Botanical Trails

In a holiday themed episode, the lovely ladies of Toe Squished Grapes are back to help me put a bow on the first season.  Kelly brings two wines for us to try and has the patience of a saint while dealing with the snarky comments from the peanut gallery.  She also utilizes her bible - “Wine for Normal People” to teach us a bit more about the regions these two wines come from.  As we enjoy the wines, Molly leads our discussion around holiday gift ideas, Christmas traditions, and her love of rabbits.  And it ends up that Kelly loves rabbits as well, but in a slightly different way.

Come for the wine, and stick around to hear the three holiday themed selections for Off The Beaten Path  🎙️🍷🍷🍷 🎄

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

What do you get when you combine a former intern, an AI questionnaire and the Pink Panther?  You end up with episode 21 with Jamie Belt as our guest.  During the episode we sample two blue gin and discuss how robots are now screening your resume, the proper way to prepare a pop-tart, and how seeking a large coffee in Europe might be a search in vain.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear if Malibu Barbie is the best name to give your daughter 🎙️🍸🍸

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Episode 20 is the first of our Rhine River Chronicle series, which is a three part series that will stretch into the beginning of season 2.  On this episode, our old friend Brian Place joins us again as we try two gins from Germany that I picked up on a recent river cruise up the Rhine River.  As we try these two local products of Speyer, Germany, we discuss our experiences on separate Viking River Cruises, have Brian push for a corporate sponsor for the podcast, and get our first ever Bar Bathroom story (though it technically does not take place in a bar - but hey, it's a start).

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear as usual Brian abuse his privilege during Off The Beaten Path  🎙️🍸🍸

Episode 20 can be found at: https://botanicaltrails.buzzsprout.com, as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and other platforms

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Are you a fan of pizza?  If so, this might be just what your ordered.  My guest (and Good Samaritan) Lori Wilson and I try a couple of new Italian gins.  One is our first ever listener donated gin, and the other is a fun little discovery.  While sampling these two gins, we chat about our journeys through Italy, the talents of Michelangelo, and how Lori was responsible for my luck in landing the awesome producer for this little podcast.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear Lori’s story of performing a good deed and ending up in the local news.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In this episode  we travel to the land of the Cheeseheads - Wisconsin.  My sister Amie, a resident of Madison, has introduced me to a couple of great distilleries there, and we try two of their gins in this episode.  While enjoying these tasty gins, we chat about the treacherous waterways of Death’s Door passage, how we connected through football early in our lives, a couple of Beastie Boy concerts, our trip to Morocco, and an idea for a new segment for the show - The Bar Bathroom Chronicles.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear if Amie would like a hint when it is her turn for trivia

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Wake the kids, call the neighbors - Jim is back for his second stint as guest on the podcast.  For this episode, I came up with two gins that have a bit of a connection between us, and Jim does an amazing job of guessing what those connections are.  While enjoying the gins we also chat about different movies theaters we have gone to, lament the passing of Paul Reubens, debate if root beer tastes good, and for trivia, Jim phones a friend for a little bit of help.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear about Jim’s field trip to Chicago with his bus driver 🎙️🍸🍸

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

The guest for episode 16 is actually me!! It’s a podcast takeover, and two of my former guests are hosting.  On the debut of Toe Squished Grapes, Molly & Kelly are having us try wine.  They follow the same criteria - we try two wines, have a bit of trivia and go Off The Beaten Path.  

Along the trails we learn how the region that a grape is grown in can impact the wine, talk about mouth feel, and delve into swearing.  Throughout the episode Kelly is doing her best to impart her wine knowledge on the two commoners, and we start to catch on a bit.  They knock it out of the park in this episode, and my fear is that my role as full-time host might be in jeopardy.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

My guest for episode 15 is my buddy Jon Kuipers.  In this episode we enjoy a gin he introduced me to a couple of years ago, and try a new gin from Portugal.  While sipping these tasty gins, we chat about his trip to Alaska, how little we actually know about Orcas, gray hair, and how tonics can compliment a gin.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear Jon phone a friend when it is his turn for gin trivia  🎙️🍸🍸

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In 1984, my guest Greg and I ended up in a math class together.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Greg recently traveled to England and brought back some gins for us to try.  While enjoying these spiced gins, we chat about his trip, our recent tour of a distillery, riding camels and eating abroad.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear about how I now question our friendship due to his lack of enjoyment of chocolate.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

My guest for episode 13 - Jax - loves trying things and tends to always be up for an adventure, so she joins me as we try two new styles of gin for the show - a Plymouth Gin and a Sloe Gin.  While we sample the gins, we also chat about a podcast she has been a part of (Is This My Thing), adventures in Australia, and the proper way to follow a drink recipe.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear about Jax’s combo pick for Off The Beaten Path, and a sprinkling of the Kentucky Derby.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Much like the old SNL skits at the All Things Scottish shop, in Episode 12 when it comes to the gins, if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!  My sister Laurie joins us as we indulge in a couple of gins from the homeland of our ancestors from Scotland.  During the episode we hear about her trip to Edinburgh, recyclable gin pouches from the highlands of Scotland, our enjoyment of old SNL skits, and how I don’t follow my own advice.  We pack a whole lot into this episode.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear about perhaps my all-time favorite novel and Laurie’s discovery of a little known actor to help illustrate her Off The Beaten Path topic.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

A rose is a rose is a rose, and then there is a rose gin.  My guest Angie and I try a couple of rose gins in Episode 11, one from the USA and one from Ireland.  During the course of the episode we also chat about Playmobile, World Gin Day, bees, ants, praying mantis, murder hornets and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  There is a whole lot packed into the episode.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear how bees defend their hives against murder hornets.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Are you a fan of Kids in The Hall?  If so, do you remember their “Girl Drink Drunk” sketch?  Well, if you do, that best describes my guest Scott, who loves a vacation in a glass.  In episode 10 we try a couple of international, colorful gins - a pink gin from Ireland, and a blue gin from France.  We also chat about how he sort of blames me for his love of gin, my one trip to France, and how he was introduced to his Off The Beaten Path selection at one of his many The Black Keys concerts.

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear how I have no idea what rhubarb is. 

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

"It tastes like Christmas" - that's how my guest Alyssa describes gin, and I love that.  In episode 9 we try a pair of Japanese gins, and discover how the two distilleries actually have a little history in common.  In addition, we chat about how I was afraid I was going to lose track of my mother-in-law at the Tokyo train station, how Alyssa was concerned I was having her try a coffee flavored gin, and we put a different spin on Off The Beaten Path, where Alyssa talks about something she actually would not recommend - and I end up speaking for the opposition. 

Come for the gin, and stick around to hear about how major league baseball games in Japan are just a bit different. 

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

Wake the kids, call the neighbors - in episode 8, my best friend for the last 46 years Jim joins me.  He calls San Francisco home, so we try a couple of gins from that area.  But we end up having so much fun that we sneak in a third drink for the Off the Beaten segment.  Prior to that, we talk about visiting one of the distilleries from this episode, our idea for a butcher shop, a controversial Halloween costume that we wore nearly 20 years ago, and how Jim once left me as collateral at an auto repair shop.

Come for the gin, but stick around for Jim cracking a joke and causing me to nearly choke on a peanut, and a bunch of other laughs.  This might be the best hour of your week. 

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In episode 7, my fake son Dave  joins me to try a couple of gins with a Scandinavian influence.  And as we sample these spirits, we discuss my favorite class at Michigan State, what might be the ideal way to taste a new gin, and both take a musical trail when we go Off The Beaten Path.

Come for the gin, but stick around to see how he became my fake son, and why he should start a beer podcast.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In episode 6, my guest Drew convinced me to concoct a couple of gin cocktails, as opposed to the usual gin & tonics that I serve.  And as we imbibe those, we discuss the Old Tom style of gin, discover how Drew came upon the cocktail that he made, find out the gin for my cocktail is at a distillery only about 30 miles from our neighborhood, and potentially figure out why there is a cat on the label of the bottle of Old Tom Gin we enjoyed in this episode.  Come for the gin, but stay for the stories in this episode.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In episode 5, my guest Kelly and I explore two similar styles of gin - the classic London Dry style, and their New World or American Dry cousins.  And along the way we chat about Downton Abbey, morning game shows and soap operas and mix in a bit of cilantro, and that's before we even get to Off The Beaten Path.  Kelly also takes great enjoyment in my constant struggle to pronounce things correctly.  Come for the gin, but stay for the interesting paths this episode takes.

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In episode 4, we encounter a dilemma - my guest Molly is not a fan of gin.  So I break out two of my favorites to try and answer the age old question - is a hater going to hate?  One is Empress 1908 Indigo Gin, and the other is Alkkemist Gin (which has an interesting relationship with the full moon).  And as usual, we get in a couple of rounds of trivia and blaze a few new trails on "Off the Beaten Path".  Come for the gin - but stay the laughs.  

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails

In episode 3, my guest Brian and I decide to ring in St. Patrick's Day a little early and explore a couple of Irish gins.  One is Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin and the other is Dingle Gin.  In addition to the two rounds of trivia, Brian also tries to go down multiple paths when we go "Off the Beaten Path".

My thanks to Darin VanderMolen for helping to produce this podcast.

For questions, comments, or to suggest a new gin to try, feel free to send us a message on our Instagram account: @thebotanicaltrails