Baron of Beverage

Some listeners won’t know this, but I starting roasting coffee over 20 years ago at an independent establishment (once again the BoB getting in ahead of the trend) called the Green Bean Coffeehouse where I not only managed but became their Master Roaster. After a few years life took me in a different direction and I stopped working in coffeehouses – moving into sommelier and fromagerie territories...

While Whiskey Room’s Christopher Rhodovi and I managed to get together just 4 days after we tasted the Glenfiddich 12 , the rest of the week proved so busy as to delay the posting of our podcast on #8 in the BTWOE* series** – Jack Daniel’s . Last week we found ourselves in Washington, D.C. with any extra half hour on our hands prior to a dinner we both were attending, so we grabbed an outdoor tabl...

The Whiskey Room’s Christopher Rhodovi and I managed to get together again and taste #9 in the BTWOE* series** – Glenfiddich 12. We discovered that the list by Ranker  is a shifting target and so decided to stick with the order from the UPROXX article “ These Are The Best Tasting Whiskies On Earth, According To Twenty Thousand Whiskey Drinkers ” that I had first came across. That is the order...

Wrapping up a busy Memorial Day weekend, Page & I found ourselves ready relax and unwind with a glass of Rosé – specifically Noble Vines 515 . Dry Rosés are currently the fastest growing still wine category – while only ~1.5% of the market, it has enjoyed practically 50% growth in sales over the last year. The Baron welcomes you to grab a bottle and enjoy some yourself this summer season....

One of the things that always helps a holiday weekend – when shortly after 5pm on Friday someone says, “I think it’s time for a drink/adult beverage.” And with my wife’s parents in town for the weekend, a great opportunity presented itself in the form of tasting some porters with Rodger (my father in law) which are his favorite style of beer. We had purchased some Ballast Point Porters back in Mar...

Since conceiving of Baron of Beverage, I had wanted to make sure to set up some regular guests with which to taste beverages over conversation. And the first person I thought of was one of my best friends, Christopher Rhodovi, who manages his own Facebook Page The Whiskey Room. When I came across UPROXX’s article “ These Are The Best Tasting Whiskies On Earth, According To Twenty Thousand Whiskey...

This past Sunday night the Baroness and I reached into the cellar to enjoy a bottle from our honeymoon – 2006 Elyse Winery C’est Si Bon . We learned some things in this podcast: With older bottles/softer corks – remember to use the two-prong opener (an Ah-So). When one’s windows are open to embrace beautiful weather – make sure to turn the background music volume up to cover the white noise from t...

On a late Friday morning I had the opportunity to visit a local distillery here in Baltimore – Old Line Spirits . Meeting Arch and Mark , touring their new (2015) facilities, and hearing the story of their beginnings was a real treat. The tasting that followed was a even more so – one that left me not wanting to finish the business of the day, but rather start the weekend early. Arch & Ma...

Earlier this week I had a ‘golden’ opportunity to enjoy lunch with an up and coming winemaker – Michael Accurso from Goldeneye Winery , located in Anderson Valley, CA. Goldeneye is part of the larger Duckhorn Vineyards family of wines and work (almost exclusively) with Pinot Noir. [There are other varietals available direct to consumer at the vineyard.] In  our conversation over lunch, Michae...

Last week I was traveling for business in East Lansing, MI – but I was still able to squeeze in an interview with Quinn Sioma of ROAK Brewing Co . The atmosphere sounds a bit raucous at HopCat , but I was able to discuss 3 distinct and different ales with Quinn: Awesomesauce -an English Pale Ale with wheat, Blow Your Face Out – a Double IPA; and   Live Wire , an American IPA. BTW – If you’re...

Some say that Scotch whisky isn’t necessarily a warm, weather drink. And some say that any day that ends in a ‘y’ is a good day for a wee dram. As luck would have it, this afternoon one of the Baron’s reps came by to discuss future projects and left him with a parting gift – a generous pour of Glenfiddch 21 Year Old . Since it’s not my nature to be selfish when enjoying my beverages, I flipped thr...

So during my last trip to visit my parents, my dad wanted to share with me a cocktail he had recently learned how to make from a local bartender the El Jefe . The BoB has seen several cocktails with this name (including one with gin), but this one uses a more traditional tequila – because, whoever heard of a Londoner with the nickname ‘el jefe’? And while many of the more common recipes call for p...

While visiting with my parents I thought it’d be fun to record a couple of episodes with them on my vacation. After all, they have had a great influence on my life in terms of the wide variety of different beverages I enjoy. I mentioned this to my parents, who seemed kindly interested, but rather less enthused than I was with the idea. But when my dad decided to pull out 2 beers for us to enjoy to...

Earlier this week I was able to sit down and chat with Bob Iantosca, Executive Winemaker, from Gloria Ferrer . Bob is a pioneer in the sparkling wine-making business – bringing Pinot Noir & Chardonnay clones from the Champagne and Burgundy regions of France to Carneros to test and develop for production of sparkling wine there in the early 1980’s. Our conversation ranged from what he considers...

The Baron & Baroness head out to a local craft brew bar and happen upon a Stone Brewing March Madness IPA Bracket and their local Brass Tap . (4 IPAs this week – 2 move on; 4 new IPAs next week – 2 others move on; then those 4 go head to head, etc). In addition, since the Baroness isn’t an IPA fan, she ordered the Port City Brewing Optimal Wit – a style she’s a big fan of, and this is a fine e...

How would you close out a snow day? How about with something comforting – and non-alcoholic? That’s why instead of reaching into the cellar or the liquor cabinet, this evening the Baron reached into the fridge and the cupboard and whisked up (for ~10 solid minutes) some honest-to-goodness homemade Hot Chocolate. [Recipe courtesy of Food Network Kitchen ] Listen and learn about our substitute ingre...

Come of the most enjoyable parts of a Snow Day are having a cocktail hour right at 5pm (you’ve got nowhere to drive to get there – or after!) and enjoying a beer after a few hours of shoveling snow (or ice/slush). This evening the Baron & Baroness combined both as they tasted two contrasting Wheat Ales from (the most mega) craft brewery – Samuel Adams . Interspersed in our discussion of IBUs,...

As the first flakes of Winter Storm ‘Stella’ begin to fall, the Baron follows through on his promise of a burst of initial podcasts. And what better to sip on during a pending winter storm than – single malt scotch. Our selection this evening is a new ‘Experimental’ series single malt from Glenfiddich – India Pale Ale Finish . This single malt is brought to you as the brainchild of Brian Kins...

After dinner, we settle in to await the first fall of snowflakes for this season’s first winter storm with the bottle of wine I picked out to got with our dinner tonight – Moroccan Chicken from Blue Apron . It called for a Carmenere and as things are, we stock them in our cellar. So take a listen as we kick off Baron of Beverage while tasting and evaluating Concho y Toro’s Terrunyo Carmenere Block...