Bit by a Fox Podcast

Our guest this week is Sother Teague - a greatly admired veteran barman, teacher, and cocktail expert. He is the Beverage Director at New York bitters and amaro haven Amor y Amargo, Wine Enthusiast’s Mixologist of the Year in 2017, co-host of the 'Speakeasy' podcast on Heritage Radio Network...and he’s just added published author to his long list of accomplishments. His book I’m Just Here For the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails is coming in hot this we

We're in the dog days of summer & more than halfway into our first season, so we're taking a wee break - 2 weeks - for summer holiday. It's the perfect time to catch up on all those Bit by a Fox Podcast episodes you might’ve missed along the way. During this week's shot sized episode, we go over some episode suggestions from our recent late bloomer launch party & turn to our listeners for their suggestions for future episodes.

The legendary & whimsical Scottish-themed restaurant Tam O’Shanter is the oldest continuously operated family run restaurant in Los Angeles, also considered to be one of the first themed restaurants in the country. Old Hollywood meets Scottish pub meets...Walt Disney - who was a key player in the Tam O’Shanter history books. GM, John Lindquist, fills us in on their nearly 100 year history, and Martin Ridell, the in-house Scotch ambassador, reveals what's behind that legendary Great Wall of Scotch

Wine for dudes? Boozy gatorade? A clear aged whiskey ala Pepsi Crystal? The adult beverage industry has historically made questionable choices and we're just here to heckle tf out of them. Resident snark, LA-based food and drinks writer Jason Horn and I kick off a new series all about the booze world's worst ideas. This was going to be a one-off episode until we dug in and realized we'd most likely never run out of material. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. 

The Bit by a Fox Podcast is now 7 months in, 29 episodes deep and just past that mid-season mark. There is no better time than now to introduce listeners to the producer, editor, gorgeous eccentric, and lovable Swede who helps to make this all happen every week, Anna Tivell. Anna has such an interesting perspective on drinking based on her Swedish upbringing and her experience living in Iceland for a number of years where there was a prohibition of beer up until 1989.

For this week's Bit by a Fox Podcast I spoke with wine prodigy Ryan Bailey at his home base in downtown LA’s beautiful new NoMad Los Angeles. As Wine Director, Ryan oversees the classically inspired wine program that is roughly 1000 selections and features Champagne as a focus. We delve into Ryan's early interest in wine, his experience in Michelin starred restaurants at a very young age, and we do a deep dive into Champagne and all things bubbly.

This week we’re talking about the oldest adult beverage known to man: MEAD. You’ve probably read about it in some romantic tale - it’s one of the most documented boozy beverages in history - and maybe you’ve had a chance to try it, but many are still unfamiliar with this storied drink of fermented honey. Our guest this week is award-winning author and spirits expert, Fred Minnick who's just written the book Mead: The Libations, Legends and Lore of History’s Oldest Drink. 

For this week’s episode we’re getting a little less boozy...or rather, booze free altogether! We're talking about SEEDLIP, a product that bills itself as the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit. Bartenders Aaron Polsky and Laura Lashley explain what that even means, how to drink it and why it's been so popular in the craft cocktail community. They’ve been working with the brand here in LA, and have been singing its gospel since it landed stateside.

Pride Month is coming to a close, and our 3-part series devoting episodes to LGBTQ stories is also wrapping up. In this 3rd and final episode, we bring the focus to LA. My guest is Garrett McKechnie, bartender & co-owner of Bar Mattachine, a gay bar in downtown LA that has successfully merged gay bar culture and history with craft cocktails. We discuss Garrett's evolution working in gay bars in both NYC and LA, the significance of LA's role in the story of American gay rights, and how the scene has evolved

Last week we kicked off a Gay Pride Month series on the podcast. In this second episode in this series, we touch on the gay club culture in the 70s and 80s - the music, dancing, drag, sex, and drugs involved in the queer club scene, and how it crossed over and influenced straight/mainstream culture through the years. Our guest this week is NYC based writer and arts curator Emily Colucci,. Emily is co-founder of Filthy Dreams, a blog analyzing art and culture through a queer lens and a touch of camp.

In honor of Pride Month, we're devoting the rest of the month to LGBTQ stories. In this first episode of our 3-part series, we touch on gay bars through history. Our guest, writer and historian, Christine Sismondo, PHD, discusses how bars have played such a crucial role in gay culture and politics through the years.

Tomorrow is National Rosé Day, yes, it's an actual day, and not just a lifestyle, thankyouverymuch. I thought we’d get into the spirit by diving into this pink summer fave on the podcast. The thousand years of history, the French Riviera glamour, the highs, and the lows lows (blush wine, anyone?) This wine is a fighter and boy she's made a comeback over the years in a big way. 

In honor of Negroni Week sweeping the cocktail land next week, I spoke with Anne Louise Marquis, the National Portfolio Brand Ambassador of Campari America.  Negroni Week, sponsored by Imbibe Magazine and Campari, is a celebration of one of the most perfect cocktail creations - the equal parts drink of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, but most importantly it is an international charity event that raises money for a variety of global causes. Giving back never tasted so good!

A couple of weeks ago I visited the 75th annual Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America Convention in Las Vegas. It’s the largest gathering of distributors, wholesalers and products in the wine and spirits industry. If you’re a wholesaler or distributor, you go there to shop for new products. If you’re a new brand, this is where you go to launch, and look for distribution. It’s difficult to stand out amongst so much, but I found my favorites and wanted to share them with you. 

For this week’s episode, we feature Maggie Hoffman and her recent book  “The One-Bottle Cocktail”, a collection of drinks recipes with a seasonal and culinary bent that focuses on using just one type of spirit per drink. We spoke about what ingredients can replace liqueurs and amaros and modifiers in a cocktail so you don’t have to spend a ton of money to make your favorite drinks.