Shift Drink

Patrick Aledo took over as General Manager of Pierre Sparr in Alsace, France in 2009. Under his direction, the winery has released some beautiful expressions of the Alsace terroir. Uniquely situated on the border between France and Germany, Alsatians make wines that, according to The World Atlas of Wine , are “Germanic wine in a French way”. Varietals like Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner...

Mony Bunni is one of Chicago’s hardest working bartenders – working three jobs while serving as a brand ambassador for Bodegas Lustau sherry . Fresh off her win at Speed Rack, Mony drops in to talk about sherry, brandy, travel, and the Speed Rack competition and how the organization helps raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. Special note to bartenders: there is a Lustau cocktail c...

Breweries are popping up across the country so fast that it’s hard to keep up. Our guests this week, Isaac Arthur and Cody Fague of CODO Design, specialize in helping craft brewers with the branding process – from the taprooms, logos and website, to the story behind the breweries themselves. Having worked with dozens of breweries, CODO Design just released a new book – the Craft Beer Brandin...

It’s spring, and that means it’s swarm season. This week, we’re sitting down with beekeeper Kate Franzman of Bee Public and mead maker Brett Canaday of New Day Craft to learn about honey, bees’ murderous tendencies, the battle for the throne, their portrayal in film, and mead – the nectar of the gods. If it’s good enough for the Vikings, it’s good enough for you. Valhalla, we are coming!

After deciding a career in chemical engineering wasn’t his calling, Nicolas Palazzi did what any insane person would do – he started an alcohol import business with no knowledge of how to do it. Now, just 6 years later, his company, PM Spirits , is known as the go-to for the rare and esoteric. Each bottle has a story, and Nico knows them all because he knows each producer personally. He champions...

Jay Schroeder, formerly of Mezcaleria Las Flores and Rick Bayless’ Frontera Restaurants in Chicago, visits the show to get down and dirty about mezcal. Being one of our favorite spirits, we get into the farming of agave, distillation, the difficulties of Mexican alcohol regulation, and cultural appropriation. This episode is one close to our hearts.

Sheri Morano , at age 16, had a simple meal in Italy with a bottle of table wine that changed her path forever. She is now the youngest American woman to become a Master of Wine – and one of only 356 Masters of Wine in the world. We talk about wine snobs, bad pronunciation, the Arroyo Seco AVA & Scott Family Estate , her theory on the connection between wine and reality television, and t...

Lior Lev Sercarz ’s own personal spice road has taken him all over the globe searching for the world’s best spices – ones that show a sense of place or evoke emotion. His custom blends end up in the kitchens of Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, David Chang and Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. His spice lab is in Hell’s Kitchen, where he owns and operates La Boite . We recently caught up wi...

Camper English, the founder of Alcademics , is one of the most important cocktail writers working in the industry today. His experiments and findings have been discussed and implemented into home and commercial bars all over the country. He even developed a method of making crystal clear ice at home, called “directional freezing”. With his new book, Tonic Water: AKA GNT WTF , he discus...

Chris Eley is the owner of the nationally-renowned Smoking Goose Meatery and Goose the Market in Indianapolis. After going to school on the East Coast, and working in Chicago for six years with some of the city’s best chefs, he decided to return to his hometown and open an old-school, neighborhood butcher shop in 2007. He didn’t realize at the time that he was on his way to becoming on...

While Erik Zmara of Takara  visits Indianapolis to give a seminar with Arthur, we asked him to come on the show to explain the national spirit of Japan – Shochu. There is a serious lack of good, English language information out there so let this be your entry into the beautiful world of Shochu. Kanpai! For more information about shochu, check out our Shochu Addendum .

Annemarie Sagoi is a true Renaissance woman. She’s lived in Japan, France, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Cambodia. She’s a furniture designer, pianist, English teacher, Bollywood movie extra, bartender extraordinaire, and partner at Le Boutier in Phnom Penh. She talks about the challenges and thrill of working abroad, Cambodia’s music scene, and gives away a few secrets along the wa...

Nick Kosevich and his business partner, Ira, founded Bittercube in 2009 – filling a (then) void in the cocktail world. Nick sits down with us to talk about the basics of bitters and how they make their bitters without extracts or artificial flavors. As the drinks keep coming, we get into the concept of Nordic tiki and a lot of hangover cures.

Jake Koeneman from Central State Brewing gets into a discussion with the guys about the toll that owning a small business takes on the owners. Licensing, code enforcement, anxiety attacks, and lightning-fast communication in the digital age all can pose unique problems for a start-up business. The blog post referenced in the episode can be found here: Fear and Loathing in a New Restaurant

Arthur and Ed sit down with Jake Koeneman and Josh Hambright of Central State Brewing at their bar, The Koelschip, to talk about their unique way of brewing, the farmhouse beer movement, and the proliferation of breweries in the Midwest… And drink beer. A lot of beer.

The crew breaks open a bottle of Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond and sits down with The Whiskey Professor, Bernie Lubbers. We talk about all things whiskey – how to read a label, who the names are on the bottles, bourbon history, and a little about Bourbon & Bluegrass. For more info, visit Bernie’s website at http://www.whiskeyprof.com

Our guest today, producer Brad Shoemaker  of Creative Zombie Studios , is not the one bringing us knowledge, he’s the guy who will make sure to keep Arthur in check as he delves into sparkling wine and Champagne – and why it’s not just for the holidays.

Summer Cooper thought she’d be a farmer but she soon realized that she was much better at finding food than growing it. Ed and Arthur get an education about the ins and outs of finding food in the wild.

Ben Mélin- Jones drops by to drink Ti’ Punch while educating us about what makes rhum from Martinique different from other rum.  Chacun prépare sa propre mort. UPDATE (Oct 11, 2017): Ben revisited the show to talk about the Ti’ Punch Cup and St. Lucia Distillers. Check it out here: Ben Jones and St. Lucia Distillers

Picking up where they left off, the crew gets into a deeper discussion about Tiki drinks, E&A Scheer and whether rum can survive it’s day in the sun.

Matt Pietrek aka Cocktail Wonk visits the show to talk about writing, taking great cocktail photos, cloud-based storage, and rum. Check out CocktailWonk.com to see what he’s been up to since visiting the show.

Two-time Diageo World Class finalist and owner of Thunderbird in Indianapolis, Joshua Gonzales visits the show to talk about cocktail competitions, how to get involved, and how to get the most out of them. Learn more about the World Class Club here .    

Erin Hayes, Tiki Queen and Aviation Gin evangelist from Chicago visits the show to talk about why gin gets a bad rap, how Aviation Gin from PDX is changing perceptions about the classic spirit, and why you need to re-visit gin if you’ve been missing out.

Ed and Arthur kick off Shift Drink with quick introductions and a discussion about Indianapolis’ dining and cocktail scene and the upcoming cocktail tour of downtown Indy called Mixture.