About this episode
In this flavorful, entrepreneurial conversation with Chinola Liqueur co-founder Andrew Merinoff, some of the topics we explore include: Andrew's family legacy in the spirits world, including his very real ties to Canadian whisky magnates and Prohibition-era New York Bootleggers. How Chinola started in a blender in a Dominican Republic apartment and blossomed into a category-defying cocktail ingredient thanks to some old-world European liqueur expertise. Why many people are under the mistaken impression that passion fruit is pink - and what the Chinola team is doing on the agricultural front to ensure that their fruits remain delicious, all-natural, and sustainable. We also dig into the very important ways that Andrew and his team actively partner with the community in the DR so that they're not merely showing up appropriating a native fruit, and exporting its flavor to the US market. Along the way, we learn why passionfruit evokes a feeling of nostalgia in many people (myself included), the surprising similarities between Chinola and a product that many people call "bartender's ketchup," why the Spanish word for "one who gossips" might come up at your next brunch, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions . If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.