This week Uncle Brad and Jules get to the root... of root beer. Tracing it back centuries before it was ever a soda - long before A&W, before it even had a name. Then they build two rooty root beer cocktails:  

Jules's Root Beer White Russian Float 

Brad's Root Beer Old Fashioned 

2.5oz Buffalo Trace bourbon  

0.5oz Dr. McGillicuddy's Root Beer Schnapps 

0.25oz demerara syrup 

2 dashes Angostura  

0.25oz water 

Tip: Why the spiral on your bar spoon matters for pouring anything carbonated without losing the bubbles. 

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In this episode, Uncle Brad and Jules dive into the Saturn, the gin-based tiki classic that somehow slipped past even Brad’s “tiki geek” radar, and use it as a launchpad into space‑age tiki history, modern bar culture, and real‑world home bartending. Brad finally makes and tastes a Saturn on air, explains why a tiki drink built on gin instead of rum still feels fully tiki, and walks through the cocktail’s 1967 Southern California competition origins and its later resurrection during the modern tiki revival. Jules leans into her garnish obsession with the iconic Saturn ring (lemon peel + cherry) and introduces her own riff, the Titan, layering in absinthe, rhum agric ole funk, and passion fruit for a richer, moodier take. Finally, we answer Spencer_Petersen81’s question about their actual at‑home “default” drinks - revealing a shared soft spot for old fashioneds, Brandy Crustas, and Spanish‑style gin and tonics.

Classic Saturn (Uncle Brad’s build) 

2.5 oz gin (London dry; you used Mermaid Gin) 

0.5 oz falernum liqueur 

0.5 oz orgeat 

0.5 oz passion fruit syrup 

1 oz fresh lemon juice 

Method: 

Add all ingredients to a blender without ice and blend briefly to combine and aerate. 

Fill a tiki mug or tall glass with crushed ice. 

Pour the blended mix over the crushed ice. 

Garnish with a “Saturn ring”: a long strip of lemon peel twisted into a circle around a cherry, skewered on a cocktail pick. 

Titan – Saturn Riff (Jules’ build) 

Absinthe, for rinsing the glass 

1 oz gin (e.g., a London dry like Ford’s) 

0.5 oz rhum agricole 

0.75 oz fresh lemon juice 

0.5 oz orgeat 

0.5 oz passion fruit purée 

0.25 oz falernum 

Crushed ice (about 1 cup or slightly less) 

Method: 

Rinse your serving glass with absinthe, then discard or drink the rinse. 

Add all remaining ingredients to a blender with the crushed ice and blend until smooth. 

Fill the absinthe-rinsed glass with fresh crushed ice and pour the blended mixture over it, topping with more ice if needed. 

Garnish with the same Saturn ring (lemon peel + cherry on a pick); optionally add a slapped mint sprig for extra aroma. 

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In this episode, we dive into the rich, flavorful world of fat-washed cocktails, where culinary technique meets classic mixology. Jules and Uncle Brad each dive into the flavor: a bacon fat-washed bourbon Old Fashioned on my end, and a chili crunch fat-washed tequila creation from Jules that brings heat and intrigue in equal measure. 

From there, Uncle Brad trace the origins of fat washing, exploring how this once-niche technique emerged from the evolution (or revolution) of cocktails.  

We wrap things up with a listener question on what to do when a cocktail just tastes “off,” offering practical tips to troubleshoot and rebalance your drink like a pro.

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The Adonis is a late-19th-century, low-ABV sherry-and-vermouth aperitif, originally mixed to honor a record-breaking Broadway hit and quietly carried through the golden age of American hotel bars. In this episode, we follow the Adonis from the footlights to the backbar, using this seemingly simple drink to probe how aromatized wines reshaped ideas of pre-dinner drinking. Along the way, we play with the spectrum of sherry (subtly shifting between oloroso, amontillado, and fino) and watch how each choice bends the cocktail’s nutty, oxidative, and saline contours in unexpected ways. 

Italian Adonis 
Ingredients 

1.5 oz Fino or Manzanilla sherry 

¾ oz sweet vermouth 

½ oz Amaro Nonino 

1 dash orange bitters 

Optional: 1–2 drops saline 

Stir well with ice. 
Strain into a chilled coupe. 
Garnish: Wide orange peel or a thin lemon twist. 

TIP: differences in Sherry 

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Jules showed up to the recipe section of this episode with a drink in each hand, fully convinced the Brown Derby was a Kentucky Derby cocktail. She was wrong - but her enthusiasm was entirely justified. It turns out the Brown Derby has one of the stranger origin stories in cocktail history: invented in London, stolen by a Minneapolis greeting card tycoon, falsely credited to Hollywood, ignored for seventy years, and then resurrected by the craft cocktail revival as if none of that had happened. Brad walks through the whole beautiful mess, while Jules delivers an exceptional side-by-side breakdown of bourbon whiskey profiles that makes this essential listening for anyone who's ever stood in a liquor store aisle wondering what difference it actually makes. Three ingredients. A lot of history. Surprisingly few of it true. 

Brown Derby 

In shaker add 
1.5 oz Bourbon 
1 oz Pink grapefruit juice (fresh) 

2 tsp Maple Syrup 

Double strain into chilled coupe 

Garnish with grapefruit twist 

Derby Sour 

Ingredients: 

1.5 oz Bourbon 

¾ oz Grapefruit juice 

½ oz Lemon Juice 

½ oz Orgeat syrup 

1 Egg white 

Dry Shake 

Shake again w/ ice 

Double strain 

Garnish with fresh cinnamon on top 

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In 1925, an American novelist and a British food critic walked into a French restaurant in London and changed cocktail history; even if nobody noticed for about seventy-five years. 

This episode traces the remarkable origin story of the Champs-Élysées cocktail, beginning with the unlikely partnership behind Drinks - Long and Short, the book that first put the recipe to paper. We explore who Nina Toye really was (a supernatural thriller novelist, a Vogue contributor, and one of the few women of her era to put her name on a cocktail book, above her male co-author no less) and what her presence in this story tells us about how women have always thought about drinks differently. We follow the thread to A.H. Adair, whose role as drink-maker for chef Marcel Boulestin's celebrated London restaurant gives the book its true context: not a bartender's manual, but a love letter to a table, a season, and a moment. 

Along the way, Brad and Jules explore what it means that this drink (named not for a technique but for a feeling, a boulevard, a place you want to be) was born from a distinctly holistic way of thinking about cocktails. One that asked not what's the correct spec but who's there, what are we eating, and what does the occasion call for. It's a question that Nina Toye was answering in 1925, and one that the best home entertainers are still asking today. 

Plus: Cognac, Green Chartreuse, a French chef who famously hated cocktails, and a drink that disappeared for half a century before the craft cocktail renaissance brought it back to the glasses it always deserved. 

Champs Elysees 

Ingredients: 

2oz Cognac – Pierre Ferrand Ambre 

0.5oz Green Chartreuse – or a suitable alternate  

0.75oz Fresh lemon juice 

0.5oz Simple syrup 

1 dash Agnostrua Bitters 

Add to a shaker and shake with ice. 

Double strain into a chilled coupe 

Garnish with a lemon tiwst

Yuzu Champs Elysees 

Ingredients: 

1 oz Japanese whisky, Suntori Toki 

½ oz Cognac 

½ oz Green Chartreuse 

¾ oz yuzu 

1/2 oz honey 2:1 to help balance the yuzu tartness 

Add to a shaker and shake with ice. 

Double strain into a coupe 

Garnish with a dehydrated citrus wheel 

Optional: dust the rim with a citrus sugar salt 
 

TIP: Citrus ins and outs 

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Before you slurp another jello shot out of a plastic cup, you might want to know where it actually came from... and it's not a frat house basement. Uncle Brad traces the surprisingly sophisticated history of alcoholic gelatin, from medieval banquet halls where aspic was the ultimate flex of wealth and status, to Victorian dinner parties where wine jellies were prescribed as health food, to the 1950s era of genuinely horrifying savory gelatin molds (yes, tuna in lemon Jell-O is a real thing), all the way to the spring break culture that turned it into party fuel. It's one of the great social reversals in food history; the same basic dish went from the most refined thing you could serve at a dinner party to the least, in about 150 years. Jules brings it all the way back around with a modern craft take that proves jello shots can actually be good. Whether you're a Victorian lady or a college sophomore, there's something here for you. 
 
Want to party like it’s the 1800’s? Here’s a killer recipie for a champagne gelitan cake courtsey of the Jello Mold Mistress 
https://jellomoldmistress.com/2009/08/24/sparkling-champagne-mold/ 

TIP: How to build your ideal Jello-shot

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In part one of a two-part history series, Uncle Brad traces the origins of one of the oldest cocktails on record, connecting its lineage directly to the Old Fashioned, explaining why 19th century Americans were drinking cocktails with their eggs and toast, and uncovering a surprising twist: the way we make this drink today is essentially the inverse of how it was originally prepared. The history of champagne itself is a story big enough to deserve its own episode - we'll get into that next week. 

Chill your coupe, make sure your champagne is cold, and stay tuned - this is only the beginning. 

Champagne Cocktail 
Take 1 sugar and place it on your barspoon 
Add 2 – 3 dashes of Angostura bitters to the cube 
Fill a chilled champagne flute or coupe glass ½ way with Brut champagne 
Drop it the sugar cube into your glass and top off with more champagne 
No garnish needed 
 
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In this episode, we explore the Angle Face, a sophisticated cocktail that showcases one of France's finest spirits. We trace the drink's origins and cultural significance before diving deep into Calvados, the apple brandy that defines this drink. We uncover how this legendary spirit developed over centuries. We'll also explore the fascinating etymology behind it’s name and Normandy itself, connecting the region's Viking heritage to its world-renowned agricultural traditions and the creation of one of bartending's most underrated classics. 

Angle Face 

Glass: Coupe 

Directions & Ingredients 

In mixing glass add: 

¾ oz Calvados 

¾ oz Gin (London dry or whatever suits you) 

¾ oz Apricot liqueur (or brandy – NOT eau d vie) 

Dash of water 

Shake for 20 seconds 
 
Double strain into chilled coupe 

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Uncle Brad and Jules explore the sophisticated and slightly scandalous Between the Sheets cocktail in this episode of The Art of Drinking. Uncle Brad walks through a few potential origin stories for this Prohibition-era classic - a variation on the Sidecar that balances cognac, rum, triple sec, and lemon juice into a drink worthy of its suggestive name. Meanwhile, Jules transforms the 1930s original with her signature tropical twist, bringing sun-soaked flavors to the elegant base. Whether you prefer your Between the Sheets straight from the Jazz Age or with a vacation vibe, this episode delivers both history and innovation in equal measure. 

Between The Sheets 

Glass: Chilled coupe glass 

Garnish: Lemon peel 

Directions & Ingredients 

In shaker add 

¾ oz Cognac 

¾ oz Plantation 3 star rum 

A scant ounce of Cointreau 

2 tsp of fresh lemon juice (also known as 1/3 oz) 

Pinch of sea salt or 2 drops of saline solution (20g salt to 80g water) 

¼ oz simple syrup (optional)

Shake 20 seconds 

Double Strain into chilled coupe glass 

Add lemon peel garnish  

Tropical Sheets 

In shaker add 

3/4 ounce cognac 

1 ounce Coconut Fat Washed Rum 

3/4 ounce Orange Curacao 

1/2 ounce Mexican Lime juice 

¼ ounce orgeat syrup 

Double Strain into chilled coupe glass 

 
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