405 - What Does It Take To Be A Master Taster? with Melissa Rift of Old Forester

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2023

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Master Taster. It just sounds like a really cool job. But what does it take to become a Master Taster? Old Forester is a brand that has a history of hiring people for this role and their newest is Melissa Rift. Ryan and I have had the pleasure of getting to know Melissa over the years but it was in different roles she held in the industry. Yet, thanks to notifications on indeed.com, she was able to apply and land this role. We talk about her history and career in the industry and then we dive into the position and what it takes to be a Master Taster. We also dive into consumer demand and where she sees trends changing over time. Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about water contamination. What is your background and how you got into the industry? How do you stay invigorated when you have to give the same tour over and over again? Do you feel tours are an entry point into the industry? Tell the story of the stolen catalytic converters How involved were you with quality control and single barrels at Bulliet? How did you find out about the Master Taster position after Jackie left? What were the pre-requisites for this position? Did you feel confident going into this role or was it scary when it became real? When the press release was announced it highlighted your personal life being openly gay. Was this your idea? Did you taste through all product offerings so you can pick them all out? Do you think consumers will change their opinion on proof? Do you have some ideas on how you will change things to meet consumer demand? How does your wife feel about the amount of travel that will now be involved? @oldfomastertaster Support this podcast on Patreon

Transcript

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0:00.0	My brain needed to hear that it is an edited recording.
0:02.8	Yes, we, you're looking at who they need to edit.
0:06.3	So.
0:19.4	This is Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news, reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of your hosts, Kenny Coleman.
0:31.5	Master Taster. It just sounds like a really cool job. But what does it take to become a master taster?
0:38.1	Well, Old Forrester, that's a brand that has a history of hiring people for this particular role.
0:43.0	And their newest hire is Melissa Rift.
0:46.1	Ryan and I, we've had the pleasure of getting to know Melissa over the years,
0:48.9	but those were in different roles that she's held inside the industry.
0:52.4	Yet, thanks to notifications from Indeed.com,
0:55.5	she was able to apply and land this new, really customer-facing and visible role. We talk about
1:02.0	her history and her career in the industry, and then we dive into the position of what it
1:06.6	takes to become a master taster. We also go a bit further when we talk about consumer demand
1:12.0	and where she sees trends changing over time. With that, enjoy this week's episode. And now here's
1:18.2	Fred Minnick with Above the Char. I'm Fred Minnick and this is Above the Char. This week's idea
1:26.7	comes from a lot of people who, after the East Palestine, Ohio train
1:30.9	derailment, have asked me what happens to the bourbon in the event that it's contaminated
1:35.9	by chemicals or there's a natural disaster that impacts the water?
1:40.8	Well, let's just kind of take a step back here for a moment and talk about the water
1:46.7	supply for most of these distilleries. While it is well within their lineage of like where the
1:54.3	water comes from, being as limestone filtered and it comes from an aquifer, all those things
2:00.8	are true and remain true.
	...

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