A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Are Mocktails a Scam? ft. Nicholas Hamilton

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

Today, Josh and Nicole are joined by actor, Tik Toker, and drinkmaster Nic Hamilton to discuss whether or not mocktails are overrated – as well as a mocktail taste test. Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is a hot dog is a sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. Hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. So what that makes no sense? Welcome to our podcast a hot dog is a sandwich I'm your host Josh air and I'm your host Nicole and I ad and today we have a very special guest joining us for the pod

musician actor tick-tock star and author of the gorgeous book of alcoholic libations Sipsy doozy 100 plus respectfully crafted cocktails for the home bartender Nick Hamilton. Welcome to the show. That was lovely man. Very very nice Thank you. I your book is absolutely lovely Stoked to have it here and we are doing a very special episode that is devoted to both you and your fantastic work and Nicole and your Fantastic work in building We should call pregnant women bodybuilders I agree entirely. Well, we were talking we We wanted to have you on. We wanted to drink because drinking at work is a pastime of ours. But Nicole, with your, do you call it a condition?

Yeah. No, I don't call it a condition. Your issue? No, enough negatives. It's a beautiful blessing that is growing in my tum tum. With your beautiful blessing that's growing in your tum tum, generally- I have that too, it hurts. Do not drink any alcohol. So we are talking about mocktails day. How do you initially feel about mocktails? I think there is a place for them specifically for people like you

People afflicted with your specific kind of beautiful miracle Yeah, no, I think there's definitely a place for I think even like dry January It's becoming a very I guess trendy for lack of a better term that's it's it only helps. Yeah I it took me a while to really understand it on a deep level And I think that was because I did my first sober month for what I realized was like since I was 16 a full month Completely sober no way you know I you start early alcohol. It's not great for you It's a poison however It is also a beautiful ritual that has existed for tens of thousands of years in human history,

and I think it is important. M'chaim. Thank you. I did like a full sober month, and I sort of realized this wonderful placebo effect, that when you put time and intention into a drink, you have more fun drinking it around people, and so now I'm fully sold on it. That's great. I mean, I was a very, I mean, I love to party. I always do. Um, so for me, it was quite a transition to not spend my weekends, you know, going out and grabbing a drink with my friends or with my husband and stuff. But recently, when I went out to dinner with the Mythical Kitchen crew, I tried my first real serious mocktail. And it was such a revelation. Everyone had a sip and they said, this might be the best drink on the table.

That's incredible. Yeah. 100%. It had this beautiful, it had like a lemon grass and strawberry fizz situation. It was very complex, very delicious. And it had a bitter note that I think is really special in certain cocktails.

That bitter note almost triggers something in my brain, I'm like, I'm drinking alcohol. So it made, so it made it a very, very easy transition to getting more mocktails and stuff like that. I had a non-alcoholic beer a few days ago. Yeah, they're tricky to get right. There's like one or two that are actually fine. I drank a full six pack of non-alcoholic beer on Saturday.

Oh, was it? Did it hurt you? Did it hurt me? In the end, yeah, it feels like something that wouldn't be, like, like, full of chemicals, no? Oh, I don't know. My body kind of runs on chemicals. I grew up drinking, like, 7-Eleven Slurpees.

America runs on Dunkin' and Josh runs on chemicals. 100%. And so for me, I just had a really great time. And I had just, like, worked out beforehand, so I was like, the carbs in this are just helping me build strong muscles. We're carb learning. Thank you so much. Like, an 1880s Belgian cyclist with no nutritional information.

I want to ask, how did you get into making cocktails and what is like the guiding ethos behind your book? So I started making drinks when I moved to the States, like seven, God, seven years ago. You can't even tell you have an accent anymore. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Were you from Portland, Seattle?

Yes, like in between. Portland? On the border. I moved to New York end of 2021 and I was already a big fan of making drinks and I just moved into my new apartment. I was going to go out to a, it was the opening of Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway. Cool. I'd just been invited out. It was incredible. So I was wearing a suit and I was going to make a drink anyway. So I decided to make a video as we do and edit it on the way to the show, post it, work out the next morning and it had I think over a million views. And that was yeah three and a half

years ago. I started making the book kind of from then. As for the ethos, I think the main thing that frustrates me about cocktail books is that it no matter how kind of rudimentary they are, they expect you to have some sort of knowledge going in. Sure. Whereas so many people when they buy their first book, I mean, when I bought my first cocktail book, I had no idea what things tasted like. So the beauty, and something I really fought for in the design, is these flavor tags at

the top. There's 15-ish flavor tags, we're calling them. Each category, each cocktail is categorized by these three flavors. So if you know that you like fruity tarts, fruity tart and bitter cocktails, you can go to the fruity tart and bitter cocktail and you'll know that you'll like that, or at least maybe you'll like that. You're starting with a step up. Right.

Because no one knows what Campari tastes like. But you know that it tastes, if you like bitter stuff, or you like herbal or funky or floral stuff. How beautiful. I love that. It's like color-coding it. Yeah, exactly. It's making it a children's book, which is they didn't like the phrasing of that. Children have a right to drink. You think in the factories in the 1930s, they weren't getting sloshed.

That's true. That's what I'm saying. That's going to be taken out of context on onto somewhere. You're in trouble, buddy. Hey, whatever goes viral. The only cocktail book that I have in my own home is exactly what you're talking about. It's the Death and Co cocktail book, which is an incredible Bible if you already are very, very well-versed in cocktailing.

And like little stuff, it taught me how to shake a cocktail properly. Before, I was just really just banging the ice as hard as I could and like do it in a More slidey motion to not fracture it and yeah, so it gets really into the myopia of it But I will never forget like looking up the first three cocktails I wanted to make and I went to my local Bevmo which has a massive selection Of course yes, and they didn't have like 80% of the ingredients there were these like obscure

Local Amari that were like made in you know in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and have no distribution. These were the first few recipes in the book? No, I mean, there's no beginner section. They are just absolutely hardcore. It's like, I think they are going to make those really, because it's not intended to really be a first man's cocktail book.

Which I think part of the culture of not only cocktails, but any sort of drinking culture of wine and beer think part of the culture of not only cocktails, but any sort of drinking culture of wine and beer, part of it is the exclusivity that people sort of... You talk about this, yeah. Yeah, it almost drives the industry, right? If you have a 100-page wine list and you kind of get confused into spending $400 on a bottle because somebody with salesmanship told you to, I think cocktails are somewhat similar. Yeah, I know, I agree.

I think there's a... Unfortunately, there's like a pretentiousness, pretentiosity. Pretentiosity, indeed. That is kind of built into it that I'm trying to kind of... The younger people in this space are trying to kind of go away from that, because it is, you know, you hate the... There's the stereotype of this curly mustached, beret-wearing guy behind the bar.

That was my generation. What are those arm bands called? Those like pretty little. They keep your sleeves on. Yeah, yeah. I'm sure there's a purpose to them. I'm gonna just say cummerbund, but I know that's wrong. Arperbund, it's an arperbund.

Armabund, it's an armabund, yeah. Okay, fine. So it's kind of going away from that world. I think especially with the TikTok generation, you're trying to just get the, I guess the impetus is to get as drunk as possible, as fast as possible. We're trying to get away from that.

And it's like, as long as you, if you are getting drunk, fine, as long as you like what you're tasting. Just don't guzzle down bad vodka. So like all of this is fairly rudimentary ingredients, simple techniques, all the ingredients, like you said, you can either buy very easily or make very easily at home. It's kind of the whole gist. Yeah, you're a, not to date you, you're a relatively young man, right?

That is, yeah, and we can date if you'd like, Josh, that's fine. I'm in. I'm 25. 25, okay, so do you identify as a Gen Z? Yeah, weirdly I think, like I think I'm squarely in Gen Z, but the older I get, the more cuspy I become. Yeah, well yeah. Because I think Gen Alpha is taking over, unfortunately. 100%. It's gonna get faster and faster

But no, I think the truth that that we grew up in right was that mustachioed bartender? Where it was all about I'll never I will never forget one of those mustachioed bartenders pouring me whiskey and just asking if like I can Taste the the sea salt from the atmosphere and I had to go. Yeah It mostly tastes like whiskey but also from the atmosphere and I had to go yeah It mostly tastes like whiskey, but also I the atmosphere pretty good on this one Making it, you know more accessible and I think We're seeing there's rise of like disco cocktails come back, right? Yeah Yeah, you know the espresso martini is just taken over everywhere and nobody knows what's in it. Yeah. We're seeing this rise of like disco cocktails come back, right? Yeah, exactly. You know? The espresso martini is just taken over everywhere and nobody knows what's in one.

Yeah, well I mean that's kind of the whole, no one knows. Every espresso martini you get is wildly different. All I know is that they get you caffeinated and they get you drunk and that's a pretty good mix whenever you're out of the town. Some have no coffee in them and do not get you caffeinated. If that's the goal is to get caffeinated and get drunk, that's totally fine. As long as you like the taste of the espresso martini on the way through it. It's a Four Loko.

It's a Four Loko. It's a Four Loko. It's a Four Loko. It's a Four Loko. Sorry, me and my ex did a full range of the 12 Four Loko's with our friends as like a taste test and ranking thing. I think I died that night. Yeah.

I think this is the second me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're supposed to die after you have a Four Loko. I think it died that night. I think this is the second mate. Yeah, yeah, you're supposed to die after you have a poor local. I think it's made for that. Yeah, it's like reincarnation. You're in purgatory right now on a quest to try and see if you go to heaven or hell and your book tour is somehow the test. Yeah, exactly. All right, we got to get into the mocktail.

Yeah, these are resting. I'm surprised that cream hasn't floated right down to the bottom. I know, it's truly incredible. So these lovely gentlemen have made me mocktails that I can taste and see which one I like the most. So Nick, if you'd like to explain your cocktail, your mocktail first, go ahead. So this mocktail is, it's a semi-riff on one of the drinks from the book called a London Fog. So it's usually earl grey infused gin, honey, kind of just like tea vibes, tea and honey are best friends. And then you float a level of heavy cream with vanilla and lavender bitters on top and it makes it, you know,

the diastration? Sure. The diastrates on us is beautiful. But so now obviously I've taken out the gin, just straight up English breakfast tea, honey syrup and a vanilla cream. It's beautiful. But so now, obviously I've taken out the gin, just straight up English breakfast tea. Love it. Honey syrup and a vanilla cream. It's very simple, very nice. Just like a cup of tea, but cold. What would you call this cocktail? This one's called the Burbank Haze.

Ooh! Wow! So that's actually the water treatment center. That's the cloud coming up off of that. Cheers. First impressions, the first thing you get is just this waft of nutmeg. Yeah, sorry, garnish one. It's a gorgeous waft just this waft of nutmeg. Yeah, so I garnish my nutmeg.

Gorgeous waft of just warm delicious nutmeg. I try and sip through the cream to get to the to the tea. Wow. Honey syrup. That's really beautiful. Like it's I've been eyeing that cocktail as it sat there the entire time. I'm glad it floated because it would have been embarrassing. It is so creamy dreamy that that honey syrup sends it to like another level for me.

It almost makes it, it's, it's weird. It has like not a, I think the nutmeg adds this like bitterness. Like I said, like my brain just said, alcohol. It's very, very crazy how the bitterness just triggers you. And it has this like delicious toasted honey note that's just marrying with that English breakfast tea. It's really good. It's really good. Awesome, thank you.

I try to base a lot of my mocktails with tea because of the tannins, it makes it bitter, the drying. It just feels like it's kind of alcoholic. If you boys want to try it. I would love to. I'm not going straw. I'll offer you guys straws if you want straws. Lips and lips?

Lips and lips? Lips and lips. I would love to hear your... What's the game kids used to play party suck and blow? I Never went to the cards. I wasn't hard. Yeah In my room. Yeah, I think you didn't do that in Portland. You're referring to the movie clueless Is that what I've never seen it? Okay. Well, it's upsetting can't help you. Yeah, man. That's just simple

I've never tried it without the without the obviously, and it just makes it more tea. Thanks, man. It makes it more tea, but also, like, very importantly, I don't feel like I'm just drinking an iced tea. Right. Because I think part of the mocktail is a ritual, and if we're ultimately talking about our mocktails, a scam... I've been accidentally scanned by mocktails because I was on a date with somebody and we were at... It's called Apotec, you know it? Of course I know Apotec weirdly pretentiousness they were lab coats they were lab coats and it's sciencey but it's also kind of like a

cool sexy bar but we're there and I just am reading this cocktail menu and I see one that just says like beet pomegranate ginger something I'm like those are flavors I enjoy I'll get one of those came with you know garnish with like poinsettias or something and I drank it and I was like, those are flavors I enjoy. We'll get one of those. It came with, you know, garnished with like poinsettias or something. And I drank it and I was like, that was absolutely delicious. And I went and I bought another one and it was $16. And I drank another one and I said, why do I feel bizarrely good and cogent right now?

And then I looked and there was no alcohol in it. They didn't like put a little like asterisk or like a sign. No, and it's literally like pretentious enough to where it was still $16. But at the same time, I watched you make this drink This is not a fake. He actually went to the kitchen and made this drink himself I did it. That's labor, right? If you're in a restaurant the same amount of labor is going into that cocktail and even if you are using something like a

Non-alcoholic spirit, right? Like they make what is it seed lip? Is it lime? Yeah, you know, like those things are expensive because the labor and work that is going into that. So it's not that expensive to make like grain alcohol, right? That's not where the effort or the value is coming in. It's the labor and it's the love and it's the attention and the storytelling in it. And there's a hell of a story on that Burbank Haze.

Thank you, man. No, I agree with you. I think the issue is that if you're going into a drinking situation with the idea to get drunk, that's the end goal. You're willing to kind of spend 17 bucks on a cocktail because you know it's, it's tasting a nice cocktail, but you're also getting towards that end goal eventually. If you're going out, I guess for mocktails, say if you're pregnant or you're sober, like you're going out, I guess more of a social thing, right? You just want to be around people

that are drinking and having a good time, but you still want to be involved. Totally. Hold something in your hand. Exactly. Yeah. So maybe then that 17 buck price point is worth it for people like that. I think that's totally valid. I think there's nothing also wrong with getting a soda water with lime. And that costs four bucks, five bucks? I don't know, in LA maybe not. Have you ordered a shot of water with lime? A soda water. Oh, soda water. I think it's a shot of water.

Get a shot of water. No. Get a shot of water. They're ripping tequila. I was like, who charged you four dollars for a water shot? It's the ritual of it all. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think there's nothing wrong with just getting a soda. And I think nowadays, maybe it was more of a faux pas earlier on, and people were more keen on judging people,

and people are going away from that, thank God. That's been an interesting sea change, is like now... I used to be like embarrassed to not order a drink somewhere. Me too. You'd have to do the... Yeah, yeah. You ever pull that, man? I'm the DD.

You have to have an excuse, and now you don't at all. Yeah, 100%. Which is really... I would like to think, would that be millennial? No, Gen Z did that. Gen Z did that. Thank you, Nick. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you. What's this? So this is a michelada y tuchelada tambien. This is my actual module of choice. This is what got me through a month of sobriety. I would go to a brunch with friends and I'd pound three of these and you look insane. So normally I'd make a virgin michelada with non-alcoholic beer, right?

And it tastes roughly the same. Then I realize I don't even need the beer flavor. I just need the bubbles and the soup. And so I, micheladas for those who don't know, it's similar to a Bloody Mary mix, but if you use a Oaxacan style blend, which we do, I love Michaladas. It's a great brand. Shout out to the Lopez family at Galegeza. But it's like a majority just like Worcestershire and chilies and spices and lime and really good stuff.

You pour beer on top of that, rim it with chamoy and tahin, put a lime in it. It's delicious. And so here I present to you the, uh, fizzy soup. I'm just going to give this a mix. I'm just going to give this a mix because it's Italian. It's a nice spritz. It is a kind of spritz. And I know half of the fun is the rim. So I'm just going to.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm not a huge metal art guy. No, no, I can't really do. I don't like asparcia really. I'm not, I'm not a huge metal artie guy. No? No, I can't really do, I don't like gazpacho really. I'm not a cold soup guy. Ugh.

Oh. Ugh. That's like a grunt of pain or? No, is that a satisfaction? Yum. Yeah, and you could tell that the entire way through too. Sometimes I would also put a little dash of fresh fish sauce in there. Oh, I didn't do that.

I didn't do that. I will say this say this it has I don't miss the beer. You're right. Yeah It is it is so complex and Sharp and it scratches that itch, you know that Mitchell lot of itch. It does the job. It's like you get the Mitchell lot of itch No, okay. So what are you craving? Is the Michelada rich? No, not at all. I never specialty shampoo gets rid of it. I never I never crave Michelada's but it does it does do its job. It does the job. Okay, I think it's really well balanced It's very complex. It's very delicious. You guys should try that. It is Frickin good. Wait Nick. Where are you actually from originally a place called Byron Bay in Australia Byron Bay what part of Australia is that?

I'm just taking a sip. Yeah, take a sip take a sip You know, that's really nice actually after the initial shock after the initial Punching it's okay. He can have it. It was supposed to be mine. It's okay He you are it was what you want to hear when you want something. I saved you some. That's mostly back watch. Nicole, it's for the baby. Not anymore. Not anymore, it's not. I'll have some of the rim.

It's bracing. It is a shock to your system. But it's nice after that. But once you get through that, you kind of want more. Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is moreish. I never thought I'd like that. Congrats, Josh. Thank you so much.

I feel like my soul is actively being fueled like a video game character who has recovered his sort of health bar. Chug Jug. Yeah, the Chug Jug of cocktails. My husband plays Fortnite. You're so cool. You're so cool, Nicole. Yeah.

Fortnite reference. You're such a cool mom. Oh my gosh. Your baby's already in there, you know. So cool and cold. Yeah. Fortnite reference. You're such a cool mom. Oh my gosh. Your baby's already in there. You guys could not give me two more polar opposite cocktails to drink. I'm sorry, mocktail. I keep calling them cocktails because it tastes like there's alcohol in both of them.

As I said earlier, I didn't put my... Never mind. You were saying? Oh God. These are both really different, but they're both really good. And should I tell you guys which one I like the most? Please, turn everything into a competition. I'm gonna take...

Well, I'm a guest. Can you take that out of your... One thing you should know about me is I will never treat guests any differently. Awesome. Great. That's what you spat at me at. Yeah, exactly. I'm just gonna have each one of these again. Nicole's like the guard llama of the building. Someone comes in and just goes... Literally, who was the first person other than Adelaide Usopp? It was me! And I was like, hey!

They're so different, but so delicious. You know, the delicate balance of this one, of the bourbon case... I can't stop drinking it. You know what I mean? It's such an addictive, this is too harsh for me to have. If I have three of these, I'll get acid reflux and have to go to the hospital. Yeah, so you gotta drink four, then it cancels out

when you get to an even number. This is too harsh, this is too harsh. It is, yeah, it'll burn a hole in your stomach. The Burbank Haze is just delicate and complex enough that you can have like a bunch of these and not feel like you're gonna die So my vote is Burbank Hayes And it's not cuz you're a guest here. No, I appreciate that. Look honestly, they're for different purposes. Like you said, yes, that's a complete

That's a dessert cocktail. That's a brunch cocktail. And yes, we'll all order one of each next time. Are you feeling okay? I do have a little bit of heartburn after check I told you you were gonna have to come back up say I ate some spicy tacos right before this as well. Okay. So I do see the inherent problem with my throat. It's arresting. You're mucking too? It's mixing with cream too.

It's not great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That cream has turned into queso fresco right in the stomach. Oh my god. I'm going to vomit. It's fine. If you wanted to make the Burbank A's slightly more accurate, so I mentioned there's the water treatment facility.

Yes, yeah. Right next to it though, Pastrami Factory. Ooh. So if you did a kind of like pastrami fat wash on the tea, and then maybe like smoked some, dried some pastrami, did a little like pastrami wood chip, or some coriander and black pepper. And you could do instead of the nutmeg, you could do some wood chips, or maybe some salt and pepper. I'm glad you guys are having so much fun.

Yeah, I'm having a great time. Boy oh boy. But I'm glad. Thank you so much for the win. You deserve it. I'll take it. You deserved it. If you're planning a trip this summer, imagine how much more meaningful your experience could be if you could speak the local language.

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to cut a sandwich, you are wrong. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to cut a sandwich. That is, everyone's way but mine. From PRX's Radiotopia, it's The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. Out now on your favorite podcast platform. But do you guys actually think that they're a scam? Like the actual act of putting a mocktail

on a cocktail menu with its own section, do you find it to be a scam? Because I'm leaning more and more towards, no, it's not a scam. It's just a fun way to have a libation that's not going to get you drunk. Yeah. I mean, I just given the amount of bars that I've been to and the amount now, especially in New York that are growing their mocktail sections of the menus, I think there's obviously needs to be a place for them. I think the difference comes when they are

$25 mocktails. I think it's the price. The price and that's look if you have the money then and you're sober then it's more power to you. But I think it is kind of phasing people out when the mocktails are as expensive as cocktails. You may as well get a cocktail and you'll get drunk in the meantime. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder how much of that is We'll get a cocktail and you'll get drunk in the meantime. Yeah. I wonder how much of that is Restaurants trying to incentivize people to still order liquor because if you see a price difference between say a $16 cocktail and an $8 mocktail, right? I know we talked about the labor that goes into it and sometimes it's not feasible But that's like a big enough difference to where you would be like really influenced Whereas if you saw $16 cocktail $14 mocktail, you might just say screw it

I might as well drink to feel like I'm getting a certain amount of value So then people still have that in mind But I don't know my question anytime someone asks if a restaurant is like scamming them right or this place is too expensive Uh-huh. Where do you think that money's going? Yeah, because like the restaurant the chef ain't getting paid that much the workers aren't getting paid that much They're likely behind on rent, right? Like the restaurant industry is in such peril right now. Their margins are so much.

The farmers aren't getting paid, right? The liquor distributors, maybe, but they're all conglomerates, right? So that money's going all the way to the top. It's not the individual makers of the Zmaros or whatever. Like, is it just landlords? Are we just gonna go on like a big communist street right here? Is that who's scamming everybody?

I think that's where we're going with this. Yeah, landlords are a scam. Do I have to be a communist? No, you don't have to be. I suppose we don't have to be. That's a good point. I came in here thinking that we needed at least one thing that came from a communist viewpoint.

Wrong podcast, I think. No. Different podcast. That's the one. Hot dog is a communist. That's Tudor Zawai. Have you guys ever had like marijuana-based drinks or like kava drinks? That's the one. Hot dog is a communist. That's two doors that way. Have you guys ever had like marijuana based drinks or like Cava drinks?

Yeah, yeah, like the THC CBD ones. How about the Cava drink? Have you ever heard of that one? It's like a new, it's like the Nuvo kind of drink that's like supposed to make you feel giggly and cool and like it has like almost like a hypnotic effect on you. I've never had these. There's a bar in Santa Monica that is a, not, not, there's the Spanish sparkling wine. Yeah, this is just like it. This is a route It's some sort of route from the Pacific Islands. I think it's the because cover

They if you don't you go to Fiji and they'll do like a ceremony and I remember my dad and I did that once and we Didn't leave the bathroom for the rest of the trip. No way that we just had bad cover Wait, what was the actual like effect? Was it psychoactive? It was... No. I mean, it was just purely like a... I think we were staying at an all-inclusive resort, so I'm sure they were just trying to kind of scam us out of something, which more power to them. But we were all sitting in a circle and we had the little wooden bowl of carver and they were doing the chants. And then we had a carver each. And I think it was probably like the second

day on like a father-son trip to Fiji and then yeah for the next five days we just we were in a bad bad way just kind of stomach issues. So I say we go to this kava bar in Santa Monica and we just go shot for shot. I think we do yeah until there's no bathroom. Give me like a few months and I'll be there but I think it's cool how like people are doing like no like non alcoholic Alcohol based drinks at the same time. It's like the feeling of being drunk with a little asterix on it Like it's like almost drunk, but not really Yeah

We talked to a chef named Andrew Zimmern recently who was like he was an alcoholic for many years and like really really destroyed his life and he brought up an interesting point if If alcohol had never existed and somebody was trying to introduce it to the FDA or USDA today to get it approved for human consumption. No way that it would pass. Like you just, you know, go through all of the physiological effects, what it can do, mood, emotional liberties. And then drunk driving deaths. Like it's utterly insane that we do this. I cannot stress this enough, I love drinking and I think I have a pretty healthy relationship with it. And also, there's a strong case that the reason humans were roughly able to cooperate and coalesce together is because of the power of alcohol allowing, what is it, shuts off part of your frontal cortex or something. A middler.

I mean, one of the brain... I'm gonna guess. I've drank too much, I'm too stupid, but... So I really do love drinking, but yeah, having some sort of alternatives to still make you feel a little bit different. Yeah, I actually had a mocktail, I remember maybe it was like three years ago, and they put buzz buttons in the cocktail. Yeah, yeah.

And... Oh my gosh, it was so crazy, and it's like, it has like this... Sometimes when you drink too much, your mouth does go a little tingly, so I. Oh my gosh, it was so crazy. And it's like, it has like this, sometimes when you drink too much, your mouth does go a little tingly. So I was like, oh, this is so cool. Like they are, they're finding all these really interesting attributes to being drunk, but they're editing them in ways that are not going to be

harmful to you, quote unquote harmful. And I just think that's very, very interesting to be alive during a time where these things are readily available to us. I would love to see more legal stimulant-based drinks. Yeah? Like what? So, you got... So, got is a leaf that exists around like, you know, like the Levant Middle East area. And people will, you know, one just kind of like pack a lip of it,

but then also they make got juice that they also happen to call natural Viagra. but just because it's a stimulant, that's what Viagra is, right? For any of you who didn't know Originally supposed to be a heart medication because it stimulates blood flow. I knew that, I knew that. And so, cote, like that exists, or just like Juicing the leaf of the coca plant in South America. We need to legalize that in America. Alcohol is a depressant. No, man, I want to be stimulated out there yeah man I want a boner drink I want a boner drink I feel like she's not seeing the vision here I said I want a boner drink I'm one of the guys I like pizza, beer, touch my butt, fortnite, yeah I made a fort. I made a Fortnite reference today, guys. Guys drinking beers, that's out.

Guys drinking boner drinks with each other, that's absolutely it. Yeah, that's cool. Just guys being dudes. I'd be into that, man. Just guys being dudes. Come on. If you had one desert island cocktail,

one cocktail to rule them all, what's your favorite single one, and is it in this book? It is, in a way. So I have 20 classics and 80 originals in the book. Jesus, that's a lot of originals. It's too many. It's too many. So 20 classics. I mean, if I go out to a bar, any bar that's kind of worth its salt, I'll try to order the weirdest thing on the menu

because then I can't make it at home and I'm spending 20 bucks on a cocktail that I can't make at home. If I'm making something at home, it's so more often, it's gonna be a classic, like a, I mean, a big Negroni guy, a big Boulevardier guy. It would probably be a Kingston Negroni, which is Jamaican rum in place of the gin in a Negroni. It's so funky and so fruity and banana-y, it's bang on. Wow. Damn, I'm a huge,

I've been ripping a lot of jungle birds recently. Yeah. That is a fun- What's a jungle bird? This is an Australian riff on the jungle bird is a cover of a cocktail. Oh shoot, look at that. It's called the bin chicken.

Cause that's a, have you heard of an ibis? An ibis bird? Yeah. In Australia they dig through bins and eat your fries and no one likes them. So they're called bin chickens. We call them bin chickens. What makes it Australian?

Uses Australian whiskey and Hamilton rum. Yeah, Nicholas Hamilton. Nice. But it uses a split base of whiskey and Hamilton rum. Yeah, Nicholas Hamilton. Nice. But it uses a split base of whiskey and rum instead of just the rum from the jungle boot. I love a jungle boot. Can we have him back on here to do just like a proper cocktail taste test episode?

Yeah, in a few months. Here's the thing, I love cocktails. In a few months. Wish I was ripped shit at work right now. You just gotta wait a few months. We'll wait till the end of the year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

My desert island cocktail. Oh my god. Where's the island? Where's the island? Switzerland. Oh, what? There's Swiss islands? Go with it, dude. Come on. Americans don't really get taught geography, so she might actually think that's the Swiss island. We're just kind of guessing. It was the first country that came to mind. You asked me a question Question I answered the question

I think of like what's that one movie Wilson come on cast away If I were to be on a castaway ask island it would have to be a Really spicy salty margarita. Yeah, but not made with mezcal because I don't like mezcal You know the mezcal I hate mezcal, but I't like mezcal. You're not a mezcal? I hate mezcal. Okay. But I do love other forms of smoky yumminess, but just not that. But yeah, it would probably be a margarita salty af like Salty af? Salty as F. Right. And like, why are you laughing? And like so much jalapeno that it's

almost gonna ruin my GI tract, but not really. Really? So much jalapeno that it's almost gonna ruin my GI tract, but not really really you claim the Michelada the sopa frittante It's too spicy for you because you're out here drinking pure salsa and fire. It's I you it was arresting It was an arresting flavor. It wasn't great. If I'm on a desert island podcast right now if I'm on a desert island Honey, that might be good on a desert island. Maybe it's the Impossible to know Island honey that might be good on to say, now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling out there in the universe. It's time for a little segment we call Opinions are like casseroles! Alright, Nick, let's fire up that first opinion. Hi, this is Robin from Fort Collins, Colorado.

My food hot take is that soy sauce is delicious on its own. I will shoot it like a shot. I will drink it by the spoonful, by the shot. Don't even need like rice or anything to go on it. Just wanted to hear what you think. Thank you. That is technically a mocktail. Nick, what do you think? Yes, in a way. Yeah, yeah. Dude, I like that a lot. I'm a big, I'm not, I got into the dirty martini world very late. So like, I love olives now and it's just, I'm kind of getting into it. But yeah, I mentioned that I had a vodka martini with a dash of soy sauce at a rooftop bar that wasn't very good.

But I love like, I'm a condiment guy. You condiment? I love condiments. I'm a condiment man. Always. Condiment. And I'm not a condiment man. Condiment man.

I think you should be both. I think both are on the right side of history. No, that's a good point. That's a good point. I guess I am, yeah. Safe condimenting. Anyway, we'll move on. Yeah, like I'm a big fan of that opinion and I think I'll start doing it.

Just, I think it probably helps your like GI tract or something. Yeah. I think there's good stuff that Nicole's out. You have an iron deficiency and you need to go see a doctor. If you're craving super salty things, like high volumes of salty things, I think it might be an indicator of you needing something else in your diet that you're not getting and I'm gonna leave it at that. I just I just remembered the great idea for a cocktail that I had and it was like weeks ago but I didn't write it down but now I remember it here. What is it? Because I was mentioning I was at these restaurants in Seattle and

everybody was doing some sort of like seaweed infused martini right them but I thought fish sauce lime sugar garlic chili nookchum beautiful Vietnamese condiment nookchum you take that you you clarify it you know shake it chill it I think it'd be good do I want that just on the side just just a just diluted nookchum yeah just mocktail it I thought you were gonna make it into a thing. I love nuoc cham. Oh, no, I was gonna say, like, shake it with, like, a Japanese... What's that, Roku gin?

Yeah, Japanese whiskey. I think it's more of a whiskey kind of like dark spirit. Yeah? I might try it, Josh. Do it, please. I might try it. No? No, I love nuoc cham, but I don't think the cocktail version of it

I can see in my mind. Because I've actually ripped Nookcham as a shot. Like I'll finish eating my delicious Vietnamese lunch, and then I will just take the rest of it as a shot. Fine, fair. But now I want to get drunk off that. Okay. Also, I like the dichotomy set up of like,

add liquor to any condiment cocktail, add water to any condiment. That's a mocktail, you know? Yeah, that's essentially it, isn't it? Yeah, add water to any condiment, that's a mocktail, you know? Yeah, that's essentially it, isn't it? Yeah, ketchup on it. That's the equation. Yes, yeah, come on. What's the first little liquid in the ketchup? What's that called? It's not ketchup, it's tomato sauce.

That was a really bad one. Tomato sauce? Tomato sauce, you said? That was the worst Australian accent ever! The vowels, the vowels were all over the place. That's incredible. That was so bad! That's awesome.

You can watch some footy, Nicole, eh? Hi, Josh. Hi, Nicole. Hi Josh. Hi Nicole. I'm a San Diego and I'm in Texas. So I'm a city slicker in the country and I want to know why aren't there any more GB savory beverages? I don't always want a Bloody Mary, but I want something savory. I don't always want a bone broth.

Give me something else. I love you. We're going to give you Josh's fun, but I'm going to give you a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little always want a Bloody Mary, but I want something savory. I don't always want a bone broth. Give me something else. I love you. We're going to give you Josh's phone number. Call me. I'll make you a blue cheese and colada. Blue cheese dressing, shaken with rum.

Oh my God. Dude, yeah, I think it's, we're in the condiment world. I think we move on to into condiments and you just kind of pair it with a liquor, maybe some extra citrus and then you should be sweet on the go. We should do condiment-licker pairings. That's the next bulk house, mate. That's the next one. You made a cocktail one time. It was, I believe, called a Bullshot. It is indeed called a Bullshot. Do you know the Bullshot? No.

I believe it is just lemon, beef broth, and vodka shaken strained. And it was absolutely a marketing campaign from Campbell's. Because some of these cocktails will go back like 150 years to trying to cure scurvy on a boat, or trying to cure yellow fever in New Orleans, how the Sazerac was invented. And then some of these cocktails are like, well, an ad executive in 1973 paid $13,000 to Time Magazine,

and now it lives on. And that's the bull shot. It was Campbell's Soup being like, we can get alcoholics to drink our soup for fun times. And it's really good. It sounds good. I mean, a person who chugs that gelato is going to love that, so I don't blame you. I have very peculiar taste. She did call herself a city slicker being from San Diego, which is interesting. I'll give it to her.

And she also has a wildly Southern accent. I'm a city slicker in the Southern area. She's been there for a while. That's exactly what she sounded like. Why can he do our accents, but you can't do his? That's a good point. That's a good point. That was a bang out.

It wasn't bad. It was pretty good. Was it like Western Oklahoma? Yes, that's where I was going from. It's kind of like a jaw posture. Yeah, exactly. It's where the tongue goes. I agree with this statement.

There needs to be more savory options. What about, hear me out, vinaigrettes, just like a little bit watered down? Like a shrub. Like, yeah, that's a shrub. Yeah, it's the... More vinaigrette based. Using vinegar in cocktails. I love doing it.

Because you're just trying to get the balance between sweet, sour, and a base. It's really all it is. And then add a savory note on top of that and you're fucking a sweet. Which is why, like, I really prefer cocktails to beer or wine or any other drinking, because to me there is that actual...

It's like a chefiness, right? You are actually, like, working to craft it. Bixology, yeah. I did, though, last time I made a shrub, I tried to make some, like, coconut and, like, raw cane sugar shrub, whatever, and I spent so much time trying to make this cocktail, to impress my weird brother we talked about earlier. And I put it all together and he drinks it and goes this is Malibu and pineapple fully recreated Malibu and scratch yeah yeah yeah thanks a lot John thanks John

Hi I just wanted to send a follow-up about the Biggie Smalls episode. I also agree and I think he's doing juice because when you grow up or and I don't know about like LA but purple drink juice drank you know it's drink because your head drank is I think bad but yeah purple drink is just like the purple color not juice definitely not 100% juice in a big old jug. So I think when he said he had that welt, that was to show his money. That was a flex. I got name brand.

Thanks, bye. Do you have any idea what she's talking about? No. We can fill you in. So Nicole, can you rap the lyric? Um, um, part of it, yeah. So he goes, um, well done steak, eggs, cheese, and Welch's grape. Yeah, so this is Biggie Smalls. We're talking about the best lyrics in the best food lyrics in music history.

And he doesn't, Biggie Smalls does not specify which Welch's grape product he's consuming with his T-bone steak Steak Eggs and Cheese. Oh, T-Bone Steak, I said well done. I'm so sorry, I'm so embarrassed. Yeah, well done, Steak. He's doing really well, he's getting well done, Steak. But that's really interesting because I grew up exclusively on drink. And our drink of choice was called Tampico.

Tampico Blue Drink, that was it. And so I actually did that by the time I was able to start affording, like as an adult, proper juiced fruit. That was a big moment for me. And so I do think that there is, that is a good like sociological understanding of what was going on there. It was definitely jelly, not juice, but also...

Yeah. People think it's either juice, jelly, or grape soda. That's the, those are the three options people think. He uses telly and heli earlier. He was definitely going to rhyme Jelly, but then found a better slant rhyme. Telly means hotel. It doesn't matter what it means. Yeah, no, he was trying to, he was going for it and then chickened out.

And then chickened out in a beautiful artistic way. Yeah, of course, as we all do. Yeah, as we're all trying to do. What's the biggest artistic risk you've ever taken? Rotisserie chicken, you said? What's the biggest artistic risk you've ever taken? Rotisserie chicken, you said? I was going to say, trying to do that. What's the biggest rotisserie chicken you've had? What's the biggest artistic risk you've ever taken? Autistic risk I've ever taken was, there was like an 18 year period where I was straight and I kind of went away from that. You were doing it for the art.

I was doing it for the art. Oh, nice. And then all the art got queer. So I was like, I may as well do that now. Right. And then so the last seven years, I've just kind of been, nothing's really real, is it real, is it? I've been kissing boys and I've been telling them that I love them and it's nothing. Don't you love kissing boys?

I love kissing boys. I miss it. Josh is in. We're in. It's 2025, no one's straight. We got one more opinion? One more. Maggie, one more, please.

Hello, a hot dog is a sandwich. Hey. opinion. Maggie one more please. Hello a hot dog is a sandwich. I think that Josh may be the only person on earth who will agree with me on this. But I think that blood is a dairy product. Oh you've got two drinks that come from cows. You've got the milky drink and you've got the bloody drink. And sometimes blood, you know, you make it congealed. That's basically cheese. Right? Right? Come on, Josh, agree with me on this. I know it's not kosher, but like, come on. It's not kosher. Be with me here. I have faith in you.

I like that he went into a Huba Stank song in the middle. I like a bloody drink. I like a milky drink. I can't. I can't. No, that that's not who bestank that is possible to really kind of it's chump. No one really knows We have these couldn't even look it up no impossible. I don't have mine on me but I think Because blood comes from multiple different animals surely it can't be a dairy. Well, I'll tell you what, dairy comes from multiple different animals too. Oh, that's a good point. And not just the ones you'd think of.

That's a good point. I'm just thinking, yeah, no. Look, never mind, Josh, really. Penguins make milk. Do they? And you've tried it or? I've tried to get it and the zookeepers were not amenable to my offer. They didn't like it, did they, Josh? They didn't like that at all. They didn't like that you were there in the first place, but you've been kissing the ghost. No, no, especially that I wasn't in the first place.

Blood is not dairy. Sorry. Blood is not dairy. Yeah, I see where your head's coming from. I get it. It's wrong. It's wrong. It's disgusting.

And I think that's the kind of thinking that, like, Common Core math kind of creates, you know what I mean? You know? What? No. What did you say? You think Common Core math has created create, you know what I mean? You know? What? What did you say? You think Common Core Math has created this idea in his head? A terrible joke with no payoff to anybody. I see where you're coming from. I don't think it is correct. But I do, like coagulated pork blood.

It's like how you make cheese, how you make paneer. You kind of curdle it and you press it and you dry it. Soy milk is... But not the same. I think it's valid. I think it's a weird way of thinking. And you should go to someone, see someone. Soy milk is... Soy milk is there, but not the sand. Yeah, that's it. That's fierce. I think it's valid. I think it's a weird way of thinking, and you should go to someone, see someone, but it is...

Yeah, do you have anyone you can talk to, like professional or close friends? That's us. They talk to us. It's us in a way. It's us. That's you guys. I love it. I love it.

You're new. No, it's me. He's in it. I love it. I'll come back next week. Nick, give me your number. Just tell them where to find you. Don't give anyone... Okay, so it's three... Are there any cocktails that have blood in it? Ah! You can make a Bloody Mary.

With real blood. I've done that before. I've done that before. It wasn't good. I'm sure it wasn't good. I hate... I'm not like an awful guy. I'm not a guts-blooded... I'm not an awful guy. I'm a nice guy. So I'm not really kind of into the insides of things, really. That's my thing.

Fair? Not everyone is. Yeah, from a scientific standpoint, if my thing. Fair, not everyone is. From a scientific standpoint, if you consume raw blood, it's dangerous, but by the time you pasteurize it, blood turns into a solid. And so it would make it really difficult. You could do like a short wash. I fed you the bloody blood Mary.

Yeah, I drank raw blood because I'm comfortable assuming a certain kind of risk to myself. It wasn't raw. I made sure I... Did you pasteurize it? Mm-hmm. Yeah, well. Did it taste pasteurized? Yeah, probably don't do it though. It didn't taste pasteurized when you had it? Oh, I don't taste past. I probably don't do it though. It didn't taste past rice and you had it Oh, I don't think I drank it. I think I faked it on camera proud of you because that was during the live stream

Yeah, yeah, I lied. I didn't want to I was I was sober too. It's okay. Um, well On that note, thank you for listening to a hot dog. It's a sandwich We got audio only episodes every wednesday and a video version on youtube every sunday nick Tell the people where they can find you. Uh on socials, Nicholas.Hamilton on Instagram, I think Nick.Hamilton on TikTok. I make a lot of drinks on the internet. If you want to buy this, search 60 Tuesdays on the internet. I'm sure it's the only thing that comes up on Google.

You can find it at Barnes & Noble. He's bought two of his own copies at Barnes & Noble. For other people. Yeah, just today. That's right. If you want to be featured on opinions on our casseroles, give us a ring and leave a quick message at 833-DogPod1. For more Mythical Kitchen, check out our other videos.

We've got new episodes every week. See you all next time.