CRAFTED

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How Good is Good Enough? Craft Pursuits & Diminishing Returns May 20, 2026

Show notes

How good is good enough? For those of us obsessed with any craft category (e.g., coffee, watches, wine, knives, audio gear, etc), we can find ourselves crossing the line of ‘diminishing returns,’ where we keep chasing some notion or ideal of perfection. So why do we do this? Today, our CRAFTED co-hosts, Eli Brown, Jonathan Ellsworth, & Simon Stewart discuss.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at info@blisterreview.com to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

TOPICS & TIMES:

JE's Manifesto (1:54)

Eli's Categories For Spending (11:14)

MOMA NYC (16:38)

Status As Return? (20:48)

Rabbit Holes (26:58)

Wine Price Points (30:09)

Craft As Experience (35:45)

Audio Space: Diminishing Returns (37:25)

Headphones (41:12)

Contentment and Curiosity (46:22)

Hario V60 (53:16)

Watches (56:12)

Paying Scarcity (1:04:17)

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Elizabeth Chubbuck of Murray’s Cheese on Quality, Value, & the Virtue of Inefficiency May 06, 2026

Show notes

Cheese can cost $12 a pound, or upwards of $100 for a wheel of the same size. So what is actually driving that difference in price, and is the most expensive option really worth it? Today, Elizabeth Chubbuck of Murray’s Cheese breaks down how to think about value in cheese, from commodity cheddar to cave-aged, small-batch wheels. Along the way, Elizabeth and Eli also get into the history of Murray’s, their unique cave aging program, and explore why inefficiency is often exactly what makes something great.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: info@blisterreview.com to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Murrays Cheese (2:48)

Flagship Cheeses (5:44)

The History of Craft Cheese (7:05)

Elizabeth’s Journey (13:41)

Wholesale (18:00)

Cheese Education (26:38)

Cheese Caves in New York (37:14)

Classes (42:45)

Price Point Differentiation (48:00)

Cheese Clubs (57:52)

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Our CRAFTED Trip Report: Blister Summit & Salt Lake City Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

We just wrapped up our Blister Summit at Snowbird, then Jonathan Ellsworth, Sascha Anastas, and Eli Brown spent a pretty amazing 24 hours in Salt Lake City, where we discovered some fantastic restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and bakeries. So today, we’re reporting on what we ate, drank, and saw. Give it a listen, then let us know your thoughts!

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Blister Summit / Snowbird:

Fernet (2:41)

Fry Sauce? (12:19)

Realm, ‘The Bard’ (2023) (17:26)

Rice Krispy Treats (19:35)

Tram Club Spicy Fries (25:23)

Salt Lake City:

Bar: Lake Effect (30:55)

Bar: Post Office Place (32:36)

Dinner: Junah (34:33)

Bar: Water Witch (52:16)

New York Sours (55:54)

Underberg (1:03:36)

Breakfast: Central 9th Market (1:06:16)

Three Pines Coffee (1:08:08)

Mono Tape Club (1:12:49)

Eva’s Bakery (1:19:18)

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A Unified Theory of Cocktails with Dr. Kevin Peterson, Part 3 Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

The neighborhood bar is one of the last placesuntouched by AI, big tech, and all their algorithms.But what if that’s actually holding each us back from finding our “perfect” drink?

In Part 1 and 2 of this series, we explored Dr. Kevin Peterson’s Cocktail Theory. And in this episode, we turn to his latest project, which aims to decode your taste and guide you to the drinks you didn’t know you were looking for.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Castalia’s Tasting Menu (5:43)

Consumer Preferences (12:20)

Recommendation Algorithms (17:47)

Data Analysis (22:09)

Drinks Based On Data (31:33)

The Role Of Key Words (42:22)

The Applebees Rule (48:41)

Operating Rules (56:52)

Bartending as Craft or Science (1:00:01)

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Doug Frost on the Most Elite Certifications in the Wine World — and Why They Matter Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

Top mountain guide certifications (like AMGA and IFMGA) have a pass rate of around 70%. But what if we told you that in the wine world, the most rigorous certifications have a pass rate that’s only about 8% — and it’s often lower than that.

The certifications of ‘Master Sommelier’ and ‘Master of Wine’ are two of the most demanding in any field. And our guest today, Doug Frost, is one of only three people in the world to hold both.

So Doug and Eli dig into what makes these courses so challenging; the differences between the two; and, most importantly, why they matter.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Doug Frost’s Background (2:11)

Becoming a Sommelier(8:15)

Outdoor Industry & Wine Industry (11:56)

Certifying Organizations (13:25)

Benefits of Low Pass Rates (30:17)

Exams (32:15)

Trick Questions (35:30)

BUSA (40:18)

Echolands (48:42)

Visiting The Winery (1:00:28)

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Floreo: How to Make Great Coffee at Home + Elevating American Cafe Culture Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

Americans love coffee — there are well over 40,000 coffee shops in the USA — but it’s easy to argue that many other countries are doing coffee better. Why is that, and what can be done to elevate American coffee culture to the level it most definitely deserves? Floreo Coffee founder, Sebastian Skokan, has dedicated himself to this cause, and today, he’s sharing his answers with Jonathan Ellsworth & Eli Brown.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

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Floreo Coffee Co

TOPICS & TIMES:

Sebastian’s Background (3:00)

Finding the Best Coffee Scene (8:37)

Coffee Education (10:29)

Sensory Science (12:31)

The Floreo Cafe (17:45)

Quality vs Speed (21:00)

Weber Grinder (25:28)

Coffee Presentation & Preparation (28:25)

Coffee Expressions (33:06)

Coffee Economics (39:57)

Grinding, Roast Quality, & Shot Timing (48:43)

Advection & Diffusion (53:12)

Brew Ratios (59:02)

Tips & Tricks (1:04:26)

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Amateur Hour: The Hi-Fi Audio Rabbit Hole w/ Simon Stewart & Jonathan Ellsworth Mar 18, 2026

Show notes

Jonathan started falling down the rabbit hole of hi-fi audio gear, and he says it’s all Simon’s fault. So in this conversation, Simon talks to Jonathan about his audio journey; why he’s singled out the world of hi-fi headphones as a place to begin; why he’s become a believer in “EQ”; and why it feels almost inevitable that he’ll end up exploring the world of loudspeakers, too.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Craft Collective (1:18)

Why Headphones Make Sense (5:53)

Is Beethoven the Original Heavy Metal? (12:25)

Headphones vs Speakers (15:57)

Jonathan’s First Hi-Fi Headphones (29:19)

Why You Should ‘EQ’ (35:07)

The Qudelix-5k DAC/AMP + Equalizer (36:20)

Dedicated Headphone Amp vs Integrated Amp (40:49)

The JDS Labs Headphone AMP+DAC (44:10)

Active vs Passive Speakers (1:01:18)

Where To Go From Here? (1:06:35)

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Wildflour: The Most Beloved Bakery in the Ski World Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

Located at the base of Palisades Tahoe, Wildflour Baking Company is probably the most beloved bakery in skiing, and it definitely has the most accomplished customer base in the ski world. So Jonathan sat down with Wildflour owner, Susan Lopez, to talk about it all, and learn some of the secrets to Wildflour’s success.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us here to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

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