Today, we’re all more selective about what we eat and drink. But it’s not because we’re pickier or that our tastes have become more extravagant. What’s changed is that we have a greater understanding of how our choices impact the world around us. So when it comes to choosing food and drinks, simply tasting good is not good enough. We want products that are good for us and good for everyone else, too.
Of course, it’s easy to find food that is healthy and ethical. Every grocery store in the country has an entire section of organic, sustainably produced products. But beverages? Particularly healthy and ethical beverages of the adult variety? Those are a lot harder to come by. That’s why a couple of guys named Greg Serrao and Forrest Dein created JuneShine Hard Kombucha and Spirits.
Founded in 2018, JuneShine is a San Diego-based craft cocktail company that’s making some big waves in the beverage industry. And it’s not just because their drinks taste great—although that does help. You see, JuneShine specializes in alcoholic beverages made from better ingredients that are better for the planet. JuneShine is also carbon neutral, which means their production leaves no carbon footprint, and the company donates one percent of all sales to environmental nonprofits working to fight climate change.
JuneShine started out making organic hard kombucha but expanded to organic craft cocktails. So if you want to feel better about the alcohol you drink, you need to give JuneShine a try.
For the uninitiated, kombucha is a fermented beverage made from green or black tea. Because it contains probiotics, some people drink it to boost gut health. However, with its tangy, fruity flavor and mild effervescence, many people just drink it because it tastes great.
As for hard kombucha, it’s exactly what it sounds like: kombucha, but it’s brewed to 6% alcohol by volume (about the same as a light IPA). This refreshing carbonated beverage is made with organic, real fruit juice and spices, is brewed with naturally-occurring probiotics, is gluten-free, and contains no additives, preservatives, or colorings, unlike most alcoholic beverages.
JuneShine hard kombucha is sustainably brewed using organic ingredients and renewable solar energy. Refreshing and never-too-sweet, JuneShine’s hard kombucha is 6% ABV and comes in 12-ounce cans. Currently, their lineup features eight different flavors: the six “JuneShine Originals” (Midnight Painkiller, Blood Orange Mint, Hopical Citrus, Grapefruit Paloma, Acai Berry, and Honey Ginger Lemon) plus two limited edition JuneShine ambassador collaborations (P.O.G. and Prickly Pear Margarita).
Love the classics, but tired of all the added sugars and artificial flavors you get in most canned cocktails? JuneShine Spirits are the perfect solution. They are handcrafted with premium, award-winning spirits, real juice, and sparkling water with no added sugar. They come in 12-ounce cans and are 8-10% ABV.
The Classic Tequila Margarita has real tequila from Casa Orendain in Mexico, tart lime, and a hint of sweet orange. The Tropical Rum Mai Tai contains spiced rum from San Diego-based, award-winning Malahat Spirits, with orange, pineapple, and orange juice. Last but not least, the Passion Fruit Vodka Soda features premium, US-distilled vodka, sparkling water, and a perfectly balanced trio of pineapple, lemon, and passion fruit juices.
Can’t decide which JuneShine beverages you want to try? Then don’t! Get a little bit of everything with JuneShine Samplers. These sampler packs come with 12, 24, or 36 cans of JuneShine’s best-sellers, or you can create your own custom sampler pack with flavors of your choosing.
If you’re looking for a better way to get your buzz on—one that’s better for you and for the planet—order a sampler back from JuneShine. These refreshing hard kombuchas and craft cocktails will open up a world of flavors you never even knew existed.
The recent NFT boom has raised a lot of questions about the intersection of art, commerce and private ownership, and most people aren’t convinced of their value. A recent poll published in PCMag found that 60% of people think NFTs are a scam, while just 10% see them as a serious financial investment.
NFT enthusiasts will pay an arm and a leg for the digital files because they have a certificate of digital ownership on the blockchain that cannot be replicated. So, even though someone may be able to copy and paste a jpeg of the rare piece of art, they will never be the official owner.
Last year, the NFT of a CryptoPunk character fetched $11.8 million and a Bored Ape went for $3.4 million at auction.
#AuctionUpdate #BAYC #8817 sells for a RECORD $3,408,000 USD! This is the first time it has been made available since it was minted. Less than 1% of all Bored Apes have the gold fur trait. From the collection of @j1mmyeth n#NativelyDigitalpic.twitter.com/HfFTpEOIUh
Moments ago in our #London saleroom, an extremely rare u201cAlienu201d CryptoPunk #7523 from the collection of @sillytuna sold for $11.8M as part of our #NativelyDigital NFT auction u2013 setting a new world auction record for a single CryptoPunk.pic.twitter.com/PDVUSttI3o
Stephen Colbert compared NFTs to tangible art in a heist movie trailer spoof in last Friday’s episode that makes the case that it’s ridiculous to compare the two.
“For a while now, one of the hottest tech trends has been NFTs. It’s hard to believe that in just one year, we’ve gone from having no idea what they are to having no idea why they are,” Colbert said while introducing the trailer.
In the trailer, a master criminal attempts an NFT heist similar to one you’d see in the “Ocean’s” films by hiring a master forger, safe-cracker, demolitions expert, “lady who sneaks under lasers” and a K-Pop star. But given the volatility of these digital assets will they be able to pull off the heist before the bubble bursts?
As a millennial born in 1988, it’s hard for me to think about coffee without in turn thinking about Starbucks. Since expanding nationwide in the 1990s, Starbucks has completely changed coffee culture. Some might say for better, others for worse. But a lasting change to say the least.
Even the Starbucks cups are famous. Odds are you’ve seen one in its regular white and green form (if you’re not drinking from one at this very moment, that is) or in a festive shade of red for the holiday season. Either way, it’s instantly recognizable. Or as Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Kobori calls it, “ubiquitous.”
But in an interview with CNN Business, Kobori warns that these easily tossed disposable cups are also a “ubiquitous symbol of a throwaway society.”
With Starbucks serving around 6 billion disposable cups per year, he’s not wrong. Though the cups are recyclable, that doesn’t stop them from being thrown into landfills, if not littering the streets directly.
That’s why Kobori shares the company’s new solution: “eliminating the disposable cup” entirely by 2025.
The plan is to make the option of single-use paper or plastic cups much less attractive, similar to their swapping straws for lids with cold drinks. This includes possibly charging a small fee to use disposable cups, while experimenting with discounts and incentives to pull customers to the “green” side.
By the end of 2022, the company plans to allow customers to use their own reusable mugs, something that was temporarily suspended due to COVID-19. This time, however, being environmentally conscious might get you anywhere from 10 to 15 cents. Which any caffeine-aholic knows easily adds up day after day.
Starbucks is also considering adopting a borrow-a-mug program, where customers pay a small refundable deposit in exchange for a cup rental.
The company did a two-month beta version of the program in none other than Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle. When customers returned the cup, they not only got their $1 deposit back, they also received 10 rewards points. Though many customers have come to rely on Starbucks for its convenience, the test was positively received. Store Manager Kim Davis noted that both the baristas and customers were on board, saying that “the excitement and engagement was really high.”
There is still one major obstacle: the drive-thru window. Oh, and mobile orders. So make that two obstacles. These are simple conveniences that customers have come to expect from Starbucks. It’s a brilliant move for the business model, but makes the sustainability goal a bit more complicated. Especially considering that more than half of all sales are made by people cruising by in their cars or ordering on the app.
A few mock-up stores have been set up to test different options. One being obvious: customers simply handing over their reusable cups to the barista at the drive-thru window. Another is to have them drop off their cup at an earlier drive-thru point, so that the drink is ready once they swing around to pay. Plus premaking the drinks to then pour into the reusable cups once the driver pulls up. I can see the potential for mess with that last one, but the point is: Solutions are being tested.
As for the mobile purchases, that seems to be an especially tall order. Venti, even. But Starbucks is nothing if not innovative. On more than one occasion, the company’s forward thinking has completely changed the coffee game. It made “single origin” hip, nondairy milk and plant-based food accessible, and folk jazz the official cafe sound. It certainly feels like if any single business entity can guide us as a society toward improved coffee habits, it’s the one repped by the green mermaid.
May her siren song lead us all to a better, more sustainable future.
While promoting his upcoming magnum opus, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, superstar Nicolas Cage has been giving nothing but perfect interviews. First, he has been gushing over his best friend, Merlin (his cat), and also admitted that he is goth. Now, he is campaigning to be in the next Matt Reeves’ Batman movie.
“We have this new [movie with] Robert Pattinson as The Batman, which I’m excited to see. I haven’t seen it yet but I think he would be terrific.” The actor told IGN. “The villain that Vincent Price played on the 60s show, Egghead, I think I want to have a go at Egghead. I think I can make him absolutely terrifying. And I have a concept for Egghead. So let them know over at Warner Bros., I’m down for Egghead.”
Egghead is known for having an egg-shaped head, and also stealing eggs. Cage would absolutely kill this. The villain appeared in a few various iterations of the Batman universe, including The Lego Batman Movie and the 60s Batman tv show starring Adam West.
Both Pattinson and Reeves have expressed interest in continuing the series, so this could actually become a thing. Maybe Cage can act alongside Pattinson’s favorite villain, The Condiment King. Let’s make it happen, Warner Bros.!
Father John Misty is gearing up to drop Chloë And The Next 20th Century (his first album since 2018’s God’s Favorite Customer) next month. Ahead of then, he’s shared a new near-six-minute video for the recently released single “Goodbye Mr. Blue,”
Press materials describe the video as “an elliptical portrait of a family reunion” and says it “was shot in and around Sofia, Bulgaria in September 2021.” The YouTube description also notes:
“Chepan mountain is a rocky hump 1186 metres high about 47 kilometres northwest of Sofia. Its southern face overlooks the largest wetland in Bulgaria, the Dragoman Marsh. A furlong from the edge of the marsh, a circular gully about 50 metres in diameter was gouged out of the foot of the mountain by heavy machinery at some time in September 2016, according to satellite data. No one has explained who made the excavation or why, but its sandy walls and proximity to the marsh have provided an ideal home for the region’s most colourful coraciiform, the European Bee-Eater (Merops apiaster). Contrary to local folklore, the species is typically monogamous only during a nesting season, and will often find a new mate each year after migration.”
Watch the “Goodbye Mr. Blue” video above.
Chloë And The Next 20th Century is out 4/8 via Sub Pop. Pre-order it here.
There’s no beer more synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day than Guinness. And rightfully so, the dry Irish stout is a fantastic beer and an icon on the world stage. But there are more dry Irish stouts out there besides the pride of Dublin.
While not all stouts are created equal, most have a very robust flavor profile similar to that of Guinness. Flavors like dark chocolate, coffee beans, and darkly roasted barley combine to make up the throughline of the style. It’s bold and sometimes very creamy, malty, and only slightly hoppy.
But is Guinness the best Irish stout available? To figure that out, I decided to do a blind taste test. Rather than just comparing Guinness stout to other Irish stouts, I decided to add in four American-made dry stouts as well.
This popular beer from Colorado’s Breckenridge Brewery is made to mimic the classic flavors of traditional dry Irish stouts. The brewers attempt to achieve this with roasted Irish barley malts and various other classic ingredients. It’s known for its creamy, rich, and bittersweet flavor.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
On the nose, I found hints of freshly brewed coffee and some toasted malts, but that was about it. The palate had a little more going on with notes of bitter chocolate, more coffee, and some toasty malts. Overall, the flavor was thinner than I’d expect, but not a terrible beer by any account.
Bottom Line:
I expected a little more from Breckenridge knowing the popularity of this beer. It wasn’t a bad beer, it was just a little thin in the flavor department for my liking, especially for a stout.
Established in 1856, Murphy’s Irish Stout is a mainstay in the American Irish beer market. Brewed using simple and traditional ingredients, it’s known for its combination of creamy, smooth mouthfeel, and sweet, chocolate, and coffee flavors with very little bitterness.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
The nose is surprisingly light with some chocolate and coffee. I really had to reach to find another note. Sipping it added to my flavor confusion as the palate was lacking as well. There were classic flavors like coffee beans, dark chocolate, and some caramel malts, but really not much else.
Bottom Line:
While creamy and with the basic dry stout flavors drinkers expect, I found Murphy’s to be fairly watery and lacking that punch of flavor I hoped for.
There are no stouts more famous than Guinness. First brewed in 1759, this worldwide favorite that’s available in more than 120 countries is known for its dry, slightly bitter, traditional coffee and dark chocolate flavor with its well-known creamy mouthfeel.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
The nose has coffee, chocolate, and some yeasty, malty aromas and not much else. Diving in for a sip, I found a creamy mouthfeel that was a bit diluted with faint dark chocolate and slight espresso bean flavors. Overall, the flavor was rather mild, and it lacked the bitterness I’d expect from a dry stout.
Bottom Line:
I expected a much better showing from Guinness. I didn’t expect it to fall too low on this ranking. It just shows that there are a ton of great dry stouts on the market, from Ireland and the U.S..
Anytime you’re making a blind taste test, it’s always good to throw in a wild card from time to time. This time it’s Pure Project Milagro. This 5.3 percent ABV dry stout was brewed with organic roasted Costa Rican coffee and organic Tahitian vanilla beans. The result is a coffee, chocolate, and vanilla-centric beer that needs to be tasted to be believed.
Murphy
Tasting Notes:
The nose is heavy on freshly roasted coffee beans, caramel-like malts, and vanilla essence. The palate continues this trend with a creamy mouthfeel accentuated by sweet malts, bitter chocolate, and a lot more espresso and vanilla bean notes. The finish is dry and slightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
San Diego’s Pure Project is known for its eclectic mix of beer styles. The brewery makes amazing IPAs, but, if you enjoy coffee-driven dry stouts, you’ll love this one like I did.
If you’re a fan of rich, indulgent stouts, you’ve probably imbibed North Coast Old Rasputin. But maybe you haven’t tried its dry stout Old No. 38. Named to pay homage to a former California Western Railroad steam engine, it’s known for its roasted malt and coffee flavors.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of roasted malts, bitter chocolate, coffee beans, and slight vanilla met my nostrils. Sipping it brought forth slightly smoky notes of yeasty, bready malts, roasted coffee beans, dried fruits, toasted vanilla beans, and all with a gentle, chocolate, bitter finish that lingers.
Bottom Line:
North Coast Old No. 38 is a hidden gem when it comes to dry stouts. It’s a complex, flavorful, dry stout that stands up to any of the well-known, beloved stouts available. It also goes to show how good the stouts are on this list that this one didn’t even break into the top three.
Try not to be put off by this beer’s truly bizarre-sounding name. Brewed with two-row, roast, chocolate, and black malts, as well as Warrior and Progress hops, it’s named for a famous network for roads in Ireland.
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Like many dry stouts, this beer’s nose is dominated by coffee and chocolate, but there’s also a nice hit of candied nuts and caramel malts. The palate follows suit with a great combination of semi-sweet chocolate, freshly brewed coffee, butterscotch, and toasted vanilla beans. The finish is a dry mix of bitterness and sweetness.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a craft beer take on the traditional dry stout style, look no further than Sun King Ring of Dingle. It’s a great substitute for some of the more popular beers on this list.
While Guinness is the most popular beer in Ireland and one of the most popular in the world, if you visit Cork, you might find the locals drinking a different beer. Brewed since 1792, Beamish is another great Irish dry stout. Known for its mix of roasted malts, coffee, and bitter chocolate, it deserves more attention than it gets.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
Aromas of bready malts, sweet caramel, dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, and a hint of wood are prevalent on the nose. This leads to a palate of roasted barley, toasted vanilla beans, toffee, bitter chocolate, and lingering, pleasing bitterness at the very end that pairs well with the velvety mouthfeel.
Bottom Line:
Beamish isn’t the easier beer to find. You’re more likely to find it on tap than in a can. But if you see it this St. Patrick’s Day (or any day), I implore you to grab a pint or two.
Created in 1999, this beer doesn’t have the long history of Guinness and some of the other beers on this list. But what it lacks in history it makes up for in flavor. This award-winning stout is the brewery’s take on the traditional style with classic ingredients as well as Fuggle hops to add a bitter, floral dimension to the beer.
Christopher Osburn
Original Tasting Notes:
The nose is a symphony of flavors including freshly brewed coffee, black licorice, toasted barley, vanilla beans, and bitter chocolate. Sipping it reveals even more flavor with more toasted malts, caramel candy, toasted vanilla beans, a healthy dose of fresh coffee, and a tangy, floral, spicy, bitter kick from the hops. Overall, it’s a very complex and well-rounded stout.
Bottom Line:
Before this blind taste test, I had no idea who would win. I didn’t expect O’Hara’s to take the crown, but it proved to be the most balanced, complex, and exciting beer on this list. Which I guess is why we do blind tastings in the first place.
It hasn’t been gone for as long as Atlanta, but it sure feels like it’s been ages (May 2019) since the last new episode of HBO’s Barry. Thankfully, the wonderful Emmy-winning series starring Bill Hader as a hitman-turned-aspiring actor is back next month.
Season three finds Barry “attempting to untangle himself from the world of contract killing and fully immerse himself in acting. But getting out is messy,” according to the official plot description. “While Barry has eliminated many of the external factors that pushed him towards violence, he soon discovers they weren’t the only forces at play. What is it about his own psyche that led him to become a killer in the first place? Season three finds Barry and the other characters trying to make the right choice.”
Also, NoHo Hank wears this outfit:
hbo
Good to have you back, buddy.
The teaser is heavy on the drama and light on the comedy, but Hader, who’s also a writer and director for the show, doesn’t think in terms of genres. “It really is just instinctual,” he told the Laugh Button. “You’re watching it going, ‘Yeah, that works.’ You try something else and it doesn’t work. But we never kind of go into it going ‘Alright, let’s make it really funny and really sad at the same time.’ And it came out that way.”
Barry season three premieres on April 24. You can catch up with season two here.
Nearly a year after its release, Tinashe is still riding the highs of her most recent album, 333. The album is her second studio album since leaving RCA Records, and her fifth overall, and as one would expect from a freshly independent artist, Tinashe is enjoying her creative freedom. She stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night to deliver a performance of “X,” the latest single from 333, and a fan favorite.
During the lusty, fiery performance, Tinashe channels her inner dominatrix, wearing leather and fishnets. She is joined by an army of subs, as she leads them with elaborate choreography.
Fans shouldn’t be shocked by the performance, as the lyrics to “X” themselves are rather racy.
“X marks the spot, now can you find it?,” Tinashe sings over an electronic, Hitmaka-produced beat. “Turnt up, you wanna get behind it. I wanna feel your body it’s on fire.”
Tinashe is no newbie to conceptual visual elements. Last month, she released a video for “Naturally,” from the deluxe edition of 333, which takes inspiration from ’70s horror films. Last year, Tinashe told MTV News that 333 is inspired by “the nature of reality and potentially the fact that we’re living in a simulation and how all of those things intersect moving forward.”
Joel Embiid and Draymond Green are two of the biggest personalities in the NBA. Embiid has carved out a niche as one of the most prominent posters in sports and is usually good for at least one or two funny quotes when he’s in a good mood, while Green has long been one of the league’s most insightful players, something he has parlayed into his own podcast.
Embiid appeared on that podcast in an episode that dropped on Wednesday, and unsurprisingly, the whole thing is quite good. One of the best moments came around the 48:40 mark of the below video, when the two decided to talk some sh*t to one another and had the time of their lives.
“Hopefully we will meet y’all in the Finals, because as you know, like nobody else in this league, I’m lockin’ that sh*t up,” Green said while a smile creeped onto Embiid’s face.
The two went on to have a long back-and-forth where Embiid accused Green of needing a double-team when they play, while Green said he’s never asked for one. Embiid then said he thinks he’s pretty good defensively, at which point Green tried to catch him off guard.
“When we put you in every pick-and-roll and they bring you up to blitz because you can’t get up the floor, that’s kind of like asking for a double-team,” Green said.
“That’s not why!” Embiid said. “You want me to play drop against Steph Curry?”
Green said he doesn’t have to play drop, but at the same time, he does not need to blitz in those situations, to which Embiid fired back by saying he wants the ball in the hands of one specific non-shooter.
“I wasn’t blitzing last time,” Embiid said. “I was just trying to make sure we got the ball out of his hands so you can make plays, cause you can’t shoot the basketball.”
Green responded that he’ll make every other play and hit shots down the stretch, while Embiid said that if he had to choose between Curry or Green beating them, “I’ll take you every single day.”
“Many have succumbed to that mindset, brother,” Green responded. “Many have succumbed to that mindset.”
The conversation moved to the MVP race, which is viewed as a battle between Embiid and Nikola Jokic, but I could have watched another six hours of the two ribbing one another while smiling. Here’s to hoping that, somewhere down the line, Embiid is the guy who fills in for Shaq on Inside the NBA after Green has established himself on the desk after his playing career ends.
Jack Beguedou might be doing the impossible in bourbon whiskey — bringing something completely new to the table. Beguedou, a Togolese immigrant, has been deeply devoted to all things whiskey for years. But it was only recently that he started taking that knowledge to the masses, via his whiskey influencer handle, Hood Sommelier. Now, Beguedou is picking barrels to release under his brand, and leading much-sought-after tastings blending West African cuisine with fine Kentucky bourbon.
Where did it all start? From not seeing himself or his West African immigrant friends and family represented in the bourbon and wider whiskey world. Beguedou has made it his mission to change that, via whiskey reviews online (in various formats) and bringing two disparate communities together, through their mutual love of good whiskey and good food.
We caught up with Beguedou recently, to talk about his new partnership with Heaven Hill, and his AFROFUSION concept, where West African chefs, DJs, and bartenders host parties, brunches, and tastings for anyone looking for something truly special in the whiskey game. We also talked about how a French-speaking kid from Togo got into whiskey in the first place and how our culture informs what we experience in every drop of whiskey. It was a fun and illuminating conversation.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Give us a little bit of background of how you first got into whiskey.
I got into whiskey truly as a fluke. I got into insurance about 12 years ago. It all started with me drinking Johnnie Walker and some bourbons with my mentor when he was teaching me how to golf. As my mentor, he was teaching me the ways of doing business, which means golfing, knowing good spirits, and having good conversations. And truly, it just became something that I was obsessed with. It started actually with him breaking things in my head — because I’m from a French-speaking country. I’m from West Africa. We’re drinking a lot of single malt. I’m like, “Johnnie Walker Red and Black. Black is the top one.”
He was laughing that day because he’s someone who was much older than me. One day, he was like, “I know you say you know good things, but whatever you know, there is always something above it.”
So he goes, “I heard you last time, all talking about how you know so much about malt whisky, and you said, ‘Johnnie Walker Black.’” He said, “What about the Johnnie Walker Green?” My eyes just widened. “What about the Blue?” I was like, “What is this guy talking about? Those things don’t exist. He’s making up colors for them, right?!”
Mind you, I was 25 at that time, so that’s 12 years ago. A week later, we go to this nice golf course. It’s a big tournament, a lot of big wigs there. And my mentor orders, “Johnny Walker Green, please.” Then they pour that. I take a sip and I look at him like, “whoa…” I had a pour of it. I’m like, “You know what? Moving forward, I’m going to do research. I’m going to know everything.”
Then how did that expand into you doing bottlings and having this huge impact on the game?
About five years later, I was obsessed because I was terrible at golf, but I was good at bringing good whiskey on the course. It became my thing. Today, I have a strong immigrant community and client base here in the Midwest. Every time we do an event, I’m bringing whiskey. If someone is getting married in our community, they’re calling me about which whiskey to bring.
Myself, I started buying more and more. Every time I have any business gathering, I’ll be the whiskey guy. But it was just when it came to parties or when it came to business. That was it. So I’m getting into more whiskey, but I’m just buying it based on somebody’s YouTube research, right?!
I know that well.
So, about five years ago, I started going, “Okay, wait a minute. Why am I buying all this crap? Why am I having all these things? What’s the point?” It was more of, now I need to really dig into it, catalog it, know exactly where I’m standing. This is when I got into bourbon because single malt is what I had all around. Boy, that was a whole different world to jump in. Now, it was only my American friends who like it because all my immigrant friends only like single malt. So now I have two audiences. And then about four years ago, that’s when I learned something important. My best friend — who actually designed my Hood Sommelier logo — he’s like, “Dude, I was looking for this drink. I went online, and no one looks like us. Is there no black person or no immigrant who talks about whiskey?”
So, when he said that, I’m like, “Bullshit.” In my mind, I’m like, “That doesn’t make sense. Bullshit.”
There really wasn’t back then, was there?
Right? I’m like, “No. That doesn’t make sense.” He’s like, “No. I’m telling you. All these things you do for us, you do all this and teach people about drinking and all that …” He’s like, “There’s no one who does that like us. Why don’t you do that?”
Hood Sommelier
So how did you start?
I was like, “Editing videos, doing all this thing, I can’t … That’s just too much.” I didn’t have the confidence then, but then I started. I spent probably a year online just watching people like Whiskey Tribe, and all these people, watching all these people talk about the whiskeys. I’m like, “I can do that. That’s what I do every day. I can do that.”
One of the decisions I made at that time is I wanted to move from the West Side of Omaha, the rich side, to actually move to North Omaha, which is considered an economically depressed and struggling neighborhood with my people living in it. That’s the “hood.” Being in business, I’ve started getting into boards and talking about problems that affect the Black communities in our town. Somebody at one of those meetings said to me, “How are you guys sitting here talking about issues that concern us, but you don’t live in the neighborhood? You are not part of things that are happening.” So I moved into the neighborhood. I decided it was more important to be in the life with the people than outside of it looking in. That’s how change is made.
At that same time, I realized that I probably have one of the biggest libraries of whiskey in the Midwest. I talk to a lot of people in the industry and have close to 5,000 bottles. So I’m like, “I want to be that guy in the whiskey industry. That’s who I want to be. I want to be the guy who is building a community of people, regardless of their background.”
Wow. That’s impressive. Now, you’re working all over the industry. You just started working with Heaven Hill with AFROFUSION and are bringing West African vibes to Kentucky bourbon.
It’s, again, something that defines me. I am a guy who grew up in Africa, ate African food. If you look at AFROFUSION, I want AFROFUSION to become a global thing. It’s where whiskey meets flavors that they might not probably meet in the same house. I’m African, I eat African food, but usually, I have it with bourbon, or I have it with single malt. Where do those two meet?
Really, the basis of AFROFUSION was not about the food or the bourbon. It was about unity. We went through a tough time where … It got to the point it was weird for a white man from a small town to be in the same room as a black person from Africa because of the social differences and political opinions that we have. So, I asked, “How do we create an event that creates unity?” Look, West African food is very foreign to a guy who drinks whiskey somewhere in Kentucky. Plus, bourbon is not actually something a lot of African people drink because they usually drink single malt, right? To bring those two people together in the same room with that one thing that’s familiar to each of them and create this blending event is what I wanted to do.
That’s the concept of AFROFUSION. African food, meet whiskey. I know why I didn’t say bourbon, why I didn’t say single malt. I say whiskey because it can be any whiskey: rye, bourbon, single malt, whatever.
Hood Sommelier
Let’s look at tastings for a moment. You’re from Togo and I’m from the Pacific Northwest. Growing up, I’m eating a very specific diet that’s regional. Likewise, you’re growing up eating specific foods that I’m likely not. Yet, we can both come together over a glass of whiskey and find different things. When you’re leading tastings, how do you approach the fact that who we are and where we come from affects what we’re actually going to taste ad smell in that whiskey?
That’s one of those things that I tell people all the time. I’m sure you know this, but when I do any private tasting, I actually have a Scotch school where I teach people about Scotch whisky. Funny thing is, when we start tasting, I tell people that I’m not going to say anything ’til we’re done getting everybody’s tasting notes. People always think it’s weird. I’m like, “No. I’m not here to tell you because the brain is a sensitive machine.”
Yes, it is.
If you put something in somebody’s head enough, they will believe it. People are like, “Oh, okay, sure…” I start every tasting, “Anything we do say, there’s no wrong answer.” Once you say, “There’s no wrong answer,” people come up with stuff that will blow your mind because of our different backgrounds.
I like to say, “Our brain has a catalog of taste notes based on our life experiences.” That’s literally what it is. Our brain has a registry or a catalog of notes already preset that’s based on experiences. If you traveled a lot, you will have more to say about a spirit. If you stay sedentary, there will be less you say about that same spirit. I see it in my tastings, the more traveled or exposed to different cultures someone is, the deeper of flavors and layers they will find in a spirit. Always.
That always translates to the glass. It’s all there but you’re the one pulling it out, right?
Exactly, I grew up eating a lot of seafood. So when I’m talking to people about flavors, I might use a word like star anise. Or I say cloves. Or I’m saying, “Oh, there is a ghost pepper.” I talk about ginger. I talk about this plant back home that they call the “old ladies playing football,” which is a plant that is supposed to resurrect you. Those things are all things that when you tell an African, they’re like, “Oh yeah. I know what you’re talking about.” But if you tell that to someone else, they’d be like, “I don’t get it.”
But in the meantime, I didn’t grow up around strawberries. I didn’t grow up around pears. But I grew up around mango. I grew up around papaya. I grew up around real sugar cane. So when I’m doing a rum tasting, I’m telling them about sitting on the summer days on top of the roof of your house and eating raw sugar cane and breaking it down. Unless you grew up in that environment, you would not get it.
I wholeheartedly agree. I grew up next to a temperate rainforest full of mossy cedar trees and wild mushrooms and wild berries and smoked salmon and oysters and stuff like that. So I’ll latch onto earthy, mossy, umami, mushroom notes, and oyster liquor or smoked salmon bellies. Other people just look at me like I’m crazy sometimes with those notes. I’m like, “Oh. You’re from the desert or grasslands or somewhere else where those notes mean nothing to you…” But it doesn’t mean that anyone’s wrong. I think that’s what’s important, and why I love what you’re doing.
So tell me, what’s next for AFROFUSION?
The goal for next year is to see how to develop AFROFUSION to be a phenomenon that we can take all around the United States, exposing people to West African food, partner with African chefs all around the United States, and hopefully work with a brand that can take it global, so we can actually do this more internationally. Hopefully, there are a couple of events that we’re working on right now that will have to do with more food with a New Orleans-style approach, exposing people to the Afro-French culture and style. Obviously, nothing happens without great music. Afrobeat is taking over the world, so I always keep a good DJ who does Afrobeat.
One of the things I want to do is if I invite you to my house in Africa, I want you to feel great and welcome. That’s what AFROFUSION is going to be. Bring people together from Kentucky to West Africa … Fusion. I want people to feel free in that environment and feel as if I transported them, for just a moment, back to where I grew up.
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