Binny's Blog

One episode just wasn’t enough to cram in all the flavor-blasted products on Binny’s shelves. So we’re back with part two, focusing on spirits.

We use the phrase “Flavor Blasted” a lot, usually in jest. But more and more, we are seeing products that are catering to fans of candy and desserts. Basically, almost everything is flavor blasted these days from beer to seltzers to ciders and meads. So many beers, ciders and meads have fruit in them; to the point where a “plain” beverage is the oddity.

We’ve assembled our wine, beer and spirits experts for another Q&A episode. No, we aren't out of ideas! We still get questions from listeners all the time, but our episodes always run too long and we can never fit them in. So we're dedicating an entire episode to getting to the bottom of some of your queries.

We love a good tasting experiment on Barrel to Bottle, so this week we're making Manhattans. A lot of Manhattans. So many Manhattans that we can't keep track of how many we're making. We tried 21 different bitters to see which one makes the best Manhattan.

Boxed wines have been around for decades, and they’ve always been popular without ever completely taking off. Boxed wines have long been associated with cheaper wines, and there are a lot of bargains still be had, but higher end wines are ending up in boxes now.

IPAs can be a bit polarizing. Some people love them, some people hate them. Some people miss the classic bitter IPAs, while some people love searching out the latest hazy IPA with some new, experimental hop combo they’ve never had before. The good news is there’s still plenty of IPA out there for all tastes.

It’s March, which means it’s once again time to talk about all things Irish, the new and the old. Last year we talked about some Irish whiskies and Irish creams and there have been even more innovations in the category. Will Roger be able to find something to replace his beloved Declan’s Irish Cream?

Geneviève Janssens and Chrissy Whittmann started in different places on their journey to becoming winemakers at Robert Mondavi and The Prisoner, respectively. They did both take similar paths to get there though, starting in the lab.

Barrel to Bottle is your weekly dose of alcohol esoterica, and the Long Drink is a very deep dive into esoterica. The Long Drink, or Lonkero, was invented for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland. This simple, two-ingredient cocktail is easy to make, but you can now get them as a canned cocktail, or as a malt-based beverage.

Flagship February is a yearly opportunity to revisit some craft beer classics. These are the beers that keep the lights on for their respective breweries. They often reflect the period of craft beer history during which they were conceived. Some of these are relatively new flagship beers, while others have been going strong for decades.