CRAFTED

What do rye whiskey, fruit brandy, and vinegar have in common? At one point, they were all made on the same kind of still. Todd Leopold, co-founder and owner of Leopold Bros, has spent years resurrecting that lost production method, including commissioning the first three-chamber still built since Prohibition. Today, Todd and Eli discuss what drew Todd to that forgotten technology, and why he believes the results are worth the inefficiencies. We Want to Hear from You! Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: [email protected] to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED. EPISODE SPONSORS:  DraftKings.com - code: Blister Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister RELATED LINKS:  Leopold Bros Get Leopold’s Vinegar Their Collab w/ Prisoner Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Order our 26/27 Winter Buyer’s Guide Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways TOPICS & TIMES: The Peach Harvest (1:50) From Peaches to Spirits (9:23) Colorado Agriculture, Tradition, & Local Sourcing (14:02) The Three-Chamber Still (27:02) Doublers (47:41) Vinegar Production (53:38) Gin Botanicals & Vermouth (1:07:56) The Future of Distilling (1:24:21) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Podcast Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30 CRAFTED

Today we’re talking with the master distiller of one of the most prominent American whiskey producers of the past two decades, High West Whiskey. High West built much of its reputation through blending, which has long been a tradition in Scotch whisky but has often been treated with suspicion by American whiskey drinkers. In this episode, master distiller, Isaac Winter, joins us to investigate why blending has been so misunderstood. We Want to Hear from You! Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: [email protected] to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED. EPISODE SPONSORS:  Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister OneSkin: oneskin.co/BLISTER RELATED LINKS: High West Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Order our 26/27 Winter Buyer’s Guide Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways TOPICS & TIMES: Introduction to High West Distillery (0:00) Isaac Winter’s Journey (4:09) The Philosophy of High West (23:13) Creative Tension in Whiskey Blending (27:05) The Scotch Whisky Tradition (29:33) The Blending Process at High West (35:48) Collaboration with ‘The Prisoner’ Winery (51:59) SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are more than 175 species of agave native to Mexico — so why is tequila made from just one? To answer that question, you have to understand centuries of tradition, industrialization, and the forces affecting Mexico's native spirits, and today, Pedro Jiménez, founder of Mezonte, joins me to unravel that history and explore one of the world's most fascinating spirits traditions. We Want to Hear from You! Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: [email protected] to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED. EPISODE SPONSORS:  Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister RELATED LINKS: Mezonte Viva Mezcal! Pare de Sufrir RELATED LINKS:  Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Order our 26/27 Winter Buyer’s Guide Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways TOPICS & TIMES: Pedro Jimenez’s Background (2:01) Pare de Sufrir (14:24) Creating Mesonte (15:35) Mezcal As Culture (15:54) Mezcal vs. Tequila (22:24) Commercialization & Standardization (31:34) Exploring Agave Spirits (56:17) The Mezcal Production Process (48:26) Critique of Denomination of Origin (1:01:47) The Role of Transparency (1:12:27) Viva Mezcal (1:17:55) SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hot sauce — many of us love it, but few of us know how & why it came to be; how it works; how it could kill you and how it might save you; and why exploring these topics actually leads into some big questions about the evolution of humankind itself. Jonathan Ellsworth & Eli Brown discuss. We Want to Hear from You! Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: [email protected] to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED. EPISODE SPONSORS: Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister OneSkin: oneskin.co/BLISTER RELATED LINKS:  Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Order our 26/27 Winter Buyer’s Guide Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways TOPICS & TIMES: Introduction to Hot Sauce (1:35) Jonathan’s Hot Sauce Journey (4:12) What Counts as Hot Sauce? (7:55) The Data: Global Hot Sauce Consumption (21:25) The History of Tabasco & Cholula (27:00) The History of Chiles (39:09) How Does Hot Sauce Work? (50:37) The Future of Hot Sauce (1:00:50) Craft Hot Sauce Brands (1:03:06) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Podcast Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30 CRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.