Meredith Mills-Merritt didn’t set out to make just another canned cocktail. Drawing on her background in beauty and brand innovation, she reimagined the RTD category with a family Southside recipe built on cleaner ingredients and transparency. We talk about building an alcohol brand from the ground up, why authenticity matters more than marketing, the future of drinking culture, and how the Clean Alcohol Collective is pushing the industry forward. It’s a thoughtful conversation about gin, entrepreneurship, and creating a brand with purpose—not just another product.
-
-
Ep 374 – Sebastian Cajas: Never Met A Stranger
Austin’s Sebas Cajas has had an interesting journey through the jungle, basketball courts, and mezcalerias of Ecuador. After a fateful gap in gigs, and motherly advice, he left Quito to start a new chapter in Austin. Here he has found love, friends, and most recently of all a deeper love of agave. After many years working behind the global spirits specialty restaurant/bar Veracruz, Sebas now takes on his biggest challenge yet with La Mezca, an intimate mecaleria style cocktail bar with lovely ambience and intimacy. We chat NBA GOAT, Nike’s, feeling part of a community, and more.
-
Ep 313 – Robert Björn Taylor: Finding Inspiration in Everything
As our previous lives trickle into the new reality post shut-down, what have we learned? Robert Björn Taylor is taking his learnings in stride. As one of the most formidable forces in Texas cocktails, his background as a creative gives him boundless tools. But what happens when life moves too quickly, and the vices around us push us into a darker place? For some it leads to self destructive art, and for others like Björn, it leads to a chapter of sobriety and freedom. We chat Hitchcock, BLM, emo music, and more…..
-
Ep 311 – Juan Coronado: Moving and Shaking All the Way to Jalisco
Juan Coronado has an exceptional resume of pursuits from behind and beyond the bar. With travels all the over world imparting creative cocktail expertise, and sharing that certain something over 25 years in the hospitality industry can provide, one could call Juan “accomplished”. But as it happens with truly brilliant people, there is always a new frontier. Juan’s creation Mijenta Tequila combines his years of spirits expertise with his love of Mexico. We chat DJ’ing, daq’s, history, and more.
