Live Nation and Brooklyn Bowl announced plans to add a Brooklyn Bowl location at Parcel B at Audi Field in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Bowl DC will be the brand’s first location in the DC metro area
Brooklyn Bowl DC will be the brand’s first location in the DC metro area and the fifth location for this venue, which first opened in Brooklyn, New York in 2009.
Featuring a 1,200-person capacity concert venue, Brooklyn Bowl DC’s 38,000 square-foot location will bring to the District a broad mix of live music programmed by Live Nation, 14 lanes of bowling, a craft bar and a menu curated by New York City’s Blue Ribbon Restaurant Group.
With the incredible proximity of the bowling lanes and concert stage, Brooklyn Bowl DC will offer a unique experience of enjoying a show while eating, drinking and bowling with friends.
“We’re really thrilled to see Brooklyn Bowl
be part of this great development in the District,”
said Peter Shapiro, Brooklyn Bowl co-founder.
“After bringing Brooklyn Bowl to two new locations in 2021, we know that the time is right to bring this innovative concept to the D.C. area.”
Boasting a wide array of musical acts spanning multiple genres, Brooklyn Bowl DC’s live entertainment programming will offer something for everyone, from multi-genre national touring artists to New Orleans brass bands, hip hop legends, world music stars, dance parties and Bob Marley inspired “Rock and Roll Playhouse” weekend matinee shows for families. The venue’s thoughtfully designed spaces will be easily customizable to accommodate private events of various sizes.
Brooklyn Bowl DC is the first announced retail concept at Hoffman & Associates and D.C. United’s dynamic mixed-use development Parcel B at Audi Field. It will connect the ground and second floor while serving as an anchor for the double-sided retail and entertainment corridor between Parcel B and Audi Field. The celebrated live music venue, featuring both bowling and a full-service restaurant, will activate the center of the neighborhood enhancing the space and attracting residents as well as visitors to the city.
Once open, Brooklyn Bowl DC will join Brooklyn Bowls in Brooklyn, NY, Las Vegas, Nev., Nashville, Tenn. and Philadelphia, Penn.
For more information about Hoffman & Associates, please visit www.hoffman-dev.com.
To learn more about Brooklyn Bowl, please visit brooklynbowl.com.
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DC, Taste Ultra Rare Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare featured in Fundraiser from Sazerac Company
Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare featured in Ultra Rare Bourbon Tasting California Wildfire Relief Fundraiser from Sazerac Company
Sazerac Company will host a first of its kind fundraiser in support of California wildfire relief efforts, offering consumers the chance to purchase three ultra-rare prize packages featuring some of Buffalo Trace Distillery’s most sought-after bourbons.
Pappy Van Winkle Might be the Holy Grail of Whiskey
Pappy Van Winkle is the crown jewel of the bourbon world, celebrated for its unparalleled smoothness, depth of flavor, and rarity. Produced by the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, this small-batch bourbon is aged for 15 to 23 years, resulting in a rich, complex profile with notes of caramel, oak, and spice. Its popularity skyrocketed due to limited availability, with demand far outstripping supply, creating a cult following among collectors and connoisseurs. The combination of craftsmanship, rarity, and the mystique surrounding its release makes Pappy Van Winkle a true symbol of whiskey excellence.
Eagle Rare 25: The Pinnacle of Rare Bourbon
Eagle Rare 25, a highly sought-after release from Buffalo Trace Distillery, is one of the most revered bourbons in the world. Aged for a remarkable 25 years, this bourbon is celebrated for its exceptional depth, complexity, and rich flavor profile, featuring notes of dark fruit, toffee, leather, and oak. Its rarity—released in extremely limited quantities—has helped fuel its cult status among whiskey collectors. The longer maturation process adds unparalleled smoothness, with each bottle being an extraordinary expression of craftsmanship. As one of the finest offerings from Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare 25 represents the ultimate pursuit of bourbon excellence.
Offerings include the first-ever single barrel of Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old, a complete set of the Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Collection and a bottle of Eagle Rare 25 with 100% of proceeds benefitting World Central Kitchen and Another Round Another Rally charities
Eagle Rare 25
One hundred percent of funds raised through Sazerac’s California Wildfire Relief Fundraiser will go toward two non-profit organizations committed to ongoing relief efforts in the state: World Central Kitchen (WCK), which is working with restaurant and food truck partners in Southern California to provide meals to those in need; and Another Round Another Rally, which is collecting funds for real-time financial support for hospitality workers impacted by the wildfires.
“Our hearts break for those who have been impacted by the devastating wildfires that have swept across California this year,”
Jake Wenz
President and CEO of Sazerac
“The fires have caused immense destruction, and the toll on the Los Angeles community is profound. Through this program we hope, humbly, to offer a small bit of aid to World Central Kitchen and Another Round Another Rally as they continue their much-needed support of the California community during this difficult time.”
Offerings available through the Sazerac California Wildfire Relief Fundraiser include:
1. Auction*: the first-ever single barrel of Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old will be available for auction as part of the initiative
- This is the first single barrel of Pappy Van Winkle to ever be made available for purchase. The barrel was specially selected from the heart of the aging warehouses at Buffalo Trace Distillery for this auction. On average, a single barrel yields approximately 125 bottles of bourbon.
- Funds raised via auction will be evenly split between WCK and Another Round Another Rally
2. Sweepstakes 1**: a complete bottle set of the Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Collection
- The very rare, limited-edition Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Collection features six unique bourbons, each reflective of a craft that blends generational knowledge dating back to the late 1800s. This highly coveted collection features Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year, Pappy Van Winkle 12 Year, Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Year, Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year, Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year, and Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year.
- Funds raised by the Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Collection sweepstakes will benefit WCK
3. Sweepstakes 2**: one bottle of Buffalo Trace Distillery’s ultra-rare Eagle Rare 25
- At 25 years old, Eagle Rare 25 marks the oldest expression ever released from the Eagle Rare portfolio and defies existing perception of ultra-aged bourbon with its smooth, complex flavor profile. Eagle Rare 25 is the first bourbon aged in Warehouse P, a purpose-built, state-of-the-art warehouse, constructed to test if it was possible to extend favorably both the aging and maturation processes typical for American whiskey and bourbon.
- Funds raised by the Eagle Rare 25 sweepstakes will benefit Another Round Another Rally
In early January, wildfires broke out in the Palisades and Eaton communities of Los Angeles and quickly spread to neighboring communities. It is estimated more than 50,000 acres have burned, with the wildfires destroying more than 16,000 structures and killing at least 28 people. From the beginning, both WCK and ARAR have been on the frontlines in Los Angeles helping the communities hardest hit.
- WCK’s Relief Team mobilized immediately in Southern California to support first responders and families impacted by the wildfires. In collaboration with 80+ restaurant and food truck partners, WCK is distributing free hot meals to those in need at several locations throughout Southern California. Since the wildfires began in early January, WCK has served more than 600,000 meals to those affected by the wildfires.
- As the fire’s devastation began to overtake Los Angeles and surrounding areas, Another Round Another Rally jumped into action immediately knowing bar and restaurant workers would face an uphill battle with regard to loss of businesses and loss of income opportunities. Their Disaster Relief Fund enables the organization to provide real-time financial support to hospitality workers impacted by California’s wildfires. In the month since the fires started, Another Round Another Rally has given out over $100k in financial assistance to bar and restaurant workers affected by the disaster.
Those looking to support the Sazerac California Wildfire Relief Fundraiser can participate in multiple ways:
- For the Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old single barrel auction, bidding will begin at $10,000 and those interested can bid as many times as they wish. Bidding will increase in increments of $1,000. The winner of the auction will receive a monetary prize equal to the value of the lot, which may be used to purchase the bottles yielded from the barrel, as well as the empty barrel.
- Link to bid: www.sazeracgivesback.com
- For both the Pappy Van Winkle Collection and Eagle Rare 25 sweepstakes, entrants will receive one entry for every $50 donation made through the registration site. There is no cap on the amount a person can donate. The winners of each sweepstakes will receive a monetary prize equal to the value of the bottle they won, which may be used to purchase the bottles.
- Link to donate and enter: www.sazeracgivesback.com
The Sazerac California Wildfire Relief Fundraiser begins on Tuesday, February 11 at 12pm noon EST. To enter and make a donation, and to view the full official rules, visit www.sazeracgivesback.com. All entries must be received by 11:59PM EST on Sunday, February 23. One winner for each prize package will be randomly drawn and notified via phone and email the week of March 3.
About Sazerac Company
With over 400 years of history, Sazerac is one of the world’s largest distilled spirits companies. Now in the fourth generation of the current family ownership, Sazerac strives each day to bring the finest spirits to consumers around the world.
Over 500 of the world’s most extraordinary brands are part of the Sazerac portfolio, including Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Eagle Rare, Weller, The Last Drop Distillers, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, Southern Comfort, Wheatley Vodka, Meyers’s Rum, White X Cognac, Sazerac de Forge Cognac, Paddy’s Irish Whiskey, and many more.
Sazerac is also the steward of many fine distilleries internationally, including Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, United States; Domaine Sazerac de Segonzac in Cognac, France; Paul John Distillery in Goa, India; and Lough Gill Distillery in County Sligo, Ireland. Additional impressive locations can be found in New Orleans, Montréal, London, Cork and Sydney, to name a few.
To learn more visit www.sazerac.com.
DC, Who does wine better: Politics or Hollywood? Clarendelle , Domaine Clarence Dillon Return as Official Wine Partner of 97th Oscars
DC, Who does wine better: Politics or Hollywood? Clarendelle & Domaine Clarence Dillon Return as Official Wine Partner of 97th Oscars
Clarendelle & Domaine Clarence Dillon Return as Official Wine Partner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Exclusive Wines Poured at the 97th Oscars Ceremony
Clarendelle and the family company Domaine Clarence Dillon announce the brand’s return as the official wine partner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Wine for the Academy
The Academy Awards, renowned for their glamour and celebration of cinematic excellence, also feature a notable emphasis on fine wines during their events. A substantial amount of wine is served to accommodate the numerous attendees. For instance, during the 90th Academy Awards, over 2,400 bottles of wine were provided, equating to approximately 14,000 glasses.
Annually, the Academy hosts several official events where wine is prominently featured. The most notable of these is the Governors Ball, the official post-ceremony celebration, where distinguished wines and champagnes are served to winners, nominees, and guests. In addition to the main ceremony and the Governors Ball, there are various pre-show receptions and ancillary gatherings throughout the awards season, each offering curated wine selections to complement the festivities.
These events underscore the Academy’s commitment to providing a luxurious and celebratory atmosphere, with fine wines playing a central role in the experience.
For the third consecutive year, the prestigious family-owned wine company will exclusively pour exceptional red and white wines at the 97th Oscars® ceremony.
This partnership bridges the world of fine wine and film, elevating the Oscars experience for Hollywood’s biggest stars.
In addition to delighting guests at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Clarendelle and Domaine Clarence Dillon wines will be served at the iconic Governors Ball after the Oscars ceremony and the Official Oscars® Watch Party at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This year, Governors Ball attendees can enjoy a glass of our elegant and contemporary wines while winners have their Oscar® statuettes engraved. The wines will also be perfectly complemented with a legendary gastronomic menu crafted by Wolfgang Puck Catering for an unforgettable evening.
“Before joining the family business, I began my career as a screenwriter, so to have the opportunity to partner with the Oscars for the third consecutive year is truly an honor,” said President and CEO of Domaine Clarence Dillon, Prince Robert of Luxembourg. “This collaboration is a natural extension of my family’s longstanding commitment and deep connection to film and the arts.”
Domaine Clarence Dillon will introduce two new wines for the star-studded events:
- La Clarté de Haut-Brion 2021: A sought-after white wine of rare delicacy with only 1,000 cases produced annually, La Clarté brings together the qualities of a fine white Bordeaux wine with fresh citrus and white flower aromas, followed by a crisp and refreshing finish of lemony brightness.
- Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2015: Château Haut-Brion became the first Bordeaux vineyard to be named after its terroir, making the estate the first luxury brand in the world. The exquisite red Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2015 is similar in style and elegance to its elder and encompasses all unique attributes of a fine wine with an attractive profile – smooth yet powerful, tasty and full-bodied, with notes of ripe fruit leaving an impression of freshness and volume, without heaviness.
Among the returning wine favorites are:
- Clarendelle Bordeaux White 2023: A refined and elegant wine, offering bright citrus notes of lemon and grapefruit, balanced by the smooth sweetness of pear and lychee.
- Clarendelle Bordeaux Red 2016: A wine with fruity aromas of red fruit and blackcurrant alongside floral overtones balanced by great tannic power and delicious velvety texture.
- Clarendelle Amberwine 2021: A complex, well-concentrated and modern sweet wine distinguished by its freshness and harmonious balance of floral fruit and acidity with a smooth finish.
Founded in 1935, Domaine Clarence Dillon is a family-owned group renowned for its prestigious Bordeaux estates, including Château Haut-Brion, Château La Mission Haut-Brion, and Château Quintus. Under the leadership of Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the company has earned a global reputation for excellence in winemaking, joining Primum Familiae Vini, an international association of some of the world’s finest wine producing families. Domaine Clarence Dillon has long been a supporter of the arts, with Prince Robert’s background and screenwriting playing an essential role in merging the worlds of wine and cinema by bringing Clarendelle and Domaine Clarence Dillon to the biggest night in Hollywood.
For more information, follow on Instagram @clarendelle @chateauhautbrion_ @chateaulamissionhautbrion @chateauquintus @leclarenceparis.
DC’s Apéro, Napa’s Be Bubbly, NYC’s Coqodaq: Top 10 Bars and Restaurants for Champagne from Bureau du Champagne
Napa’s Be Bubbly, NYC’s Coqodaq, DC’s Apéro: Top 10 Bars and Restaurants for Champagne from Bureau du Champagne
From Napa to DC to Manhattan and just 7 other sparkling stops!
Bureau du Champagne, USA today announced its annual list of the Top 10 Bars and Restaurants where Champagne plays a starring role. The list, now in its third year, recognizes establishments that elevate and celebrate the uniqueness of the sparkling wine that comes only from Champagne, France.
Released in advance of Champagne Day 2024, the list showcases Champagne standouts in every U.S. region. It recognizes restaurants and bars that take special care to offer Champagnes from a wide variety of producers, list them properly on their menus, and serve them with élan.
“We received nominations for spectacular bars and restaurants across the country, and selected from them a list of destinations that embody the spirit of Champagne,”
Lori Russo
Director,
the Bureau du Champagne, USA.
“While these restaurants and bars differ in style, spanning the spectrum from fine dining to fried chicken, they all have one thing in common: they understand what makes Champagne special. For that, we couldn’t be prouder to raise a glass to them on Champagne Day and the rest of the year.”
The full list of this year’s featured bars and restaurants can be found below in alphabetical order:
- Apéro, Washington, DC: Apéro’s list of more than 700 wines places special emphasis on Champagne. The intimate setting in DC’s popular Georgetown neighborhood is an ideal spot to explore an extensive list of Champagnes smartly organized by style.
- Be Bubbly, Napa, Calif.: In the heart of California wine country, Be Bubbly takes care to showcase Champagne with a menu that includes a map of the region’s five wine-producing districts and a philosophy of Champagne as a celebration of life.
- Boiler Room, Omaha: The wine list at this terroir-focused restaurant, originally conceived by a Master Sommelier, offers a broad range of Champagnes at varying price points so everyone can join in the celebration.
- Charleston, Baltimore: The wine program at Charleston emphasizes the special relationship between wine and food. The Champagne list, which spans three pages of its menu, explains the magic of Champagne along with a diversity of tasting profiles.
- Coqodaq, New York: Proving the versatility of Champagne, Coqodaq pairs the sparkling wine with both caviar and its signature bucket of Korean fried chicken.
- Coupes, Dallas: Coupes bills itself as a bar for Champagne. True to its name, its vast menu of Champagnes explains that “Champagne is a sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wines are Champagne.”
- Fizz Champagne & Bubbles Bar, Sacramento, Calif.: Fizz believes in celebrating everyday triumphs with Champagne. Its menus and events elevate Champagne from France and distinguish it from other sparkling wines.
- La Vie, Waikiki, Hawaii: La Vie’s emphasizes farm-to-table dining with French flair, so its large selection of vintage and non-vintage Champagnes creates the perfect complement, and the view is special, too.
- Pops for Champagne, Chicago: Known for its special events, tastings, Champagne education and a vast list of Champagnes of every style, Pops has been dazzling Chicago with Champagne since 1982.
- Sexy Fish, Miami: The extraordinary interior of this Brickell restaurant is matched only by its extensive list of Champagnes both accessible and rare.
For more information on Champagne Day or to find an event near you, visit champagneday.champagne.fr. More events will be added in the near future, so check back often.
Bureau du Champagne, USA, is the official U.S. representative of the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), a trade association representing the houses and winegrowers of Champagne, France. The Bureau works to advance the CIVC’s mission of defending the interests of the Champagne appellation worldwide through education and advocacy. For more information, visit us online at www.champagne.us.
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Fritz Coleman, Louise Palanker are ‘Woke Boomers’ on Media Path Podcast taking a Deep Dive into Pop Culture
Take a Deep Dive into Pop Culture with Woke Boomers Fritz Coleman, Louise Palanker on Media Path Podcast
Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker are hosting a virtual dinner party. It’s a fun time, a good time, with lots of laughs, smiles, and a deep dive into pop culture past and present.
Have you ever become obsessed with a topic and taken a deep dive into consuming all you could uncover about it?
Media Path Podcast is here to indulge your creative obsessions. Co-hosted by Los Angeles weatherman/humorist Fritz Coleman and filmmaker/columnist and co-founder of Premiere Radio Louise Palanker.
Today we had a conversation (via zoom) with Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
For the full conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
What’s the best way to introduce this fun, flavorful conversation?
Louise: We tell folks, this is what you would be talking about if you got together with a group of friends anyway. What have you been watching? What should I stream? What’s good? So this is where every conversation eventually devolves. We just get there very rapidly
Fritz: Wheezy and I grew this podcast out of a friendship we’ve had for about 35 years, where we found out surprisingly and wonderfully, that we see eye to eye on lots of entertainment, movies, books, TV shows, and we thought, why not make this a podcast? It is a continuation of our common interests in our conversation.
So that’s what we do. We start each show with some suggestions on what people can watch, listen to, read, and that takes eight minutes. And then we always have a guest on; guests from all walks of life. We found that one of our sweet spots is television personalities from the Los Angeles area particularly ones from our growing up period, the 1960’s and 1970s boomer material and older.
But we do everything. We do politicians, we do singing stars. We’ve had very interesting books and topics that aren’t generally known to the public. I’ll give you an example. Two weeks ago. We had a show about a man who wrote a book about a woman by the name of Connie Converse, who I suppose you could describe as one of the great undiscovered musical talents in America.
She was a great songwriter and a great singer. She was never discovered, which was sad and then she just magically and mysteriously disappeared. So the book this guy wrote was about somebody that not everybody was familiar with, but it was fascinating because it was like a, ‘whodonnit’ and also the heartache of an undiscovered musical talent, that lady that started in Greens Village and all those things.
All that to say it’s Weezy and I discussing stuff we find fascinating and we hope you come along.
From the episodes I’ve watched, it feels like the most interesting dinner party you’ve been to in a long time.
Fritz: We appreciate that.
We’re gonna use that as a sales tool from now on. The most interesting dinner party you’ve ever been to. Yeah,
Louise: the food is awful.
Fritz: My dinner with Weezy.
Louise: Yeah, there’s some hard candies and it’s bring whatever you can in your purse because we, I’ve got some granola bars on the coffee table, but that’s it.
Fritz: We want the intimacy of a conversation among friends and so you, you analyzed it well. Beautiful.
Because everyone watching and listening loves food. Do you have a favorite food you’d recommend either you per personally and enjoy or something that we should be eating or cooking while we listen and watch your show?
Louise: I’m gonna recommend some water. This comes out of a filtration system near my sink. It’s just lovely.
Fritz: I happen to be a fan of Northern Italian cuisine. I won’t name specific dishes, but in general, I love risotto with a great protein like shrimp or chicken.
I love penne with a bolognese sauce. I love capellini alla checca, which is a great when you add shrimp to it and then you add a checca sauce, which is the red sauce with garlic. And so I like Northern Italian Cuisine. I don’t cook, but I can buy the best food in America. Just walking out my front door here.
Louise: Have you ever put salmon on a pizza?
Fritz: I’ve had that actually. That’s actually very good.
Louise: Very good. Goat cheese. Wonderful. I love let’s see, chicken parmesan, I think that’s what I would order.Maybe that sounds very pedestrian. But comfort foods are delicious.
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken parm. That’s the kind of stuff – any potato really, you can’t do anything to a potato that would offend me.
Fritz: I’ll tell you, LA is wonderful for that lately cuz there’s all sorts of interesting fusions going on. You have Vietnamese food and Italian food and a fusion menu.
And if you like to experiment with different palettes, this is a great city to do it in. It really is, thanks to Wolfgang Puck and some of the gourmet chefs in the town. Completely
I think what we’re all, what we’re all noticing immediately is the two of you have phenomenal chemistry. What’s the origin story?
Louise: Yes, absolutely. We know each other quite well. It’s very natural, and I’ve been podcasting since you could, you go back to 2005 whenever you got that new iPhone that said, would you like to listen to a podcast? And then you said, what’s a podcast? And then the adventure begins.
So I’ve been doing it from jump and Fritz was contractually obligated to not speak outside of his news job about anything that did not concern a weather pattern. Your newsman cannot have an opinion. That’s very distracting, especially now in our divided sensibility.
Fritz: You just can’t say anything smart, that would embarrass the station. That’s all.
Louise: So you couldn’t do commercials. It makes sense if you’re talking about the weather, you don’t wanna be thinking, oh, this guy sells batteries. You just, you wanna just get your weather cast.
So as soon as he retired we jumped on board together because I had done four podcasts before this one, and I was prepared in terms of what a podcast requires, how difficult it is. And so for Fritz, I just need his mind, his preparation, his wit and his fascination with all things interesting.
And he’s more than ready to take on the podcasting world. He’s the best.
Fritz: And this is not a brag but it’s true. You cannot manufacture chemistry. You can see two people on television. You hear them on the radio or hear them in a conversation, and you know that these two people should not be in the same room together, let alone host their own presentation.
But we just have a natural thing that was born out of our friendship really, and our common interest in stuff. One of our sweet spots is baby boomer and older music, old rhythm and blues. Weezy’s interest in music goes back to the old harmony groups like the Mills Brothers, cuz she was personal friends.
So all those things we find fun and so when we get in there we I think that the fun we’re having resonates to the audience. I hope it does.
Louise: We geek out together. It’s like watching Jimmy Fallon. You’re just so giddy that he’s that giddy. So hopefully we bring that kind of enthusiasm and just to get to meet the people that we grew up watching.
And also the excitement of when you have an author reading the book and then getting to talk to the author and, rather than having to scour YouTube for interviews that the author did, because now you’re fascinated. We actually get to talk to the person. And so we find that exciting. It’s like going to grad school for free.
Fritz: One of the great joys is having a topic that you don’t know anything about. For instance, this Connie Converse topic and the one we’re having this week we’re preparing for now, this is a guy that wrote a book about the friendship between Henry Ford, John Burrows, and Thomas Edison.
These three geniuses in a different venue, each one, but they all had this spectacular friendship and they all took a road trip in a model T Ford. I knew a little bit about Henry Ford, you know it from the Industrial Revolution and extreme antisemitism. But I didn’t realize that he had interests outside there. Louise and I are just gonna be blank slates and come into this interview with just being inquisitive, and that’s always fun. You discover something you had no idea about.
Let’s talk about both of your backgrounds.
We’re gonna go to Fritz second. Louise, bring everyone up to speed about what you’ve accomplished and those other podcasts you’ve worked on so people know the background that you bring to this show.
Louise: Yes, I began my career as a studio page, and it was one of those things where you get your foot in the door and one thing leads to the other thing.
So I became a studio page at a place called Metro Media Tape. We were doing all of the Norman Lear sitcoms. We had the John Davidson talk show. Which was where a person like me gets to meet Van Johnson. It was just crazy. Look, I’m from suburban Buffalo and here I am with Van Johnson.
It was crazy. So I’ve always just been so grateful to work in entertainment. I just consider it to be an honor. But that led to a job at a show called PM Magazine, which led to me meeting Rick Dees who was a local radio personality. I went to write his syndicated countdown show, which is called the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, which led to me meeting other personalities at KISS FM and forming a company with them called Premier Radio Networks.
And that was a 15 year rocket ship that led to that company being sold to Clear Channel, which is now iHeart Media. At one point I went to one of my partners and I said, Hey, Craig, what are what’s the chance of me having my own show? And he said, none. And I said, I have two words for you, podcast.
Because he didn’t know that they were just the one word at that time. And I, that’s how new it was. I was doing standup comedy at the time, so I went to do standup comedy that night and I said to my friend, Laura Swisher, have you heard of a podcast? And she said, I just heard about it today.
It was just like, it was hot off the press, right? So we were like, let’s make one. That led to 100 episodes of Weezy In The Swish, which was my first podcast. And then I did one with K with teenagers where I was like giving teenagers advice cuz like I love to mentor young people.
And that one was called Journals Out Loud. And then I did one with some of my comedy friends called things I Found Online, which was people our age discovering the interne. Then Fritz retired and now I’m working with Fritz.
I never was a radio personality at Premier. I was a creator. I was in charge of all of the creative output, but Premier had shows that did not involve or include me other than behind the scenes.
And now Fritz obviously. My words, you’re an LA icon. For more than 40 years…
Fritz: Contactually, you have to say that about me. Every time you introduce me. I’m an LA icon.
Not only do you own LA TV, but you own LA stages because for those who don’t know, seeing you live is a phenomenally fun, entertaining evening. Was it a very conscious segue to get into podcasting?
Fritz: My involvement with her podcast is totally her both blame and her gift that she gave to me after I retired.
People find this hard to believe. Real meteorologists hate this story, but I’ll tell it to you anyway. I was working at the Comedy Store in 1982 and because I talked on stage about having done the weather earlier in my broadcasting career, the news director from Channel Four and his wife were in the audience that night and he came up to me after the show and he said, I really enjoyed your show, particularly the thing about doing the weather in the Navy, but not knowing anything about it.
He said, would you have any desire to come to Channel Four and do some vacation relief, weather forecasting? I was making $25 a night at the Comedy Store, and so I almost passed out. I said, of course, when do you want me to start? He said you have to audition. So I auditioned and got the job, and I did two years as a vacation relief guy on the weekends.
Filling in on the weekends and filling in for people on vacation. And then two years later, I was bumped up to the weekday weather cast position and I retired two weeks shy of my 40th anniversary. And it’s just unbelievable. I didn’t set out to have a career in weather. This opportunity presented itself.
I could continue to do standup. I came out here from Buffalo, New York where we Weezy’s from to do standup. Even as the weather job I was able to continue to do standup. And so I had two careers. One paid for my children’s education. The other exercised my ego, and as they, it both worked out.
How do you two decide on the topics and when you bring up your guests, how do you decide on your guests?
Louise: We get a lot of offers coming our way now. There’s definitely people that we go after. But we have so many folks that are pitching, when someone has something new that comes out, they make the rounds. And so we just know what our sweet spots are and we email each other with our producer Dina, and we say, does this sound good?
So for example we did not know anything about that Elvis story that you’re talking about. And when it was pitched to us, we just said Absolutely. Exactly. This is what we wanna delve into. So that is what you’re referring to, is a book about a woman who researched Elvis’s health history and discovered that he wasn’t a drug addict because he enjoyed drugs. He was a drug addict because he was trying to feel normal. He was born with disease in 9 out of the 11 systems of the body, and this is why everyone on his mother’s side dies in their forties, including Elvis.
Fritz: That was a great example of what I was talking about.
Weezy and I were just flabbergasted. I mean we’ve all known a lot about Elvis, especially Weezy and I, because we’re students of music, but there was so much in there that we didn’t realize. And that’s a great example of discovering things that you weren’t aware of that made the podcast so much fun.
Louise: And the book is by Sally Hodel and it’s called Elvis: Destined to Die Young.
I think so many people are looking for that level of knowledge and a deeper dive. I think both YouTube and podcasts allows for those deeper dives.
What do the two of you look for when it comes to interviews? Is there different angles you’re both looking to achieve or how does that happen?
Louise: If we find it interesting, we just believe that other folks will find it interesting. So we just gauge it on what fascinates us.
We’re a pretty good barometer.
Louise: We’re always looking for politics. We both call ourselves “woke boomers”.
We’ll take it. And we love history. We love biographies, we love documentaries. We’re both news junkies. We love TV, especially the TV that is close to people because they grew up with it. We believe firmly that what you loved at 10 you love forever. We talked to Marty Croft and we talked to former child stars and we talk to folks like that.
This week we talked to Nellie Oleson, Alison Arngrim from Little House on the Prairie as well. We love talking to those folks and learning what life was like as a child growing up making the television that other kids were so in intrigued by, and of course the music of our era, sixties, seventies, eighties,
Fritz: We had two documentary filmmakers on a couple of about a month or so ago. They made a documentary about Blood, Sweat and Tears, which was one of the iconic groups of the late sixties and early seventies. They and Chicago were the first bands to use horns in mainstream rock and roll. But there’s a great backstory about how Blood, Sweat and Tears were bamboozled into making a tour behind the Iron Curtain. They were the first American rock band that had ever been allowed to tour behind the Iron Curtain.
And there’s hundreds of hours of video of these guys experiencing Romania and all these less than welcoming countries. And that was fantastic because, again, we’d always been fans of Blood, Sweat and Tears. But this was an aspect of their career we didn’t know anything about. That was fantastic.
And we had Bobby Columby, who was the drummer for Blood, Sweat and Tears in the studio with us. It was really fun.
You both brought up in your own ways, “happy accidents” with guests. Can either of you suggest guests we should go back through your archives and find?
Louise: My favorite episode features Joyce Bouffant. She wrote a book called My Four Hollywood Husbands. It’s absolutely a tremendously entertaining read. She was married to James MacArthur, The son of Helen Hayes. So this kid who has a impoverished childhood and suddenly she’s hanging out with Helen Hayes. Launches a career of taking care of alcoholic husbands and finally winding up with the man of her dreams.
And it’s just, it’s quite a ride and remarkably entertaining.
Fritz: And we have guests that will always be our favorites. One of our only repeat guests, Henry Winkler, who happens to be a close friend to Weezy’s. We had him on, but not because he’s a close friend. Because when you just have a very casual conversation with him, you realize his appeal to the world.
He’s one of the most down to earth, non-condescending, brilliant guys who never talks down to you. He’s just the loveliest man in the world and who has had an astonishing career. And we’ve had him on, and we’re gonna try to get him on again because he has an autobiography coming out soon. So we hope we can coerce him into coming back on.
But yeah, we love those too. We haven’t had anybody else on twice? I don’t think so. Adam Schiff. The politician. Now his life has changed because he’s running for senator from California.
Louise: He’s Fritz’s Congressman, so he’s congressionally obligated to attend our podcast.
He’s wonderful and very funny guy as well. We’re always just really honored to speak to him. Another favorite show of mine is: The Steve’s. Steve Young and Steve O’Donnell, both wrote for David Letterman. Steve Young has created this documentary called Bathtubs Over Broadway, where Steve Young becomes obsessed with industrial musicals.
It’s on Amazon Prime right now and it still gets a lot of views.
It’s fun to talk to Pat Boone and Vicky Lawrence and Johnny Whitaker and Christopher Knight. All of our comedian friends, but those are the stories that you love. Uncovering is things that you didn’t know were there and that delight you.
Let’s tell the audience where to find your show – Where do we find you?
Louise: Anywhere you type Media Path Podcast it’s gonna come up. Website, podcast, youtube, iphone.
Fritz: I have a new comedy special, which is streaming on Tubi. It’s called Unassisted Living. It’s just describing life for people of our demographic: that is old people and their parents.
That’s gonna be fun. Can we find you live on stage soon?
Fritz: I think I’m gonna be having a residency at the El Porto Theater in North Hollywood, California. It’s a fairly legendary theater, called the Maryland Monroe Forum.
And I’m gonna be doing a show there once a month for a while as I work out new material. And I’ll be advertising that on social media and elsewhere.
Find the Media Path Podcast: https://www.mediapathpodcast.com/
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DC gets Flavor: Chilli No. 5 Unveils Hunted Alba White Truffles for Limited Time
DC gets Flavor: Chilli No. 5 Unveils Hunted Alba White Truffles for Limited Time
Chilli No. 5 launches a new batch of 50 bottles of magnificent White Truffle Hot Sauce to compete with Truff, the industry leader and USA truffle sauce master.
The only difference is Chilli No. 5 ses real white truffles from Alba in the Piemont and has won the Great Taste Award in 23.
Priced at £25/30€/$ per 100ml, it solidifies its position as one of the priciest and fanciest hot sauces in the global market.
Every October, Chilli No. 5 founder Rumble Romagnoli visits Alba in Northern Italy to hunt and handpick white and black truffles that are used to make a yearly batch of the Chilli No. 5 White Truffle Hot sauce.
Truffle Hunter – Renzo, and Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dog – Charlie
The team has a dedicated Truffle Hunter – Renzo, and Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dog – Charlie to find the best truffles in the world. They also benefit from access to the truffle forest that has belonged to Renzo’s family for generations.
“Truffles are like diamonds. They cannot be made.
You have to find them.
Rumble Romagnoli
founder
“…Each one is unique. Close your eyes and bring the forest to life with this uber-umami white truffle sauce unmatched so far in the industry.” – Rumble Romagnoli founder says.
Romagnoli adds “You can understand that no expense was spared in sourcing the finest white truffles, carefully handpicked to ensure their unparalleled quality and aroma. Blended with a mix of fresh mushrooms such as Porcini, Ceps, Chantrelles, Girolles, and Morilles, this creation is a true culinary gem.”
According to the Great Taste Award Judges “It becomes clear very quickly that this sauce has been made with real skill. The truffle is very much present but tamed at all times. The additional mushrooms combine for a really characterful sauce that offers umami in spades but has some acidity, tang and sweetness too. On top of all this artistry, there’s the late and subtle arrival of chilli heat to round it all off. This is a very complex sauce, but very accessible too.”
This unique White Truffle Hot Sauce will be a versatile addition to kitchens, grills, and BBQs all over the world used not only as a condiment, but also as marinade, and a BBQ sauce. Traditionally, truffle is used on plain pasta, risotto, or grilled meats to enhance the complexity of this unique flavour. The intoxicating aroma and robust, earthy flavour of white truffles create a truly sensory experience that will transport you to a world of culinary luxury.
Chilli No. 5’s White Truffle Sauce is a limited-edition offering, available for a limited time as only 50 bottles are produced each season. This new batch left the Chilli No. 5 kitchens today, so don’t miss the opportunity to add this rare delight to your upcoming culinary repertoire.
Chilli No. 5’s White Truffle Sauce is the perfect choice for discerning home cooks, food enthusiasts, and those seeking to impress guests with a touch of decadence. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion, hosting an intimate dinner party, or simply indulging in a gourmet home-cooked meal, this sauce will leave a lasting impression.
This limited-edition White Truffle Hot sauce goes with everything and is perfect for a chilli sauce gift in its designer sustainable packaging.
To explore the rich flavors of Chilli No. 5’s White Truffle Sauce and elevate your culinary creations, visit Chilli No. 5’s Website.
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Discover DC’s Newest Cocktail: Now Madre Mezcal offers a Gateway to a Better Taste
Philly Cocktails! Now Madre Mezcal offers a Gateway to a Better Taste
Today’s conversation is with Ryan Fleming from Madre Mezcal. The LA nightlife veteran reveals his time working behind the bar in some of Southern California’s hottest spots, as well as the inspiration that got him to travel to Mexico, discovering Mezcal.
The aroma, flavors, science and food pairings for Mezcal.
Love Tequila? Discover the Gateway to better taste with Madre Mezcal’s Ryan Fleming
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, unedited conversation, visit our YouTube Channel.
“…I’ve been a big Mezcal lover before I ever sold it…”
Joe Winger: Can you share the behind the scenes or how the brand itself was created?
Ryan Fleming: I’ve been a big Mezcal lover before I ever even sold it or made a dollar doing that. So I got to actually meet Ron Cooper, who is the legend that started the Del Maguey label back in 2011.
I got to drink rabbit Pachuca with him and all these other amazing things. The reason I bring him up is he’s a kind of one of the people that we look up to, how to sustainably bring a brand and how to create culture that crosses boundaries in a sense.
He has a beautiful book that I recommend anyone to read if you haven’t read Ron Cooper’s book.
But we share a similar story. One of our founding partners, Tony Farfalla and one of my good friends, Stefan Tony’s an artist and he was literally traveling through Oaxaca doing documentaries and embracing the art and culture. He happened to meet Jose Morales, which is the first family we ever worked with.
If you have original bottles of Madre [Mezcal] before the labels have changed, it used to say Jose’s name on the bottle.
So Tony was bringing bottles back to Brooklyn in plastic water bottles and it snowballed. His friends in Brooklyn were like, this stuff’s great. Started out in plastic water bottles in 2014. I think it was 2016 when our first glass bottles actually came by and we became like of a more legit brand and company. But it started with Tony and Stefan; and they brought on our CEO and COO, Chris and Davide.
Chris actually is one of the founding driving forces in the electronic scene in the 90s in Europe. Chris comes from a very artistic, music based background. Then he went on to work for some bigger alcohol brands in the vodka world.
Davide, who is our COO, my direct boss, who I love, is Italian and his whole family built furniture and he got his big break by importing and bringing furniture over [to the United States]. He also works with a beautiful high end apparel line.
“…everyone has a very unique artistic background, which really reflects the brand and the label…”
So everyone has a very unique artistic background, which really reflects the brand and the label. Just not wanting to make a quick buck and actually make something we can stand behind and believe in.
As the families now blossom into four, we use three: the Vasquez family, the Blas family and the Morales family are our three main producers for our red and black label, which most people are familiar with.
We just brought in Moises and he’s actually from Santa Catarina Minas. That’s a little town where all they really make is their production. It’s a town known for nothing but clay pot distillation. So if you actually use a copper pot in, in Manera and Santa Caterina Minas, you’re looked at as what are you doing? That’s not what we do here.
He’s our last and newest producer and he may be the most cowboy of them all, and he’s my favorite.
When you get to Tlaxcala, you have to walk over like a little rope bridge over like a river and stuff into the hills of Minas to see his production, and he’s got his grandfather’s old still, and he’s got his mom’s little kitchen that he wants to reopen, and it’s like a restaurant. But if you and I were to look at it, it just looks like a backyard set of tables and chairs with a cooking center.
No, this is a restaurant for the village. It’s really beautiful down in Minas. I recommend everyone, if you get a chance to go down there, it felt like the jungles in Costa Rica, cause it’s up near the hills and it’s just so green and lush up there.
“…I’ve been working in the alcohol industry for almost 15 years …”
Joe Winger: What got you down there? Was it for a vacation or for Mezcal?
Ryan Fleming:
So I’ve been working in the alcohol industry for almost 15 years and I worked for the Houston Hospitality Group for over a decade, helping run programs and menus. I worked for a couple other restaurants, but I used to work for Stillhouse Whiskey, which many people remember the terrible flavored moonshine in a gas can.
Yeah I actually sold that. I did pretty well, there was always one flavor that someone loved. I had the mint chocolate chip and I would keep it in the freezer to take care of my sweet tooth when I didn’t have ice cream. So that’s how it started.
My buddy, Stefan, who’s one of the founding partners goes, “Hey, we got this Mezcal company.” I was just basically consulting for free lunches.
One day he goes, do you want to go to Oaxaca? And I went, absolutely.
I familiar with going down to Mexico city, but I’d never been as far South as Oaxaca. So I jumped at the chance.
[Meanwhile] we all got an email from Stillhouse saying “Hey, I know things are being shaken up right now, but trust me, everything’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
That weekend, apparently the whole team got laid off, but I didn’t get the email untll I came home Monday. They’re saying, “Ryan, are you going to be okay? Do you need help finding work?”
So I went down to Oaxaca, met the families, broke bread with Jose Morales, got to meet his mother who blessed the roast and cooked us dinner. They offered me a job.
That was started my journey about six years ago with Madre [Mezcal ]and I’ve been with him since.
Fleming motions to tattoos on his arms and hands.
Discovering Madre Mezcal
I have it tattooed on my hand right here. I have it tattooed on my palm right here. And I think I have another one on the inside of my leg too. We do tasting events and we’ll have pop up tattoo artists all the time.
Tequila vs Madre Mezcal
Joe Winger:
You mentioned the tastings and the education. Are there quick lessons that you teach the most often?
Ryan Fleming:
Basic production, culture, financial, environmental and economic sustainability.
I don’t think people understand that Oaxaca is the second poorest state in Mexico. Everyone thinks the Mezcal boom must be bringing so many jobs, but it really only affects about 20 – 40,000 people that live in Oaxaca for the production,
Mezcal is great because it does bring some financial sustainability to the families. Jose started off driving a taxi to pay his bills and now he’s making Mezcal in his family’s tradition. His whole family, his cousin, his uncles, they all make Mezcal for a living now.
There’s so much culture behind it. Even the old argument of did the Spanish bring over copper stills and that started distillation or does it go back to the Aztecs and Mayans? Because they found distillate and pottery from 3000 years ago. It’s those little nuances.
People really like to talk about the environmental, but giving back to the people down there by not just buying product, but giving them some ownership, which Madre does do, so that everyone has a little bit of skin in the game.
So I think Sustainability, whether it’s environmental, economical, cultural, and production. Those are the things I really like to talk about.
Joe Winger: What is the basic difference between mezcal and tequila? Or is it more complicated?
Ryan Fleming:
You could say production techniques, additives, mass production are probably the three biggest differences.
Tequila can only be made with one agave. It’s a blue weber. Mezcal can be made with the other 47-ish varietals, and that number is always fluctuating, based on classification and family genius.
Production is the big one. Tequila is made in massive factories and made with either chemicals or steam for the most part.
Whereas mezcal is actually made by hand, roasted in an earthen oven. The biggest thing that separates Tequila and Mezcal is the 1% additive rule.
Tequila can have up to 1% by volume additives, and they don’t have to tell you. That’s why certain large brands will say 100% Agave, but it’s full of additives, because it doesn’t take much with modern chemistry. Just a couple drops of glycerin or vanilla extract to change the flavor and hide all the nuances.
Mezcal can’t have any additives by law.
Joe Winger: Can we walk through the roles and responsibilities between the families that produce Madre Mezcal?
Ryan Fleming:
Yeah, the four families. Let’s start with Jose Morales. Him and his brother both make mezcal. Now they produce for us in the US exclusively. We encourage all of our families to continue making mezcal to trade. They use it for a local economy.
Every time I go down there, [their operation is growing]. When they started, they had three stills. Now there’s 12 up and running and they have solar power. It’s just so crazy to see how much the transformation has happened.
The original recipe, the blend of cuishe and espadine at 90 proof, that’s his family’s recipe. So we expanded that and we brought on Carlos Blas and the Vasquez family. Unfortunately, Natalio the father passed away a couple of years ago.
His daughters are now producing in the family’s tradition and we take whatever we can from them.
But what we do, that’s a little bit different is, we started out when it was just Jose, he was making the blend himself. Now we have them make the espadine and the cuishe separately.
All three families are part of the process. Sometimes we just get cuiche from Jose. Sometimes Carlos makes all the espadine, but Carlos is like a master blender.
We blend a cold style like Scotch does. Even though it’s not the most traditional way, all the distillation and process is as true as it can be.
But by blending post distillation allows us to keep consistency, which was a huge problem because every batch with your wild fermentation, your wild yeast and all these beautiful nuances, it’ll be inconsistent as you grow as a brand. It was hard for us to keep consistency.
But by blending multiple terroirs and three different families’ production, we can keep a consistent product that tastes the same as well as expanding and bringing on more families to help instead of just going to a large factory house and not making what I would call “traditional Mezcal.”
Joe Winger: So focusing on your background, you mentioned that you’ve been a bartender in the LA nightlife. Any memorable adventures or lessons you can share?
Ryan Fleming:
There are some stories I could tell that I probably don’t want to share publicly. But there are some amazing stories I can tell.
One of the oddest experiences I’ve ever had, I worked at Good Times at Davey Wayne’s, which is one of the most famous bars in the Hollywood nightlife in the past decade.
Paul McCartney showed up at our door.
But because our staff is younger and our door guys are a little bit younger, they thought it was an old weird British man that just showed up and they turned Paul McCartney away from the door.
‘Holy crap, is that Paul McCartney’?
He was like, do you know who I am? The guys [were like] ”We don’t care.” Like straight up, blowing Paul McCartney off. One of our managers came out and was like, ‘Holy crap, is that Paul McCartney’? And they’re like, wait, the guy from the Beatles?!
My manager ran out, “Please come back,” and Paul had a great time at the bar. We got him a special little area to sit down. It was a packed Saturday. It’s not a nightclub where we have gated off [areas]. Even if you reserve a table, people are inches away from you where you’re sitting at your table.
Justin Bieber showed up one time and everyone went nuts. He comes in, walks around, does a loop, comes out and goes, “I thought this was a hip hop club.” and just left.
It was a 1970s themed bar and we played nothing but 70s music.
The dichotomy between the two different generations and to see them all melt into one location was one of the coolest things about working at that bar.
Joe Winger:It’s so crowded because it’s so popular. The Houston Brothers always do such a good job.
Ryan Fleming:
Yeah. The cocktails are still really good too. For as much volume as we used to do there, the biggest thing is how can I make a really beautiful cocktail that’s still cost effective and doesn’t take 12 steps. We got really good at batching stuff and figuring out how to infuse things. Luckily our back of house was just the most amazing. Mariano is the best barback I’ve ever had in my whole life. He’s still there.
He is just a workhorse that got all the infusions. He would cook, he would infuse all of our products and he was just great. Even if we just did a jalapeno infusion on our tequila, if it got too spicy, he could break down the ratio and water it down with more products so that we could keep the spice level approachable.
Joe Winger:
What is the secret to high quantity yet high value cocktails?
Ryan Fleming:
Batching is definitely the way to do it. Any of your alcohols that are shelf stable, you want to put all of those in the proper ratios in a bottle.
Instead of grabbing a modifier and your base spirit and another modifier, you’re grabbing one bottle with a special tape at the bottom, so you know which cocktail it goes to and then all your fresh stuff.
You can’t batch the fresh stuff. It has to be separated because you put citrus in something and it goes bad in three days. Now the whole batch is bad. So keeping your fresh stuff separated.
Joe Winger: Back to Madre Mezcal. Obviously the bottles themselves are where all the power is. So let’s talk about labels and taste profiles.
Ryan Fleming:
People love our labels. Our branding is top notch. It’s one of the first compliments we always get. “Oh my God, I love your branding.”
Madre Mezcal Artesanal
Looked at Oaxacan culture and some other like medieval culture and combined the art from the two.
As far as the red label it’s the woman on the bull. It’s a really beautiful message of Mother Earth coming down and starting to share humanity and move across the world to plants and spread love. That’s why she’s on the bull. It’s the combination of animal, Mother Earth, and humans.
Madre Mezcal Espandin
The black label is a beautiful logo of a woman on the ground. She’s planting and spreading the seed of life that gives us agave and flowers and fruit and vegetables and everything else.
Madre Mezcal Ancestral
The ancestral is this beautiful clay bottle with old clay vessels from Greece that carried wine with the fluid coming out and it’s supposed to celebrate the ancestral way of making mezcal and clay pots and clay distillation.
I always love telling the story of people who say mezcal is not supposed to be aged, which is a true-ish statement in my opinion. But back in the day, everything got transferred in barrels. So Mezcal would accidentally get aged in barrels because it would travel from town to town on horseback after the product was made.
So the idea that Mezcal was never aged is it wasn’t aged on purpose.
Mezcal was accidentally aged in wood. The traditional way that people would age Mezcal is in glass and they would hide it underground.
I always tell people, if you have a beautiful bottle of Mezcal, you should open it and take it out and put a wine cork in it, or at least crack the bottle and get some air because it really lets alcohol open up and aerate.
Mezcal benefits from a resting period. Pouring it in a nice open glass, like a snifter or a wine glass, letting it sit for about 5-10 minutes will really open it up.
Madre Mezcal tasting notes
Madre is designed to be less smoky. I really hate the term smoky. I like the word roasted because what you’re tasting is like barbeque.
You’re tasting the roasting of the agave and the charcoaling and the burning of the outside agave which will affect the sugars, the caramelization.
Madre really was designed to be a more approachable mezcal. We call ourselves ”The gateway to the category.”
We want to bring people from tequila over to Mezcal so you can explore what agave spirits also have to offer.
It’s bright, clean, and smooth. I always compare it to a really nice, made tequila.
Our Espadine is actually a close cousin of [tequila’s] Blue Weber. It tastes really bright, clean and smooth. But you’re going to get some of that minerality and smoke in the end.
Like easy drinking with some earthy aromas.
Joe Winger: That night when I met you, what you handed me was my first taste of the night. I love that it was so pure and smooth. It didn’t clog up my mouth for the rest of the night.
Ryan Fleming:
I’m like you. I want to have 2-3 cocktails a night. Not just one and my palette’s done.
Our Espadine to me is a 2-3 second palette. It clears up and you get like a breath and it’s fading. Our Ensemble goes on for 10- 12 seconds. From sweet vanilla to chocolate to mineral and then to smoke. Then the smoke fades and you get just a really beautiful, crisp. It’s viscous. You can feel the oil in your mouth when you swirl it around and it makes the best Negroni.
Joe Winger: Let’s talk about food pairings.
Ryan Fleming:
I want to know if this caught you off guard, but it’s Italian food.
Very rich foods. These beautiful Mezcals are light and almost floral and fragrant, It cuts through the richness and creaminess of food.
That’s why mezcal and chocolate are consistently paired together, but that was just way too easy. There’s always mezcal chocolate pairings, but like a really nice Italian dish, something creamy and rich, like an Alfredo or a really well done piece of pizza, like a margarita or a white sauce pizza.
“…I want to know if this caught you off guard, but…”
We are working on doing some [pizza] pairings with some places in LA. Do a different slice of pizza with three different cocktails of Madre and then have a tasting at the end.
Chocolate has a big part of Oaxaca too. You can’t not have some chocolate and mezcal at the end of the night.
Espresso martinis are so hot again right now. Try making one with mezcal instead of vodka and just [see] how coffee helps open up the agave and the notes, and you’re going to get so much more going on in your cocktail.
If you pair a nice espresso martini with beautiful, dark chocolate from Oaxaca. That is your final cocktail at the end of the night, it won’t let you down.
Joe Winger: You mentioned replacing Mezcal with vodka in a martini, are there any traditional or more common cocktails we should also try replacing Mezcal in?
Ryan Fleming:
When I tell you this, it may blow your mind. Most gin cocktails are a little bit better with Mezcal.
There are certain times you need botanicals, but a lot of really good classic gin cocktails, if you sub them for Mezcal, are absolutely fantastic.
Joe Winger: I’m shocked because most gins have such unique aromatics.
Ryan Fleming:
Which Mezcal has so many of those same unique terpenes going on that it changes the cocktail, but it works.
So instead of having botanicals, you have all these beautiful vegetal and mineral notes that just come from agaves.
Joe Winger: What are the biggest misconceptions in the world of Mezcal?
Ryan Fleming:
A lot of people have a misconception, especially on the trade side, that we have grown exponentially. It’s been a lot of hard work. People think we have this massive team behind us. There’s less than 20 of us on the whole team. That includes our team down in Oaxaca, who watches over manufacturing and production for us down there.
We don’t have an office. We have a little tiny apartment in Venice for meetings.
A lot of people don’t understand the hard work that goes into creating a small brand. It’s just a lot of people working hard to create beautiful Mezcal, especially the families.
People [unfairly comparing it to] tequila. What do you mean, we can’t get more? Why is it so expensive? We have people going out hand collecting wild agaves and harvesting espadine. All of that is hand cut, hand chopped. I’ve hand cut agaves with the families.
None of this is industrialized or mechanized like tequila.
Appreciate every drop of mezcal you have, because someone put a lot of love and labor into it.
Joe Winger: Ryan, as we wrap up, let’s talk about where can learn more about Madre Mezcal?
Ryan Fleming:
We have a beautiful Instagram. Madremezcal.com is our website.
We also have this Instagram called mezcal. Learning and it’s a little short videos and little blurbs to talk about production, families, history, and culture. It is focused on Madre, but it’s not just Madre, it’s Mezcal as a whole.
If you want to know more about our families who produce, where it’s made, you can find all that information on madremezgal. com.
Our bottles are in most of your nicer bottle shops, liquor stores. In California, we’re lucky enough to be in Trader Joe’s for the Espadine and Whole Foods has our Ensemble.
If you can’t find it, go to madremezcal.com and we ship bottles to almost every state in the U S.
We’re in nine countries, too. Australia. All over Europe, Costa Rica. We’re working on Japan and South Korea as well. So I’m just excited to see the culture of mezcal just expand beyond just America and see how excited because I, when I talk to people that are in London or, people in Australia, and they’re so excited about the idea of being able to get mezcal.
Joe Winger: What is the future for Madre?
Ryan Fleming: I can’t tell you about the big one.
But, [exciting things for] our Ancestral, which is pretty new and every batch of that’s going to be hand numbered and labeled.
We’re going to start doing small batch productions that will be very limited. Then the desert waters, which we have ready for summer.
To learn more about MadreMezcal, visit MadreMezcal.com. Find them on Instagram at MadreMezcal
