We ain't working with rookies here.
We got three Master Distillers out there.
[Digger] We're gonna see what true masters of the craft
can bring us in the spring variety.
-[Mike] It's a real nice bead. -It's a super nice bead.
I'm gonna mark him around 95.
They took springtime, put it in a jar.
One of them felt extra springtime.
They sure did.
[narrator] This time on a special Master Distiller,
it's springtime in Appalachia.
[Richard] Welcome to paradise.
[narrator] As the tree cover returns,
outlaw shiners head to the backwoods...
[Amanda] This is the part that I've been waiting for this whole time.
[narrator] ... with an abundance of fresh ingredients
after a long, hard winter.
I'll put this up against anybody's.
[narrator] It's Richard versus Amanda versus Tater.
Three of the greatest Master Distiller champions battle to be crowned
the king or queen of spring in Appalachia.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
And damn, if that wasn't close.
Lady and gentlemen, welcome to Master Distiller again.
Three masters of the craft, that's what we've got here.
At the end of this competition,
one of y'all will get your bragging rights
and something a little special for your mantle.
We're gonna see what true masters of the craft can bring us
in the spring variety.
[Mark] You know, as the weather thaws
and winter turns into spring,
that's a sure sign of shine season.
You know, it's always easier to go outside.
There's more for us to choose from.
We don't have to depend on dry grains
or cold storage apples.
Distillers have always welcomed the springtime.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
The coming of spring means one thing
to a backwoods shiner,
more variety and more money.
Spring is traditionally the time when backwoods shiners
begin to ramp up their production,
with grains and fruit both being plentiful.
During the winter months,
distillers have to rely on cold-stored grains and fruits to tide them over,
and cold-stored fruits don't make near as much liquor.
With warmer weather, you get fresh berries and grains,
and everybody knows that seasonal liquors fetch higher prices.
Mmm, limited edition.
[Digger] All right, guys.
We got a guy here who knows a little bit about spring alcohol.
Even though there's been some bad blood between us,
our guest judge is a master at using fresh ingredients
and building some good quality liquor out of it.
Mikey?
I love everything springtime, man,
the ramps, strawberries, dewberries, the whole nine yards.
We've asked y'all to bring your base mash in here.
You're gonna run that,
and afterwards, you're gonna go to the farmstand
to pick your ingredients to enhance your spring recipe.
I cannot wait to see what you guys can bring to the table with this one.
All right, guys. Y'all ought to know the drill by now.
Three hours is all you're gonna have.
Bring us a jar of spring liquor up here
that's gonna make us forget all about that long hard winter.
We got that?
-Yes, sir. -All right.
Three hours.
Your time starts now.
-Good luck and get with it, guys. -[Mark] Get busy, guys.
-Good luck, boys. -Good luck.
So how'd your mash do, Amanda?
It smells pretty sour.
My name is Amanda Bryant,
and I'm from Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania.
When I first came on Master Distiller,
I was actually a roofer.
Since then, I have taken on distilling full time.
It's a good sign if the bees like it.
This is the part that I've been waiting for this whole time.
It's hot, but it's really smooth.
I won my first Master Distiller
with my hazelnut light rum.
I also beat Richard with a pecan pie in Thanksgiving.
[Tim] And Amanda,
-you get the little piggy. -Really?
-[all applauding] -Aw, thank you, guys.
I just wanna keep winning.
[Richard] And what are you gonna do?
[Amanda] Wildflowers and honey.
[Richard] That's spring for sure.
[Amanda] And I got a traditional corn mash.
Keep it simple, stick to the basics.
Wildflowers and honey.
When I think of spring,
I think of fresh flowers, honey, and honeysuckle.
So I'm gonna try to incorporate that
into my spirit like a spring day.
[Digger] What kind of honey is that, Amanda?
-[Amanda] It's wildflower honey. -[Digger] Ooh.
[Amanda] So this one has a lot of lavender and lilac flavor to it.
I'm trying to heat it up first with a little bit of warm mash
so it preps my thumper.
And once I get this mash a little bit heated up,
I'm gonna throw some jasmine, chamomile in the thumper.
I'm gonna do everything that I can to win.
[Tater] How about yours, Richard?
[Richard] It's pretty good.
I wanna drink some, but I ain't ate nothing yet.
[Tater] I wouldn't drink mine for $10.
[Richard laughs] Why not?
I don't like what grain beer does to you.
I'm Tater.
I'm a true blue through and through backwoods moonshiner,
born and raised in East Tennessee,
and we've got a long history moonshining and liquor around here.
All three of us coming into this spring fever competition
have won Master Distiller.
I have won Applejack Master Distiller.
Here you go, feller.
Tater, you're the next Master Distiller.
Congratulations, old buddy.
So I'm very confident in my skills in making liquor.
So what are you making, Tater?
[Tater] Strawberry-flavored sweet liquor.
I started my strawberry brandy last week.
I just took strawberries, got some cane sugar, corn,
and turned her loose with some good yeast in it.
I'm gonna infuse it through my thumper
and try to bring out a good flavor in it.
Strawberries just represent spring to me.
I mean, they're the first fruits you get here.
So I'm going to add strawberry pie filling to the thumper.
[Amanda] You made strawberry liquor before?
Eh, a time or three.
You got strawberry pie filling?
[Tater] Yes, ma'am, I did.
The canned ones are more soft.
They should cook up better in the thump keg,
and they do have a lot of sugar and syrup in them.
[Mark] Yeah, them strawberries is going in that thumper, Tater's.
You know, Mark Rogers always told us
strawberries, you had to be careful with it,
because it make your liquor hot
because there ain't no way to get the seeds out of a strawberry.
[Mike] Strawberry can make a fiery liquor.
-[Mark] It can. -Whew!
One of my favorite memories, sitting on Granny and Papaw's porch
eating strawberry homemade ice cream.
Is that what you're gonna put in your jar,
strawberry ice cream?
I don't like to let my secrets out till it's over with.
I'm over here listening, hoping you do.
My name is Richard Landry,
and I'm from New Iberia, Louisiana.
I've been on Master Distiller a bunch of times.
My first trip here was cherry bounce.
Richard, you're the next Master Distiller, my friend.
Congratulations, bro.
[Richard] I've done apple pie. I've done Popcorn Sutton based liquors.
I've won some. I've lost some.
But I've gone up against Amanda and Tater before,
and I know they come here to beat me.
So I guess I come here to beat them, too.
[Amanda] How about you, Richard?
What are you bringing to the party?
-Pomegranates and blueberry. -[Amanda] Ooh.
[Richard] So we're gonna use this fruit in both stages.
We're gonna ferment the pomegranate with the corn,
and then we're gonna use it also in distillation.
So for my spring drink, I'm just gonna do something healthy.
Pomegranate blueberry with a corn-based mash.
I'm gonna do something a little bit different.
I always do it different.
Pomegranates are a lot of work.
-All this time... -But you know why they're a lot of work, right?
-'Cause they're delicious. You gotta work for it. -'Cause they're so worth it.
This would be awesome to win the spring competition.
I mean, with this win, I could become master of spring.
You've burned one hour. Got two left.
[Tater whistles] It's sooner [bleep] than I thought.
Guess what?
[Amanda] You got liquor?
Yep.
Yeah, Bessie, yeah.
[Amanda] Oh, you're ripping, huh?
I bet you if you smell off that, you're getting drunk on a bicycle.
[Richard] You can smell it?
You're doggone right, boy.
It smells good. You better watch out.
I'm hoping my strawberry pie filling should carry a strawberry flavor.
Richard, how many of them pomegranates
you think you'll have to shuck out there
to put in your thumper?
I'm gonna do three of them. It's a lot of work.
[Tater] Where does pomegranates grow, Richard?
Ooh...
At the grocery store.
[all laughing]
I know they don't grow around here,
'cause I ain't never seen a pomegranate tree anywhere.
[Digger] I know they're in the Middle East.
Like Kansas?
[Digger] Uh, yeah, that.
-[laughing] -That's the Midwest.
We didn't give any geographic twist springtime, did we?
No, we did not.
[Richard] The thing about a pomegranate, it's so healthy.
I mean, there's a lot of antioxidants in here.
-So I'm making a healthy shine. -[Amanda] Me too.
All my flowers I'm using are really good for anxiety, stress, insomnia.
[Mark] Just guessing over here.
I'mma say that anybody that's shooting for the healthy side of it
ain't gonna be drinking liquor anyhow.
Now, I do think that you can use liquor
for certain ailments, like...
Hangovers?
[laughs] Hangovers, yeah.
[Tater] Bad chest cold.
-[Amanda] You're at jar number two? -Mmm-hmm.
My thumper's thumping.
Come on, baby.
I've got liquor.
[Tater] I thought I smelled something.
I kinda have my jars timed out.
I know how fast I can run it
and how slow I can run it.
So I'm gonna run it as slow as I can
and still get to that sweet jar
in the three hour amount of time.
Everybody's doing something completely different.
We're gonna be tasting three totally different alcohols,
but by three people that knows exactly what they're doing.
-Yeah, and all three of these have got the skills it takes. -[Mike] They do.
I'm running.
Guys, got another newsflash for you.
You burned an hour and a half, got an hour and a half left.
[Tater] Where are you at, Amanda? How many, three?
-[Amanda] No, I got two jars. I'm not on my third jar. -Two jars?
I haven't even filled up my first one yet.
You still ain't on one yet?
I'm still not on one yet.
I look around, and Amanda's got a couple of jars.
Tater has almost four jars out right now.
The still is just...
-It's running hot? -It wants me to run it real, real high.
It took a long time to get the pomegranate seeds out.
Plus, I have a lot of mash in this pot right now,
and inside of the thumper,
I have blueberries and pomegranates.
So all of this has to heat up,
and I definitely don't want it running this slow,
not right now that I'm under the clock.
I'm still at a half a jar right now.
Are you kidding me?
[Richard] I am not kidding you.
You ain't leaking propane, are you?
I should be leaking something.
Something's going on here.
I'm still at a half a jar right now.
Are you kidding me?
[Richard] I am not kidding you.
Something's going on here.
I wanted to run this low and slow
and make sure that I get a real good flavor profile.
But it's taking a long time to get this heated up.
Your flame is lower than ours.
I mean, you could always turn the flame up.
You got an hour and a half left, right?
The amount that you're averaging...
A half a jar in three hours.
That's not...
Yeah, you gotta turn it up a little.
[Richard] The solution is to give it more heat.
So I'm gonna fix the problem and get it going.
And hopefully, it can give enough volume
to get that one good jar right now.
I cranked it up a little bit.
That's giving me a little bit more.
[Amanda] Get back in the race.
[Mike] What are you doing, Tater?
[Tater] Uh, trying to make some damn liquor.
I don't know if I can get it turned out or not.
I put my strawberries in my thumper
to try to mellow the corn flavor out of it.
And I noticed you poured some,
looked like some strawberry pie filling
-or something in there? -Yeah.
Yeah, I mixed me a little bit of my beer and some pie filling together.
Looks like you're about at the end of your run, too, ain't you?
I don't know if I'm blessed or cursed,
but somehow or another, I get a lot of liquor out of my run.
Yeah, buddy.
[Tater] It ain't got a bad flavor.
Actually, it's picking up more flavor now,
-but it ain't got no juice to it. -[Mike] Right on.
You know, you got some good competition
-here with you today. -[Tater] Yeah.
I don't rag on myself,
but I ain't no doggone slapjack.
I know you're not.
All you gotta do is impress the judges with the final flavor...
-That's it. -...and that's all that matter.
That's it.
-Well, keep up the good work, man. -All right.
-Well, thank you, man. -I'm gonna move on over here
-and check these other ones out. -All-righty.
Miss Amanda.
-How you doing? -All right. How you doing?
Just getting into my good jar.
-Number six jar? -Yes, sir.
Starting to smell and taste some honey.
Oh, I smell it standing right here.
I can smell the honey. Smells good.
-[Amanda] Thank you. -[Mike] What's your plan?
You know, you got two big-time competitors here against you.
I'm gonna try to keep them out of my head...
-Right. -...and just focus on my spirit.
-Well, I ain't worried about you. -[Amanda chuckles]
You always pull something out good any doggone way,
any time I've ever seen you compete.
You're great at what you do.
-Thank you. -All right. You're very welcome.
-Landry. -Mike Cockrell.
What are you doing, buddy?
Oh, I'm making a little pomegranate blueberry for you to try.
[Mike] Hey, I love pomegranates.
You got blueberries mixed in with it.
This gotta turn out good.
-It should. -You're rocking and rolling pretty good on that pot.
You might wanna turn that down a little bit.
It's shaking.
Mike is new as a judge to me, but I've been around Mike a little bit.
He's good.
I like to think I'm better.
That's about all I can say about Mike.
-[Digger] Mikey, bring us up to date. -Yes, sir.
So who's got your money bet?
[Mike] I don't know.
You know, I told Amanda she, you know, kinda won some brownie points with me.
I love honeysuckle.
But I love pomegranate.
I just take, bust them out and [mimics biting]
get in there and just eat them things.
You know, botanicals usually carry over better than fruit.
You know, that being said,
I think Amanda might have a little edge.
She might.
[Mark] You know, I'm a strawberry fanatic,
anything from just the raw berry itself
to cobblers to ice cream.
If it's got a strawberry in it, I'm on board with it.
[Digger] Gotta believe him around the world,
the strawberry milkshake.
One hour left in your run, guys.
Better be getting all them buttons pushed and knobs turned.
Are you catching your flowers yet?
-I'm getting honey on the nose... -You getting honey?
...and I'm just starting to get some flowers.
When you're working with flowers and floral,
it can be kind of tricky
because it can overwhelm it or give a soapy taste.
So I wanna make sure it's nicely balanced with the honey,
so that it's something that the judges will all really appreciate.
I got jasmine blossoms and chamomile blossoms and honeysuckle.
-They're really just a nice tea. -Yeah.
[Digger] 30 minutes left, guys.
That wall's closing in.
I don't need to get to eight or nine.
I just need to get to five.
-[Amanda] You will. -Number four, so this will be five.
-We're running the same. -[Richard] This one tastes pretty good, too.
I figure this next jar should be the one.
Pomegranate's a funny thing.
So I don't know really a balance in how it should be.
Blueberry and pomegranate, everybody's really not used to in an alcoholic beverage.
Tater, is that strawberry coming through for you?
I think it's gonna be a good base to make the flavor with.
I was hoping that I'd get more strawberry flavor
from my end of my liquor,
but it just ain't coming through like I want to.
[Mark] I believe Tater's about done his run.
I believe Tater has got his pick of the litter out.
-I believe that's about as bad as I ain't mess one up. -[Mark chuckles]
Gonna bring it to you and just let you have it, fellas.
[Digger] Oh, yeah?
You can head on back to your spot there, Tater.
Clean up, whatever you need to do.
Just don't get too liquored up
where you can't hear our verdict when we get back.
Richard, do you got more pomegranate or more blueberry?
[Richard] Kinda sweet and tart from the pomegranate.
I'm thinking this jar right here is gonna be the jar.
I think they're gonna taste pomegranate in here
with the blueberry also.
I'm gonna make sure I get as much flavor as I possibly can.
Bring it in here, boss.
They look like twins.
All right, go back there and clean up, straighten up.
Good luck, my friend.
-All right. -Amanda, got five minutes left.
Smell honey? I smell predominant honey.
Hmm, but I smell flowers, too, though.
Sometimes floral's not for everyone,
so I wanna make sure it's nicely balanced with the honey
so that the judges will all think of flowers
and bees and pollen and honey
and feel like a spring day.
[Digger] As they say, the proof's in the pudding.
Well, the proof's in the Mason jar right here.
-She's done her homework. -She knows what she's doing.
[Amanda] Now I can smell the honey.
I know when I taste it, I can taste flowers.
Now you're down to two minutes, Amanda.
All right, all right.
There we go.
[Amanda] That's my best jar.
It's pretty.
And Amanda, you step on back to your station.
We're gonna go taste, deliberate.
We'll be back when we reach a decision.
Good luck to each and every one of you.
-Thank you. -Good luck, guys. Thank you.
We ain't working with rookies here.
We got three Master Distillers out there.
[Digger] We're gonna see what true masters of the craft
can bring us in the spring variety.
That's old Richard's going right there.
Blueberry pomegranate ought to be pretty interesting.
[Mike] It's a real nice bead.
It's a super nice bead.
I'm gonna mark him around 95.
Pomegranates are, sometimes are hard to find.
[Richard] Tell me about it.
Pomegranate is kind of sour,
and that sour that it puts out...
-[Amanda] It's definitely a different, yeah, taste. -Yeah.
A little bit of tartness complements a lot of different fruits.
Definitely.
[Mark] Smells good.
Smells really good.
[Mike] It does. It smells wonderful.
-Dang good drink. -[Mark] That is an outstanding drink.
I think I'm getting a little bit more hint of a blueberry
-than I am the pomegranate. -[Digger] Yeah.
I'm getting it on the nose just a little bit,
but not so much in the taste.
-Yeah, I get that corn right off the bat. -[Mark] Right off the bat.
It finishes well.
It don't have any fire on the back end of it, does it?
[Mike] No, it's smooth.
[Mark] It's a good drink of liquor.
[Digger] Let's move on to Amanda.
[Mike] That's as clear as it gets.
[Mark] I'm gonna say she may be a dab higher proof than Richard.
She's 105 at bare minimum.
-[Mike] Mmm-hmm. -[Mark] Uh-huh.
I know my proof's pretty good, but...
I always get, like, right at 100, a little over,
and I always hope, like, "I hope it wasn't too hot."
This is the one I can't wait to taste, 'cause...
[Mark] You're a wildflower honey man, ain't you?
Wildflower, the honeysuckle,
buttercup, daffodils...
When they first start coming up,
you know that spring is on its way.
Mmm-hmm.
That's 105, 110 proof liquor
coming on the palate like a 90 proof liquor.
[Mike] Exactly.
[Mark] Got a good nose, I don't...
[Digger] I'm not getting that honeysuckle like I thought I would, though.
I can taste the floral notes,
not so much as the honeysuckle.
But the honey itself
with the rest of the flowers coming in...
It's a little fiery on the back end to me.
-Right, right here. -Well, that's that little bit of high proof and the honey.
The high proof and the honey.
-Honey's notorious for that. -[Mark] And it's not unpleasant.
-I'm not complaining about it. -No, it's good liquor.
You know you're drinking a drink of liquor
when you're drinking it.
-It's good. -Yep.
This shows you right there the value of a thumper.
[Mike] Exactly right.
Well, that's onto young Tater.
[Mike] See what Tater's got here.
[Mark] Uh-huh.
[Mike] I'd say that's 100 proof, don't you, Digger?
Mighty close. I'm gonna say he's still in the 90 range.
Mine just didn't come through like I really wanted it to.
But you have to have a crapload of strawberry
-to get strawberry flavors come through. -Yeah.
It didn't taste bad. It's just...
It wasn't what I was wanting.
I don't get a lot of strawberry on the nose.
[Mark] I don't get much strawberry at all.
-I don't either. -It's got a sweet taste, a sweet finish,
but I think that's coming from the corn and sugar.
Good regular sweet run of corn mash is what that tastes like, which is good.
It's the lowest proof on the table.
-[Digger] Yep. -[Mike] It's the lowest proof on the table. I agree.
It's a good drinking proof right here.
You know, it's...
You get all the flavors.
Plus, it don't put you to bed as quick.
-You can enjoy it a little bit longer. -[Mike] Exactly right.
[Digger] But when you think about spring liquor,
I don't think of corn.
They're off the chart good in their own different way.
Well, is everybody on the same page?
I know where I'm at.
I'm with it.
Let's go bring the news.
[Digger] Come up and get your jar.
You brought us spring alcohol.
You were tasked with creating your own unique flavors
that would stand out in a moonshiner's busiest season.
We're just gonna cut to the chase.
I'm gonna start off with Tater.
Find jar of liquor you turned in, crystal clear.
Hit the palate just right.
Uh, the only negative I can come up with,
I couldn't find much strawberry in there anywhere.
I believe there was way more syrup than there was fruit,
and fruit equals flavor.
But all that considered,
it's a fine jar of liquor.
I'd like to have a boatload of it.
Tater, your jar of liquor, smooth as pouring water...
Just a little bit lower proof,
I'm gonna say around 90 proof on that,
but a great drink of liquor, man.
Amanda, you brought us
a 105 proof jar of liquor that hits your palate
like a 90 proof jar.
Your flavor, floral on the nose,
sweet on the taste.
-Fine jar right there. -Thank you.
Amanda, I could taste the floral notes
of all your botanicals, your flowers, your stuff,
and that honey.
It reminds me of springtime.
I'm just waiting on
the flurry of butterflies to come through here.
[chuckles]
You was the highest proof of the three,
but you know,
honey has a tendency to leave a little fire
on the back of your tongue.
That's the way it's supposed to be.
You're drinking liquor.
You're not drinking buttermilk.
Richard, pomegranate and blueberry.
I didn't get as much pomegranate
as I thought I would,
but I figure you'll address that
going on down the road,
but all in all,
-fine jar of liquor. -Thank you.
[Mark] Richard, I don't think
I got any pomegranate in your spirit,
but I'm a big fan of blueberries,
which I did get.
The proof is spot-on. Good job, Richard.
Good job to all three of you.
[Digger] Well, ain't nobody going home,
just picking the order you go to the farm stand,
so as it stands right now,
Amanda, you're number one.
Richard, you're number two through the door.
Tater, you're driving the caboose, brother.
All righty, then.
That being said, we'll go to the farm stand,
you pick out your ingredients,
and we'll move on to the next challenge.
Come on, guys. Follow me.
Go with Tickle, Jr. there.
[imitating Tickle] Ah, I'll tell you what.
[Digger] You're in better hands
than you would be normally. I promise you.
[Mark in normal voice] All right, guys.
Normally, this is Tickle's job,
but you know, it is spring fever time.
Maybe he's still in hibernation.
Let's hope he is.
[all chuckling]
[Mark] You guys are here to go in the farm stand.
You got three minutes.
Grab any ingredients that you need,
think you can use to add additional flavor
to your distillate.
You ready, Amanda?
-I'm ready. -Your three minutes starts now.
Get with it, girl.
[Amanda] Well, this is the first time I've ever been
first pick on the farm stand,
and I feel pretty proud.
Orange extract?
I'm gonna keep it simple.
I need honey, and some orange blossom water,
and some dried orange.
Honey.
Take all the time you need, Amanda,
as long as it isn't over two minutes.
[Amanda] All righty. Thank you.
Pretty much trying to embody what spring is.
Spring's the best time to run
ingredients that we can't access
in the wintertime,
so I want to make sure that my ingredients are
light, floral, and bright,
and I don't need a lot.
You have 30 seconds, Amanda.
I'm gonna keep it simple.
-Yep. -[Amanda] I don't want to screw up
-a good thing, right? -Nope.
[Mark] All right.
Sir Richard,
your three minutes starts now.
This shouldn't be too long.
Tater, hold on.
-You'll be in here in a second. -[Mark chuckles]
Well, the judges said they tasted
a lot of blueberry, and not a lot of pomegranate,
so I'm gonna pick something
that would really help me with my flavor profile.
[Mark] Kiwis, is it?
Yes, sir.
And there's kiwis, and dried fruit,
and all kinds of stuff in here,
so I grab the lemon, the dehydrated lemon,
the dehydrated orange,
because this citrusy kiwi flavor
might help me bring through the pomegranate flavor
a little bit more.
Richard, you used a minute.
They do have blueberries.
I know I need pomegranate so I'll be able to give them
real good pomegranate flavor.
-Pomegranate. -[Mark] Lookee there!
Richard, 45 seconds.
[Richard] I got everything I need.
All right, Sir Tater.
Your three minutes will start
now.
Tater, your strawberries didn't come through
like you want to.
I mean, you can jazz it up again,
however you see fit.
I absolutely have to get
strawberries at the farm stand,
because if I don't,
I'm gonna have to come up with a new plan.
Strawberries.
Oh, them look good.
Today was fresh strawberries.
They looked a little bit green for me,
so I kind of veered away from them.
They had some that was in a jar
that looked like they might have had
sugar in them.
That's the ones I went for, mostly.
Y'alls do have the cream.
That should get me the flavoring that I need
for the post-flavoring.
The cream that I found should end up tasting like
Granny's homemade ice cream.
I'm gonna call it all in, and all done.
You only used 45 seconds, man.
I think I'm good, Mark.
[Mark] All right. Okay, guys.
Bring us the magic that you do so well.
Let's go get started.
Y'all happy with your spring haul?
-Oh, yeah. -Yep.
Good, 'cause I cannot wait to see
where you take these jars.
[Mark] At the farm stand,
you done selected your ingredients.
Now that you've got them, we're gonna have 30 minutes
to add even more springtime flavor
to that jar of liquor.
We're looking at three masters of the craft,
but you can take
a really, really good jar of whiskey,
and mess it up really, really fast.
Don't mess up this liquor.
All three jars are great.
Bring us your best before 30 minutes passes.
Your time starts now.
[Richard] Tater?
-Yes, sir? -Bring that strawberry, like you said you would.
[Mark] Tater has got more strawberries.
Whenever I think of springtime,
I think of sitting on Granny's porch
eating homemade strawberry ice cream,
so I'm gonna try to make a strawberry sipping cream.
My base spirit is corn all the way,
so I've got to add a lot of strawberry flavor
to get my result that I'm desiring.
[Mark] You know, the thing about it is,
time of the year for strawberries,
and Tater didn't really pick the fresh berries.
Fresh strawberries, sometimes they'll end up
making something bitter,
so I'm gonna go with the ones that's in the glaze.
That should get me
the strawberry flavor in there.
I do feel like I do have an edge,
because there ain't nothing more spring than strawberries.
[Mike] He got him another pomegranate.
Complemented with some kiwis.
[Richard] I got a Louisiana 'palachian
springtime going on right now.
"'palachian" sounds
a whole lot like "pollution," though.
[Richard] I was thinking of the Appalachians.
Is that orange peels? Dehydrated oranges?
That's oranges and lemons in here.
Along with the pomegranates and blueberries,
I'm gonna give them a citrusy kiwi flavor.
That over there, that's gonna be a good drink.
[Mark] I do like kiwis.
Yeah, but like I say, it's a delicate balance.
[Richard] The kiwi is very, very faint,
but it's only meant to be a binder,
and I think it binds all of this
together pretty well,
and I think it will really help me
with my flavor profile.
[Mark] What you see on her table there,
those three or four little items, is all she got.
[Amanda] The judges were really clear that we had
really excellent base spirits,
and they really liked mine off the bat,
so I want to make sure that my ingredients
bring out more spring.
I'm gonna sweeten it with honey,
and bring back a little bit of that floral into it.
It doesn't get much more spring
than flowers and honey, right?
[Mark] She's cutting them peelings
off of them dehydrated fruits.
[Mike] Mmm-hmm.
I don't know if she's gonna use
the peelings or the gut side of it.
Amanda, is you rehydrating those oranges, or...
A little bit.
So, I used orange blossom water...
-[Mark] Uh-huh. -[Amanda] ...and honey.
Put a tiny bit of orange in there,
so you'll get a little hint of orange,
and you'll be like, "Okay, yes, orange blossom."
The floral notes sometimes come in an off flavor.
It's really all about how you balance it.
[Mark] What was in the little eyedropper?
[Amanda] Honeysuckle.
-[Mark] Honeysuckle? -Extract.
[Mike] Honeysuckle.
-[Mark] Ohhh. -[Digger] Ooh.
[Mike] Hey, hey.
It's really good when it's sweetened up enough,
so I just gotta be prepared for that.
You've got 15 minutes left, guys.
Orange peel or lemon peel,
if you ain't had a lot of practice,
you can screw liquor up real quick with it.
In a heartbeat.
It'll be so bitter you can't drink it.
Yep.
[Mark] There goes Tater.
He's jarring up some of that cream.
[Tater] I'm trying to hit
that strawberry ice cream flavor.
That's how come I'd add a few chunks
of strawberries in it.
-[Digger] Yeah. -[Mark] Oh, my.
'Cause that'll add your texture to it
on your finish.
They ain't many people that don't like strawberries,
so maybe I can hit everybody's palate,
and come through with it.
Amanda, are you getting
your flavor close to what you want?
I think it's pretty good.
I like it.
I'm so happy with the spirit that I made.
The floral notes come together cohesively.
It tastes and smells like spring,
and makes you feel like a spring day.
[Richard] This jar I'm turning in
is kind of complicated.
There's a lot of flavors going on...
How about you, Richard-Bob?
Uh,
I'm hunting it.
...and I'm gonna bring them
the most beautiful jar of 'shine,
and strain as much particulates
out of this as I possibly can.
Richard, I don't mean to make you panic,
but we got one minute left.
Well, you're making me panic.
[Richard] Come on, baby.
You gotta strain for me. I ain't got much time left.
I'm trying to strain every bit of pulp
outta here that I can.
Richard, I don't mean to make you panic,
but we got one minute left.
I'm getting down to the wire,
so I'm gonna have to just use a metal strainer,
and strain it that way into the jar.
Thirty seconds, guys.
You gotta have them on the table up here.
But no worries over there.
I think you've got this,
but we want a full jar, just so you know.
I'm so happy with the spirit that I made.
It's sweet, and floral, and bright.
I think spring shines through in the final jar.
[Tater] My strawberry sipping cream
tastes real good to me.
It's a beautiful spring pink,
with the strawberries floating in it.
It well reminds you of eating strawberry ice cream.
[Digger] Ten,
nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one,
and damned if that wasn't close.
All right, guys. You know the drill.
Y'all go back, and hang out,
clean up your messes,
and we're gonna come back
and name us a spring champion.
That's some springtime colors right there.
Yes, it is.
'Cause you've got strawberries,
you've got the color of honeysuckle sap,
and you got pomegranate juice.
-They're pretty, ain't they? They look good. -[Mike] They look nice.
Let's get busy.
Let's go with these chilled ones first.
[Mike] Let's do it to it.
Let's see what Tater's got here.
Thing about it is, proofs can change drastically
in these sipping creams.
They're usually somewhere around 40 to 50 proof.
I love them.
-[Mike] I do, too. -[Digger] Oh, yeah, and they say,
-"Oh, you can't keep them on the shelf." -[Mark] No.
We know it's strawberry, don't we?
We know that it ain't green apple,
what he was a-spewing there for awhile, don't we?
Exactly right.
Yeah, you can't proof that by shaking it.
It's more of a processed proof,
that stuff.
I added the strawberries in it
for the texture of the homemade ice cream.
[Amanda] It was a good visual,
-and it looked just like... -Yeah, beautiful.
...strawberry ice cream in a jar,
and it tasted seriously good.
I was tickled at how it stayed afloat.
-How it suspended itself. -Mmm-hmm.
I was afraid that it was gonna
all set to the bottom, and look like
a big, great glob.
Well, I'm gonna shock you fellers.
There's strawberry in there.
[Mike] Yeah, buddy.
[Digger] All over the nose.
[Mark] Oh, my.
If that ain't melted ice cream,
I ain't a-sitting here.
[chuckles]
-[Digger] I'm not lying. -And there's liquor in it, too.
It smells like a melted milkshake
that had a shot of whiskey put in it.
[Mike] Oh, and I'm getting a few of those little chunks.
-It's 50 proof, at least, here. -[Mike] At least.
It's as high a proof of sipping cream
as I believe I've tasted.
[Mike] Me and you both.
On Tater's first run,
there was no taste of strawberry nowhere.
-[Mark] No. -[Digger] Mmm-mmm.
But he didn't come up short today on this, did he?
I actually thought about grabbing
all them strawberries, Tater.
You know, Richard, you might have liked
-your kneecaps left on, too. -[laughs]
You know?
'Cause I didn't have nowhere else to go with mine.
You know, you've gotta find that happy medium
in proof and flavor.
That's right.
And Tater has nailed both of them.
-On the head. -[Digger] Yeah. He knocked it out of the park.
Moving on to the next chilled one.
[Mike] And it's Amanda.
[Digger] This right here is gonna be interesting.
It's gonna be...
I'm telling you, Amanda does not disappoint.
[Mike] Never.
This jar was off the chain
before she done anything to it.
But she's backed in a corner with this one.
She's gotta really bring it.
How did yours come out?
I was happy with it.
I left it high proof, wildflower honey.
-You know? Springtime. -[Tater] Yeah.
That's definitely what it tastes like.
-[Amanda] Yep, 100%. -[Richard] Take a bow.
-[chuckles] -Yep, it is.
-You grabbed the wildflower. -Take a bow, Amanda.
-You sure did. -I thought I was gonna
have to take one of them sinus pills.
-Well, thanks. -[all chuckling]
No, I'm just kidding.
[Mark] When you have anything to do with honeysuckle,
it makes you think about spring.
-[Digger] Yeah. -You're getting outside,
you're in short britches again.
If you don't smell spring, nose that rascal.
You can smell the flower in it.
I feel like I definitely took a risk
putting the floral in there.
You know, you either love it, or you hate it.
[smacks lips]
It's really good.
[smacks lips] Yeah.
[Mark] I can't put my finger on it,
but there's something in it that tastes
-just a tiny bit mediciney, don't it? -Yeah. Extracty.
Yep. It's that orange zest.
[Mike] It's that orange zest.
It's changed her whole profile.
[Mike] It has.
It's a little bit on the hot side for me
as a post-flavored alcohol.
The taste of it is really good. It's just unique.
-I like it. -[Mike] I do, too...
-Yeah. -[Mark] I like it a lot.
...but I think the orange peel
put that bitterness, that twang to it.
But at the end of the day, it's still a good drink.
-[Mike] It is. -[Mark] Oh, yeah. Yes, it is.
All right, Mike, let's see what Mr. Richard's brought us.
Well, it looks pomegranate, don't it?
Louisiana lappan.
-[Mike] What? -Lappage.
-[Mike] Lappage. -Louisiana...
[both] ...Appalachian.
-[Mike] 'lachian. -Yeah.
[Mark and Digger] Louisiana 'lachian.
I didn't do as good as I thought I was gonna do
at flavoring that, at all.
[Amanda] It looked pretty, though.
[Richard] Pretty don't win the race.
No, it don't.
There's some alcohol in there.
Oh, yeah.
-[Mike chuckles] -Ooh. Plenty of it.
[Mike] Oh.
Shoot.
That... It's just different.
It's super strong, for a post-flavored alcohol.
Yeah, he needed
a little more juice in the party.
It's like the kiwi, and the pomegranate,
and the blueberries,
he put so many flavors in there
that they all got left behind.
His original jar of the blueberries
were forward.
-[Mike] They were forward. -Yeah.
Richard built a great jar here,
but unfortunately, I think, his proportions weren't right,
where you can get definite separations
of those flavors.
[Mark] Well, he spent all that time
breaking them pomegranates apart.
You know, we got 30 minutes.
That's time-consuming.
They took springtime, put it in a jar,
Just one of them brought extra springtime.
-[Digger] Yep. -[Mike] They surely did.
That being said, let's do it.
-Let's get with it. -Let's do it.
I don't know about you,
I'm so nervous, I could thread a sewing machine.
It runs wide open right now.
I don't want to say I'm competitive,
but I'd like to win this. I really would.
I'd hate to beat either one of y'uns,
but mostly Amanda. I'd hate to beat her.
Definitely.
I want her to win, 'cause I know
what she's putting in to this craft, you know?
At the end of the day,
I like it when I win, because I know, like,
-I'm inspiring people. -Mmm-hmm.
I don't have a great college education.
I'm self-taught.
I've worked hard my whole life.
I'm a female in a male-dominated industry.
Tell you what, you're a female that's a-dominating.
-Oh, thanks. We are. -Man, it's Amanda's spirit.
[Richard] You're a dominant female
-in a male-dominated industry. -Yeah.
I'm not winning for me.
I'm winning for everybody else
that gets an inspiration.
[Digger] All right, lady and gentlemen,
come up and get your jars.
All right, guys. Here we are.
Final challenge.
You know, the challenge
that we issued to you was "Bring us spring."
You did it very well. Look at the colors.
You know, this is spring in a jar.
I like it.
They're all incredibly different.
They're all incredibly good.
Tater, strawberry sipping cream,
and you nailed your mark on it.
Had the strawberry and the liquor
all in one package.
Personally, if it had been me,
I'd have blended up those strawberries up
a little more to make them, you know, not be
chunks floating around in there,
but good flavor, plenty of liquor.
You brought that much to the game.
Fine job.
Sir Tater, strawberries is the fruit of spring,
I would think.
You know, it's one of the first
-to come into season. -[Tater] Yep.
And honestly,
I liked the little chunks floating in there.
I think that your alcohol level
was probably as high as any as I've ever saw
for a sipping cream,
which, I love that.
It hit me right in the crease.
Fine job, Tater.
Thank you.
Tater, unlike the last round,
you come through with the strawberry.
Man, you brought strawberry to the table.
The alcohol level was spot-on. It was perfect.
Amanda, you did it again.
Knocked her right out of the park.
I think it was a good drink.
The honey was...
Hey, I mean it was stronger than a watchdog lying there.
It was a-hanging on.
-Yeah. -And it was hanging on in a good way.
There was something in there that maintained
a little bit of a fire on the back end, to me.
Mmm-hmm.
-Mmm-hmm. -But I thought the taste was fantastic.
It flew across your tongue delicious.
Proof is outstanding.
Amanda, you brought the honey,
that's for sure.
It was in there, sure enough, right on the top.
The orange peel, or the oranges,
I'm thinking that maybe
a little bit of that peel got in there
and caused a little bit of bitterness to me,
which, it was still good.
It kind of overrode it a little bit.
A little bit hot for my liking,
but it was a dang good drink.
Congratulations. You've done a fine job.
Thank you.
Richard, under the gun.
All them little pomegranate seeds
you had to get out of there, and bust them up.
I think time worked against you,
but you still pulled it off,
and did a fine job.
I didn't really get the kiwi in there,
or maybe it was just overrun by the pomegranates.
I'm not really sure.
Uh, did you put any blueberries in this bunch?
I did put a little bit of blueberry in it,
-just to keep it there. -[Digger] Yeah, I got that thing,
and I got blueberry on the nose,
but I didn't know whether
it was just coming out of the alcohol,
or if you put fresh blueberries in there,
but you did a fine job, my friend.
Thank you.
You maintained your proof really well.
Some of those flavors,
maybe the kiwi and the pomegranate,
fighting each other a little bit.
You was under the gun.
You was doing a lot
of cramming, and mashing, and cutting,
and it's always a pleasure to watch you work,
and thank you for that drink.
Thank you.
Richard, dude, you always deliver.
I mean, you make good alcohol.
Everybody knows that, or you wouldn't be here.
But for me,
when I was tasting your alcohol,
I knew all those ingredients you were using,
you know, the blueberry, the lemon, orange,
pomegranate, all that stuff,
I feel like they was fighting their own battle
inside that jar with me, on the palate.
I'm not saying it was a bad jar.
Definitely a good jar, and definitely different.
Every one of your jars reminds me of springtime.
Every one of you are winners to me, in my eyes.
Each and every one of you
are Master Distillers of your previous flights,
multiple times, some of you.
Not cutting anybody short here,
we had fine jars of liquor
at all phases of this competition,
but there can only be
one Master Distiller out of every flight.
Tater, you're that next Master Distiller,
my friend.
Come to the table.
Put your jar down.
Put your hat on your jar.
This is like our own little moonshiner Mardi Gras.
If you'll lean forward,
to dub thee
the new king of spring.
Along with that comes with a scepter.
I now dub thee
the king of spring liquor.
That's your scepter.
Congratulations, my friend.
Well, you take your jar, and go back with your ranks.
Well, thank y'all.
-Congratulations, Tater. -[Mark] Yeah!
-The king of spring! -Nice going!
[Mike] Whoo!
[all applauding]
Good job, Tater. Good job.
I am the spring king,
and it's gonna bring me good luck,
'cause spring's coming up.
It's time to get my ass to work, get in the woods,
bust out a lot of mash, and make a lot of liquor.
Damn, it feels good to be king.
All right, guys.
Why don't you 'uns chase on out of here.
I'm proud of y'uns all.
Have a toast, welcome the arrival of spring,
and have a drink
with the brand-new king of springtime.
-[Mike] Yeah! -[Tater] Thank you.
-[Mike] Good job! -[Tater] Thank you.
-[Amanda] Congratulations. -[Mark] Here we go!