CRAFTED

Cheese can cost $12 a pound, or upwards of $100 for a wheel of the same size. So what is actually driving that difference in price, and is the most expensive option really worth it? Today, Elizabeth Chubbuck of Murray’s Cheese breaks down how to think about value in cheese, from commodity cheddar to cave-aged, small-batch wheels. Along the way, Elizabeth and Eli also get into the history of Murray’s, their unique cave aging program, and explore why inefficiency is often exactly what makes something great.We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: info@blisterreview.com to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.TOPICS & TIMES:Murrays Cheese (2:48)Flagship Cheeses (5:44)The History of Craft Cheese (7:05)Elizabeth’s Journey (13:41)Wholesale (18:00)Cheese Education (26:38)Cheese Caves in New York (37:14)Classes (42:45)Price Point Differentiation (48:00)Cheese Clubs (57:52)

We just wrapped up our Blister Summit at Snowbird, then Jonathan Ellsworth, Sascha Anastas, and Eli Brown spent a pretty amazing 24 hours in Salt Lake City, where we discovered some fantastic restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and bakeries. So today, we’re reporting on what we ate, drank, and saw. Give it a listen, then let us know your thoughts!We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.RELATED LINKS:Blister Craft CollectiveBecome a BLISTER+ MemberEnter Our Free Weekly GiveawaysTOPICS & TIMES:Blister Summit / Snowbird:Fernet (2:41)Fry Sauce? (12:19)Realm, ‘The Bard’ (2023) (17:26)Rice Krispy Treats (19:35)Tram Club Spicy Fries (25:23)Salt Lake City:Bar: Lake Effect (30:55)Bar: Post Office Place (32:36)Dinner: Junah (34:33)Bar: Water Witch (52:16)New York Sours (55:54)Underberg (1:03:36)Breakfast: Central 9th Market (1:06:16)Three Pines Coffee (1:08:08)Mono Tape Club (1:12:49)Eva’s Bakery (1:19:18)SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicBikes & Big IdeasGEAR:30Blister Podcast

The neighborhood bar is one of the last places untouched by AI, big tech, and all their algorithms. But what if that’s actually holding each us back from finding our “perfect” drink?In Part 1 and 2 of this series, we explored Dr. Kevin Peterson’s Cocktail Theory. And in this episode, we turn to his latest project, which aims to decode your taste and guide you to the drinks you didn’t know you were looking for. We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

Top mountain guide certifications (like AMGA and IFMGA) have a pass rate of around 70%. But what if we told you that in the wine world, the most rigorous certifications have a pass rate that’s only about 8% — and it’s often lower than that.The certifications of ‘Master Sommelier’ and ‘Master of Wine’ are two of the most demanding in any field. And our guest today, Doug Frost, is one of only three people in the world to hold both.So Doug and Eli dig into what makes these courses so challenging; the differences between the two; and, most importantly, why they matter. We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

Americans love coffee — there are well over 40,000 coffee shops in the USA — but it’s easy to argue that many other countries are doing coffee better. Why is that, and what can be done to elevate American coffee culture to the level it most definitely deserves? Floreo Coffee founder, Sebastian Skokan, has dedicated himself to this cause, and today, he’s sharing his answers with Jonathan Ellsworth & Eli Brown.We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.RELATED LINKS:Floreo Coffee CoBlister Craft CollectiveBecome a BLISTER+ MemberEnter Our Free Weekly GiveawaysTOPICS & TIMES:Sebastian’s Background (3:00)Finding the Best Coffee Scene (8:37)Coffee Education (10:29)Sensory Science (12:31)The Floreo Cafe (17:45)Quality vs Speed (21:00)Weber Grinder (25:28)Coffee Presentation & Preparation (28:25)Coffee Expressions (33:06)Coffee Economics (39:57)Grinding, Roast Quality, & Shot Timing (48:43)Advection & Diffusion (53:12)Brew Ratios (59:02)Tips & Tricks (1:04:26)SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicBikes & Big IdeasGEAR:30Blister Podcast

Jonathan started falling down the rabbit hole of hi-fi audio gear, and he says it’s all Simon’s fault. So in this conversation, Simon talks to Jonathan about his audio journey; why he’s singled out the world of hi-fi headphones as a place to begin; why he’s become a believer in “EQ”; and why it feels almost inevitable that he’ll end up exploring the world of loudspeakers, too.We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.RELATED LINKS:Blister Craft CollectiveBecome a BLISTER+ MemberBLISTER NEWSLETTER:Get It & Our Weekly Gear GiveawaysTOPICS & TIMES:Craft Collective (1:18)Why Headphones Make Sense (5:53)Is Beethoven the Original Heavy Metal? (12:25)Headphones vs Speakers (15:57)Jonathan’s First Hi-Fi Headphones (29:19)Why You Should ‘EQ’ (35:07)The Qudelix-5k DAC/AMP + Equalizer (36:20)Dedicated Headphone Amp vs Integrated Amp (40:49)The JDS Labs Headphone AMP+DAC (44:10)Active vs Passive Speakers (1:01:18)Where To Go From Here? (1:06:35)SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicBikes & Big IdeasGEAR:30Blister Podcast

Located at the base of Palisades Tahoe, Wildflour Baking Company is probably the most beloved bakery in skiing, and it definitely has the most accomplished customer base in the ski world. So Jonathan sat down with Wildflour owner, Susan Lopez, to talk about it all, and learn some of the secrets to Wildflour’s success.We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.RELATED LINKS:Blister Craft CollectiveBecome a BLISTER+ MemberBLISTER NEWSLETTER:Get It & Our Weekly Gear GiveawaysTOPICS & TIMES:Susan's Background & Cookie Monster Suits (2:20)Establishing Wildflour in 1983 (6:25)Changes in the Palisades Community (9:12)Wildflour’s Offerings & Em Bombs (11:33)Taking Care of People (13:17)Wildflour’s Ski Royalty Fan Base (17:12)Aimie Engerbretsen (21:44)Cody Townsend (24:09)Shane Mcconkey (27:45)Noah Gaffney & Connery Lundin (29:47)Life-Time Cookie Pass (33:28)New vs Staple Offerings (36:56)Susan’s Off-Season Hobbies (39:37)Susan’s Rule re: Chocolate on Faces (41:47)What's the Best Question I Haven't Asked You? (43:53)SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicBikes & Big IdeasGEAR:30Blister Podcast

What if everything you thought you knew about taste was wrong? Although we like to think flavor lives on the tongue, the truth is far more interesting; more than 80 percent of what we taste is actually smell. That revelation sits at the heart of Dr. Kevin Peterson’s groundbreaking book, Cocktail Theory, which is transforming the way bartenders, chefs, and curious drinkers think about their craft. In Part 1 of this series, we explored the foundations of his thinking, but we also left plenty of questions on the table. In this conversation, Kevin is back to tie up those loose ends. We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

How do you grow a national beverage brand without investors, trend-chasing, or artificial ingredients? Dram began as an all natural cocktail bitters producer, and (unintentionally) went on to become the leader in the ‘functional beverage’ space.Today, Eli talks with Dram founder, Shae Whitney, about Dram’s unlikely origin story; what led her to start making bitters with real botanicals; building a business in a Colorado ghost town; the strange history of their original production space; and how Dram navigated the rise of functional beverages without chasing trends.We Want to Hear from You!Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.