Miss Brewbird Miss Brewbird

I sit down with Vanessa Braxton, the first female African-American Master Distiller in the United States. She is the founder, master blender and distiller at Black Momma Vodka in New York.  After working as a structural engineer for two decades, she decided to open a distillery in her retirement. She used all her retirement savings, and some of her husband's savings to finance her dream of owning a drinks brand. 2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of her distillery.  In this podcast, we discuss everything money, from how Vanessa financed her distillery to the costs involved with the day-to-day operations of Black Momma Vodka.

I sit down with Tarquin Melnyk, a bartending consultant, and professional mixologist. Tarquin grew up in a cult believing that the world would end sometime in the '90s. When the apocalypse did not come about as expected, Tarquin realised he had no real job skills. Not knowing what to do with his life, he was later inspired to become a bartender and traveled the world to improve his techniques and knowledge.  In this podcast, we discuss Tarquin's journey to becoming a professional bartender, what he does as a bartending consultant developing cocktails for various restaurants, and "Ms. Better's Bitters", a bitters company he created with his partners. #mixology #bartender #bitters

I sit down with Sho Ogawa, the head brewer at Mountainview Brewery in Hope, BC. Sho is originally from Osaka, Japan, and before embarking on his brewing career, Sho spent his time working in academia. He holds a PhD in film and media studies, where his research focused on the representation of queer men in Japanese softcore porn. We discuss beer culture in Japan, softcore Japanese porn, the Asian identity, and how Sho transitioned from being a PhD student to a head brewer. #porn #japanesebeer #brewing

I sit down with Nancy More, one of my old brewing instructors, and a certified legend in the brewing industry. She started her career as a trainee with Labatt Brewing Company in Canada in a time when brewing was still a very male dominated profession. She went on to be Canada's first female head brewmaster, before making her way to Europe and then Africa to improve the quality and production processes of beer worldwide. Her career has inspired many young woman (like me) to follow in her footsteps.   When I was a brewing student, I loved to hear Nancy tell stories about working around the world to make better beer, so I am pleased to have her share some tales from her fascinating career. So pull up a chair, grab a beer, and prepare to be wowed.

I sit down with Brendan who worked as brewer for Driftwood Brewery in BC for five years, before moving to Scotland to work as a whisky blender for Brown-Forman. We discuss his journey from brewing to distilling and blending, and his role at Brown-Forman working under Master Blender Rachel Barrie. He worked as her assistant to blend whiskies and develop new recipes for the Benriach, Glenglassaugh, and Glendronach Distilleries.   He gives us the dirt on what it's really like working at a global company to produce spirits. So pull up a chair, grab a dram, and listen to Brendan's story.

I sit down with Bearded from the YouTube channel  @Bearded & Bored . You may be familiar with his facial hair, which is undoubtedly the source of his humble and understated charm, or from watching one of videos on making spirits such as hard cider or pineapple rum.  We discuss how he was inspired to start his YouTube journey with the help of  @Barley and Hops Brewing ,  @Still It , and the liquor fairy; and his thoughts on the legalization of hobby distilling in the USA. So grab a drink, get comfy, and let's learn more about Bearded. #homedistilling #distilling #moonshine