Welcome everyone to our first episode of the cocktail era history podcast Monster in a Glass. Please subscribe on iTunes and Google services and spread the word about the show.
A little background on how the show generated. In 2013 the sudden shocking realization that I had never had a Manhattan occurred to me and as I let that settle in I realized that my life’s drinking had largely been filled with beer, wine and whiskey Cokes, all the while there were numerous mixed beverages, popular and more obscure, that I had yet to experience. Now, I’m all about harvesting new experiences, particularly if they skirt the edge of decency, so this was a project I personally was all about.
I began recording shows with a bartender here in Chicago. It was a ton of fun and I was experiencing new drinks as well as learning some interesting facts and history with each cocktail. But as I got into it more I realized I wasn’t telling the stories I wanted to tell. I needed a new format. The show needed to become something different, and I had already done 70 or so episodes; I had to redo them. There is more to that story, but I will tell that with a different episode.
The Manhattan episode represents the part of the rebirth of the podcast where we decided that the first portion of the show, what we call the history portion, needed to be more conversational. Previously Jay and myself were recording sessions with the two of us discussing the background to the drinks, Jay doing the research on the drinks and I engaged with that information. As I listened back I decided it sounded a little too much like a presentation. Many, many history podcasts rely on the presentation format for their shows and I enjoy them just fine, but I really didn’t think that’s what I wanted for our show. I decided we needed a 3rd participant for the history portion of the show to bring that cross-talk and we contacted one of our good friends Mr. Mick Laymon to join us.
After the 1st session, I knew it got the show where it needed to be in terms of tempo and dynamic fun.
Also, I have to say this at the start: Not only has this show evolved in style and format over the years, but all of the team who have contributed to it, particularly myself, have learned a lot of history and cocktail knowledge. Listening back to this episode the other day I caught several instances where I said something wrong or where we had questions about the time and people that now, two years later, I could confidently answer. Essentially, this podcast is a journey and we hope our listeners enjoy experiencing the discovery as much as we do.
Episode 1: Manhattan Project – Manhattan
