Podcasts about Distillation

I see it all over the news, hear it in conversations: we're drinking less. But then I look at the sales numbers from DISCUS and it makes me wonder, are we really drinking less? Or are we just drinking differently? It's a complex math equation that we try to solve in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto.Episode NotesYou can check the raw data from DISCUS here.

Current “unlearning” methods only suppress capabilities instead of truly unlearning the capabilities. But if you distill an unlearned model into a randomly initialized model, the resulting network is actually robust to relearning. We show why this works, how well it works, and how to trade off compute for robustness.Unlearn-and-Distill applies unlearning to a bad behavior and then distills the unlearned model into a new model. Distillation makes it way harder to retrain the new model to do the bad thing. Produced as part of the ML Alignment & Theory Scholars Program in the winter 2024–25 cohort of the shard theory stream. Read our paper on ArXiv and enjoy an interactive demo. Robust unlearning probably reduces AI risk Maybe some future AI has long-term goals and humanity is in its way. Maybe future open-weight AIs have tons of bioterror expertise. If a system has dangerous knowledge, that system becomes [...] ---Outline:(01:01) Robust unlearning probably reduces AI risk(02:42) Perfect data filtering is the current unlearning gold standard(03:24) Oracle matching does not guarantee robust unlearning(05:05) Distillation robustifies unlearning(07:46) Trading unlearning robustness for compute(09:49) UNDO is better than other unlearning methods(11:19) Where this leaves us(11:22) Limitations(12:12) Insights and speculation(15:00) Future directions(15:35) Conclusion(16:07) Acknowledgments(16:50) CitationThe original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: June 13th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/anX4QrNjhJqGFvrBr/distillation-robustifies-unlearning --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:

This weeks guest is Katie Black. Born in Austin, Texas, and raised between live music and livestock shows, Katie wrapped up high school in Wichita Falls, a town where ambition has to shout over Friday night football. Katie originally headed to New Jersey on a film and theatre scholarship, clearly chasing a dramatic plot twist, but ended up studying dental assisting instead. Then came Germany—where instead of finding herself, Katie found gastronomy, a word she barely knew but now lives by. Since then, she's racked up more beverage certifications than most sommeliers have opinions, including an A.A.S. in Brewing, Distillation, and Fermentation and enough lab hours to clone a hop. Her career? Think if Anthony Bourdain and Boba Fett had a baby who freelanced. Katie's brewed wild beers, managed cider taprooms, distilled bittersweet amaro, and built full bar programs from scratch. In Texas, she's worked everything from tequila fueled ACL activations to high-speed Formula 1 service—wrangling crowds, menus, and bartenders like a rodeo queen of spirits. Katie recently competed on Moonshiners: Master Distiller, and is now diving into brand advocacy, education, and throwing events that actually make people care about what's in their glass. @probablykb A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia for setting up our new website theindustrypodcast.club. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and drink nerds and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste using flavor profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more……Imbiblia - check it out! Looking for a Bartending Service? Or a private bartender to run your next corporate or personal event? Need help crafting a bar program for your restaurant? Contact Alchemist Alie for all your bartending needs: @alchemist.alie Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling, Malivoire Winery and Terroir Wine Imports. Links kyppsaunders@gmail.com @sugarrunbar @the_industry_podcast email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club

The fastest-growing spirits category in the USA is Tequila/Mezcal. The most popular cocktail is the Margarita. We love tacos, we love tamales. So … can all of that help us as a country learn to love the people who brought us these things we love?Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Alba Huerta of Julep Houston.Episode NotesShout outs to Alvin Schultz, Ben Quasius, Gustavo Arellano and his book Taco USA.This episode was recorded about a month before the immigration raids in Los Angeles. The government's violent response to the peaceful protests against those raids is, I think, evidence of what Alba says in this episode.This Instagram post from my friends at Lost Lore Tequila says everything I'd want to say in a smarter way than I could

↳ Why is Anthropic in hot water with Reddit? ↳ Will OpenAI become the de facto business AI tool? ↳ Did Apple make a mistake in its buzzworthy AI study? ↳ And why did Google release a new model when it was already on top? So many AI questions. We've got the AI answers.Don't waste hours each day trying to keep up with AI developments.We do that for you on Mondays with our weekly AI News That Matters segment.Newsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion: Have a question? Join the convo here.Upcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTopics Covered in This Episode:OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode UpdateReddit's Lawsuit Against AnthropicOpenAI's New Cloud ConnectorsGoogle's Gemini 2.5 Pro ReleaseDeepSeek Accused of Data SourcingAnthropic Cuts Windsurf Claude AccessApple's AI Reasoning Models StudyMeta's Investment in Scale AITimestamps:00:00 Weekly AI News Summary04:27 "Advanced Voice Mode Limitations"09:07 Reddit's Role in AI Tensions10:23 Reddit's Impact on Content Strategy16:10 "RAG's Evolution: Accessible Data Insights"19:16 AI Model Update and Improvements22:59 DeepSeek Accused of Data Misuse24:18 DeepSeek Accused of Distilling AI Data28:20 Anthropic Limits Windsurf Cloud Access32:37 "Study Questions AI Reasoning Models"36:06 Apple's Dubious AI Research Tactics39:36 Meta-Scale AI Partnership Potential40:46 AI Updates: Apple's Gap Year43:52 AI Updates: Voice, Lawsuits, ModelsKeywords:Apple AI study, AI reasoning models, Google Gemini, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Anthropic, Reddit lawsuit, Large Language Model, AI voice mode, Advanced voice mode, Real-time language translation, Cloud connectors, Dynamic data integration, Meeting recorder, Coding benchmarks, DeepSeek, R1 model, Distillation method, AI ethics, Windsurf, Claude 3.x, Model access, Privacy and data rights, AI research, Meta investment, Scale AI, WWDC, Apple's AI announcements, Gap year, On-device AI models, Siri 2.0, AI market strategy, ChatGPT teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, HubSpot, Scheduled actions, Sparkify, VO3, Google AI Pro plan, Creative AI, Innovation in AI, Data infrastructure.Send Everyday AI and Jordan a text message. (We can't reply back unless you leave contact info) Try Google Veo 3 today! Sign up at gemini.google to get started. Try Google Veo 3 today! Sign up at gemini.google to get started.

At the DISCUS conference a few months ago, I was at a party that was populated by small-brand tasting tables. The one that drew my attention most was the one that was both least visited and most colorful. And my response to everything they were pouring was, Yes, please! But most especially, the White Chocolate/Raspberry Tiramisu whiskey! It's an artificially inspired episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto with wisdom from Al Murphy of Mother Murphy's Flavors.Episode Notes Thanks to Al Murphy of Mother Murphy's FlavorsShout outs to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, Runts, Skittles, Hampden Estates Rum, Elevate Innovation, Non-Alcoholic Phony Negroni, Zignum Mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde, Mexico in a Bottle, and “Outspoken,” the monthly storytelling event at Chicago's Sidetrack!

Katie Black has distilled, fermented, bartended, event coordinated, traveled Europe, and so much more. It's hard to guess where she'll turn up next, but one thing is clear: her love of people and hospitality will keep guiding her. Her curiosity drives her, and with every move she practices the art of "intention". And as we post this chat today, she announces the next big chapter of her career and a move to Houston. We chat dating, produce, sharing, and more.

I thought this episode was going to be about blind tastings. And it is. Or, at least, it starts that way. But when you're talking with Marissa, aka @tequilaencyclopedia , you rarely take as straight a path as you'd expect. So if you want to listen to a conversation about that … or about CostCo … or about the Agavos Awards … or how much I paid Marissa to join me on a trip to 818 Tequila, this episode is for you!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies.Episode NotesMarissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!Shout outs this episode to the Agavos Awards, 818 Tequila, Costco, and Marissa's dream team, the Boston Red Sox!

Chuck Cowdery was called “the dean of American whiskey journalism” by no less than Robert Simonson in the New York Times. So when I decided more than 250 episodes into this podcast to finally devote one to Mexican whiskey, I naturally invited my celebrated drinking buddy over. It's (perhaps) the corniest episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Chuck Cowdery and additional wisdom from Ismael Gomez of Laika Spirits, Xaime Navarro of Whisky Juan del Campo and Gracias a Dios Mezcal, Txomin Alcorta of Whisky Prieto y Prieta, and Jonathan Barbieri of Whiskey Maiz Nation!Episode NotesCheck out The Chuck Cowdery Blog!Thanks to Ismael Gomez of Laika Spirits, Xaime Navarro of Gracias a Dios Mezcal and Juan Del Campo Whiskey, Txomin Alcorta of Whisky Prieto y Prieta, and Jonathan Barbieri of Whiskey Maiz Nation for the quotes this episode.You can check out NOM 199 here and to see how the rules for whiskey in Mexico compare to the rules for Mezcal, Tequila, and everything else, check out this spreadsheet.And if the tangent about feni in Goa got you going, check out Hansel Vaz's Instagram page and Fazenda Cazulo!

Nova Premier is our most advanced AI model yet, featuring a million-token context window and enhanced capabilities at nearly half the cost of competitors. Dive into this update and more with hosts Simon and Jillian. 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - Amazon Nova Premier 02:56 - Analytics 04:46 - Artificial Intelligence 11:02 - Business Applications 11:38 - Cloud Financial Management 11:57 - Compute 12:10 - Contact Center 14:50 - Containers 15:13 - Database 17:52 -Developer Tools 18:08 - Management and Governance 20:25 - Networking 22:48 - Marketplace 24:04 - Security Identity End Compliance 26:09 - Storage 27:56 - Outro Show Notes: https://dqkop6u6q45rj.cloudfront.net/shownotes-20250516-191312.html

Last episode we contrasted the good done through the consumption of heritage agave spirits with the damage caused by same. This episode, we talk about the damage done by the casual consumption of agave spirits. And coffee. And chocolate. And … well, everything. It's a casual-destruction episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto with wisdom from Xaime Navarro of Gracias a Dios Mezcal.Episode NotesThanks to Xaime Navarro of Gracias a Dios Mezcal and Juan Del Campo Whiskey for the quote this episode.Shout outs to Palomo Mezcal, Dark Matter Coffee, Chengdu Bistro, Rogue Ales & Spirits, and Chuck Klosterman and his novel Downtown Owl! (But also … go read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. Like, now.)

What do you get when you mix the world's largest teaching distillery with the finest students on the planet? The answer is: "Kentucky WildCask Bourbon!" If you are an astute listener, you've heard Anthony reference the "esteemed institution" and the James B. Beam Institute. The bourbon we taste and review this week was the created by a group of students at the University of Kentucky. It might be hard to believe, but UK has a Distillation, Wine, and Brewing Certificate and students in that program took a class where they learned how to create and market a brand. How does the product taste?. You'll have to listen to find out. One thing is for sure, we are so happy to see this release and we hope for many more. --------------------------SocialsIG: https://www.instagram.com/themashupkyFB: https://www.facebook.com/themashupkyTW: https://twitter.com/themashupkyPartnership(s)Visit Bourbonoutfitter.com and enter code THEMASHUP for a special discount or visit bourbonoutfitter.com/THEMASHUPVisit https://woodworkcollective.shop and enter code MASHUP for a 15% discount on your orderMusic: All the Fixings by Zachariah HickmanThank you so much for listening!

It's amazing and moving to see mezcalerxs whose lives have clearly improved as a result of the growing interest in agave spirits. But there's another side to that story – or, really, multiple other sides to it: some good, some bad, and some … well, the jury is still out on those. We talk about those various stories in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto.Episode NotesThis episode cover is Courtesy of Slim Pickens! Thanks, Slim!The episode of “The Hidden Brain” that I was trying to recall is “Relationships 2.0: The Power of Tiny Interactions + Your Questions Answered: Erica Bailey on Authenticity.” So good!My friends Jen & Adam Murphy have great Instagram feeds, if you're a gardening nerd or a garden-in-a-cocktail nerd!Shout out this episode to Jason Cox whose Cinco Sentidos brand of agave spirits is amazing! Equally amazing are his two (count them, two!) brands of Oaxacan rum: Alambique Serrano and Cañada - Aguardiente Oaxaqueño!Shout out this episode to Mezcal tour guide Randall Stockton and his amazing pandemic program, Feeding Chichicapam!Shout out this episode to Chuck Klosterman and his novel Downtown Owl! (But also … go read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. Like, now.)

When I first started drinking Mezcal, I was told that there were some agaves that couldn't be farmed — that could only grow wild. And I still here that narrative some two decades later. And it still doesn't make sense to me. So I did the only logical thing: I asked a farmer.Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden.Episode NotesIf you're anywhere near Chicago or Kankakee, order your farm-fresh produce (and dry goods like locally grown popcorn, beans, and oats) from Three Sisters Garden! 

In this episode of Barrel Room Chronicles, host Kerry Moynahan heads to the University of Kentucky for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most innovative programs shaping the future of American whiskey. Her journey begins with a conversation with Dr. Janice Fernheimer, Professor and founding facultymember of the University's Distillation, Wine & Brewing Studies program. They discuss her unique path from Jewish Studies into bourbon scholarship, the origins of the “Craft Writing” course, and her groundbreaking work on the Womenin Bourbon Oral History Project and the graphic novel America's Chosen Spirit.Later, Kerry tours the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits with Associate Director Ilka Balk. Together, they explore the Institute's world-class research distillery and brand-new rickhouse, learning how students are gaining hands-on experience in production, fermentation, and aging. The episode highlights the intersection of education, heritage grains, sustainable practices, and real-world bourbon training — all happening on a dry campus. Whether you're a whiskey enthusiast, a fan of fermentation science, or simply curiousabout how the next generation of distillers is being educated, this episode offers an inspiring and informative deep dive into the academic side of spirits.To see the full show notes for this episode visit BarrelRoomChronicles.com BRC is a production of 1st Reel Entertainment.

In my consumer-focused tastings, I tell attendees that one of the big things I hope they walk away with is, they can lead a more delicious life and support a more sustainable ecosystem if they start drinking more than just Blue Weber processed in Jalisco and Espadin processed in Oaxaca – that's literally 99% of what they drink now, and if they instead drink one of those two eight times out of ten instead of, rounded up, ten times out of ten, they'll be helping to turn the ship away from the monoculture trajectory. And I ask them to ask their bartenders if they have an agave spirit that isn't one of those two, so the bartender ask their beverage director to get something different. But … what if we could get the gringx bartenders to make that argument themselves? What suggestions can they make to put the agave spirits industry on a healthier trajectory?Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto.Episode NotesIf you want to listen to that episode about flights, it's “Mezcals flights or Mezcal cocktails?”If you want to listen to that episode about biodiverse cocktail Mezcals, it's “The Best Mezcals for Mixing, According to Agave Road Trip.”If you're a bartender who wants to visit agave spirits producers in Mexico who aren't connected to brands, check out the Tequila Interchange Project!

Mexico has been purchasing about $3 billion of corn annually from farmers in the USA, the vast majority of that corn having been grown from genetically modified seeds. The Mexican government announced in 2020 that it would, in 2025, ban that GMO corn from the country, which was found to be in violation of the USMCA agreement of 2018. So now, the Mexican government has amended their constitution to identify native corn as an "element of national identity," which will ban GMO corn from being planted in the country – and "[a]ny other use of genetically modified corn must be evaluated ... to be free of threats to the biosecurity, health and biocultural heritage of Mexico and its population." What exactly does this all mean, for farmers in Mexico, for the environment in the Americas, and for the price of tacos? We try to suss it all out in this episode of Agave Road trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Dave Dyrek, retired farmer of Leaning Shed Farm, with quotes from Dr. Hector Ortiz of the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Chef Gustavo Romero of Oro by Nixta.Episode NotesWhen in Chicago, visit the Chicago Botanic Gardens! When in Minneapolis, grab a meal and a stack of tortillas at Oro by Nixta! When traveling back in time, head to the farmers market and visit Leaning Shed!“US wins ruling in a trade dispute with Mexico over its bid to ban genetically modified corn,” AP News, December 20, 2024“After trade dispute, Mexico officially bans the planting of GM corn,” Reuters, February 25, 2025“Don't mess with Mexico's maíz: Constitutional amendment to ban GMO corn seeds,” Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2025

We'll keep this brief because we're on a tight turnaround: GPT 4.1, previously known as the Quasar and Optimus models, is now live as the natural update for 4o/4o-mini (and the research preview of GPT 4.5). Though it is a general purpose model family, the headline features are: Coding abilities (o1-level SWEBench and SWELancer, but ok Aider) Instruction Following (with a very notable prompting guide) Long Context up to 1m tokens (with new MRCR and Graphwalk benchmarks) Vision (simply o1 level) Cheaper Pricing (cheaper than 4o, greatly improved prompt caching savings) We caught up with returning guest Michelle Pokrass and Josh McGrath to get more detail on each! Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:00:57 GPC 4.1 Launch Overview 00:01:54 Developer Feedback and Model Names 00:02:53 Model Naming and Starry Themes 00:03:49 Confusion Over GPC 4.1 vs 4.5 00:04:47 Distillation and Model Improvements 00:05:45 Omnimodel Architecture and Future Plans 00:06:43 Core Capabilities of GPC 4.1 00:07:40 Training Techniques and Long Context 00:08:37 Challenges in Long Context Reasoning 00:09:34 Context Utilization in Models 00:10:31 Graph Walks and Model Evaluation 00:11:31 Real Life Applications of Graph Tasks 00:12:30 Multi-Hop Reasoning Benchmarks 00:13:30 Agentic Workflows and Backtracking 00:14:28 Graph Traversals for Agent Planning 00:15:24 Context Usage in API and Memory Systems 00:16:21 Model Performance in Long Context Tasks 00:17:17 Instruction Following and Real World Data 00:18:12 Challenges in Grading Instructions 00:19:09 Instruction Following Techniques 00:20:09 Prompting Techniques and Model Responses 00:21:05 Agentic Workflows and Model Persistence 00:22:01 Balancing Persistence and User Control 00:22:56 Evaluations on Model Edits and Persistence 00:23:55 XML vs JSON in Prompting 00:24:50 Instruction Placement in Context 00:25:49 Optimizing for Prompt Caching 00:26:49 Chain of Thought and Reasoning Models 00:27:46 Choosing the Right Model for Your Task 00:28:46 Coding Capabilities of GPC 4.1 00:29:41 Model Performance in Coding Tasks 00:30:39 Understanding Coding Model Differences 00:31:36 Using Smaller Models for Coding 00:32:33 Future of Coding in OpenAI 00:33:28 Internal Use and Success Stories 00:34:26 Vision and Multi-Modal Capabilities 00:35:25 Screen vs Embodied Vision 00:36:22 Vision Benchmarks and Model Improvements 00:37:19 Model Deprecation and GPU Usage 00:38:13 Fine-Tuning and Preference Steering 00:39:12 Upcoming Reasoning Models 00:40:10 Creative Writing and Model Humor 00:41:07 Feedback and Developer Community 00:42:03 Pricing and Blended Model Costs 00:44:02 Conclusion and Wrap-Up

If you want to listen to that October 2023 episode with Khrys Maxwell, it's “The CRT loses their Tequila monopoly.”You might also want to check out this episode: “The Birth and Death of the CRM,” in which MIA Chava and I discuss the end of the CRM's monopoly on Mezcal certification.

Check out Riker's project, MadAgave, on the Web, on Instagram, and on Facebook — and consider making a financial gift. It will help support this important project and also help mitigate the damage done by the recent cyclone that hit the community.In the episode cover, that's head distiller Fomesoa, and the other crew members are Samba, Tsimireke, and Freddy.

How does oak aging change wine and whisky flavour, colour and texture? What do glass, gears, and automatons have to do with the invention of distillation? Why is yeast such an essential tool in scientific research and wine production, especially in the face of climate change? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Adam Rogers, author of the New York Times bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks   Giveaway One of you is going to win a copy of his terrific new book, Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose one person randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!   Highlights What are some of the traits that new yeasts are being developed for? Why does sugar deserve the title of most important molecule in the world? How is human saliva used in the production of Chicha, one of the oldest types of alcoholic beverage? What is microbial terroir and how does it affect the flavour profile of fermented drinks? Why does Adam describe distillation as the apotheosis of human life on Earth? How does the process of distillation work? What is the most important thing we can learn from the alchemists? Is the shape of a distillation still important to the process? What's happening to spirits while they're aging in barrels? Have there been successful innovations to age wine and spirits more quickly? Why do some people lose their sense of smell after a concussion?   Key Takeaways When you're drinking whisky, and it's that beautiful amber color, that's all from the wood. It's completely clear when it goes into a barrel and it's brown when it comes out. So color is part of what changes, and all those flavours. In the process of aging, as the temperature goes up and down, the pores in the wood open and close. As they open, the liquid gets drawn into that layer inside of the wood, and then gets pushed back out. So there's this kind of back-and-forth process, which is why so many of the experimental attempts to accelerate the aging process use heat to try to cycle it faster. Distillation was developed in the first two to 300 years of the Common Era. People were starting to transform naturally occurring phenomena into a technology that could exist in a temple or in the home. Distillation is one of those technologies, along with a lot of automatons and the simple machines, gears, screws and the steam engines. Yeasts are a workhorse organism in laboratories because it's very easy to change their traits and genetics. They share DNA with each other, and when they grow, they mutate very quickly. Generation to generation change. So you can use classic animal or microbial husbandry techniques to change them as well. This can become especially important as climate change changes the regions that are important to wine.   About Adam Rogers Adam Rogers is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where he writes about technology, culture, and the ways they overlap. Prior to joining BI, Adam was a longtime editor and writer at WIRED, where his article “The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress” was the second-most-read thing on the entire internet in 2015. Adam's WIRED feature story on a mysterious fungus that grows on whisky warehouses won a AAAS/Kavli science journalism award — and led to his 2014 New York Times bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze. Adam is also the author of the 2021 book Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern. He has also written for Alta, the Atlantic, National Geographic, the New York Times, Slate, and Smithsonian, and may be the only journalist to attend both San Diego Comic-Con and the White House Correspondents Dinner.         To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/331.

Can I drink beer and Scotch on Pesach? Don't get your hopes up just yet, but Rabbi Yehoshua Domosh, a trained Kashrus professional, takes us through some fascinating halachic analysis (Responsa of Rivash, no. 255) about why distilled alcoholic beverages might not be so bad afterall - and also why an innocuous, unflavored seltzer may indeed have some potential issues bubbling just under the surface....

Marissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!If you missed World Poetry Day, it's not too late to celebrate. Click here for the archived celebration with Agave Road Trip Poet Laureate Larry Beckett and August Gladstone! Some numbers I culled from the DISCUS data over the past eight years:If you just look at volume consumed, 2.7 billion liters in 2024o   Vodka: 667 million liters (24.4%), trending down a point or two last three yearso   Cocktails (RTDs): 658 million (24.0%), trending up in a big way, double-digit growth every yearo   Whiskey: 647.5 million liters (23.7%), trending down four-ish percent past two yearso   Agave: 289.8 million liters (10.6%), trending up but growth is slowingo   Rum: 186.1 million liters (6.8%), trending down in an escalating patterno   Cordials: 180.7 million liters (6.6%), trending down four-ish percent past two years, like whiskeyo   Brandy: 105.4 million liters (3.9%), big hits past three years If you look at dollars spent, $36.2 billion in 2024o   Vodka: $7.2 billion (19.9%), flat since 2021o   Cocktails (RTDs): $3.3 billion (9.1%), trending up in a big way, double-digit growth every yearo   Whiskey: $11.9 billion (32.9%), trending down two to three percent past two yearso   Agave: $6.7 billion (18.5%), trending up but growth is slowingo   Rum: $2.2 billion (6.1%), trending down in an escalating patterno   Cordials: $2.8 billion (7.7%), trending down but not at same pace as volumeo   Brandy: $2.1 billion (5.8%), big hits past three years If you look at dollars spent per liter, bearing in mind that inflation between 2016 and 2024 was 30.7%,o   Vodka: $10.83, up 11% since 2016o   Cocktails (RTDs): $5.01, down 23% since 2016o   Whiskey: $18.30, up 15% since 2016o   Agave: $23.17, up 25% since 2016o   Rum: $11.99, up 12.6% since 2016o   Cordials: $15.54, 13.8% since 2016o   Brandy: $20.24, 10.6% since 2016 You can get all the raw data and draw uyour own conclusions at DISCUS.

Shout outs this episode to Cambio Tequila and Puesto! And Howard Gardner's “Theory of Multiple Intelligences”!

That one hit is from Australian Traveller: “30 of the best bars in Sydney right now.”

This episode was inspired by a post that Mexican distiller Tomas Nava made in the Facebook group Mezcal Society. His post was inspired by the entry for “foreshots” at SpiritsBeacon.com. The response from Tom Bartram of Speciality Brands gave me the excuse to reconnect with Tom!Bonus! Tom's puntas-filled annecdote!

Check out 30A Distilling Co. when you're in Florida!

Silicon Valley is reckoning with an AI development technique that could upend the leaderboard. Distillation is the idea that a small team can make an advanced AI model by extracting knowledge from a larger one. DeepSeek didn't invent the method, but its use roiled the markets and woke the AI world up to its potential. It's now enabling startups to compete at the cutting edge, and is deadly for the biggest AI players' competitive edges. This video includes an interview with Glean CEO Arvind Jain.

U.S. tech companies facing headwinds post-DeepSeek even as Chinese tech stocks have soared. Raising questions about whether the biggest winers may not be the ones building the largest AI models, but those who scale it the most effectively. Plus, Masayoshi Son talks the future of OpenAI, Softbank partnership. 

First and foremost, when claims are made about expenses by USAID or any federal agency of the US government, you can research for yourself at usaspending.gov. This is a great tool that is as close to absolute transparency in government as the USA has ever had. In the (literal) days since I recorded this episode (February 17, 2025), President Trump has signed an executive order that requires “radical transparency” of all government offices. In that very order, he highlights as an example of “how the federal government has wasted [our] hard-earned wages” this item:Numerous USAID grants have come under review, including $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities.”But he doesn't share the Prime Award ID number or the recipient of that award. So you're left to dig into that yourself. If you believe there should be “radical transparency” in the government, ask for those items so you can see, for yourself, that this claim is true. Or just go digging and try to find evidence of this claim. Or any of the others in that executive order or the many posts the president or Elon Musk have made.Now … to watch the beautiful sermon from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde — a wonderful call for mercy — click here.To read the transcript of the bishop's interview with “All Things Considered,” click here.While I don't believe I actually mentioned it in the episode, even as an apathetic agnostic, I'd still encourage everyone to read the letter that Pope Francis sent to the USA.To read how the first Trump administration launched the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, click here.

Shout out this episode to Steve Catbagan, Denver, and its groovy agave scene; Arik Torren and his Lot 001 Brands, and fog nets. And of Cambio Tequila!

Episode: 1328 The medieval character of the wild West.  Today, the wild West holds up a mirror to medieval life.

By drawing on the results of other models, distillation can shape AI that's almost as good, quickly and more cheaply. WSJ tech reporter Miles Kruppa says that has investors worried about the risks of pouring money into the field's cutting edge. And retail reporter Kate King says that while Amazon may be the champion of online retail, its recent store closures show it hasn't replicated that success in the bricks-and-mortar space. Pierre Bienaimé hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shout out this episode to Quiote Mezcaleria!And when in Chicago go visit the desert house at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It's as close to Mexico as anything 1,800 miles north of Mexico!

The current exhibition at the AA, London’s eminent architectural school, pairs Japanese architectural studios and artists to rethink a piece of furniture or domestic structure. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OpeningI need them to ask "Do you have the aircraft 4 miles off of your 2 o'clock, 300ft above you.I took Flying lessons…its like learning a foreign language. MarketsRocky week: NVIDIA largest mkt cap loss ever in 1 day. ~$600bDeepSeek fear!   Fed decision on interest rates. Stay and hold. MicrosoftMicrosoft's earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 were $24.1 billion in net income and $69.6 billion in revenue. AppleApple per WSJ. Apple's total revenue was $124.3 billion, rising almost 4% from the same quarter last year. Net income was $36.3 billion, up more than 7% from the prior year. Iphone sales down, but service continues to grow. Meta Record Revenue and Net income: $48b and $21b. Record high stock price: $702, or $1.8t mkt capStart: 12:50.3.3b people using at least 1 app everyday. TeslaRecord deliveries and revenue. But Auto revenue down, but offset by Energy and Services. Elon's opening remarks. Start 7:10. Model Y best selling vehicle on Earth in 2024. 4 in US. F-series, Silverado, RAVAsked random people and they thought ToyotaAutonomy is 10x'ingTesla more valuable than several times next 5 companies combined. Difficult but achievable. Well over $15 trillion. So > 10x increase. Ridiculous 2027 & 2028.

Let's bust some early myths about DeepSeek. In episode 40 of Mixture of Experts, join host Tim Hwang along with experts Aaron Baughman, Chris Hay and Kate Soule. Last week, we covered the release of DeepSeek-R1; now that the entire world is up to speed, let's separate the facts from the hype. Next, what is model distillation and why does it matter for competition in AI? Finally, Sam Altman among other tech CEOs shared his response to DeepSeek. Will R1 radically change the open-source strategy of other tech giants? Find out all this and more on Mixture of Experts. 00:01 – Intro 00:41 – DeepSeek facts vs hype 21:00 – Model distillation 31:21 – Open source and OpenAI The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of IBM or any other organization or entity.

The previous episode that inspired this episode is “The secret origin of Tequila Oro.”Shout out this episode to Jason Cox at 5 Sentidos! Shout out to Tequila Cascahuin!Maybe dibs in Chicago actually was documented…? Click here!

iOS 18.3 lets some T-Mobile users access Starlink, Comcast rolls out new Xfinity low-latency feature, US Copyright Office says AI-generated content alone isn't eligible for protection. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE for free or get DTNS Live ad-free. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible. If you enjoy whatContinue reading "OpenAI Claims DeepSeek Used “Distillation” On OpenAI’s Proprietary Models – DTH"

We are back for round 2 of the discussion of Pot still vs Column. This time we get deep into congeners and phenols. It went off the rails, as always. Hope its freaking scratching that Nerd itch. Badmotivatorbarrels.com/shop/?aff=3 https://www.instagram.com/zsmithwhiskeyandmixology?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Hinterhausdistilling.com Texaswhiskeyfestival.com Liquor.com / Sarah Maiden Without distillation, liquor couldn't exist. Distillation is the process by which the alcohol present in a fermented liquid is separated and then concentrated. It's done by heating the liquid and then cooling the vapors, condensing them into a highly alcoholic spirit. This all works because ethanol evaporates at a lower temperature than water.  The device used in this process is called a still. Over the centuries, stills have evolved from rudimentary fire-heated pots to towering, industrial machinery. To make liquor today, distilleries primarily use two different types of stills: pot stills and column stills. These two methods of distillation operate based on the same fundamental principles but produce spirits with noticeably different qualities.  Here's everything you need to know about pot stills vs. column stills. • Pot stills are large pot-shaped stills that are usually made of copper and distill spirits on a batch-by-batch basis. • Column stills include at least one tall cylindrical column. They can be operated continuously and produce spirits more efficiently. • Generally speaking, pot stills create richer and more flavorful spirits while column stills are preferred for more neutral spirits. Liquor.com / Laura Sant What Is a Pot Still? The oldest and most straightforward method of distilling a spirit is batch distillation, more commonly known as pot distillation. This style of distilling uses a large pot-shaped still to produce a spirit. Pot stills are usually made of copper and have a very wide base that tapers vertically into a thin neck. These stills are filled with a fermented alcoholic liquid that is derived from an agricultural product like grain, sugar cane, or fruit. This low-ABV liquid, known as the wash, is then heated. “Alcohol and other volatiles that boil at temperatures lower than water can be removed when heated to near boiling,” explains Dr. Pat Heist, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Wilderness Trail Distillery.  “It is the distiller's control of [the] heating and condensing process that allows for the development of a desired flavor profile.” –Chris Morris, master distiller emeritus at Old Forester and Woodford Reserve  The vapors that emerge from the pot as the liquid heats up are collected, then cooled and condensed into a distillate right off the pot. They can also be further processed through a series of rectifying plates that result in higher proofs, and the distillate is often distilled a second time to achieve the desired concentration of alcohol. “It is the distiller's control of that heating and condensing process that allows for the development of a desired flavor profile,” says Chris Morris, master distiller emeritus at Old Forester and Woodford Reserve. Pot distillation isn't the most efficient way to create alcohol, mainly because it operates on a batch-by-batch process. “A pot still is filled, heated, emptied, and then filled again,” says Morris. Despite their inefficiency, pot stills produce spirits that are often renowned for their rich flavors and aromas.

That incredible beer-not-beer was made by tlachiquero Marco Antonio of pulqueria El rincon de Mayahuel in San Felipe, Guanajuato. I was introduced to Marco by Malena Villasuso and Juan Pedro Valdes of Mezcal Villasuso. This episode was recorded outdoors at Bárbaro Asador de Campo, an amazing table-in-farm restaurant in Queretaro, where we stopped to have lunch with our travel companions: environmental scientist and SACRED program manager Regina Gonzalez and Brian Rabon of 30A Distilling Company.

What are the five key reasons for ocean conservation? What are the five areas where progress matters most? With the world in an off-axis state of turmoil, W2O founder Peter Neill is taking stock this week, asking the questions and distilling the essential reasons why the ocean is central to human survival.About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, challenges, marine science, policy, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Director of the W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This episode was inspired by a bottle by Victor Ramos, sourced from his tasting room in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca, labeled “Mensoncle de Arroqueno.” It's the first time I've seen that spelling, but it refers to the heart of the agave — like mezontle. mesonte, and Mezonte. (Hi, Pedro!)

Word embeddings might feel like they are a little bit out of fashion. After all, we have attention mechanisms and transformer models now, right? Well, it turns out that if you apply distillation the right way you can actually get highly performant word embeddings out. It's a technique featured by the model2vec project from the Minish lab and in this episode we talk to the founder to learn more about the technique.We have a Discord these days, feel free to discuss the podcast with us there! https://discord.probabl.ai This podcast is part of the open efforts over at probabl. To learn more you can check out website or reach out to us on social media. Website: https://probabl.ai/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/probabl.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/probabl Twitter: https://x.com/probabl_ai #probabl

Shout outs this episode to Oaxacan speakeasy Hembra, Marco Ochoa of Mezcouting, Sylvia Philion of Mezcaloteca, and Enrique Martinez of Metsal!

Check out the diverse selection of Mexican spirits being imported by Lot001 Brands! They have Mi Casa Tequila, Parejo (which offers Sotol and Lechugilla expressions), Rancho Tepúa (which offers Bacanora, Lechuguilla, and Palmilla expressions), Whiskey Maíz Nation, and Pelacañas Rum!

Shout outs this episode to Mezonte, Off Premise: Wine, Agave, Whiskey & Craft Beer, and Alambique Serrano Single-Origin Oaxacan Rum!

Mezcal geeks love to run down all the varieties of Agave Karwinskii they can name. And when we talk about Agave Americana, we talk about Arroqueno and Coyote and Sierra Negra. But the most prolific of agaves in Oaxaca is easily Angustifolia, represented exclusively by Espadin. But that's not the sole variety of the species – at least, outside of Oaxaca. So why don't we talk about varieties of Angustifolia in Oaxaca? And is that a possible solution to the growing monoculture in Mezcal? It's another head-scratching episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto with insights from mezcalero Arturo Campos of San Juan Espanatica, Jalisco.

In addition to our quoted friends at Cambio Tequila and Tequila Torrente, we also mention this episode Felipe Camarena of G4 Tequila and Greg Rutkowski of Finca 18 and 30 Topes Mixto de Agave, and Chava Periban of the podcast “Heritage Mezcal.” And Steve Dahl. And Dark Matter Coffee's Star Lounge.To learn more about the fascinating agricultural practices of Tequila Torrente, read “A Better Way to Grow Agave Leads to World's First Certified Regenerative Tequila” in UnderstandingAg.

National Bartenders Day is the first Friday of December. That's December 6 in 2024!Listen to Bridget's podcast, “Served Up,” here! To listen to the episode I was on, click here.Healthy Pour is a boutique coaching and consulting firm dedicated to transforming the global landscape of work. Founder Laura Louise Green has deep roots in the hospitality industry and does much of her work with hospitality folks.