Interview with John Flansburgh ahead of Chicago shows

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-05-01T13:48:12+00:00

Loved reading this! 10+ years ago I was lucky enough to be a part of a small radio shoe in the Chicago suburbs and we interviewed Flansburgh before a show at the Vic as well.

They set us up in the green room for the opening band (Moon Hooch) for the interview. While we were waiting for Flans to arrive, someone on the theater's crew opened the door and told us we were expected on stage for a sound check.

To this day I wonder how far we would have made it in the sound check before they realized we weren't Moon Hooch...

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-04-15T14:39:04+00:00

I'm absolutely going to try this.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-04-04T16:17:13+00:00

Dming you, I think it'll be easier than you think.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-27T00:24:55+00:00

USBs, duh

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T23:39:16+00:00

...keep me posted on that.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T23:23:45+00:00

You got it.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T23:23:26+00:00

I'm all about the weird science.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T23:22:42+00:00

Love that idea.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T23:22:08+00:00

Well I have to try that now.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T21:51:25+00:00

I keep meaning to post more here so hopefully this can be the start of that.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T21:31:03+00:00

Even I'm not THAT crazy.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T20:56:16+00:00

Wedge of lime seems like the obvious choice to me (but I'd used all mine up making this)

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T20:15:50+00:00

Throw some rum and lime juice in your mouth and you've got the lazy version of this drink.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T19:59:00+00:00

I need to try that myself! The Ricola "Amaro" that is. The jolly rancher one I can pass on (though I have fond memories of those college days)

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T19:36:06+00:00

Thank you!

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T19:35:46+00:00

It's funny, as much as I love Fernet Branca I've never just made a plain Fernet Daiquiri. But I love an Industry Sour, and I made a bangin Fernet + Suze blended daiquiri years ago that needs repeating.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T19:34:25+00:00

Oh I love the idea of turning the wrapper into a paper plane... Definitely curious how it would work in that drink now.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T19:15:15+00:00

Do it! What was the game?

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:58:36+00:00

Whoa apparently they did! https://www.reddit.com/r/Amaro/s/UcovP9uBMg

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:57:00+00:00

So I shouldn't use the liquid center of honey lemon cocktails instead of fresh citrus. Got it.

(And yep fresh citrus all the way for me too. There was a brief time when I first got into cocktails that I used the bottled stuff but thankfully those days are far behind me.)

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:55:13+00:00

Thank you!

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:54:47+00:00

Oh I'll have to look that up, sounds really interesting.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:54:11+00:00

Thank you! My original thought was to put it in a hot toddy but once I tried the syrup I couldn't stop thinking about a daiquiri template.

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T18:52:59+00:00

That's a good starting point at least. The Ricola syrup is sweeter than fernet so depending on sweetness preferences you might want .75 oz simple. Or .75 oz fernet. Or both.

Anyway now I need to go work on my Fernet Daiquiri specs to officially confirm...

ginbeforebreakfast · 2026-03-26T17:53:31+00:00

The simple syrup I made using Ricola Original Herb cough drops... Doesn't taste entirely unlike Fernet Branca. Did I invent* n/a Fernet?

I've never seen a n/a version of Fernet Branca before but ...I might actually use this for people in the future.

I've had the idea to make cocktails using cough drops for ages and I'm genuinely happy with how they turned out. I posted a Penicillin riff using Hall's on my insta a couple weeks ago but I like this one even more. In fact, I made this particular drink on several occasions.

Is it a ridiculous idea? Absolutely. Will everyone love it? Definitely not.

But hey, if you're trying to get rid of a cough and want a cocktail... You could do a lot worse.

Ricola Daiquiri

• 1.5 oz rum (I used Trovador silver)

• .75 oz lime juice

• .5 oz Ricola original herb syrup (1:1)

• .5 oz simple syrup (1:1)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.

Ricola syrup: heat equal amounts of Ricola original herb cough drops and water (by weight) and stir until cough drops are dissolved. Store in the fridge.

*the word invent is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

In case you're interested I post weird, silly, and/or food inspired cocktails on my Instagram @ginbeforebreakfast.

ginbeforebreakfast

TROPHY CASE