Bit by a Fox Podcast

This week, we’re continuing our Bartender Interview Series, The Master Blend - a collaboration with BERTOUX Brandy. This week’s guest is Nicolas Torres, owner and bar director at popular San Francisco bar True Laurel. We spoke about what it takes to create a sustainable cocktail bar, the California influence on True Laurel, and the lighter direction the drinks industry as a whole is taking.  

This week we’re continuing our Bartender Interview Series, The Master Blend - a collaboration with BERTOUX Brandy. This week’s guest is Michael Kudra, head bartender at the three Michelin starred restaurant Quince in San Francisco. Kudra, formerly from Chicago’s famed Aviary, moved to California in 2017 to take over the fine dining bar program at Quince. We discussed how his move to California has helped to encourage his biggest inspirations behind the bar.

Brent Elliott is the Master Distiller behind one of the most iconic bourbon brands in the world - Four Roses Bourbon. We got to chat about the dramatic journey that Four Roses has had since 1888(!), how they were one of the few distilleries in America to survive Prohibition, and how Seagrams nearly destroyed the brand in the 1950s. I also got a chance to taste the "Fourth Rose" in their lineup - Four Roses Small Batch Select.

The Master Blend: A Bartender Series - Natalie Lichtman

Sean Harrison is the Master Distiller behind one of the oldest and iconic gin recipes known around the globe, Plymouth Gin. We spoke about his serendipitous beginnings with the distillery, what it's like to be the maker of such a historic brand, and the evolution he's witnessed of gin and Plymouth over the last two decades.

This week, we’re kicking off our second chapter of The Master Blend - A Bartender Series. In collaboration with BERTOUX Brandy, the Bit by a Fox Podcast will host a series of interviews with some of America’s most acclaimed and innovative bartenders. Kicking off this second installment in the series is Christopher Longoria, Beverage Director at San Francisco's popular, Che Fico. We talked poetry, California, hip hop, and his 20 year evolution behind the bar.

Champagne House Laurent-Perrier, founded in 1812, is the largest family and female run Champagne House in the world. Francofile, New Jersey Native, and President of Laurent-Perrier, Michelle DeFeo has been at the helm since 2014, but her experience in the champagne business goes back to the very beginnings of her career. We discuss her journey to the champagne business, the feminist history of the brand, and what kind of responsibility comes with leading the largest female run Champagne House.

Vodka made entirely from MILK?! Black Cow Vodka is perhaps the first of its kind in the world made from discarded whey - a bi-product of cheese production. Co-founder Paul "Archie" Archard talks about how this harebrained idea came to be, how Black Cow is one of the most sustainable spirits being made, and why milk is the perfect organic ingredient to make vodka with. 

Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur was created 5 years ago in Australia by distiller Philip Moore & coffee-enthusiast/designer, Tom Baker. A first of its kind, Mr Black is a coffee liqueur made with single origin cold brew coffee & Australian wheat vodka. It has half the sugar and 10 times the coffee of traditional coffee liqueurs - a cold brew spirit for coffee purists. At the official LA launch, I sat down with co-founder Tom Baker and Mr Black’s Global Coffee Ambassador, Martin Hudak.

Päntsdrunk is the Finnish concept of drinking alone in your underwear. It is also the title of a popular book by Miska Rantanen detailing the intricacies of this Finnish practice. Podcast host, producer and all around superstar Kristen Meinzer knows a thing or two about getting Päntsdrunk after she and her co-host lived two weeks of it for her popular podcast By the Book. 

This week we take a deep dive into Japanese distilled spirit, Shochu with Paul Nakayama, founder of Nankai Shochu.

Sake may be known as a Japanese rice wine but the process of making the stuff is closer to beer making, and it may be one of the most versatile drinks to have with food. Tim Sullivan, this week's guest, is an unlikely expert and educator of sake, but after devoting the last decade to sake, and learning the craft of sake brewing in Japan, Tim is now one of the top sake experts in the US, a national sake educator, and a Global Brand Ambassador of Hakkaisan Sake Brewery based in Niigata, Japan.

Sonoma wine country is a magical place and I'm still high from my visit last month. I capped off my trip with an interview with longtime Sonoma resident, Beth Costa - an expert on the region, Executive Director and host of Wine Road - a website and award-winning podcast devoted to the all things Northern Sonoma wine country. Get ready to plan your next trip, because we've mapped out your perfect day in Sonoma County. 

English sparkling wine is suddenly all the rage with wine experts and enthusiasts alike. But it's been bubbling up for the last 30-40 years, spearheaded by the leading English sparkler (and apparently the royal family's fave), Chapel Down. I sat down with head wine maker Josh Donaghay-Spire while he was in town recently, and we chatted about the exciting category of English sparkling wine. 

This week is our fourth episode in the Bartender Interview Series - The Master Blend. In collaboration with BERTOUX Brandy, the Bit by a Fox Podcast is hosting a series of interviews with some of America’s most acclaimed and innovative bartenders. This week's interview is with one of the sparkliest personalities in the LA bar scene - Broken Shaker LA's Bar Director and glitter enthusiast, Christine Wiseman.