Tipple Theory

This episode September and Sean talk about one of the ubiquitous dive bar orders: a shot and a beer. Otherwise known as a boiler maker. Usually its whiskey and a cheap beer, but some bars try to give you options. Other bars will encourage you to drop the shot into the beer, thereby making a bomb or depth charge shot. It takes many forms, but this simple night ruiner just keeps hanging on, generation after generation.

September and Sean find out where this popular lemon vodka margarita came from and take a quick look at it's close cousins; the Kamikaze and Cosmopolitan cocktails.

In this episode September and Sean talk about the Mind Eraser drink, that's not a shot, but also not sipped, you chug it through a straw. So it's a weird one!

September and Sean explore where this party shot came from and Sean realizes that it originated within his lifetime!

On this episode September and Sean ROLL TIDE! With the shot...cocktail? Drink! That celebrates Alabama.

On this episode of Tipple Theory, September and Sean explore the oldest cocktail category; Punches. We have a rough idea where they came from, but their popularity sored for almost a hundred years as an easy social lubricant. Even in recent years it's become popular in restaurants once again as an easy seasonal offering.

Welcome to Sean's favorite cocktail episode!

The national drink of Brazil, Caipirinha, uses the national alcohol of Brazil; Cachaca! It's not a daiquiri and it's not quite a rum based drink, but this simple cocktail is all together delightful. Join Sean and September in learning about this fantastic cocktail.

On this episode Sean and September explore the differences between these two drinks (they're totally related) and how the fruit is key to keeping them seasonal and relevant.

Sours are one of the oldest categories of cocktails. Not THE oldest, but definitely a great grand uncle. At their base they involved a base combination of sweet, sour, and alcohol. Join September and Sean as they talk about their origins of this elder class of cocktail and how it functions today.

In this episode September and Sean look at the bane of all brunch bartenders, The Ramos Gin Fizz. Unlike a lot of our topics that get their origins lost in time, the Ramos Gin Fizz is iconic and well documented! Join us as we explore this fizzy gin drink.

Episode TT044

On this episode September and Sean explore the origin of the Collins Family of cocktails. AKA the lemon soda. This is a very simple drink; originating with gin and otherwise unclear inventors. It has spawned many variations and is very fun to modify to fit your own needs.

On this episode Sean and September talk about one of the classic 3 ingredient cocktails, The Negroni. Was it invented by a world traveling playboy, or someone from the Negroni family (yeah, there is one)? It's a fuzzy history but a nicely bitter drink that keeps patrons coming back for it's complex and bitter profile.

September and Sean are taking a look at the margarita! It's delicious and comes in many flavors and colors. There are just about as many verities of margarita as there are origin stories for it.

Episode TT041

But why do they call it a White Russian? The answer on this episode of Tipple Theory will probably not surprise you. Watch and listen anyway as September and Sean explore this iconic cocktail of cinema.

The Gin and Tonic or the G&T is one of those classic cocktails that's so simple that the ingredients are in the name. This cocktail comes with a little history. It's a little foggy, as all good drinking stories, but like many of the origins September and Sean have explored over the seasons, this seems to be medicinal in nature.

Did you know that there are 2 origins for the Long Island Iced Tea? Join September and Sean as they explore the recent origin of the LIIT.

This cocktails origins are another "who dun it?" style mystery with lots of potential maybe's. September and Sean will give you the most likely stories and some fun ways to make this for yourself at home.

Welcome to The Manhattan episode. On this show September and Sean explore the origins of Manhattan cocktail, well, as best as we can tell. We also look at some ways to amp it up a little and a way that it could* be made NA.

Episode 036

Welcome to the first episode of Season 4! It's our season of cocktails.

In this episode Sean and September are going to talk about the martini. What it is and where we think it comes from.

In this episode September and Sean talk about the companies that are trying to isolate alternative alcohol molecules. Science! There are a couple of companies that have come to market in the last few years, trying to offer a replacement for alcohol with keytones, hard keytones, and Keytohol(TM). It's an interesting effort to try to curb alcohol consumption. As with anything new that hasn't been researched always be careful and listen to the full episode for more details!

That's a wrap on our NA season, be sure to keep an eye out for more...

In the world of non-alcoholic spirits a category has been growing. This group of distilled or infused beverages try less to imitate specific categories of pre-existing alcohols and instead try to create unique flavors by combining herbs that will stand out on your pallet. Some of these alternatives also include "mood enhancers" or "adaptogens" like mushrooms or CBD related extracts. It's an interesting market segment, so listen in as September and Sean dive into yet another way to alter your sipping habits in the penultimate episode of our Non-alcoholic season on Tipple Theory.

Shrubs! They are a old drink comprised of vinegar, sugar, and fruit/herbs. The tradition of drinking vinegar is just about as old as wine itself! Wine, turned into vinegar and if you know anything about humans, if it won't kill us, we're gonna do it. Shrubs are also a great way to build out your cocktail ingredients list for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Join us as we break down the history and usage of Shrubs.

It's liquid, it's brown, it doesn't burn? Well it kinda does.... In this episode of Tipple Theory September and Sean talk about NA Whiskey, probably the hardest of the NA spirits to reproduce. Since the growing trend towards sobriety or at least drinking less in the U.S. continues. We are going to cover when NA whiskies started to be produced and what you can expect from them.

It's liquid, it's brown, it doesn't burn? Well it kinda does.... In this episode of Tipple Theory September and Sean talk about NA Whiskey, probably the hardest of the NA spirits to reproduce. Since the growing trend towards sobriety or at least drinking less in the U.S. continues. We are going to cover when NA whiskies started to be produced and what you can expect from them.

This episode of Tipple Theory explores the world of NA Tequila (& Mezcal). Remember last episode when we said how new of a category NA gin is? This is even newer! The first NA tequila alternative came out 5 years ago, and the first Blue Agave Jalisco made NA Tequila came out the end of 2024. That's crazy progress! Listen and learn all about it on Tipple Theory!

September and Sean's quest through the realm of non-alcoholic drinks continues! This time we explore non-alcoholic gin! Yes! It exists, and it ranges from gross to pretty darn good. This category of beverage is celebrating its 10th year in existence, so it's really new!

From temperance drinks, to mocktails, to non-alcoholic cocktails September and Sean will discuss how we got to the modern spiritless cocktail movement and how you can up your game when making drinks for yourself or guests that are abstaining from alcohol.

Welcome to the NA cocktail episode. September and Sean will talk about where the non-alcoholic cocktail culture originated, the recent renaissance of fancy drinks sans booze, AND where we're going with this new style of premixed drink, cocktail, thingy. We hope you enjoy the episode and maybe even find a new way to relax during the week and still get to work feeling chipper.

We're gonna talk about Welche's, Carl Jung, and CocaCola! NA Wine is has been going hard for a minute, except not, because it's non-alcoholic. Truly, as an older beverage, people have been attempting to make it as tasty but less headache inducing for a long time. September and Sean are going to talk about how we got into this modern age of having a plethora of NA wines to choose from. We'll even try some ourselves.

We've come a long way in the process of making non-alcoholic beer. From the origins of just boiling it off, industry now has several methods of de-alcoholizing beer or brewing it to achieve a low alcohol content. The result? A frosty beverage suitable for a dry day or lifestyle. Watch us try some non-alcoholic beers in real time and let us know some of your favorites.

Welcome to the first episode of Season 3 the season of "NA" or Non-alcoholic beverages. In this episode we're going to talk about the rising popularity of Non-alcoholic beverages and how we made our own riff on a standard Savanah, GA cocktail. Then we made it NA as well!

We should be releasing episodes every other Monday at noon mst. Be sure to stop by tippletheory.com and join in on Patreon and Discord.

This is it! Our 4th mini-sode on malort. In this episode we try garlic malort and the classic; Jepson's! Truly this has been a journey. One you shouldn't go on and few would recommend, but you're here. So enjoy the schadenfreude and cheers!

Part 3 of our 4 part series to ruin our pallets forever. That's right! It's time for more of Sean's homemade flavored Malort! In this episode we try cinnamon and Lemon/lime malorts. It's....content. Truly it is odd how wormwood interacts with other ingredients, still, this stuff is bitter. Cinnamon is clearly the winner, but give it a listen and you'll be able to hear our pain.

Cheers!

Malort, the stuff open mouth breathing night terrors are made of. We're back for a 2nd round of tasting Sean's homemade flavored malort, because that's good content! In this taste test September and Sean will try the Pittsburgh (ketchup) and Szechuan flavors. One is good and the other would be generally described as sub-optimal. We'll let you decide!

We're doing a series of inter-season episodes all on tasting some homemade Malort. Yes, that's right, that Chicago staple that some how can't be put down (figuratively and literally). Sean has been making malort for almost 10 years now and we're starting out this little series of tastings with his version or the "original" style and a mint malort. It's bitter, it lingers, and there's more where that came from (le sigh). Taste along with us if you dare.

Sean and September are wrapping up their season of whiskey with the progenitor of whiskey in the US, Moonshine! It had humble beginnings coming over with Irish and Scottish immigrants Moonshine was used like a currency in some parts and functioned as more than a way to get a bit tipsy. Like most things, as soon as it gets popular, then the government wants to tax it. That's what happened to Moonshine, and it's had a tenuous relationship with the law ever since (1781). Despite its dubious existence, it is has a strong and lasting tradition that is still carried...

This episode Sean and September dove down under to talk about Australian whiskey. The prominence of Australian whiskey has been hard won. A variable climate combined with frequent shifts in distilling laws made the industry very slow to grow. But the did it! Now the world is better for it. Grab a beverage and join us.

Cheers!

Welcome to another non-episode! Un-episodic things happened this last week. Sean went to Mexico and brought back some Pulque, Mezcal, and Tequila! Taste along and learn about the phases of drink that agave goes through to become a party drink you'll love forgetting to remember.

Remember, this is not an episode.

A bold new area for whiskey creation lies ahead of you. Lebanon! Where distillation have been happening since about the beginning, but making whiskey is relatively new. So new, that there is little in the way of documentation. Even brand websites don't tout their prowess the same way other countries do. Maybe its the age of the industry, could also be the culture. Either way we're going to get comfy as Sean and September share what they've been able to dig up.

This week Sean and September take a look at whiskey from India. While the country may have started out making other distilled beverages, whiskey has hit the scene with some force. It's going in popularity with the local market, and their "craft" distillers are making single malt expressions that hold up extremely well in international markets. This was absolutely new for us, but it's delicious.

Cheers!