It might be the winning jar right here, boys.
We want your best jar on this table.
Foraged liquor.
[Chuk] We're making a crawfish pull, baby.
[narrator] Foraging is free...
[Dewey] We got some blueberry syrup here I made.
[narrator] ...but results can be unpredictable.
You used a lemon... What was that?
Lemon verbena.
[narrator] Three distillers get back to nature...
-You made your own sea salt. -[Tony] Yes, sir.
[narrator] ...turning wild harvested ingredients
into award-winning shine.
[Tim] Foraged flavors.
That's what's coming out of the way he packed that gin basket.
[narrator] But only one of them
can be named Master Distiller.
Oh, my God, it's good.
[Digger] That's taken foraging to the next level.
All right, guys, welcome to Master Distiller.
This is a wild one.
Today, you guys are gonna build us a mash
out of what you foraged out of the wild.
We're looking forward to it.
Foraging's been a big thing around our world forever,
whether it's for something to eat or something to make or drink.
What you've got at stake
is your bragging rights, first and foremost.
But, beyond that,
if you are crowned the next Master Distiller,
you get a limited run
of your particular foraged-produced liquor
on the shelf at a major distillery.
Some of the best liquor I've ever run
was stuff that I found in the woods.
It's always fresh and it's free.
And then you've always got a good story to talk about when you made it.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
[Tickle] Using foraged ingredients from the wilderness
isn't just cost-effective,
it adds a unique flavor
and a sense of place to your spirit.
Distillers around the country
are making their spirits unique to their origin
by using foraged ingredients like juniper,
spruce tips,
wild berries, wild fruits.
The possibilities are endless.
If you can find it in the wild, you can put it in your spirit.
You know, you just can't beat Mother Nature at her own game.
Mmm! Now that tastes wild.
Y'all are gonna have one hour to build your special mash
from the ingredients you foraged from your areas.
You've got five days to ferment, but...
Not doing it here.
-We're going to the woods, guys. Come on with me. -[Chuk] Yes, sir.
-[Mark] Good luck, man. -Thank you.
Find your kettle.
All right, guys, I'm really, really excited to see
what you foraged from back home.
I think each one of these ingredients
that you foraged from home
is gonna make a difference in your mash
and gonna make a difference in your final quarter.
So, you're gonna have one hour to mash in
and your time starts now.
[Chuk] We're getting creative over here.
We're making a crawfish pull, baby.
My names Big Chuk. I'm 40 years old.
I'm from Gurdon, Arkansas.
I'm a country rapper.
[rapping] Came up, beating hard,
y'all raised hell all night,
never got the law called.
The country rap scene
has promoted the moonshine culture more than you can imagine.
♪ Livin' in the woods selling gas♪
♪ I was slinging shine up across the tracks♪
Every song says it.
Every event is themed around it.
So, I mean, we were the moonshine culture.
Boom!
Now we're getting there.
And I've been moonshining for roughly, probably, six years.
Big Wynona right here.
It's a liquor-making machine.
When I'm making moonshine, a lot of times, what I'll do is
I'll bring an engineer over to the still house
and I'll sit down and work there on a beat and I'll write
and we'll record a track right there while the still's rolling.
[Tim] Right, Big Chuk.
It looks like Arkansas to me.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
[Tim] I saw you dumping a lot of stuff in there.
[Chuk] Yeah, I got corn, I got potatoes,
some peppers, some seafood stock.
[Tim] You ready for the main ingredient?
Wouldn't be Arkansas if I didn't bring something special from Arkansas.
Oh, is that the mudhole crawfish?
That's the mudbugs there, crawfish.
Crawfish can be found in any little old murky mudhole down there in Arkansas.
Throw it out there like that.
And you just rake like you're raking leaves.
But I was able to locate some
in a little duck-off spot I had
where the water stays warm.
And they're a little muddy tasting,
but I think they'll work out for today.
I think it's gonna be spicy
-'cause I can feel it right now on me. -You can?
I'm starting to sweat just standing right here next to you.
Oh, yeah, you ain't sweating yet.
-Yeah. -[laughing] You gotta taste it first.
One day, I was just making crawfish
and I said, "You know what? I'ma ferment it and see how it goes."
And it turned out amazing
and I've just been perfecting it along the ways.
Good luck, Chuk.
-All right, man. -All right.
[Tony] Are you making lunch or are you making a mash?
[Chuk] Both.
[laughing]
My name is Tony Gugino.
I am 31 years old
and I am from Manchester, Connecticut.
I am a professional distiller
and I have been distilling spirits for four and a half years now.
This is our old but loved mash tun.
I love foraging because it's really fun to be able to bring
what's grown here and around me
right into my spirits and get to taste all those.
Getting the sugar from my molasses,
kinda making a little herbal rum here.
Is this something from your region now?
-Yes. -Yeah?
The dogwood berries, the beach plums, all there,
and then I've got the wild mint, the wild basil,
-wild coriander. -Mmm-hmm.
And then, the lemon verbena, I grew in my garden.
The botanicals I'm using are all foraged from around Connecticut.
That's a total different combination
to your competition over here,
-I can tell you that. -Absolutely.
This is definitely serious business for me.
When a competition comes along,
you gotta do everything you can to win.
-Sounds good. Can't wait to taste it. -[Tony] Thank you very much.
I've been watching you. What you got going in the pot, Dewey?
[Dewey] I've got some blueberries today.
We're making a blueberry pie.
My name is Dewey Teague. I'm from Pennsylvania.
I'm a distiller at a distillery and vineyard.
This still over here which is my copper pot still.
What got me into moonshining was my grandfather.
My grandfather made moonshine
and he raised seven kids from moonshine.
When my grandmother passed away,
I was left with my grandfather's recipe.
It really got me interested in it
and I've been moonshining ever since.
-[Tim] Dewey. -Yes, sir.
[Tim] Man, yours is looking a little bit different to the other two guys.
Always been a lone wolf. I do my thing.
[Tim] I see you like blueberries.
Yes, sir. We've got some blueberries today,
we're gonna have some nice syrup.
[Tim] Maple syrup?
[Dewey] Pretty close. It's homegrown stuff.
The blueberries are from back home.
They're foraged out of a field
right next to the forest over there.
The maple syrup, out of these trees.
Just two ingredients.
The less stuff you've gotta mess up.
I'm not worried about my competition
because I have experience
over other younger competitors.
This is my family's heritage
and my products are the best.
All right, guys, you've got five minutes.
[Chuk] Ooo-eee.
I'm gonna let 'em swim for a little bit
but I'm gonna take 'em out pretty soon.
[Dewey] Okay, and two.
Cook, cook, cook, cook.
My competition, they're experienced,
they're trained, they're skilled,
but they ain't never met nobody like Big Chuk.
I'm gonna beat 'em, man.
All right, I'm good. That's as good as it's gonna get.
Crawfish moonshine on the way.
[Tim] Dewey, you good? Tony, good?
-Good, good. -All right, we're gonna get out of here,
let it cool down, come back and pitch your yeast later.
[Chuk] Let's roll.
All right, gentlemen.
The ability to run any setup that you're given
is key to being a master distiller.
Now, you've been given just a basic pot still.
No thumper, no frills.
[Tim] Winner of this challenge
is gonna get first choice to go into the stillhouse to get parts.
[Digger] All right, guys,
you've got four hours to make
the finest jar of liquor you've ever made
out of foraged items.
Your four hours begins now.
Good luck, guys, and get with it.
-They took you serious. -Yes, they did.
[Chuk] My mash fermented fine.
It looks like it's completely worked off.
Got a lot of alcohol in it,
all the flavor's polished through.
Whoa!
[Digger] Use the littler bucket. It'll work better.
Yeah, we're gonna make a mess.
-No, you've already made a mess. -[all chuckling]
[Chuk] I usually ain't got no floor underneath me.
-[Tim laughing] -You know we take points off for neatness, don't you?
Lord, have mercy. Who did that?
[Tony] Who did this?
I think it smells good.
I think it smells like a shrimp bar.
[Tim] I don't smell a thing
'cause all them peppers done blocked out my nostrils here.
[Mark] I don't know what kind of liquor it'll make,
but, darn, that jar looks good.
[Tim] Pouring some more pepper stuff in there now, look.
He's gonna put a little bit of straight hot pepper in there now.
[Chuk] I'm gonna add a little bit more spice to it
just to bring a little more flavor profile and nose.
Little special blend,
a little bayou baby crawfish seasoning.
And I'm excited about this run.
I am a little concerned about my mash on this first run
because it didn't work down as far as I wanted it to,
so I still had some unfermented sugars in there.
I hope I can make a decent amount of alcohol for my base spirit.
-That is a beautiful color mash right there. -Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Look at that, how rich and dark.
How you doing over there, Dewey?
-Good, man. How about you? -Getting ready.
My mash is still fermenting.
I see bubbles. It's still working.
But there's nothing I can do about it,
so we're gonna run it the way it is
and hope for the best.
I've done this a lot of times,
so I'm not really expecting any problems.
Two hours left, gentlemen.
Halfway home.
[Tony] And we got first drips.
He's got a good stream coming out down there.
[Tony] He does.
[Dewey] All right, we got something.
[Tony] Dewey's got something coming.
[grunts] And here I come right behind you.
[Chuk] I'm rolling, boy.
Dewey, Chuk's already got his first jar.
I'm running a little bit slower than my man Chuk next to me.
Five jars in.
I ain't even filled a full jar yet.
I like to have a decent amount of alcohol in the pot
to be able to get through my botanicals
and really do my flavor cuts correctly.
I'm playing the slow game here, gents.
Five jars in.
I ain't even filled a full jar yet.
I'm running a little bit slower than my man Chuk next to me.
But as I've always told myself,
I only gotta hand one jar to the judge
so as long as I get one good jar, I'm a happy man.
I'm playing the slow game here, gents.
-Dewey? -Yes, sir?
You're sitting over there like you don't have a concern in the world.
It's churning. [laughs]
You getting all that blueberry flavor coming out of there,
getting that good, sweet aftertaste?
Yes, sir. The blueberry's coming out really good now.
My flavor's coming in.
I'm not bragging, but I know what I'm doing.
All right, men, you've got one hour left.
I hope y'all are getting where you wanna be.
[Tony] Now my molasses is coming through.
Tony, I don't see so many jars over there on your table.
How many are you in to?
[Tony] About jar seven for me right now.
Flavor you're looking for is coming through in there?
[Tony] I wish a little bit more came out of it,
but just gotta make do with what I got.
Worry changes nothing.
Amen to that.
[Chuk] This might be the damn jar.
There's a whole lot jars on that table.
Now, in the backwoods, fellas,
we like to worry about volume.
How many jars you got run over so far?
[Chuk] We're working on 22 now.
Surely, we can find a quality in all this quantity.
[Tim] Well, you've got options over there, anyway.
I've never ran 20 jars.
I'm just rolling.
I just wanna make sure that I pick the best jar, you know?
Bring some of that Arkansas flavor.
Yeah, that's the one right there.
That's the money maker.
All right, guys, you've got five minutes left
to put them final little touches on those jars.
I think I'm ready now.
-[Mark] Bring it in here, big man. -[Tim] What in the world?
[Mark] That's a claw.
[Digger] Here comes Dewey.
The clarity and proof on my jar is excellent.
The blueberry flavors are good
and I'm confident the judges will like my liquor.
[Tony] I think I've got some really nice hearts.
I've got some really nice molasses base, flavor to it,
and I'm pretty confident that they'll enjoy my spirit.
Here you are, gentlemen.
[Digger] Time to start drinking.
Foraging. They all brought something from home.
Tony from Connecticut.
-Rum right here. -[Mark] Look at that.
Well, this is a rum base.
Got some herbs and botanicals in it.
Let's see if he know how to proof it.
Ah! Maybe 90.
I ended up going with my middle jar.
Just need one.
[Tim] I can pick up rum out of that.
-[Digger] Yeah. -[Tim] Yeah.
And I'm getting a little bit of spearmint in there,
-or peppermint, or some sort of mint in there. -[Tim] That may be what...
That's what he was putting in, the mint.
I'm picking up a little citrus in there.
I believe he called it lemon verbena.
Good balance, good proof,
-good jar. -And you can make a really, really good,
fruity drink out of that.
-Yeah. -[Tim] It's really good.
[Digger] Big Chuk's mudbug.
Arkansas crawfish.
Most jars that we've ever seen ran in any competition.
And one of 'em come out with a claw in it.
What proof do you think it?
Eighty-five.
There's 24 jars total.
I captured some of the spice and some of the citrus.
Hopefully, it all came through to their tastebud
as it did to mine.
[Digger] It's actually got a little sweet middle in there.
I mean, he brought something to the table
that I ain't never tasted before.
No spice, there's no peppers, nothing.
-He did a good job. -And I was really expecting something
that would really go well in a Bloody Mary.
It tastes just like a crawfish liquified.
-I think it tastes like pot liquor. -Yeah.
-Like the bowl... -Yeah.
...that you create with the onions
and the other vegetables
and the spices you put in that pot
you boil the crawdads in.
-Dewey. -[Mark] That's Dewey.
Blueberry and maple surple.
[Tim] Blueberries from Pennsylvania.
I will say 95.
-I got some good flavors come out of my blueberry. -Yeah.
We got about 12 jars today.
-Boy, it smells really good. -[Digger] Uh-huh.
Probably one of the nicest drinks I've had in quite some time.
I'm getting a little bit more maple.
[Digger] Yeah,
-and the blueberry. -And it's very surprising to be 95 proof, too.
I'd love to have a big old toasted waffle
floating in that.
All three of 'em's got authenticity in their own way.
Yeah, they brought it.
And there's plenty of skill.
-Plenty of skill. -Let's go do it.
[Digger] All right, guys.
I'm telling you we had some complexity out there times 10.
We'll start over here with Big Chuk.
You did something fantastic.
You took a crawdad bowl
and you made a real sweet liquor out of it.
It had a little bit of the spice up front,
a little bit of that crawdad in there,
but just a really, really smooth finish.
Your proof was a little bit low.
That crawdad claw in there might have soaked up a little of it.
You don't know. Or it might have drunk it. Who knows.
I thought it would be a little bit hotter than it was, but it wasn't.
It was smooth. It was sweet.
I think it'd make an outstanding Bloody Mary.
Yeah.
Good job, boss.
Totally unique.
Now Tony here.
Rum.
You used a lemon... What was that?
Lemon verbena.
[Digger] Man, it had a finish to it
like I've never seen on a rum before
and it was wonderful.
That's what foraged flavor is supposed to be.
[chuckles] Thank you.
Now, then, we get to Dewey.
-Yes, sir. -[Digger] Blueberry maple.
Hit you like a ton of brick.
-Thank you. -[Digger] And I believe your proof
was a little more spot on than anybody else's.
Uh, but that blueberry flavor right up front,
and just finished so smooth and mellow with that maple.
It was unreal.
Thank you.
I love brandy. I don't care what it is.
And you did it.
I think the foraged blueberries come through.
Makes me wanna eat breakfast, like, four times a day.
Spot on on the proof.
You were very comfortable.
And, you know, very good job, guys.
And just to remind you all,
nobody's going home.
This is strictly for still parts pick.
And if there's something in the stillhouse
that you need to enhance your flavor more,
you can get it all if you want it.
Time to give y'all the pecking order,
and it runs just like y'all are standing,
just backwards.
Dewey, you're going in number one.
Tony, you're number two.
And Big Chuk, you're number three.
Tickle!
All right. How's it going in here, fellas?
This is foragers.
These guys had to forage local ingredients
-just like we do in the backwoods making out liquor. -Mmm-hmm.
[Tim] They need to go to the stillhouse.
They need some parts.
Y'all leave y'alls jars here. Y'all come on with me
-and we'll get y'all some still parts. -[Digger] Jars to the front.
Yeah, leave them jars here 'cause you ain't never get it back.
-We can bring the one with the crawdad in it, right? -[Mark] Good luck, fellas.
Y'all fellas are foragers,
so we're gonna see if y'all can't forage y'all up some stills, all right?
-Dewey, you're up first. -Yes, sir.
You are gonna have three minutes in the stillhouse.
Your time starts now.
All right, Dewey, have you got a still yet?
We're working on it. We're working on it.
I'm very excited being first.
I know what I need. I know what I'm gonna get.
You've got two minutes left, Dewey.
All right, Dewey.
Okay, we have got a condenser.
I'm looking to get a pot and a thumper and a worm.
So we're gonna make some really good liquor.
All right, and a thumper.
-All right, are you done? You done? -I'm done.
-All right, Good deal.
All right, Tony, you got three minutes.
Your time starts now.
All right, Tony.
Okay, get on in there
and see if you can't put a still together.
[Tony] I'm not gonna use the thumpers.
I don't really ever use 'em,
and why do something that I'm not comfortable with?
I'm making sure everything fits now.
You don't got time to put a whole still together in there.
I'm telling you you don't.
-Oh, right. There we go, Tony. -[Tony] I got something.
I'm gonna go for a gin basket
because it would kinda help capture all those flavors
that I believe go well into a bottle.
-Great job, Tony. [laughing] -Thank you very much.
-Big Chuk, you got three minutes... -Yes, sir.
...and your time starts now.
All right, Chuk.
-There's all kinds of still parts in there. -[grunts]
-And I believe... -[crashing]
Okay, Chuk ain't messing around.
'Cause I'm not worried about going last.
We've got, what, a pot. All right.
Okay, now we've got a thumper. All right.
[Chuk] As long as I get the thumper and a pot,
I can put more crawfish flavor in there,
give more body to the liquor.
I do liquor like I know how to do.
I think it'll bring the judges on my way.
-[grunts] -[Tickle] I know. Yeah. [roars]
Even for Big Chuk. [roars]
-I need some help. [grunts] -[Tickle] Yeah.
Yeah. You know, you didn't have much copper weight
until you put that much into the box, right?
Let's get on back in there
and see if we can't forage these judges up a good
-run of liquor, all right? -[Chuk] Yes, sir.
[Tickle] All right, fellas.
We wound up foraging us some still parts.
Looks like it.
And I reckon the rest is up to y'all.
-[Digger] You behave. -Well, see y'all.
[Digger] Welcome back, men.
You're gonna have one hour to put us together at still
that will add that extra layer of flavor
from the ingredients you foraged from your areas.
Your one hour starts now.
Good luck. Get with it, guys.
[Chuk grunts]
I can build a still with my eyes closed.
-That's as simple as you get right there, ain't it? -[Digger] Yep.
[Tony] My still's a simple still and I'm comfortable with it
and it gives me confidence to be able to present
my best jar to the judges.
[Digger] I'm telling you, if you're not gonna strip any flavor out,
that's what I'd go with.
Got a gin basket for a little infusion of flavor
and not a big condenser to steal all the flavor.
I got the pot, thumper and condenser,
you know, a traditional setup.
Uh, nothing fancy here.
I'm just hoping that the thumper does
what the thumper's supposed to do.
And I added some additional flavors that I would,
hopefully, would come all the way through.
Y'all in trouble.
[Digger] All right, guys,
I'm gonna introduce our guest judge.
He knows a little bit about foraging
and building some good liquor out of it.
Mikey!
Howdy.
I know a little bit about foraging
and that's why I'm here today.
-Free's always good, ain't it? -[Daniel] Yeah.
[Mike] To my knowledge, I don't know of anyone
that's ever made an alcohol using kudzu.
Oh, yeah, we're safe to pick 'em now.
Oh, come on, fall.
These little jokers here's gonna be hard to get in.
They got a flavor like none other, though.
Bring the best jar of liquor right here to this table.
Good luck and I wish y'all all the best.
We want your best jar of foraged liquor.
That's what we're looking for.
You got four hours.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, men, and get with it.
[Chuk] Going into this round,
I'm gonna charge my pot with a lot of distillate,
so I knew I'd have a higher-proof liquor coming out.
And I added some additional cobs in the pot.
-Gotta have that corn. -[chuckles]
[Chuk] Crawfish, you know,
I'm gonna put 'em in the pot, in the thumper.
[Digger] He put a ton of crawdads
-right down in that thumper. -[Mike] Were they still alive?
[Digger] No, it looked like
he'd already shelf-stabled and steamed.
-[Mark] I think they've just been marinated in mash. -[Mike laughing]
Ooo-hoo.
-[Digger] There's a lot going on over there. -Oh, yeah.
[Chuk] We shall call this "Crawfish Boogie."
I'm looking to knock it over the fence, man.
I don't... I didn't come here to play it safe.
This right here, if I can win with this crawfish moonshine,
I'm gonna prove to everybody, you know, who I am and what I do.
[Tony] In this second run, I am gonna take my herbal-based rum
and make a molasses-based gin.
Tony, he's making a botanical rum.
-[Mike] Yeah? -See that? Look at that.
[Mike] Pretty, ain't it?
Well, the gin basket, I'm planning to put some basil
wild mint, wild coriander, wild lavender
and juniper berries that are all foraged from my area.
I grew lemon verbena in my garden, picked some of that.
And those are all from around Connecticut.
[Mike] That'll be an interesting flavor.
-Yeah. -A little bit of gin note
-infused into a rum-based alcohol. -Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It'll be pretty neat.
On we go.
[Dewey] My strategy for my flavor run
is going to be really simple.
I'm gonna add a little more blueberries in there.
Hey, Dewey,
just go ahead and bring us up to date about your mash.
[Dewey] My last run, you know,
I did some wild blueberries
and got some maple syrup in there.
Kinda keeping it really, really simple,
try to get that blueberry flavor to really come out of here.
And you can get your five-gallon bucket of blueberries picked
-that quick, can't you? -[Mike laughing] Yeah.
And you turn blue.
[all chuckling]
[Tony] Let's go.
-Chuk, you're pulling. -[Chuk] Well, look at that.
[grunting] There we are.
-He's always first. Always first. -[Dewey] He's down there now.
[Chuk] That liquor running through that body.
I want them crawfish taking a bath.
You running, Dewey?
Dewey's got his game face on. He ain't talking to us or nothing.
There she goes.
-[Chuk] There we are. -[Ton grunts] There she goes.
During the second run, I'm really looking for
what flavor profile I wanted.
I wanted the citrus, mint and some licorice taste,
and I really wanted the rum and juniper to come in too.
That's what I forgot. [bleep]
I just realized I forgot something that I wanted to put into it.
I am a little concerned that I forgot my anise seed,
which is my licorice taste.
Now I'll just have to collect and blend and see what I get.
Some people hate straight gin,
so that's a risk on my part,
but gotta take chances. [exhales]
Guys, you're running slim on time.
You've got one hour left to get us that perfect jar.
Damn, it looks like a racoon's been working.
There's dead crawdads everywhere.
[all chuckling]
[Chuk] Man, the crawfish really come through this time.
As I'm getting into these jars and I'm getting down to the good flavor note,
I want citrus mixed with pepper mixed with spice
mixed with meaty flavors and savory notes.
This is Arkansas flavor to the table.
That's just how we do it down there where I'm from.
We just need one good jar, you know what I mean?
Not trying to put any more pressure on you guys,
but 30 minutes left.
-How's yours going, Dewey? -[Dewey] Doing good.
Blueberries are coming through really good
and it's got a good nose on it.
Proof's good right now, so I'm happy.
[Tony] How many jars you at?
I'm not pushing jars. I'm looking for flavor.
Was that a passive-aggressive little comment there you just made there?
I'm not knocking anybody else's stuff by no means,
but I think that, you know,
sometimes you can add too much ingredients
to really offset it
and it wouldn't be a good jar.
[sniffs]
[exhales] Man, that's good.
-Look out, buddy. -[chuckling]
Look out.
Men, you've got 20 minutes left.
It might be the winning jar right here, boys.
I came here to be different.
Hopefully, the judges will see my flavor
and be like, you know, "This is unique."
[Digger] Another crawdad claw.
[Mike] Here's Dewey.
[Dewey] My jar is right on point.
My foraged blueberry flavor.
I'm very happy with my jar
and I think the judges will be happy with it too.
-Thank you, sir. -Yes, sir. Good luck.
I think that's the one. It's the one I've been going back to since the beginning.
I am very greatly pleased with the citrus note off the top of it,
and then get the dryness from the junipers.
It's just an incredible mouth feel and flavor and aroma.
Here you are, gentlemen.
Well, men, there's only one thing left to do.
Let's go taste 'em up.
All right, foraging challenge.
These guys foraged local ingredients
from their region from where they're from.
Now, Mike, this is in your wheelhouse.
Yeah, I've foraged a lot of stuff.
You wanna choose one first?
-I choose Big Chuk's here to look at. -Okay.
Crawfish Boogie.
-He's got that crawfish claw in there. -[Mike] Yeah. Claw.
He said he picks it up out of, like,
a ditch or something on the side of the road or something.
That's what you always look for for crawdads.
You wanna make sure they're still wiggling before you cook 'em.
-[Mark] Pretty nice bead. -[Digger] Yeah.
Was it about 100 proof?
-Yeah. Between 95 and 100. -Yeah.
The only thing I wish... I wish the spice woulda came through a little bit more.
I tried it and, sure, it finished with the spice.
I usually like the spice on the front half.
Here we go.
Whoo!
That is aromatic.
It smells good to me.
[Tim] It's actually got a,
I wanna say a buttery, smooth taste to it.
It does in a way, don't it?
Comes from that juice out of them crawdad heads.
-[Tim] Is that what it is? -Yeah.
[Tim] Foraged flavor.
It's almost a flat flavor, really.
[Mark blows] You sit there just a little bit, fellas.
You're gonna feel the fire
-start kicking up right here. -[Tim] Yeah, it's got some pepper.
-[Mike] It does. It does. -It's got pepper on the back end,
-but I got the crawfish on the front end. -[Digger] Yeah.
Yeah, it's got pepper on the back.
Did a fine job.
Just a little too fiery on the liquor.
He sort of thought outside the box
because I grew up in crawfish country
and it's never crossed my mind to make alcohol out of it.
Are we good? We move on to Tony?
Rum base.
Clear as a bell, ain't it?
I'm saying that's a heavy 110.
Yeah, he's way north of 100, I'll give you that.
-Every dime of it. -Yeah.
I was a bit nervous not running the thumper.
I've seen both you guys with it
and have an experience with it,
but it just wasn't in my wheelhouse
so I said, "I'm gonna stick with my botanicals, throw 'em up in the basket
and see what happens."
Wow, it smells really, really good.
[Mike exhales]
It smells ginny.
And the juniper's not too heavy.
[Mike] It's not.
-[Mark] A gin rum. -[Mike] A gin rum.
Wow.
-Now, that's very smooth. -That is good.
[Tim] Foraged flavors.
That's what's coming out of
-the way he packed that gin basket. -[Mark] Mmm-hmm.
When you've got a jar that you know
will sell in two locations
-in the same store... -[Mike] Yeah.
...now that's marketability.
-That's it. That's what it's all about. -[Tim] Yeah.
-Dewey. -This one, I'm excited about.
Dewey from Pennsylvania,
foraged blueberry man.
Clear as a bell.
Can't even tell there's any liquid in it.
Over 40 years' experience in that jar.
[Mark] Is that a little high on the... High above...
North of 100 as well,
-ain't it, Tim? -Yeah.
Really, really had a good nose and good taste to it.
I really liked it.
I'm getting a little bit of that maple syrup in there for sure.
The maple syrup has smoothed it out.
-That's what happened. -Yeah.
It just smoothed out a 120-proof foraged blueberry.
Mmm-hmm.
We've got three really good drinks of liquor in front of us.
-[Tim] We do. -But we've gotta think about
which one's gonna fly off the shelf,
which one's gonna bring profit quicker.
-Exactly. -And I think that
one that's sitting on the table
has a really, really limited market.
It's time to go to the table with it.
-[Mark] All right, guys, let's go do it. -Let's do it. Let's go.
[Digger] All right, men, come up and get your jars.
All right, men. We told you we'd be back and here we are.
So, cutting to the chase here.
Big Chuk,
crawfish bowl,
I think that, maybe, if you'd have lowered your proof
maybe a little bit more,
might pop through a little bit better.
But damn fine drink in its own right.
Props to you for bringing stuff
from where you're from to the table
and making something out of what you thought would be good.
And it's great,
but a little bit spicy on the end note for me.
Tony, "Gin Rummy."
That's what I've come up with that one.
And I think you found a good balance
with the botanicals for your gin,
but that rum comes through really powerful.
That molasses flavor is there.
Your proof is up there,
but it tastes so good to have a high proof.
So that's a good job, especially on the still that you have.
Normally, we don't see a high proof when you don't have a thumper.
[chuckling] That daggone gin rum
you got going on right there, brother,
all the botanicals and stuff.
Although, you left out the star anise in your run.
I, personally, would've loved to taste
some of that licorice note coming through.
But, all in all, fabulous jar of liquor.
Now we got Dewey down here.
You had a ton of blueberries over there.
And I don't know how much maple syrup you used,
but it kinda outrun it,
which kinda threw me off.
I thought, as many blueberries you used,
I thought it'd be blueberry forward.
[Tim] High proof.
We're gonna put you about 120,
which is okay with brandy.
When it's good, it's good.
It is a real clean jar,
probably one of the cleanest jars in the flight.
The experience shows in that jar.
Thank you.
Here it goes.
Unfortunately, only two can advance.
Big Chuk, that jar bought you a ticket home.
I'm awful sorry, old buddy.
For just an old country boy rom Arkansas to come up here
and put a little sugar and crawfish in some water
and make liquor out of it,
I feel like I did a pretty good job, you know?
Appreciate y'all.
I tried something crazy.
It's definitely a Hail Mary shot of a liquor, you know,
but I try to be unique in any craft I'm involved in, you know?
So, next time, maybe I'll bring something
a little bit more unique to the table.
Thank y'all for having me.
It was an honor and privilege to judge you, young man.
-Nice to meet you, Chuk. -Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
All right, guys.
Now it's time to take your foraged spirit
to the next level with new ingredients.
You got 30 minutes.
Bring us your best post-distilled,
foraged, flavored spirits
on this table before that time expires.
You're representing your region
and what you forage to put in that jar.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, get with it guys.
[Tony] I'm ready to rock it.
I know that my two ingredients I'm gonna add to this.
I have a kousa dogwood berry jam...
...and some foraged sea salt from Long Island Sound,
and I'm basically just gonna give a little bit of fruitiness to it
and add a little bit of umami feel to the mouth with the salt,
and take it just one step up,
and I think it's gonna be something
that they've never tried before.
-[Mark] A bit of salt. -Sea salt.
He's putting a little salt.
Tony, what you got going on over there?
What are putting in our gin rum?
So, I got some kousa dogwood berries
that I've made into a jam.
The berries, I was hoping is gonna add a little bit of a mouth feel,
a little fresh fruit on the front.
And then a little bit of local sea salt.
I took a boat out. Grabbed some...
five gallons of salt water, brought it home, filtered it,
and then dehydrated it down just to get a nice, natural sea salt. Uh...
-So, you made your own sea salt? -Yes, sir.
Bold move, that's something we've never tried.
And the jam's homemade too.
So, homemade everything, pretty much.
That's what I like, man.
[Digger] It's pretty special to make your own sea salt.
That's taking foraging to the next level.
[Dewey] I'm very excited about going into the final round.
Uh, I know I'm gonna do good.
I know the flavor's gonna pop out there.
My strategy, I wanna add a little more blueberries in there
and I'm gonna throw a twist in there sometime too.
I'm gonna put a little chocolate and a little mint
just to give it a little of,
"Hmm, boy, where did that come from?"
[Tickle] Hey, Dewey, tell me a little bit about what you done
to make your jar better.
Well, I went ahead and enhanced the blueberry flavor a little bit.
-[Tickle] Okay. -And added a little chocolate mint to it.
A little bit of chocolate mint, you say?
-Yes, sir. -[Mark] Okay.
I wouldn't have thought about that at all.
[Digger] Fifteen minutes, men.
That time's running out fast.
[Tony] Come on.
Looks like it's clouding up.
I didn't expect my jam to cloud up that much.
It's, like, drip, drip.
I'm freaking out.
Can I filter it in this time?
Come on, sucker, filter.
I believe he punched a hole in his filter.
[Tony] Oh, [bleep]!
How does it feel to sit on this side of the table?
[Tickle] It feels pretty good.
You know, I'm a little bit nervous for these guys.
[Tim] Well, I warned you,
these competitors that come to these challenges
are getting better and better each time.
-Absolutely. -And...and we have to taste all of their products
over and over to make sure that we are choosing the right one.
-Exactly. And I know. I've been over there before. -[Tim] Yeah.
-Yeah. Just a little bit. -I've come up short. And I've won.
So, you done something I ain't never done.
I always come up short over there. I ain't never won.
-[Tickle] Oh, boy, yeah, I reckon you have actually. -[chuckles]
Punch a hole in it.
I'm waiting for it to filter, and it's drip, drip, drip.
Come on, sucker, filter.
All that in there's just rotating
-instead of stepping out. -Yep.
He don't wanna go with that. He gonna foul it up.
Three minutes, guys.
-Dewey's number two, isn't he? -Yep.
-[Tim] Dewey? -Yes, sir.
You got two minutes left. You think you're gonna make it?
-I don't know. I'm gonna try real hard to make it, sir. -[Tim laughs]
I'm very happy with my jar,
and I think the judges will love my flavor.
I feel very confident that I will be the next Master Distiller.
One minute, guys.
I really hope the judges get all the botanicals in,
and then finish it with a nice fruitiness.
And that's really what I wanna be able to bring
just was my little piece of back home,
where I really, truly love to be.
Let's do it.
-[Digger] Here they come. -Good luck, man.
[Tony] Good luck.
All right, gentleman. Good luck to both of you.
-[Tony] Thank you. -Thank you, sir.
All right, guys, here we go with these forages.
Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
-[Digger] Tony. -It looks like a jar of honey.
Yeah, I had my jam, and it clouded up real quick and got me nervous.
Smells great.
Gin, juniper.
-[smacks lips] -[Tim] What in the world?
-That is a total different ball game. -Oh, my God, it's good.
-Oh, it's good. -It's a... It's a change.
Like a... Like a tangerine.
This is somewhere around 90 Proof now.
That right there is delicious.
I think it's that kouse berry.
Yeah, that, that jam or something he put in there.
And I tell you what, really, to me,
equaled it out,
is that little touch of salt.
Does it get any more foraged than turning salt water into sea salt?
-[Tickle] It does not. -[chuckles]
-And then bringing a flavor like this... -[Tim] Yeah.
...to the party.
-All right. -Let's see what Dewey brought to the game.
Well, he changed his color a little bit too.
But you know, not in the direction I really thought.
I mean, that looks like a strong ice tea color.
[Tony] You had me nervous sitting there doing it so quick.
I know what the flavors do.
And I know this flavor enhances this much
'cause I've used these before.
-[Digger whistles] -[Tim] Mighty.
It's a very good drink too.
And I can get a little hint of chocolate.
But I'm just very faint on that mint,
which is a good thing in my opinion.
I'm getting a chocolate on the nose with the maple.
-I'm getting a lot of it on the palate. -Mmm.
And I'm telling you it's still 110 Proof.
No, I like it a lot.
-It's very different. -It's a good drink.
As far as cocktail goes, I mean,
this'd be great for a chocolate martini.
But you know, chocolate isn't exactly
foraged out of the woods in Pennsylvania.
-Absolutely. -All right, if everybody's rock solid...
-Let's do it. -...let's go bring it.
All right, guys, come up and get your jars.
All right, guys, here we are.
We tasted two outstanding liquors.
And I mean, all capital letters,
they were that good.
Tony, kouse berry,
-I believe that's what you said that jam was. -Yes, sir.
Who knew I liked 'em.
I got kind of a tangerine flavor,
-is that correct? -Yeah.
I mean, it's really bright, really vivid.
It paired off well with your rum.
Gin, you know, it all blended together to a beautiful citrus note.
That was amazing when you said you went out and got the seawater,
and you know, got your own salt.
I mean, you actually foraged for it.
[Tickle] Kousa dogwood berries,
I've never had those before,
and I'm a forager myself.
That jam, putting it in there,
really brought it to the table
because citrus, you know, complements gin very, very well.
And there's Dewey over here with one of my favorite berries on the planet,
a blueberry.
And then paired it up with chocolate mint.
When you said mint it scared me to death.
I thought it was gonna overpower it.
But very, very light.
I get a lot more of the maple syrup,
even in this round as well,
not so much the blueberry,
come in on the back, back side.
I believe the, the chocolate kind of complement the whole drink.
-Done a fabulous job, man. -Thank you.
When we're going into a situation like this
where we've got two liquors that are their entire category to themselves
and they both taste equally as good
we have to go back to the old reliable, that's marketability.
What's gonna sell?
There can only be one Master Distiller.
Tony, you're the next Master Distiller.
Congratulations, young man.
Whoa, [bleep]!
It feels amazing to be able to represent Connecticut,
especially on the foraging side of things.
To take this Master Distiller title,
this feeling is amazing right now.
I get to show my wife and kid back home
that I can do this,
and look at me, I'm a Master Distiller now.
Congratulations to both of you.
-Thank you, sir. -Thank you very much.
I've never tasted no two finer liquors in a final challenge.
-No, sir. -Never.
-Both of them. -Let's go get us another drink before they drink it all up.