Latest / The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of / Have Another Drink with Jimmy the Wine Guy from August 28th, 2026

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Have Another Drink with Jimmy the Wine Guy from August 28th, 2026 · The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oaxaca Mezcal.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: It's handmade by a fifth generation mezcalero in Oaxaca, Mexico.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Launched in 2010, Oaxaca Mezcal was one of the first
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: artisanal mezcal brands to enter the U.S.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Market.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Today we've got the Oaxaca Espadin as the base for
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: the famed Negroni cocktail. This mezcal and others from its
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: lineup are available online. at the local wine stores, so
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: get some today. And I'm intrigued because I've never heard of.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Any of this. That's why Jimmy's here.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: He's the Charlie Hustle of the Utah Wine Academy of Utah.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: That is it. Yeah, we have some mezcal. We all
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: may have heard of tequila. Tequila and mezcal are agave-based
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: spirits from Mexico. Agave is the base root that we're
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: using from the agave plant, a desert plant. And we're
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: not using the leaves. We're digging it around and pulling
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: up the root. And the root is called the piña.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: And we chop that up with tequila in Jalisco and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: surrounding states. We'll toaster oven those, dry them out, and
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: then go into fermentation, fermentation, and distillation. With mezcal, it's
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: further south in Oaxaca, another state in southern Mexico. And
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: we're not married to just one type of agave. We're
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: in tequila. It's blue agave, azul agave. We can use
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: any of them. We can use espadín, as Todd mentioned.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: We can use mexicano, barril. Pacifico, all these different types
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: of desert plants. And just like grapes, they give a
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: different expression. Primarily what differentiates mezcal from tequila, we roast
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: instead of toaster. And you can taste that. You can
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: taste that in it. Totally, yeah, totally gets in there,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: that subtle smoke. Oaxaca, the product that we're using in
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the Negroni, Negroni is a base of three different, you know,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Negroni's a classic one-to-one-to-one ratio of sweet Italian vermouth, red
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: bitter Italian liqueur, and gin. We're replacing the gin out
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: with mezcal in this case. I want some more herbaceousness.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Rather than using an Italian sweet vermouth like Carpano Antica,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I'm using more of a French Dolan Rouge because I
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: want the herbaceousness to tie into the mezcal and instead
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: of Campari, the more popular red bitter liqueur, I'm using Capoletti,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: which is a wine base.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: It's not as bitter.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Not as bitter.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: I prefer Capoletti.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Rounder, smoother. And all these three items are delicious on
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: their own, slightly chilled. And this is, we're doing a
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: one-to-one-to-one ratio, so I just did an equal pour for
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: you in them all. And I just love, this is
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: like my favorite summertime cocktail. It just has that nice smokiness.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: It's a good round flavor. You know, late morning, it's
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: a good round. Sure.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Right now.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Right now is the perfect time. Oh, this is fine.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: This is absolutely delicious.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you're liking it.
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: Now, when you talk about, Miss Kelly, you're saying it
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: can come from here, it can come from here. Does
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: that mean it's easier to make because you're not bound by?
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a style because that's the desert plant. That's
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: what they had in the neighborhood. just like how with whiskeys,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: different grain profiles go, barley, wheat, corn, and rye. The
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Scotch and Irish are using a lot of barley.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: They got corn, they got wheat, they got rye, but
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: they got a lot of barley. It really thrived there.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Here in the United States, in the Southeast, corn, plentiful
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of corn. That's why it's so emphasis in your Kentucky
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: and Tennessee whiskeys. Here in Mexico, with this desert plant,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the agave, there's a hundred species of agaves that you
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: can use. And more importantly, whereas when we make wine
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: from grapes, we harvest the grapes every year, when we
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: harvest our grain, barley with corn and rye for our whiskeys,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: every year, this, minimum four years.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Really?
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: On average, it's seven to nine, even further. And we
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: know when the mescalera will go out into the field,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: when the pistol will shoot, whoosh, from the plant and
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: they'll know it's ready. And that's when they harvest.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: That's playing the long game there.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Playing the long game. And they're wild desert plants. Some
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: are farmed in rows or more organized because of the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: demand of this. So they're advancing. They will ply off
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: some of the desert plant, replanting the root right before
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: a pistol. So this way you can continue the generation,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: continue the generation of that desert plant. And, yeah, it's
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: really kind of cool if they're doing it. Mezcal, five
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: years ago, we really were not talking about mezcal.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: No.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Today, people have preferences of mezcal.
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Mezcal, you can, this is referred to as a blanco
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: or a silver, so it's unoaked. And, by the way,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: this is 100% espadine. That's the type of agave.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: And they say it's the mother of blue weber agave.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Don't tell people in Jalisco that. And you can also
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: age this in barrel, and that's called reposado. So we're
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: lending the same terms. That's more popular in tequila. You
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: can then have Añejo, which is aged in barrel a
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: little over a year. So really fun stuff. This is
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: really deep stuff.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: And you can tell by the colors, whether it's Añejo
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: or Reposado.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: So you know how whiskey is a little brown in
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the bottle? Well, whiskey comes out as clear as water.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: It gets that color from when aged in oak barrel.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: The barrel stave absorbs that whiskey, and then it pulls out.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: And as it pulls out through evaporation and atmospheric pressure,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: It pulls out the pigmentation from the wood, as well
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: as other characteristics, your vanillins, your aromatics, and your flavor profiles.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: And that's how they get color.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: This beverage that you've mixed up, and it's not the
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: alcohol I'm referencing with this comment, because I've just had.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: A couple sips, but it's just the flavor. I'm just
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: in a good mood. Well, that's Jimmy. That's nice of
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: you to say. The Negroni is a very well-balanced drink.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: The Negroni, these are all alcohol spirits in this cocktail.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: There's no juices. There's no, you know, simple syrups. All
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: these components have alcohol in it. So when you make that,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: that's a stir down drink. So the difference between shaking
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: a cocktail and stirring one down, stirring one down, putting
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: it in ice in a mixing glass and stirring it
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and then straining it in. I did something fancy with
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the coffee cups here for you today. Oh, that was
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: really good. That was very nice. That was very nice.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: But the moment you start shaking, the moment you start
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: shaking is when you do introduce a non-alcoholic element to it,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and that's when you want to dilute a bit more,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: really chill it, but you've got to combine those ingredients together.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Simple syrup is kind of viscous. You really need to
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: break it down to allow it to distribute.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Oh, this is fabulous. So it's a Oaxaca mezcal.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, by Oaxaca, available in the state stores, and they
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: also have the Guscano, which is where it's got the
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: little Larva, the little worm in there. So this one
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: doesn't have that, but the other one does.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: It's got the nice art on the label.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful. It's a great label. It shows the cycles
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: of how this is made. If you want to look
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: at that label, it is just a gorgeous label. It's
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: all meaningful.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: And it's done like a Mexican floor tile kind of
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: a thing.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's beautiful. It's got a really good.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: How much is it? So that's a great question. I
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: believe it's $ 32. I can check right now for us.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I usually put it on my card. Yeah, that's why
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I was asking. Sorry about that. It's beautiful.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, let's get underway.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: $ 34. 99 is the Oaxaca mezcal. That's good stuff. Yeah, and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: this is definitely something that bartenders and locations, restaurants, and
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: their bar, this is their well. This is what should
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: be their well, the one that they'll always go to
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: for a mezcal. There are a number of mezcals out there, and.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: There is one more category that I didn't mention about
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: MS Cal called Pachuga that we can talk to, but
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know if we have anybody calling or texting. Dr.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Neal said bring up Pachuga to you.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: You're kidding me. Okay, well, tell us about it. So Pachuga, thanks, Dr. Neal,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: for the lead. So Pachuga is MS Cal to ceremonial purposes.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: What they do is they'll take a Blanco, a silver
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: fresh off the still, And then they return it to
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: the still. They'll bleed it off and then return it
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: to the still. But ceremonial, they'll hang protein in the still,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: such as chicken breast, turkey, venison, rattlesnake, vegetable, mole. And
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: then they fire the stills back up. As the vapor
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: comes up, naturally it cooks the protein, but it's taking
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: that umami, the earthiness, the spirit of that animal. So
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: they don't dunk it in it. It just is hanging on.
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: It's hung.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Weird. And I was talking to a mescalera from Mexico
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: City about two weeks ago at a tasting. And I said,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: you know, I always had, I had a question. Do
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: they ever eat that protein because of the ceremonial, like,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: you know, the whole thing? He's like, you know what?
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: You'd think they would, but you don't because it's just absolutely,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: it's like soup dries leather. It's not palatable. It's just
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: absolutely cooked through and you can tell all the flavors
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: and everything. Now, these pachugas don't taste like the animal.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: It's not like, oh, yeah, it's a venison pachuga. I
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: can tell it anyway. There's no markers in terms of that.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: But the earthiness, and they do have varying flavors and characteristics.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Grab it. Things of that nature. Interesting. So, pachugas are
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: super cool, earthy, typically higher in alcohol. The cut rate,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: you know, about 47% to 53% alcohol by volume. So,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: you're looking in that higher proof rate.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: And you can get them here?
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: We can get them here. We have a number of pachugas.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Our Mezcal program, the availability of Mezcals here in the
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: state of Utah are well done. You've got a number
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: of locations in town. that really uh boast um their
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: collection their vast collection see.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Now i gotta try a pachuga yeah i've never yeah.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: It's crazy stuff it's uh tasty all.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: Right sean is here wants to talk about michelin stars sean.
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: Hi i i just i tuned in late at kind
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: of last second and i heard something about a michelin
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: star and so i was just curious what that what
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: that talk was.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: About Yeah, Sean, thanks for the call. So we were
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: recognized just two nights ago in Las Vegas for the Southwest.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Michelin expanded its recognition of the Southwest more formally. And
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Utah Salt Lake was recognized. One of the restaurants achieved
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: a one star Michelin star, which is pretty phenomenal. I
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: know it's like, ah, one star out of three. How
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: big deal? It's a massive step. I watch the bear,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I know. You know. And it's Monty and Monty's name
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: of the restaurant is located in Beehive Distillery.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: So it's inside of the distillery.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they popped up that bar area and it's nice.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I just did an event there on Tuesday night with
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Lifelong Learning, the basics of wine tasting and the They
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: just really elevated that space. What style of food? So
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: it's eclectic. It's high-end. It's almost Guy Savoy-like. I mean,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: the big border of the plates with the food. It's
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: all about the food. Your senses are dull to enjoy.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: It's a 7 to a 12-course menu. You either get
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: this or that, 7 or 12. And then you have
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: wine pairings. as an option. They also have wine by
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the glass and a beverage program. A good friend of mine,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Perry Amides, is the beverage guy there. He's the sommelier there,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: putting it all together. I'm looking at the list going,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I want that one, I want that one, I want
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: that one. It's just a very well curated list, and
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: it's an exceptional experience. So to answer your question, we
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: got a one star. And then there's other recognitions that
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Michelin recognize other eateries in our town. Like in Tip
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: of the Hat, too. Tip of the Hat, too. From
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Feldman's Deli to the Noodle House, another Noodle House. It's really....
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Our food scene has exploded in the past 10 years.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And people who are in restaurants here in our state,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, think about the number of restaurants that are
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: not chains anymore.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: And, and that means if you're in a restaurant business
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: and I know from personal experience, you better be doing
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: it on purpose because if you're not, that's probably the
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: wrong decision for you. Yeah. Cause it ain't easy.
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: How, how do you get the star? Is it one
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: guy comes in reviews and that's a good question.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I would have to peel that back a little bit more,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: but typically they have a number of people coming in.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: They're also contracted, whether they're writers or, or otherwise. But, um, Yeah,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: it's kind of secretive. Kind of secretive. And, yeah, you
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: don't know, like, hey, you've got a Michelin star guy
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: coming in at 7 on Thursday. Yeah, you don't know.
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: And this is such a new place. I'm surprised it
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: was even on the radar.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's been doing some great food. He's got excellent
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: online presence. Not to say that that's the reason, but
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: it'll allow communication. It'll allow awareness and be like, hey,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: that's some pretty good stuff. Get in there and check
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: it out.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: There you go, Sean.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That was a long answer.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: Awesome.
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: Thank you so much, guys. That was a very good explanation, Jimmy.
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: I appreciate you and appreciate your time.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: All right. Thanks, Chuck.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: Let's see. Back to Ms. Cal. I don't know about
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: this question. So I've heard that you're less likely to
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: get a hangover drinking tequila. Because it has less sugars
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: or something. Is mezcal the same way? Oh, you can
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: get a hangover drinking tequila.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: If you apply yourself, you can do it. You're not
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: trying hard enough. I was just having that conversation last night.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I was at a tequila mezcal tasting, and I was
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: hosting it. And somebody just kept harping on that. And
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: I said, do you get hangovers with a lot of vodka?
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: And he's like, well, I don't drink vodka. What about gin?
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: I don't drink gin. I said, what about bourbons and whiskeys?
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: That kind of a thing. He's like, I got to
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: stay away from it because that's what gives me the hangover.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: So there is something with the sugar thing, I think,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: and or the barrel aging. Or it's the bottle and
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: a half you have. I don't know which, but.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: It's... For me, it's the sugar. Because if I have,
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: you know, like tropical cocktails... Guaranteed hangover the next day.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, rum isn't my friend. Rum, I have to sip.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: There's a ton of richness in there.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: If I'm mixing a cocktail with a lot of sugary ingredients.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: You got to be careful. I got to be careful.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: But if I'm straight, straight vodka, I'm okay. I like
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: my spirit straight, but my friends can be any way. Yeah,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: there we go. Let's see.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: Jimmy, why does mezcal make me think... Time travel. I
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: drink it and suddenly it's morning. Okay.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: I like our audience.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: Do you want to promote any things.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: You've got coming up?
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got this Tuesday, Saratoga Springs, The Breaks. We've
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: got a tasting, back-to-school tasting. So moms and dads, your
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: kids are back to school. Get out there. The Breaks
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: in Saratoga Springs, it's a lot of fun. It's a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: great space. The people out there, you know, the folks
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: in Saratoga Springs, They're thirsty. It's a lot of fun
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: over there. And then in Layton at The Coop, part
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of the Roosters program, Cellar Night on Wednesday the 2nd.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: And then Thursday, I'm over in Daybreak. So the residents
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: in Daybreak, if you're listening, we have the Manhattan Cocktail
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Taste of History going on out there. And I think
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: we only have like six or seven tickets left. But, yeah,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: that's what I have for next week and more to come.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Any questions of this upcoming weekend, watch your Labor Day
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: because you're closed on Labor Day on that Monday at
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: the wine store. That's not until next week. But we'll
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: be down in Cedar City celebrating the Utah Wine Festival
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: as well over Labor Day. More information, go to WineAcademyofUtah.com.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: There we go.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Jimmy.