Spirits & Distilling Podcast
Make and drink great spirits.
About the show
Enjoy and learn from conversations with leading distillers as co-hosts Sydney Jones, head distiller for FEW Spirits in Chicago, and Molly Troupe, master distiller for Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, explore the technical and creative processes behind award-winning and storied spirits. It’s a podcast by distillers, for distillers, that covers the broad world of finely crafted spirits—botanical and herbal spirits, fruit distillations, agave spirits, grain spirits, and more. Listen as the hosts discuss every aspect of the process, from ideation and ingredient selection through conversion and fermentation, distilling, aging, finishing, proofing, and packaging. Subscribe to this bi-weekly podcast for tips and techniques that will help you make better spirits.
Episodes
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41: John D.E. Jeffery Wants You to Balance Science and Intuition When Crafting Spirits
September 17th, 2025 | 54 mins 47 secs
distilling, distilling science, intuition, nalewka, whiskey
As a journeyman master distiller and now a consultant, Johnny Jeffery has left his mark on American craft spirits and learned from unusual experiences along the way. Here, he shares some of his best advice for craft distillers trying to succeed today.
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40: Joe O’Sullivan of Minden Mill Controls the Variables in Dry-Climate Whiskey Maturation
September 2nd, 2025 | 1 hr 3 mins
american single malt, blending, bourbon, distilling, estate grain, nevada, rye, whiskey
With estate grain and a climate-controlled rickhouse, Minden Mill’s team is exploring the impact of terroir on their spirits while taking a slow, measured approach to predicting how the environment impacts their maturation and flavor-focused blends.
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39: Jarrad Huckshold of The Cask Takes a Winemaker’s Approach to Whiskey Maturation and Blending
August 19th, 2025 | 1 hr 29 secs
australian whisky, blending whiskey, whiskey, whisky, wine cask aging
Understanding the dynamic way casks interact with the liquid inside and the environment around them is key to producing the components of a great whiskey blend.
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38: Jonathan Goldberg of Black Velvet Seeks Harmony through Thoughtful Blending
August 5th, 2025 | 57 mins 4 secs
blending, continuous still, cooperage, distilling, dynamic blends, pre-blending
The master distiller for Alberta, Canada’s Black Velvet embraces the challenge of blending dynamically different distillates into a cohesive whole, with a process focused on consistency, quality, and repeatability.
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37: Staying Sane and Happy in the Spirits Industry—a Panel Discussion with Maggie Campbell and Jennifer Wren
July 22nd, 2025 | 1 hr 13 mins
burnout, distilling, networking, setting boundaries, toxic productivity, work
Get your bugout bag ready! In this special episode, co-hosts Molly Troupe and Sydney Jones reunite to swap advice with American Cane CEO Maggie Campbell and Jennifer Wren, an industry veteran who now specializes in coaching women on professional development.
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36: Todd Leopold Designs and Distills Spirits that Have Something to Say
July 9th, 2025 | 1 hr 24 mins
brandy, chamber still, distilling, fruit brandy, maryland rye, rye, still, stills, vinegar
Todd Leopold of Leopold Bros in Denver is part historian, part tinkerer, part creative muse, and part sounding board for the broader craft-distilling world—and his multi-stream approach to experimentation in the service of flavor over style is more relevant than ever.
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35: American Cane Tells Expressive Stories in Regionally Relevant Rum
June 24th, 2025 | 53 mins 13 secs
american rum, distilling, rum
Great rum is a magical thing, and when all the elements come together—ingredients, culture, fermentation, maturation, and story—there are few spirits that can match its joie de vivre. Today, Maggie Campbell and Chaz Vest are aligning these forces of flavor to cast light on rum’s legacy in America, and telling that story through American Cane.
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34: Brent Looby of Desert Door Summons the Spirit of Sotol
June 10th, 2025 | 1 hr 4 mins
agave, austin, distilling, sotol, spirits, tequila, texas
Agave may get the lion’s share of distillers’ love, but it’s far from the only game in town when it comes to distilled Mexican and Southwestern spirits. Desert Door, on the outskirts of Austin, is out to show the beauty and range in sotol—made from the desert spoon plant and sustainably harvested from wild plants.
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33: Stranahan’s Tyler Glasser Distills with Artful Efficiency
May 27th, 2025 | 55 mins 13 secs
demand planning, distilling, forecasting, planning, procurement, single malt, whiskey
The journey from art student to distiller may strike some as unusual, but for the plant operations administrator at Denver’s Stranahan’s, creativity matched with effective and disciplined execution is the key to successful spirits.
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32: Aged Whiskeys and Citrus-Flavored Spirits Heat up for St. Augustine Distillery and City Gate Spirits
May 13th, 2025 | 1 hr 2 mins
bourbon, distilling, florida, macerated spirits, moonshine, whiskey
Distilling in Florida’s hot and humid environment, and producing spirits specifically tuned for cocktails in a tourism-driven locale—those are the major guideposts for the creative direction of these sibling distilleries, as well as for their methods of barrel aging and adding flavor.
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31: Sara Sergent of Alpine Distilling Blends Science with Instinct and Flair in Botanical Spirits
April 29th, 2025 | 50 mins 15 secs
angelica, botanicals, distilling, gin, juniper, lemon, sourcing ingredients
Whether she’s engaging with the wide world of ingredients or sourcing those from her own high-mountain backyard, master distiller Sara Sergent combines well-honed sensory skills with a methodical process for testing how processes and treatments change aroma and flavor expression in her award-winning botanical spirits.
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30: Bob Dillon of Dismal Harmony Refines Flavors with Creative Flair
April 15th, 2025 | 1 hr 4 mins
cocktail, cocktails, distilling, liqueur, whiskey
Bob Dillon joins the podcast to discuss the technical and artistic vision behind his more familiar spirits as well as his ACSA best-in-show-winning Vidisha’s Masala liqueur.
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29: Devon Trevathan of Liba Spirits and Trovador Rum Distills Spirits with Stories
April 1st, 2025 | 1 hr 1 min
aperitivo, distilling, gin, peated whisky
Whether she’s distilling in far-flung locales, blending beautiful spirits, or writing about others’ processes, Devon Trevathan crafts stories in both words and flavors.
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Episode 28: Brett Steigerwaldt of Lyon Rum is Crafting Contemporary Expressions with Timeless Methods
March 18th, 2025 | 57 mins 17 secs
dark rum, distilling, double pot distillation, fermentation, rum, white rum
Rum with distinctive character and refined expression is key for this Maryland distillery, and head distiller Brett Steigerwaldt doesn’t leave flavor up to fate.
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27: Ashley Barnes of The Blending House Uses Data to Drive Better Blends
March 4th, 2025 | 52 mins 2 secs
blending, blending whiskey, bourbon, spirits blending, spirits sensory, whiskey, whiskey blending
As a chemist with a background in pharmaceutical quality, Ashley Barnes developed scientific discipline and a data-driven approach. Now as master blender at the Blending House, she applies that same rigor to the subject of aging and blending spirits.
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26: Caley Shoemaker of As Above, So Below Explores Character and Texture in Vodka Distillation
February 18th, 2025 | 1 hr 1 min
absinthe, distilling, gin, single malt, vodka, whiskey
Character and expression in “simple” vodka distillations? Is it really possible? The cofounder and master distiller behind this Santa Fe, New Mexico, craft distillery not only thinks so, but she walks through her process of using atypical grains and other ingredients to produce vodka with spirit and verve.