How To Be A Better Drinker

The boys are knocking back beverages with Riley aka the Norm MacDonald Super Fan, and discussing Norm's legacy, the I'm Not Norm Youtube channel, and the upcoming celebration of Norm at Gasworks Park in Seattle!

The fellas are sipping Maker's Mark Private Select, and sampling a selection of Arizona beers, courtesy of last week's guest!

Matt & Justin are joined by Social Distance Drinking Club's Yousef Hawash to contemplate Dogfish Head's gin, the remains of last week's Jeppson's Bourbon, talk mid-week weddings and to bestow an amazing gift on an old friend.

Did you know Jeppson's, makers of the infamous Malort, also made bourbon? Neither did we, until Matt James pulled one out of his bag. It's an interesting little tipple from an unexpected source. Bottoms up!

The boys are drinking spritzes, giving each other positive affirmations, and wondering why their producer is obsessed with Funco.

The guys are joined by Seattle distillery Fast Penny Spirits rep Adam Fream to talk expressions, tipples, the biz of being a startup and more!

The boys are revisiting an old friend, the oft-misunderstood and oft-maligned absinthe. No ears were lost in the making of this episode.

The boys are tipping back some tasty adult beverages with one of the Seattle bar industry's stalwarts, Andy McClellan, a man who has worked behind the bar, behind the scenes and a few other places. He's talking his history with Matt, his history in the biz and all the stories that go with it.

The fellas are tipping back a few with the owner of one of America's best bars (according to GQ), Erik Hakkinen of Seattle's Roquette!

With Justin on a secret mission to bring back the head of Jared Leto, Matt and Producer Keith review some new gins.

We've decided to suffer so you don't have to: the boys are sampling Peanut Butter Whiskey. Thank us later.

As the world starts to open up, the fellas are starting to venture back out into the world, and what better way to get back in the groove than the surprisingly tasty and respectable Maker's Mark 101.

The fellas are sitting down with a bottle of gin from one of the few women-led distilleries in the region. Freeland Gin tastes like feminism, delicious, delicious feminism. We're kidding. It tastes like gin. A quite good gin. Dig find out why you should be sipping something progressive.

The fellas are sipping on nostalgic bottle this week, Don Q rum which it turns out is the family well rum from Justin's childhood. Along with the Puerto Rican spirit, the boys are joined by their producer and ex-cook Keith to talk about the recent article in the NY Times that exposed an iconic PNW restaurant as being toxic and creepy AF.

Matt sits down with Maxwell Bennett, the bar manager of Rocco's Pizza, one of Seattle's favorite upscale drinks & slices spots. He breaks down what they've been doing to survive the pandemic, takeout food, takeout booze and why being nimble is a learning process.

The fellas aren't sipping moonshine, but they have certified smart person and moonshine expert Brad Feather on the podcast to give everyone Moonshine 101!

The boys are sipping fermented seaweed fortified wine. Say that three times fast...jump in, it's a weird one.

The boys are sipping on Argentinian Malbec, talking space wine, Aliens vs. Jeff Bezos, Drizzly's $1 billion acquisition, and an all-time favorite celebrity drinking story.

This episode guaranteed to bring back bad memories and maybe help you create some new ones! The boys are sipping through a variety of beverages that one might turn to in their lowest moments!

The fellas welcome brewer Reid Spencer of Georgetown Brewing to the show to talk how they navigated the Pandemic, how the Keanu Reeves classic Point Break has influenced the brand and GB evolved out of one of the PNW's iconic microbrew labels.

The fellas are taking a whirlwind survey of the sour beer landscape, sipping on a variety of brews and opining on what makes them tasty, and unique. Bottoms up!

The fellas are excited to be joined by 2020 Whiskey Icon of the Year, Sailor Guevara, the PNW brand rep for the coolest whiskey company in Tennessee, Uncle Nearest! Get the backstory on how a Black guy is responsible for not only the Jack Daniels taste, but the Lincoln County Process that every bourbon has to go through to be considered Tennessee whiskey!

Returning guest Eric Hakkinen, the brains behind Seattle's Roquette drops by to tell stories about coming up in the glory days of the Seattle cocktail scene, the challenges of re-opening in the middle of a pandemic, and trades stories with the boys about celebrity service moments.

The boys are sipping Roku gin and opining on the beauty of Japanese gin and the merits of gin in general.

We're joined by actor and podcaster Andras Jones to talk about the death of Oly beer, Oly's IMDB profile, and movies we think the world is wrong about!

The fellas are recapping their first two chapters of the Home Bar series, and digging into all the rest of the things any self-respecting booze aficionado should have in a complete home bar!

Matt has managed to get his hands on the recently available, brand new Jim Beam expression Old Tub bourbon, and he and Justin have some very nice things to say about it. And in sadder news, we mourn the loss of a Los Angeles icon as The Standard LA announces their decision to close down for good.

With the dumpster fire of 2020 behind us, Matt and Justin sit down with Producer Keith, the inimitable Bobby Stills and a late appearance from Social Distance Drinking Club's Yousef Hawash to talk about what they hope to see out of the industry in 2021, what they're looking forward to as the industry recovers, and whether "normal" will ever be a thing again.

We were waiting for the right guest to break out our dark mistress, and bar manager extraordinaire Tom Kneeland fits the bill! One of Seattle's most experienced bar managers, and the guy who introduced Matt and Justin in the first place, Kneeland has had a hand in some of Seattle's most iconic spots. Take a long trip down memory lane with original nightmare fuel!

There was only one libation fit to send off the dumpster fire that was 2020: The infamous MD 20/20! Plus the return of Hildenbiddle, our fondest wishes for the year ahead, and few spiffy jingles!

Matt managed to find a bourbon Justin didn't have, so tonight they pop his Pin Hook Bourbon cherry! Plus the fellas are on Pt. 2 of their Home Bar Series, this time around, it's focusing on vodkas and its cousins.

The fellas are drinking Captain Morgan's, a perfectly serviceable spiced rum with a shady history. Plus they're breaking down the basics of what you need in a home bar, this week focused on whiskeys. Bottoms Up!

The boys are smack dab in the holiday spirit, so what better way to acknowledge it than a holiday spirit? They're knocking back Matt's signature hot buttered rum mix (Justin's using whiskey, but we forgive him). There's also a holiday bottle guide for those of you in need of ideas, and we've got some news from the Japanese whisky world. Bottoms up!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! We're knocking back the most holiday appropriate thing we could find: Wild Turkey! Plus our buddy Yousef from the Social Distance Drink Club is dropping in, find out why the kids are putting tampons in their butts, and find out which Canadian Justin Freet has named his new cocktail after!

From the depths of the the liquor store's bargain bin, Justin rescued a bottle of Ezra Brooks Rye. Was it a smart choice? Well, it's an interesting story involving Jack Daniels and lawsuits, and the concoction he whips up with it is pretty good, so we'll let you judge. We're also talking Elon Musk's Teslaquila. Bottoms up!

We're not saying we're stressed, but the election still isn't over over, the pandemic is roaring back like a drunken whoo girl, the bars are shutting down again, quite frankly it's been challenging week. But we have 4 Pillars Gin. So we'll be alright. Plus Matt James pays tribute to and toasts a fallen industry friend. It's emotional and messy, but that is the world we live in right now.

The boys are dealing with election anxiety like responsible adults. They're drinking themselves silly on Japanese whisky, discussing the genius of Bill Murray and his role in making Japanese whisky big in America, and enjoying the dying gasps of a very weird presidency.

The boys are sipping bourbon and talking whiskey, it's short and sweet this week, with a few jokes, a few laughs and plea for help from one of Seattle's most iconic dive bars. Fuck Covid.

From the back of a Thai taxi, to canoodling with vodka in a glass in your hand, Red Bull is as ubiquitous as any booze in the beverage industry. A marvel of branding and caffeine, Red Bull created their own category in the beverage industry, and through a savvy and relentless marketing campaign, became the go to mixer when you want to get mashed, but still want to be able to run a hundred yard dash in heels.

An iconic brand, a mainstay on any shelf, and one whose name begs for a lisp, Dewar's is a classic bottle, and it's about damn time the fellas downed some.

Mexican beer. It's what's for dinner. But really, the boys dive in to one of Mexico's biggest brewers, exploring some brands and getting a little tipsy. Bottoms up!

Brad Feather of Bradley's Kina Tonics drops by the virtual studio for a talk about how he's surviving the pandemic, some spikes in sales related to things our idiot president said, and why he doesn't necessarily have the cure for the corona virus.

Matt and Justin are diving face first in the world of bitters, running through some of the more popular options and talking about why it is they are so awesome in the first place. Plus, Justin admits he's been shooting straight bitters lately, so we got that going for us, which is nice!

The fellas are joined by the inimitable Meg Bragg, brewer's assistant at Stoup Brewing to talk about how she helped shape a young Matt James into the bartender he is today, the wonderful array of tasty beverages available from Stoup Brewing, and she gives us an education on hops!

This week we're wrapping up the History of Gin, and to help lubricate the brain boxes, the boys are sipping on a relatively new gin from a company that you wouldn't ordinarily think of as "Hey, those guys make gin!" And honestly, we're a little surprised by how decent it is, given their main products reputation for being

Matt went and got all fancy hipster on us this week, digging up a bottle of Genever, which is what gin was before it was something all the cool kids did, and he's got a fascinating history of gin to go along with it as he and Justin quaff drams of historical coolness.

The fellas are getting fancy with Remy, discussing it's nuances, it's history, how it relates to armagnac, and why the surprising connection that flavored congac has to the PNW!

The fellas are sipping whiskey and Belgian beer, including some interesting trivia about the history of Belgium, why it exists as it does, and great lengths the Belgians go to to make their tasty beverages. Plus some news about the hardest drinking town in Washington.

It's oodles and oodles of Boodles! The gin we mean. Matt and Justin are swilling gin and shooting whiskey, discussing the peculiar lack of citrus in Boodles and the tonics they love to pair it with. Bottoms up!

Quarantine drinking can be expensive, so the fellas are sitting down with a bottle of the reasonably priced Skol Vodka, to reminisce on how Justin came to fall in love with its humble excellence, play a rousing round of "Is It Real?" and muddle through this week's Booze News!

The boys are slumming it this week, but only a little. Because despite it's humble appearance, the Buzz Ball is actually the story of how one woman earned her MBA. Plus it seems to make the fellas a little loose.