlington, just co-authored a book called Booze & Vinyl about pairing records with drinks. This is the third book that he’s written with his sister, Tenaya, and now they’re traveling around the country in a mobile listening van filled with turntables and all the vinyl one could desire. They’re stopping at cocktail bars and record stores to share the gift of Booze & Vinyl with us all!

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It’s hard to overstate Don Lee’s impact on the cocktail industry. He seems to be simultaneously moving in fifteen directions while plotting his next move. He was there at the beginning of the craft cocktail resurgence, sitting at the bars at Milk & Honey, Pegu Club, and Death & Co., asking questions of the bartenders and taking notes.

In the years since, he left his job in IT and started working at Jim Meehan’s acclaimed cocktail mecca, PDT, developed bar tools for Cocktail Kingdom, modernized techniques in the cocktail community, built his own Jim Henson-style puppets, and is now working with kindred spirits Dave Arnold and Greg Boehm to open a new bar, Existing Conditions.

Chef Danny Mena of La Loncheria and Hecho en DUMBO joins us this week. We’re talking about Mexican food in NYC, how Mexican cuisine adapted and evolved through centuries of immigration and colonialism, the question of “authenticity”, and Danny’s role as a partner at Mezcales de Leyenda. We tasted through mezcal from Durango, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and their Pelotón de La Muerte. NOTE: This episode is best enjoyed with Tacos al Pastor and a glass of mezcal.

Madelyn Hille’s passion for wine began while working at a boutique hotel in Indianapolis. Having a bit of wanderlust, she decided to travel to New Zealand to explore. But she knew she’d need a job to sustain her journey. Having heard of fellow travelers working at wineries during the season, she put out word that she’d be interested in winery employment. And thus began her first harvest – and her love of winemaking. She’s since been back to New Zealand to work a second harvest season and just got back from a stint in Napa Valley. Like many people in their 20’s starting out in the wine world, she didn’t even know what jobs were available in wine or how to get involved. This is how one young woman found her passion and her calling.

Jim Romdall of Novo Fogo Cachaça, and previously of Vessel and Rumba in Seattle, joins us this week to talk all things cachaça. It’s misunderstood and underrepresented in bars and package liquor stores yet is one of the most consumed liquors in the world. The terroir, regional traditions, deforestation, and distillation methods all affect the production of cachaça. Despite being a sugarcane spirit, it shares a lot of characteristics with mezcal. So make yourself a caipirinha. To paraphrase Kyle Kinane, we aren’t going to solve the confusion around cachaça, but we will shave some of the sharp edges off of it.

After attending a very special rum tasting by Habitation Velier, we trekked up to Spanish Harlem to meet up with an old friend at the The Axis Project. Yannick Benjamin is one of New York’s most respected sommeliers not just for his palate and knowledge but also for his work with his not-for-profit, Wheeling Forward. This week he’s talking about his work in New York and the life-changing accident that changed his path in the wine community and his work in the community. Take a listen, get involved, and keep your eyes peeled for a future collaborative fundraiser.