Photo Cred: Lea Hardstark
Meet Alie and Georgia, two best friends and neighbors, navigating through the world of innovative drink-making, vlogging (video-blogging), and blogging the best way they know how! WadidoLA sat down to interview these ladies, and not only are they experts when it comes to cocktails and the best places in LA to get them them, but they're making a living doing what they love everyday (I think we can all learn a little something from them)!
WLA: How old are you both?
Georgia: thirtymumble
Alie: Early! Very early thirtymumble!
WLA: How did the two of you meet?
G: We met through a close mutual friend, and immediately thought the other was badass. Unfortunately I lived in San Francisco at the time so we didn’t really get a chance to become friends. Once I moved back to Los Angeles, I immediately contacted Alie and asked her out on a friend-date. I was nervous, because I was a little intimidated by her aforementioned badassness. I don’t think dudes realize how nerve-wracking it is to make new girl friends when you’re over 12 years old.
A: When I met Georgia, she was peeing in some hedges outside of a dive bar in hipster Silverlake. (In her defense, the bar had one tiny bathroom.) I found this, shall we say, lack of pretension, really endearing and also badass and wanted to be pals. When she moved back down to LA, she MySpaced me (whats up, 2007?!) and we hit it off.
WLA: Where do you both live?
G: We both live in sunny Los Angeles, and we’ve actually been neighbors for the past year or so.
A: We lived two blocks away from each other in Silverlake, and now we live 3 blocks away from each other in Los Feliz. Georgia has central air, but I have a rooftop deck, so it’s a symbiotic relationship all around.
Photo Cred: Lou Obedlam
WLA: Judging from your blog and website, you both seem to dabble in just about everything! Can you summarize for our readers?
A: We quit out day jobs about a year ago to do what we’re doing, and what we’re doing blurs a lot of the leisure-work boundaries that most people enjoy. So, during the day, we write, brainstorm, return emails, blog, buy airline tickets, take meetings in tall office buildings, visit my aforementioned rooftop sundeck, pick peaches, boil them with liquor, try new recipes, go dress shopping, and talk about dudes. Then, at night, we tend to attend a lot of foodie and cocktail events. One or two nights a week, we just sack out on our couches and turn our ringers off.
G: Right now our job is being Alie & Georgia, and with any luck it will become a full-time career. It’s a nice job if you can get it, I must say.
WLA: When did your obsession with cocktails first start?
A: It started for me when I realized you could break the rules. Cocktail culture has enjoyed a very refined sort of renaissance, with prohibition-era drinks and gourmand mixologists on the rise for the past several years. That’s all good and fine and fascinating and I love me a well-made cocktail, but making beverages more experimental and less stoic and serious is what interests me. And yes, last night I made a peaches and cream beverage out of fresh pureed peaches, honey bourbon and a splash of nondairy creamer from my fridge and I’m not afraid to admit that it was delicious.
G: I was an amateur cook before I started messing with cocktails, and the two are pretty interchangeable if you’re willing to have some fun with it. It’s really about messing with flavors and finding new ingredients that excite you, much like cooking.
WLA: I see you describe your Tumblr as "From the minds that brought you the McNuggetini"...what exactly goes into a McNuggetini?
G: What goes into a McNuggetini, or into our minds? I’m still trying to figure out our minds, but as for a McNuggetini, it’s vanilla vodka mixed with a chocolate milkshake that’s poured into a martini glass which has been rimmed in barbecue sauce, and then garnished with a McNugget. Getting past the barbecue sauce is tough at first, but to be honest, it’s a pretty tasty drink. You’ll always have fun when you’re drinking one, for sure. And once you finish the drink, you swipe the McNugget around the barbecue-sauced rim and you have a snack!
A: As much as I just professed pride in adulterating the venerated art of mixology, I do have to admit that the McNuggetini is known as the “Infamous McNuggetini” for a reason. So, in addition to the vanilla vodka, make sure to add a healthy heap of shame. I eat McDonald’s maybe twice a year, and it’s usually for the ingredients of a McNuggetini. There’s a sick, embarrassing novelty to it that is, at its core, a people-pleasing party trick.
G: Yeah, that’s true. I don’t think we’ve ever taken this cocktail very seriously, and we can always tell if a person is in on the joke if they think it’s funny instead of horrific.
WLA: What are your personal favorite cocktails?
G: I’m a sucker for anything with bitters, and I’ve never met a Manhattan I didn’t like. To be honest though, since our lives kinda revolve around cocktails, sometimes all I can handle is a nice cold beer or a whiskey on the rocks. We’ve probably tried more cocktails in one year than most people have in their lifetime, and that’s not a brag. Our livers kinda hate us.
A: My go-to cocktail is a vodka soda with a dash of bitters. I prefer a flavored vodka -- like a vanilla or a blackberry -- with sparkling water because its light and hydrating and virtually hangover free. I’m also a sucker for a wine spritzer, to be perfectly honest with you.
WLA: Since you are the experts, where is the best place to get a quality cocktail in LA?
G: Holy crap, where do we even start? There is so much fun stuff going on in the cocktail world these days, and it seems like everyone is doing something innovative. My very favorite place for a cocktail is the Library Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. Matt Biancaniello, the bar chef, creates these amazing cocktails based on your tastes and what’s in season. We’ve never had the same cocktail here twice.
A: What Georgia said. Absolutely. We adore Matt’s drinks. I also love what Julian Cox has created for Playa on Beverly Blvd. The Diving Bell (mezcal, gin, lime, falernum, pineapple gomme, yuzu, with a dusting of cayenne) might be one of my favorite cocktails in LA. Smokey, sweet, tart, spicy. Perfection.
G: Also Downtown LA is now home to some really fun spots. We love the Caña Rum Bar, or any establishment the 213 crew is behind. They’re always doing something interesting.
WLA: Where do you come up with ideas for the videos on your site?
A: We usually start with something that we enjoy eating, and try to reinvent the flavors in liquid form. Examples of this working are: the Less is S’mores, the Grill Your Peaches, the Tiramisu rum cocktail and the Cereal Killer. Examples of this not working are: the ham daiquiri.
G: Right, the Ham Daiquiri was a major fail. What’s fun about creating something new is the trial and error that goes along with it. We’ve made many cocktails that have been dumped down the sink after one sip, but when we get one right-on, we get stupid giddy about it. High fives are a big part of our friendship.
WLA: When did you first decide to start a blog and website?
A: We posted the McNuggetini video as a joke on YouTube and Georgia linked to it from her Tumblr. It went viral immediately, and then from there we got a bunch of ridiculous press coverage and had to build a website and Tumblr and Facebook and Twitter. In so doing, we kind of realized we had a “brand” on our hands, which was terribly convenient because we get to be ourselves and do things that interest us and amuse each other and also left our oppressive corporate day jobs. (Lesson: Find what you love. Build a brand.)
G: Yes, leaving my corporate day job and tossing out my uncomfortable slacks was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
WLA: Are you ladies currently working on any projects that you can talk about?
A: We’re starting our first season as contributors to Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel, which we’re just giddy about because we’ll get to branch out more from cocktails and also we’ll get to eat a bunch of cake. That starts to air in January, but we’ll also be doing a lot of blogging and a whole new online series for Cooking Channel, which should come out by the end of the year. We’re also about to start an advice-column video series for Hello Giggles (send us questions/problems anonymously: http://bit.ly/psyzv0)!
WLA: Both of your personal styles are really unique. Where do you do most of your shopping?
G: We’ve both been thrift store junkies our whole lives. I have a few tried and true vintage dress shops around LA (like Shareen and Jet Rag), but I also love going to estate sales. I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of an addiction for me. I have a closet full of lovely old frocks, purses, shoes and costume jewelry, and I rarely get rid of anything, only add.
A: I’ve always been drawn to vintage clothing because it’s not subject to prickly faddishness. I hate shopping based on what other people dictate is cool at the moment. So, I already had a good collection of vintage dresses, but this venture has allowed me to add to that considerably. I just moved into a place with a walk-in closet. It is … awesome.
WLA: What are some of your hobbies?
A: I’m obsessed with etymology and entomology; language and science and bugs are my greatest passions. I’ve also been known to dabble in DIY taxidermy and have a side career as a painter.
G: Is reading fiction a hobby? How about learning about WWII? Because I’m terribly infatuated with both. Give me a WWII-era historical fiction novel and I’m frigging done. Also cooking. I love cooking and baking.
Photo Cred: Shane Redsar
WLA: What are some of your favorite spots in LA?
A: I love creepy old-looking establishments, so even if a bar like Harvard & Stone tries its hardest to look it’s been there forever, I’m a sucker for it. But I also love bars in hotels (never anyone there), museums (stuffed pelicans! fossils!) and anywhere with a good view of the city. We’re also fans of hiking together, which is oddly where we drum up some of our best ideas. We hike with notepads. Not kidding.
G: I just adore dive bars like The Roost in Atwater Village (which is actually where we came up with The McNuggetini) and the Drawing Room in Los Feliz. I also love the New Beverly Cinema, which always has an interesting movie playing, and since I’m a native Angeleno, I must have dinner across the street at El Coyote first. Hmmm...the Pasadena flea market, Canter’s deli, Umami Burger, the bar at iO Theater when Molly is bartending, and anywhere that serves yam fries. Honestly, I have a huge crush on Los Angeles, so this list could go on and on.
WLA: Finally, what do you see the future holding for you both?
A: Our immediate objective is a travel-food-nature show. I’d love to go to interesting places and meet weird people and laugh with my best pal and make a living at it. And then dominate the entire world under our oppressive rule.
G: Yes, me too. All of the above.
Photo Cred: Shane Redsar
Check out Alie & Georiga's website, Food2 site, and Youtube channel for their awesome cocktail recipes and adventures! Follow them on Tumblr and Twitter for updates!
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