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When I came back to my hometown from grad school in 2019, two high school friends and I came to the realization that we needed to make more friends. Most of the people we hung out with up to that point had started chucking themselves at New York, Boston, DC,…
In the ever-evolving world of craft beer, where innovation and creativity often take center stage, it's important not to forget the brewing pioneers that laid the foundation for America's rich beer culture. These venerable institutions have weathered the storms of Prohibition, changing tastes, and economic challenges to emerge as icons…
My grandparents had a place in the Poconos up until I was in college, and I grew up going in and out of the Appalachians. Over time, I learned enough to be able to rattle off a few fun facts about the mountains here and there: They’re one of the…
Welcome to Add to Bar Cart, where Cool Material’s writers and editors recommend the spirits that they’re enjoying most right now. It never made sense to me that more breweries don't have small distilling operations attached to them. Roughly speaking, you have to make beer to make whiskey--whiskey wash is…
One of my college professors, Dr. McKay Jenkins, has a TEDx Talk on the abstraction of American food. He covers a few different angles in the talk, all of them revolving around his thesis that we have no idea where our food comes from. After the Second World War, we…
Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason. They're more efficient and environmentally friendly than gas-powered cars, and they're starting to offer the same level of performance. In fact, some of the fastest cars on the market today are electric. That alone makes them enticing enough to want…
Real-world treasure hunting isn't limited to the movies. There are enough local legends, ancient texts, and conspiratorial histories out there that it's surprising someone isn't tripping over a hidden chest of emeralds every other day. The mere thought of discovering a chest filled with gold, jewels, or ancient artifacts has…
Day hikes and casual weekend excursions along established trails in prepared campsite rarely end up with someone 127 Hours-ing themselves out of a gulch. It’s when you get more adventurous, the first few steps from beginner to intermediate, that you’ll find yourself new situations you might not be prepared for.…
Stouts (and porters) are the victim of a psychosomatic epidemic. Before people ever have one, they’re told a single pint will sit in their stomach like a brick or a loaf of bread or a full meal, and that the beer won't be as refreshing as a crisp lager or…
The “session” label is the exact middle point between an actual beer style and a marketing gimmick, which means that it’s neither of those and turns into a helpful descriptor. Basically, “session” is supposed to mean the first beer leads to another and another, but without turning you into a…
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out on May 12th, which means I haven’t had a social life or eaten a proper meal in weeks. Needless to say, it’s an amazing game, somehow expanding on Breath of the Wild’s success, which itself was a massive expansion of…
Packing for Iceland comes with certain temptations. The country’s wild enough that it feels like you should drop a couple grand on new hiking boots, socks that have the suffix “Tek” in them, brand new camera equipment, a massive backpack, and waterproofing for all of it. Then you rent something…
How could I possibly put together a list like this and leave off Seven? Or Wayne’s World? Or The Fifth Element? Or The Sixth Sense? Or any of the hundred other '90s movies people love so much? There are a few possible answers to those very natural objections. The most…
My dad’s been pushing for a family Iceland trip for years. I’ve been resistant, not because I’m averse to all things Nordic, but because Iceland was one of the epicenters of the massive upheaval that came from cheap airfare, when suburban white millennials were discovering the power of words cultured…
Flasks are perfect for whiskey and other straight spirits. But sometimes you want something that brings different flavors and a lower ABV. Enter the flask cocktail. When it comes to times that it'd be nice to have a cocktail in a flask, I’m thinking first of weddings. There are plenty…
