Brew Ha Ha

Tienda Salsita founder Kathleen joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell in the studio on Brew Ha Ha today. This is her first time on the show. She produces shelf stable salsas in glass jars, in a wide range of flavors, using almost all locally-grown ingredients. Kathleen has brought in some salsas and mezcal. Tequila is a type of mezcal, produced only in the state of Jalisco from local agave. Other mezcals are made elsewhere. Kathleen from Tienda Salsita in the studio with a big table full of salsas and mezcal. Kathleen tells how she fell in love with salsa, beginning with her great grandparents from Colombia and through living in Mexico. She studied Spanish in a full immersion program in Healdsburg in school. Then after college she moved to Mexico to live with her aunt. There she fell in love with Mexican table culture. “It’s my love language.” She started making salsa by hand eight years ago with her own mortar and pestle. She supports local farmers and others in Mexico. “We are a flavor-forward salsa company.” She does a lot of pairings with salsa and beverages like mezcal. Salsa and Mezcal Herlinda remembers when her friends introduced her to mezcal while she was on a beer judging trip to Mexico. The passion fruit flavor is her favorite. ++++++ Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. ++++++ Kathleen has brought a Salsa Macha, which is an oil-based salsa. It can be a finishing sauce or an ingredient. It doesn’t have a lot of spice but it has a lot of flavor. The Salsa Macha is a sauce born of two worlds, the Spanish and the Mexican. The Spanish tried to plant olives in Mexico, which did not take off on a large scale. But this is where Spanish olive oil and Mexican chiles came together. There are two types of mezcal and they will drink from a traditional gourd called a jicara. ****** Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions. ****** Next they taste the Salsa Verde Asado. Usually green sauces are thin but they add no water to this one. It would go with pork, roasted chicken, an avocado, or a brothy soup. Shoutout to their supplier Longer Table Farm.

Cartoonist Stephan Pastis joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha, live from Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor, CA. Vinny and Natalie Cilurzo are also on the show today. Stephan Pastis has been drawing the comic strip Pearls Before Swine for 25 years. He is publishing an anthology this year. He has been on The Drive before, most recently in August of last year, the day that Steve Jaxon signed off as host. Stephan describes the characters in Pearls Before Swine as representing parts of his own personality. The stars are a cynical rat and a good-natured pig, with a supporting cast of other animals, including a goat, some crocodiles and a zebra. He has a book coming out on the strip’s 25th anniversary, called Pearls Jubilee, seen here on Simon & Schuster’s website. Russian River Brewing is making a special edition of Pliny the Elder, with a label that Stephan Pastis has drawn. On November 12 they will do a book and bottle signing at Russian River Brewing. The book, Pearls Jubilee, will have a release event at the Charles M. Schultz Museum on Tuesday, November 10. Follow the link for ticketing info. ++++++ Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. ++++++ Herlinda is also a fan of Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson, who went into seclusion at the height of his fame. Stephan tells of writing a fan letter to him and receiving an offer for him to draw Stephan’s strip for a few days’ editions. Those strips got a lot of traffic and it was an honor for Stephan to meet Waterson. ****** Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions. ****** Stephan and the Cilurzos became friends when Stephan mentioned Russian River Brewing in the comic strip. He is also a travel writer, and Vinny has advised Stephan about finding breweries to visit.

Aidan Dunn and David Allardice from Ballindalloch Distillery in Scotland join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha today. This is their first time on the show. Herlinda heard about Ballindalloch Distillery from her friend Dr. Hoby Wedler, who was a guest on Brew Ha Ha back on March 12, 2026, on this episode. He is a PhD organic chemist and a sensory perception expert. Also, Brew Ha Ha has featured distillers on the show before, the last time was this December 2025 episode with Young & Yonder. California is the first market where Ballindalloch is launching their single malt scotch whisky. Whisky is the umbrella term for a spirit that is produced from grains. The different whiskys around the world will be based on local grains. In Scotland they grow a lot of wheat and barley, while the US has predominantly corn and rye. ****** Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions. ****** David explains how to remember the spelling of “whisky” in the five top whiskey-making countries in the world. The countries that use the spelling “whisky” without the E, are Japan, Canada and Scotland. They have no E in their name. America and Ireland, with an E in the name, spell it “whiskey.” Ballindalloch Estate Aidan describes their production as very small, only about 50,000 liters per year. That is only about 3000 bottles per market country. That is about one day of production for the bigger distilleries. The Ballindalloch estate includes a castle and there is a golf course nearby. ++++++ Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. ++++++ Whisky in Scotland can be single-malt or blended and has to be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Ballindalloch bottles their whiskey at a higher ABV which produces better flavor. Herlinda finds this whisky to be smooth and delicious. The US market is so large that it takes a huge effort to enter, so they are starting in just California. Scotland is also known for cattle. The Black Angus breed is a cross between two types of short-horned cattle. The Macpherson. The 30,000 acre Ballindallock farm has been in the same family for 23 generations.

Bruce and Karen Shimizu, the co-owners of Shimizu Sake, join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. This is their first time on the show. We have also had other sake makers on the show before. Hachidori Sake joined us on this episode of Jan. 9, 2025. Also, Omurasaki Sake was here on this episode on January 26, 2023. Shimizu is the first place in Sonoma County where a sake brewery and a tasting room are open in the same location. Sake is brewed from cooked rice, and it resembles beer rather than wine in its process. Bruce's great grandmother in Cotati made sake at home. He was interested finding ways to carry on his Japanese heritage and traditions. He also started the Sonoma County Taiko drumming group, so brewing sake locally was another way to do that. ++++++ Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. ++++++ Herlinda remembers tasting sake when her father was in the Navy and came home with some sake from trips to the Pacific. Bruce remembers his first taste of high-quality sake, after only knowing it from the common quality stuff from what they had at home. Koji for flavor. Bruce explains that to make sake they use koji (Aspergillus oryzae) which which is rich in flavor. It is the same fungus in soy sauce and miso. (Umami is merely the Japanese word for ‘flavor’). So sake goes well with flavorful foods. Bruce likes to marinate pork or fish, along with vegetables, in koji. After they make sake, the remaining solids or “sake lees” are called sake kasu or just kasu which also contains the active yeast cultures from the sake. That also makes a great marinade. They will even give some kasu to local chefs who are interested. Shimizu Sake is the exclusive sake sponsor of the Many Moons Festival on Oct. 3. ****** Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions. ****** Bruce calls his product a California sake, using locally sourced water and rice. Bruce explains that he wanted to do things that they won’t do commercially. Other brewers won’t do something that is not tested. A small brewery allows for this kind of creative freedom. Then his son suggested they expand their product line into two popular styles. He saw salzers and low-alcohol cocktails. People can enjoy the flavors of sake in different ways. Gravenstein apples, Meyer lemons, prickly pear/ dragon fruit. They are experimenting with agave and monk fruit. They also are using finger limes for their unique flavor and texture.

Steve Doty and Jason Lindell from Shady Oak Brewing join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. They have been on the show before, the last time was when Jason was on this episode last year before the same event. Shady Oak has two events this weekend. The Smash Burger Battle, also known as the Smash Bash II, is this Saturday. Then they are holding another edition of their record sale, on Sunday. The doors open at noon on Saturday for the Smash Burger Battle. They will have people’s choice and also judging. The live band “The Love Handles” will perform. Admission is free, all ages, pet friendly. You can call it a battle, or just a fest, depending on your appetite for competition. +++++ Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. +++++ Then on Sunday, there are thousands of records for sale, along with used gear, band shirts, live DJs, a live broadcast, an outside flea market and Micheladas. ***** Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions. ***** Spontaneous Beer Steve and Jason have brought three beers, all of them in un-labled growlers. One of the beers is called Hella Citra, a west coast IPA with Citra hops. Hella is just the west coast and rocky mountain slang term, not the beer style. It just has a lot of Citra hops. In the ‘80s they might have called it “Rilly Citra” but they didn’t have good beer back then yet. One of their beers is a "spontaneous beer" which is one that is 100% fermented by yeast that is in the environment, none added. It takes a dedicated and skillful brew master to pull this off.