The Modern Bar Cart Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Eric interviews Toby Maloney (@tobycocktail) about his award-winning book, The Bartender's Manifesto.

Some of the topics covered in this conversation include:

• How Toby thinks about cocktail development, including the importance of inspiration, intention, comfort, and curiosity
• The importance of curated attention in the creative process, allowing you to notice aspects  of the world around you that can be used as inspiration and structural components for cocktail building
• A live cocktail development case study, where Toby and Eric riff on a menu prompt and create their very own custom cocktail worthy of inclusion on a seasonal menu.
• Along the way, they explore the Fall-friendly flavors of pisco and tequila, the strange betrayal of curried potatoes, the speculative physics of anti-gravity cocktails, and much, much more.

In this modern classic conversation with bartender and beverage consultant Toby Maloney, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Toby's journey through the food and beverage world, from bussing and dishwashing, to culinary school, to tending bar, eventually landing gigs at famous venues like Milk & Honey, and Pegu Club, and going on to open The Violet Hour in Chicago.
• The decisions and philosophies (plus the techniques and ingredients) that allowed Toby and his cohort at The Violet Hour to open the hearts and minds of the people of Chicago to the paradigm shift that was the Cocktail Renaissance.
• What it's like to open a bar in 2025, specifically with respect to the ingredients and philosophies that carry over well from the last 15-20 years, and which practices and vibes might need a refresh.
• Then, we take a close look at how Toby is setting the tone at The Elbow Room with pre-batched "Flavor Booms," free pours, dirty dumps, a Hawthorne strainer moratorium,  and other service speed innovations.
• Along the way, we learn why people hated The Violet Hour Team at first, how to "David-Chang-ify" a food or beverage program, why Gen Z is primed for their "Fern Bar" moment, and much, much more.

If you like this conversation with Toby, well buckle up for part 2, where we dig even deeper into how he develops cocktails, complete with a live, on-air cocktail building exercise. But for now, please enjoy part 1 of this super fun interview with Toby Maloney.

In part 1 of my conversation with acclaimed bartender Charles Joly, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The two predominant "schools" of cocktail programs you might encounter in the early 2000s, and how Charles found his home and his voice in the seasonal and ingredient-focused program at a place called The Drawing Room.
• The conditions and events that led Charles to take on his break-out role on a national stage as the beverage director of the incredibly high-profile bar at The Aviary--a venue renowned for its avant-garde, highly technical molecular mixology drink preparations.
• How Charles handled the culture shock of transitioning into that role - the feeling of being parachute-dropped into a foreign land - and why a round of cheeky Tequila shots with guests helped to humanize the service style just a little.
• We also discuss what it means for a cocktail or ingredient to make "sense," which involves using context cues and narrative structure to help communicate the "why" behind the "what" and "how" of a drink.
• Along the way, we explore the tattoos you'd see on Charles' arms if he were to prepare a drink in front of you, why every bartender should know somebody peddling rare tea and Iberico ham, the beauty of "vibe-based" bartender's choice cocktails, and much, much more.

Eric breaks down the highlights from The Modern Bar Cart Podcast in 2021 and previews what listeners can expect in 2022. Topics include:

• 2021 by the numbers (downloads, most popular episode)
• Noteworthy improvements from 2021 (plus an inside look at how the podcast gets made)
• A look ahead at incorporating video and audience engagement into future episodes
• Opportunities for live meet-ups and listener feedback

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This episode is the second of a two-part interview with bartender, entrepreneur, and milk punch expert, Eamon Rockey. He's the creator of Rockey's Botanical Liqueur, and if you haven't listened to part I of this episode, you're missing out on a bunch of important background, as well as fun stuff like our featured cocktail, the Rockey's Spritz.

If you did tune in last week, you know that we deviously left you on a cliffhanger, where Eamon was about to reveal his secret to making milk punch without the stress of filtering and straining until you're blue in the face.

We'll start off here by giving you the goods that we so cruelly dangled last time around, and we'll continue with an awesome tasting and discussion centered around Eamon's delicious, painstakingly formulated, and surprisingly affordable botanical liqueur.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this first portion of a two-part interview with Eamon Rockey, creator of Rockey's Botanical Liqueur, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Eamon's childhood working in kitchens in Hattiesburg, Mississippi propelled him to the Culinary Institute of America and then into some of the hottest fine dining establishments in New York City.
• What it was like to take the cocktail program at the legendary 11 Madison Park and completely standardize its cocktail program by deconstructing ingredients and thinking like a chef.
• How to make a completely virgin spin on Milk punch that can be paired with any base spirit a guest might desire.
• Why milk punch can (and perhaps should more often) be approached as a cocktail technique or process, rather than a recipe unto itself
• What to say when Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey asks you how you make simple syrup
• And much, much more

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this fascinating conversation with Andrew Yancey of Tarnished Truth Distilling, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Andrew and his team opened up the first and (to-date) only hotel distillery in the US
• Why the history and lore of the Cavalier Hotel is so important to the brand and its mystique, including Prohibition-era suicides, fresh prepared wild game, and a mysterious FBI file involving Richard Nixon.
• We also discuss what it takes to design a distillery from the ground-up and the logic behind sourcing vs. in-housing certain spirits at various points in a brand's growth and evolution.
• Of course, we chat about the Virginia Bourbon Invitational, which is a fantastic annual event that will be returning to the Cavalier Hotel for its 4th year in November of 2022.
• Along the way, we touch on the importance of salt water in your bathtub, why the first person you hire should always be a chemist, grandfathers with multiple side-hustles, and much, much more.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this fascinating deep dive with bartender and ice cream fanatic Iain McPherson, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How a childhood love of frozen treats, a fascination with lucid dreaming, and a stint at Italy's most hallowed gelato university led Iain to explore the largely untapped universe of freeze concentration.
• Why this process - first pioneered by German "Eisbock" makers - has affectionately and efficiently come to be known as "switching."
• Then, we break down the process, including how to use switching to modify both ferments and distillates, what tools you'll need, and some of the experiments that have yielded the most interesting results at Iain's bars.
• We also cover why switching produces more pure flavors than heat- and pressure-intensive techniques that employ traditional stills or rotovaps, a few important precautions to keep you and your guests safe when making and enjoying switch-finished products, what the future holds for freeze-thaw mixology, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this effervescent and eye-opening conversation with Fever-Tree co-founder and CEO, Tim Warrillow, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The drinks landscape in 2003 when Tim and his partner Charles set out to fundamentally change the way we approach the oft-overlooked and even-more-oft commodified carbonated mixers category.
• Why ingredient sourcing has played a pivotal role in Fever Tree's rise to cocktail stardom, leading Tim to dodge nail strips and rocket launchers in the search for the world's purest quinine.
• The symbiotic and dynamic relationship between premium spirits and premium mixers, and why Fever-Tree looks to the world's best distillers as inspiration for new products and flavor combinations.
• We also talk about Fever-Tree's new "Easy Mixing" book, which contains over 150 cocktails spanning beloved cocktail categories like the Mule, Highball, Summer Cup, Spritz, and even low- and no-ABV drinks.
• Along the way, we cover why Fever-Tree only comes in glass bottles, how the flavor of Mexican limes depend entirely on the meteor that killed the dinosaurs, what to drink with philanthropist Bill Gates,
• And much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this eye-opening conversation with Bar Director Deke Dunne of Allegory here in Washington, DC, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Deke transitioned from a life in politics to a life behind bars, starting by working security at perhaps DC's most successful pop-up EVER and then making the switch to bartending.
• What a surrealist Victorian novel by Lewis Carrol has to do with Ruby Bridges, a civil rights pioneer who was the first black child to desegregate a white school here in the US, and why the artwork at Allegory mixes those stories together and puts them on display.
• Of course, we talk cocktails and drink development, explaining how Deke and his team use flavors to tell stories. And this might sound cut-and-dry, but when we explain how rum, bourbon, oxidized sherry, banana liqueur, and a purple tuber all came to reside in a Kefir-finished milk punch, your mind will be blown.
• We also necessarily dig into the tricky balance that a bartender needs to walk when engaging with guests about historically charged and culturally sensitive subject matter. It's possible to do it really well, but there's also a lot of work that occurs behind the scenes to strike the right balance.

Along the way, we discuss the role of hospitality in a concept bar, why a Ramos Gin Fizz is like a baseball bat donut, what's next for Deke and Allegory in 2022, and much, much more.

This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed, spirits and infused cocktail wisdom courtesy of Kurt Maitland, and a little bit of interview magic by yours truly. This has been a Modern Bar Cart production, copyright 2021.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.