Salutations™!!

My podcast repertoire is growing as of today. The Less Desirables Network grows by one more show today, too. There’s no mystery that I am a fan of alcohol. All kinds of libations: beer, wine, spirits. And, it’s no mystery that I love the city that I live in. An extension of that would be that I love the state that I live in. At least, most of the time.

One thing that my Venn Diagram shows when it comes to all that I just said?  North Carolina is chock-full of quality wineries, breweries and distilleries. I emphasized the word quality because it’s true.

There’s almost 200 breweries and beer facilities, currently, and many more on the way. I mean, Wise Man Brewing is mere days from opening. There’s almost 150 wineries. There’s now close to 50 distilleries. All three areas are growing by leaps and bounds. I’m guessing, and this is just me, that there will be over 400 breweries, 275 wineries and 120 distilleries by 2020.

But, you also know that I’m not alone in my little circle (actually slightly-larger circle). I mean, I do have my podcasts, The Beer Dads and The Less Desirables, both of which are beer-centric. And my co-hosts are right there with me. A couple of them were my pals before we started doing podcasts together. Some have become pals afterward. But, I like being around those who like what I like. We get along wonderfully.

Podcasting is obviously something that I really enjoy as well, being as I produce/cohost or have produced almost 800 podcasts, now (yeah, that’s a big number). And today, I, along with another libations-loving pal o’mine, Mr. Jordan Keiper, the Traveling Mixologist and bar manager/keeper and owner at The Tavern in Old Salem (owned along with his family) are doing our very first recording of Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink podcast. We’re going to record a few before we release any but we’re starting the recordings now.

Sipping NC will cover all three sectors of the libation spectrum: beer, wine, spirits. We will have guests that represent wineries, distilleries and breweries from North Carolina. We will be talking about libation news. Jordan, who happens to be what I’d call one of the top three mixologists that I know, will be making mixed drinks on the show with the spirits that we highlight. Not every show will be about all three libations. The plan is to focus on one of them each week, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t touch on each. So, what I’m saying is you’ll have to listen to hear more. Jordan has built a great, strong rapport with the creators of these libations and we’ll have many of them on the show.

This isn’t meant to be a “preaching to the choir” type deal. We don’t want to make an industry podcast, we want to make a podcast that appeals to the listeners who imbibe and enjoy NC libations. We know that people have their favorite national and international brands of wine, beer and spirits, and we like them, too. We just want to make you more aware of what we have here at home. We think that there are plenty of NC goodness to keep you satisfied. And, we’re not just focusing on the Triad, there will be guests from Kill Devil Hills, Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham and so on. From the coast to the mountains and everywhere in between.

Some of the guests and subjects to look forward to (and there’s no order or rhyme to whom and when the guests will be) are: Old Nick Williams Distillery, Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company, TOPO Distillery, BroadBranch, Broadslab, Greensboro Distilling/Fainting Goat Spirits, Small Batch Beer, and so on. They may be soon, they may be a little further away. But, keep an eye and ear out to listen, we’ll be hitting your podcatchers soon.

It’s not just a podcast. It will be a blog, too. We already have a Facebook page, Twitter handle and Instagram handle. We would appreciate your liking and following of them and we appreciate your listening. Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink will be part of The Less Desirables Network. We’re excited!

Slàinte mhath

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Mixing the best of North Carolina libations: beer, wine and spirits.” – Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink