The Art of Drinking with Join Jules and Your Favorite Uncle

This week Uncle Brad and Jules get to the root... of root beer. Tracing it back centuries before it was ever a soda - long before A&W, before it even had a name. Then they build two rooty root beer cocktails:

Jules's Root Beer White Russian Float

1oz Ten To One Caribbean dark rum,

1oz Mario's coffee liqueur

1oz root beer

Topped with root beer cold foam

Brad's Root Beer Old Fashioned



2.5oz Buffalo Trace bourbon

0.5oz Dr. McGillicuddy's Root Beer Schnapps

0.25oz demerara syrup

2 dashes Angostura

0.25oz water

Tip: Why the spiral on your bar spoon matters for pouring anything carbonated without losing the bubbles.



The Art of Drinking

IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast



Jules

IG: @join_jules

TikTok: @join_jules

Website: joinjules.com



Brad

IG: @favorite_uncle_brad



This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast

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www.reddrockmusic.com
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In this episode, Uncle Brad and Jules dive into the Saturn, the gin-based tiki classic that somehow slipped past even Brad’s “tiki geek” radar, and use it as a launchpad into space‑age tiki history, modern bar culture, and real‑world home bartending. Brad finally makes and tastes a Saturn on air, explains why a tiki drink built on gin instead of rum still feels fully tiki, and walks through the cocktail’s 1967 Southern California competition origins and its later resurrection during the modern tiki revival. Jules leans into her garnish obsession with the iconic Saturn ring (lemon peel + cherry) and introduces her own riff, the Titan, layering in absinthe, rhum agric ole funk, and passion fruit for a richer, moodier take. Finally, we answer Spencer_Petersen81’s question about their actual at‑home “default” drinks - revealing a shared soft spot for old fashioneds, Brandy Crustas, and Spanish‑style gin and tonics.

 

Classic Saturn (Uncle Brad’s build) 


2.5 oz gin (London dry; you used Mermaid Gin) 


0.5 oz falernum liqueur 


0.5 oz orgeat 


0.5 oz passion fruit syrup 


1 oz fresh lemon juice 

Method: 


Add all ingredients to a blender without ice and blend briefly to combine and aerate. 


Fill a tiki mug or tall glass with crushed ice. 


Pour the blended mix over the crushed ice. 


Garnish with a “Saturn ring”: a long strip of lemon peel twisted into a circle around a cherry, skewered on a cocktail pick. 

Titan – Saturn Riff (Jules’ build) 


Absinthe, for rinsing the glass 


1 oz gin (e.g., a London dry like Ford’s) 


0.5 oz rhum agricole 


0.75 oz fresh lemon juice 


0.5 oz orgeat 


0.5 oz passion fruit purée 


0.25 oz falernum 


Crushed ice (about 1 cup or slightly less) 

Method: 


Rinse your serving glass with absinthe, then discard or drink the rinse. 


Add all remaining ingredients to a blender with the crushed ice and blend until smooth. 


Fill the absinthe-rinsed glass with fresh crushed ice and pour the blended mixture over it, topping with more ice if needed. 


Garnish with the same Saturn ring (lemon peel + cherry on a pick); optionally add a slapped mint sprig for extra aroma. 

 

The Art of Drinking 

IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast  

 

Jules 

IG: @join_jules 

TikTok: @join_jules  

Website: joinjules.com 

 

Brad  

IG: @favorite_uncle_brad 

 

This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast 

IG: @reddrockmusic 

www.reddrockmusic.com
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In this episode, we dive into the rich, flavorful world of fat-washed cocktails, where culinary technique meets classic mixology. Jules and Uncle Brad each dive into the flavor: a bacon fat-washed bourbon Old Fashioned on my end, and a chili crunch fat-washed tequila creation from Jules that brings heat and intrigue in equal measure. 

From there, Uncle Brad trace the origins of fat washing, exploring how this once-niche technique emerged from the evolution (or revolution) of cocktails.  

We wrap things up with a listener question on what to do when a cocktail just tastes “off,” offering practical tips to troubleshoot and rebalance your drink like a pro.

 

The Art of Drinking 

IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast  

 

Jules 

IG: @join_jules 

TikTok: @join_jules  

Website: joinjules.com 

 

Brad  

IG: @favorite_uncle_brad 

 

This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast 

IG: @reddrockmusic 

www.reddrockmusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Adonis is a late-19th-century, low-ABV sherry-and-vermouth aperitif, originally mixed to honor a record-breaking Broadway hit and quietly carried through the golden age of American hotel bars. In this episode, we follow the Adonis from the footlights to the backbar, using this seemingly simple drink to probe how aromatized wines reshaped ideas of pre-dinner drinking. Along the way, we play with the spectrum of sherry (subtly shifting between oloroso, amontillado, and fino) and watch how each choice bends the cocktail’s nutty, oxidative, and saline contours in unexpected ways. 

 

Italian Adonis Ingredients 


1.5 oz Fino or Manzanilla sherry 


¾ oz sweet vermouth 


½ oz Amaro Nonino 


1 dash orange bitters 


Optional: 1–2 drops saline 

Stir well with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish: Wide orange peel or a thin lemon twist. 

TIP: differences in Sherry 

 

The Art of Drinking 

IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast  

 

Jules 

IG: @join_jules 

TikTok: @join_jules  

Website: joinjules.com 

 

Brad  

IG: @favorite_uncle_brad 

 

This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast 

IG: @reddrockmusic 

www.reddrockmusic.com
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Jules showed up to the recipe section of this episode with a drink in each hand, fully convinced the Brown Derby was a Kentucky Derby cocktail. She was wrong - but her enthusiasm was entirely justified. It turns out the Brown Derby has one of the stranger origin stories in cocktail history: invented in London, stolen by a Minneapolis greeting card tycoon, falsely credited to Hollywood, ignored for seventy years, and then resurrected by the craft cocktail revival as if none of that had happened. Brad walks through the whole beautiful mess, while Jules delivers an exceptional side-by-side breakdown of bourbon whiskey profiles that makes this essential listening for anyone who's ever stood in a liquor store aisle wondering what difference it actually makes. Three ingredients. A lot of history. Surprisingly few of it true. 

 

Brown Derby 

In shaker add 1.5 oz Bourbon 1 oz Pink grapefruit juice (fresh) 

2 tsp Maple Syrup 

Double strain into chilled coupe 

Garnish with grapefruit twist 

 

Derby Sour 

Ingredients: 

1.5 oz Bourbon 

¾ oz Grapefruit juice 

½ oz Lemon Juice 

½ oz Orgeat syrup 

1 Egg white 

 

Dry Shake 

Shake again w/ ice 

Double strain 

Garnish with fresh cinnamon on top 

 

The Art of Drinking 

IG: @theartofdrinkingpodcast  

 

Jules 

IG: @join_jules 

TikTok: @join_jules  

Website: joinjules.com 

 

Brad  

IG: @favorite_uncle_brad 

 

This is a Redd Rock Music Podcast 

IG: @reddrockmusic 

www.reddrockmusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices