Phil: me, give me your best new year's. Hey. Okay. I thought maybe you'd go with the Heyo. Chris: Nope. That's a whole other. Phil: Cause you're a classy guy. I mean, you're wearing a tie for goodness sake. Did you tie that bow tie yourself? Chris: it's not that hard. Phil: actually taught me. tie, but actually you tied my bow tie at your wedding. Do you remember that? Chris: Yes, I do. I don't think you're the Phil: I think our friend Mark got a picture of it and it was just super weird. Chris: Like it's supposed to be the other way around Phil, Phil: I think yours is like, Oh fine, come here. How is Mark, have you talked to him lately Chris: wow. We've texted a little bit back and forth. yeah, I think he's doing well. Phil: I don't know if he listens to this show, but if he hears this. Knowing Mark, he's going to jump over the moon with excitement. Chris: Maybe I don't know. Here's going to be annoyed that he's associated with us now. Phil: No shot, no shot. Good old Mark. W happy new year. this is the way to end the year. Chris: thanks, Phil. Happy new year to you too. I don't know if I mentioned it, but uh, I'm kind of ready to be done with this year. So I know Phil: Oh my gosh. Chris: to you, Phil, but I might just go to sleep now, so that uh, it's 20, 21, Phil: you know, my disposition is relatively positive. Generally have a pretty good outlook on life that said this year sucked, man. I hated everything about 2020. Chris: it was a full year full of. Challenging and good and downright terrible, but it was a full year, I would say. Phil: Unless your name is Jeff Bezos. This is a bad, bad year. Chris: Well, we had a kid and we bought a new house that we love and we started a podcast. You and I didn't have a kid together. I had a kid with my wife, but you and I started a podcast together in case that was confusing at all. Phil: Whose name is on the mortgage. You or me? Chris: I just joined Phil. Phil: Yeah, our kid is the beneficiary to the house. Chris: Yeah, I wouldn't have it any other way. So I Phil: You are my work Chris: there's been some, there's been some guests. Phil: Now there've been some highs and lows, but that's, that's really what, 2020 was it? It wasn't just like all bad, but the, the peaks and the valleys, and then the distance between them, it was just so exhausting, you know? Chris: Yeah. I mean like the distance between those could be 12 minutes, it felt like. Phil: Absolutely. Like super, super good. And then, and then super, super bad. We had so many challenges with our business. We have, we've had a family only members getting really sick and that's, that's been really tough. And then like hitting, hitting the trending charts in our podcasts like that. Couldn't like this, this year could not have gone better in terms of this little project that we started. And so, man, I'm excited to see what 2021 has. I'm excited to build on what we've had. And I'm excited to forget what, what hasn't, you know? Chris: Can't think of a better way to forget then your suggestion of a cocktails episode show. Phil: Oh, let's do some forgetting. That's forget. 2020 with the cocktails episode, this is going to be fun. Boy, my cocktail that I've made for this episode is a bit frothy. Wait, hold on. Let me give it up. Yep. That's delicious. That's really good. Chris: Well-balanced you might say. Phil: It's got a cherry garnish, as you can see here. Uh, This is just a Merino. I like cocktails with, with cherries. Chris: Uh, It's hard to go wrong with a twist though. There's something about the bright citrus that I just love. So honestly, like think I would actually prefer a martini with a twist to an olive. Most of the time, there's just something about the brightness and maybe it depends on the type of gin, but there's something about the brightness of, of citrus. And that might be why I love old fashions. Phil: I'm just going to highlight one super quick thing. You just said that, you know, the different types of Jennifer martini. Yeah. There's like this common misconception that a martini is made with vodka and there are vodka martinis, and they're delicious, but a martini is actually made with gin. Chris: correct Phil: We don't want to upset James Bond. Again, nothing, nothing wrong with, with the vodka martini, but you're going to have to specify that Yep. Jen, Chris: Jen is definitely my preference for a martini. I'm not, not, not super crazy about vodka. If we're going to be honest, Phil: What about a Moscow mule? Chris: I can, I can do that. I, I enjoy one of those, honestly. Uh, There's enough. masking Phil: for as hot as it gets here, it's such a good summer drink. Chris: yeah, I think, I think weather definitely plays a part in. Beverage selection. I think there are some that are just classic and you can go to I'd absolutely like anytime of the year. But kind of given all of that. What are some of your favorites, Phil? Phil: okay. Before I jump into my favorites, Just jumping back super quick. I just thought of this. I hadn't planned on mentioning this, but did you ever watch mad men Chris: I actually didn't know. Phil: really like Don? Draper's not your boy. Chris: Nah, I haven't even seen a single episode to be honest Phil: I feel like you're missing out. Yeah. I think it's on Netflix. Fairly certain of that. Chris: might have to give it a go. Phil: Do you just want to like cut from this and just go watch an Chris: I'll, I'll get back to you once I've finished the series. Phil: Okay. Hello again. How is, how is bad man? Chris: So great sound great believe I haven't watched that before. Phil: There's so much of that show that taught me about cocktails. Just like the way they would order their drinks, like the, the etiquette of ordering your cocktail. But the way I discovered the Negroni, which is absolutely on my list for one of my favorite cocktails was when one of the characters from the show, I think his name was Sal. He goes to a bar, any orders, compari with a twist. And I was just reminded of it. When you, when you mentioned, you know, it's, it's hard to beat a twist and a cocktail. so compari is like this little Italian super bitter, liquor, I guess, is what you could call it. And it kind of tastes like orange peel. For lack of a better term. Like it's that, it's that intense of a flavor of that bitter. Anyways, he, he orders compiled with a twist and I was like, Ooh, I'm going to do that. I don't know what he just ordered, but I'm going to do it. So I go, I was actually in a United airlines club at Denver international airport and I wrote a compiler with a twist and like one guy just like turns his head and looks at me like. Did that did that young child disorder? What I think he disordered. So they bring it to me and it was my first time having it. I didn't know what I was getting so intense, but I loved it. I fell in love with the flavor of like that bitterness and then started Googling. Like, what does it go in? Is it always just served by itself and turns out it's the staple ingredient to an agronomy and thus began my love affair with the Negroni. It's probably my favorite cocktail, Chris. It's my go-to like you were saying, you got to have a go-to and that's that's mine. Chris: I can enjoy a Negroni in the right environment. I think if, if I'm feeling like something that has that level of bitterness, I've got to be honest, Phil. Phil: The Boulevard EA takes the Negroni and it gives it muscle. Chris: feel like it gives it balance I feel like the Negroni is just super bitter forward and you know, if you're subbing bourbon for that gin, bourbon is just so like. To me has like such a sweetness to it that it balances out the bitterness of the Campari better and I just, I just like bourbon, so that might be my personal preference coming out there. I can, I can enjoy Jen, but bourbon is definitely going to be, or, you know, whiskey in general is going to be more of my, like, go-to engine Phil: Okay. So before we get too far down that road, for those that might be unfamiliar, are we doing this? Are we like going to talk about what goes in it and all that? Or are we just pretending like everybody's an expert. Chris: no, we can, we can, break it down a little bit, I guess. Not that we're experts, but Phil: We're not, might be an expert on drinking, but. It's certainly not an expert on anything else. So the Negroni is equal parts, Campari, gin, and sweet vermouth. And then Chris, correct me if I'm wrong. The Boulevard EA is exactly that sub bourbon for the gym. Okay. And then it's, it's typically served, in an old fashioned glass with an orange peel. I was kind of hoping you were going to debate me on that. And then I was just going to defer. Chris: I was asking if you like preferred cocktails like that up or on the rocks. Phil: So Negroni I'll take on the rocks and a Belleville Boulevardier Chris: Okay. Do you feel like the ice helps with the bitterness? Yeah, okay, well, do you want to go through your list real quick? What's this talking about you? So, uh, so. that's at the top of your list there Phil: I mean it's Chris: just on the list. Phil: yeah. It's I think it's on the list. It, does have to do with what I might be eating and sure. Weather plays a factor. I think it also has to do with what I'm wearing. You know, like if I'm in a, if I'm in a t-shirt and shorts in someone's backyard, I'm probably not going to order a Manhattan. Chris: I might, Phil: Uh, But the Manhattan is also on Chris: there's never a wrong time for an old fashioned or a Manhattan fo or Sazeracs for that matter. Phil: a little sassy. Is that on your list? Chris: If I had a list, heck yeah, absolutely. Man, maybe I need to come up with a list. Okay, so kind of off the cuff here. Uh, If, if I had to come up with a list, obviously like some of the classics, you know, an old fashioned Manhattan, I also really like some of the new Orleans drinks, like the Sazerac and , that Phil: Okay. Chris: favorites. Okay. So, uh, VUCA, I fell it's equal parts, rye, cognac, and sweet vermouth. And then it has a bit of Benedictine and then. You're also going to, have a couple of dashes each of Angostura and Peychaud's, and you can garnish it with the cherry or that twist. I love Especially with the twist. It has that brightness and when it's well done, it's just so balanced. And I don't know. It's interesting, like how. For me, maybe drinks transport me to times and places more than food event. Phil: yeah. Chris: I don't know if that's sacrilegious to say on our, you know, yeah, I would say at least those, those four are. Are a, the top of my list. Phil: Oh yeah. Tom Collins are delicious. I love that citrusy based to it. Chris: Yeah, super refreshing. I think. Phil: Chris. One of my favorite, like whole concepts with, the cocktails in general, isn't just the flavor, but also the presentation. And I mean, I kind of appreciate food presentation. Like if, if you know, something has played at super well or, you know, and I don't want to get too bougie with it, but, uh, that's certainly something that I look for when I'm going to a restaurant and like the presentation of a cocktail can look super. Super. Great. And okay. Side sidebar, but kind of relating back to this, did you ever see once upon a time in Hollywood? Chris: Uh, Yes, no, we, we did watch that. Phil: I love that. I mean, Terentino's like one of my favorites always has been, There's this one scene when to Caprio is like at his house, you know, like in middle of the night by himself rehearsing some lines and he makes himself a cocktail and he drops some egg whites and in the mixer and like, whatever comes out is like this super foamy frothy cocktail. And I had never seen them before. So I Googled it like as lame as it sounds, it was like, what did Leonardo DiCaprio make? And once upon a time in Hollywood and um, it turns out he makes a whiskey sour and the whiskey sour, uh, is also on my list here. And it's so, so good. But the only way to make a whiskey sour, as far as I'm concerned is with the egg whites. So drop in, drop in some egg whites in your, in your mixture, Shake the mother out of that. And it's going to create this beautiful frothy cocktail that you serve that to your guests. Oh my gosh. You're going to get some action Chris: okay. that brings up an interesting, conversation points, Phil. I don't know what what's kind of interesting to me about all of it is um, I've been kind of a diving down this rabbit hole a little bit, like the cocktail rabbit hole. And, I'm not sure if you're familiar with a guy by the name of David, a Embry. so I'm very wrote a book back in, I want to say it was 1948 called the fine art of mixing drinks. And it's a really interesting book on obviously like cocktails. and I think it started to. You know, in a way that we've talked about a little bit with like some of our, kind of mother sauces is started to break down cocktails in a way that I felt like was way more approachable. And, I don't know. I guess in the past it felt like there were so many different recipes and you just had to memorize them all where, that's maybe not necessarily the case. Maybe, maybe there are some more building blocks kind of like we discovered with, with food. And so in, in the fine art of mixing drinks, basically like. He breaks cocktails down into two different types and then identifies six, primary drinks that most other drinks can be based on. And kind of by doing those two things, identifying these like primary drinks that then really like you can start subbing different ingredients into, to create kind of all these derivative drinks. Even like the categorization of two primary drink categories, between those two things and then like really diving into ratios. Between your different components? I dunno, for some reason, for me, it just like really broke down all these walls and made it a whole lot more fun to kind of explore different things. And it also made it a lot more approachable as well. Phil: Hmm. So what are the two categories alcoholic? And non-alcoholic. Chris: yes. Phil: really? Okay. Chris: sours, sours and aromatics, six hour cocktails and aromatic cocktails. And he, he identifies this basic sour ratio for a cocktail. So the, the basic sour ratio for him is like a one to eight ratio. It's eight parts of whatever your base is, parts sour and one part sweet. And so with that basic ratio, you can kind of. Plug just about anything in, and maybe with a little bit of tweaking for ingredients, get something that's pretty well balanced tasty. And that is another thing that he kind of like really focuses in on is that, there shouldn't be just like a die hard formula for a drink. Because everybody's palette is different and every ingredient is different. So say you had a gin that was. Like super, super dry. You might want to change your ratio of, chin to vermouth to help cut that dryness a little bit and create a little bit more balance as opposed to, you know, like a agenda might be a little bit more neutral. You can pull back on the room with some. But kind of like in cooking, it's, it's one of those things that like you taste and you let your palette be like the final judge. You have these recipes kind of as a guide, these ratios or specific recipes as, as a guide to kind of. Send you down the path, but what you like and what you feel like tastes good. Does the final judge. Phil: I feel like I just saw color for the first time. Chris: Honestly. Yeah, sure. You might be joking, but I felt that way if we're, if we're being honest. So the, the six major drinks that he. Outlines are the daiquiri, the Jack Rose, the old-fashioned, uh, Manhattan, a sidecar and a martini. And a lot of those. Do you follow the basic, sour ratio? So a daiquiri, the Jack Rose, which I've honestly never had, a aside car, for sure. Those all follow the one to eight sour ratio. So like half of those are half of those are sour that I guess half of those would be like your aromatic type cocktails. But I do think it's like super interesting that it gives you these like basic ratios that you can then just kind of play around with and explore different things. And obviously not every cocktail is going to fall into those specific, categories, but it is interesting to see like how many are, are actually like really close, just kind of derivatives of those. Phil: Yeah, no doubt. When, when I started diving into those mother sauces. You know, like so far we've covered the Beshear Mel and the hollandaise, and sure. I'm, I may have been making some of those my whole life and not, not knowing it, but once I kind of got into how critical they are to a dish, that's when, and, and almost like the cooking theory behind it, like why it's used and how it's tweaked and what that ultimately turns into. That's when I feel like my mind kind of opened up to. how important cooking was and, and how I could be a better chef. So, I mean, TRG, this sounds like right up my alley, like, this is what I need, because I know what I like. And I've, I've made things that, you know, I've been curious about a recipe, so I'll Google it, like how to make a Manhattan and then a thousand recipes come up and I'll, typically choose something from Epicurious. Cause I really like, you know, there. as stupid as it sounds. I, I just liked their website and, you know, I think they, I think they describe cocktails. Well, sure. Yeah. But I didn't know that the Manhattan was, you know, one of these six critical what'd you call them. Chris: They're the six basic cocktails that he Phil: Okay. Okay. Chris: of a Manhattan. Phil: That like seems so foreign to me. And I also have not had a Chris: Jack Rose yeah, so it's interesting. You, you can also kind of see how. Especially when you look at some of the sours, the recipes for the sours you're just subbing different things. So like a daiquiri in that one to eight, you know, you're. Bass is rum. Your sour is lime and your sweetest simple syrup, a Jack Rose. Your base is Apple Jack. Your sour is lemon juice and your sweet is granting. And then a sidecar, which I actually do really like side cars are great. Uh, your basis. Is like a, a cognac or Armagnac your sour is lemon. And then your sweet is uh, some type of orange look you're like or triple SAC. But you can kind of see how, like you can start to take that basic ratio and come up with a whiskey sour come up with, you know, like always. Phil: See, I always thought bartending school was just like a bunch of flashcards, Chris: yeah, I kind of thought that deal there's like so much to memorize, Phil: Right. It makes sense. Yeah. These are these building blocks. Shoot. I'm going to show this off. I'm gonna invite some people over in 2021. Yeah. Go vaccinate. Chris: one thing for me that I think really helped open a lot of this off was. having, like, honestly like to make drinks at home, you don't have to have the fanciest professional bartending equipment. But I do think the one thing for me that really kind of opened a lot of this up was being able to actually measure all the different ingredients. So, when Molly got me a jigger that I get, uh, Phil: with a chigger You don't have those in Colorado. Do you? Chris: No, no. no. I don't think so. Phil: Sorry, we're derailing Chris: But yeah. Being, being able to actually measure something out makes it replicatable and if you create something that you like, and you kind of know what those ratios are, you can make it again the same way. So I would say you don't need like a crazy cool cocktail shaker, if you can. Honestly, I prefer to drink stirred. So if, if you can just get some ice and a spoon. But make sure that you can actually measure out your ingredients. Phil: You know, all the different types of glasses, you know, shoot, what do you mean? Or there's a cocktail glass and a high POL and an old fashioned glass and a Gibraltar. And honestly, half of those were probably the same thing, you know? Chris: I like cocktails and coops. Phil: Yep. Don't know what that is. Chris: kind of. Phil: I thought the cocktail glass was stemmed. Chris: it's technically, technically a martini glass is not a martini glass. It's a cocktail glass, but a coop is not. It's it's not angular like a martini or like what you think of as a martini glass or a cocktail glass. A coop is like rounded, so, Phil: what I thought. The cocktail glass was that rounded thingy. Chris: okay. Yeah. So that that'd be like a coop. and a cocktail glass is what you think of as a martini glass. Phil: Okay. Interesting. See foundations. Typically when I order a Manhattan, it comes in a coop Chris: I feel like cocktails in coops or cocktail glasses are going to be up aware in a. Phil: Like an old fashioned glass would be on the rocks generally. the same thing. Chris: Okay. So I think if a high ball is like a taller glass, Phil: Basically like uh, Chris: I don't know if any of them would be a pint class, like a high ball is going to be closer to pint. Phil: That's what I mean. Chris: Yeah. Closer, not necessarily the same, uh, volume I think is probably volume Phil: you ordered a long Island ice tea, Chris: That'd be, it that'd be the high ball. Phil: that'd be a high ball. Yeah. Okay. Yep. Got it. Good little shorty guy. Thanks for being my bartender for the evening. What are you drinking by the way? Have we covered that? Yeah. Chris: No, but, I did have a Manhattan, actually. It is. It's done. I didn't put it in a cube because I thought that'd be too like uppity for my closet that I record my podcasts, but I'm going to be honest. I had one in the cube last night and it was great Phil: Yeah, I've been making Manhattans probably more than anything else. Just as of late really enjoy those things. Chris: It is hard to go wrong. Super tasty. Maybe that'll be that. That'll be my drink of 2021. Phil: Well, what pairs best with muscles Chris: Well, honestly, that's what we had with with our muscles. Last night, Phil: Manhattan? It is, and I'll make a mocktail for my wife, just cause she's into those lately.