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The loudest moment at a Jewish wedding isn’t the music. It’s the crack of a glass and the cheer that detonates right on top of it. From Jerusalem, I slow that moment down until it finally makes sense, especially during the Nine Days leading to Tisha B’Av, when Jewish mourning strips away the very tools we use to build connection: weddings, wine, and even the greeting of shalom.

Under the chuppah, we count three vessels. Two cups of wine create union: Kiddushin, the act of being set apart, and Nisuin, the overflowing joy of Sheva Brachot that moves from Eden to a future Jerusalem filled with sound again. Along the way, I draw a line between the language of fine wine and the language of holiness, showing how terroir is its own kind of designation, and how a great bottle becomes “full” when many parts resolve into one seamless whole.

Then we face the third glass, the one nobody drinks from: empty, wrapped, placed on the floor to be shattered. That emptiness is not a detail, it’s the point. We connect the broken glass to Yom Kippur’s scapegoat ritual, to a wedding day as a personal Day of Atonement, and to the churban as a tragedy of shattered unity caused by sinat chinam. The episode ends with an honest tension: we cheer as if the work is accepted, yet the shards remain, and the world is not yet whole.

If this reframes the breaking glass for you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review. What do you hear in that crack now: sadness, comfort, or a vow to rebuild unity?

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www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
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Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App

Send a Text Message to The Kosher Terroir

Garlic in gin sounds like a mistake until you lean in, take a breath, and realize it smells like home cooking. From the Judean Hills, Tavlin Distillery is building a kosher craft gin that treats botanicals like a kitchen language and terroir like more than soil. I sit down with co-founders Eli and Amir to unpack how a Los Angeles finance guy and a Jerusalem educator with a sommelier-level nose turn a neighborly friendship into a serious Israeli distilling business.

We start with the story that sets the tone: a tequila dream powered by wild agave plants, an improvised extraction attempt, and two founders covered in allergic rashes. That failure leads to a smarter choice: gin, a spirit that can be made quickly, shaped endlessly, and perfected through aroma. We talk about what “Tavlin” means, why spice is the heart of their brand, and how they build an Israeli flavor identity using local herbs and botanicals from their region and the broader Israeli cuisine.

Then we get practical and nerdy: how they layer flavor through boiling botanicals, vapor baskets, and controlled maceration, plus how they approach safe, clean cuts on a pot still. You’ll also hear how their spicy gin earns a bronze medal at a major London competition, why their handmade ceramic bottles sourced in Hebron are part of the product’s soul, and where their experiments go next, from wine brandy collaborations to arak gin and even aquavit.

If you care about Israeli craft spirits, kosher gin, Judean Hills terroir, or the new wave of boutique distilleries, this conversation will give you both story and substance. Subscribe, share this with a gin lover, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

Tavlin Distillery: Eli Kamionski CEO / Amir Master Distiller

Head Office: Yahalom Street, Har Tov Industrial Zone, Plot 125

Telephone: +972-58-719-0318

Email: INFO@DRINKTAVLIN.COM

https://www.DrinkTavlin.com

Support the show

www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
+1212-999-4444
TheKosherTerroir@gmail.com
Link to Join “The Kosher Terroir” WhatsApp Chat
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EHmgm2u5lQW9VMzhnoM7C9
Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App

Send a Text Message to The Kosher Terroir

A glass door on Agrippa Street hides two towering copper stills and a claim Jerusalem has never been able to make before: a working distillery in the heart of the city. I sit down with Michael Ginnosaur, CEO of Thinkers Distillery, to unpack how a brand can be unapologetically Jerusalem and still chase world-class standards in vodka, gin, and bourbon.

We get concrete about what separates a premium spirit from a souvenir bottle. Michael lays out the three essentials: the liquid, the packaging, and the narrative, then shows how Thinkers tries to “further” all three through constant iteration. We talk distilling tech in plain language, including why they run both a column still for purity and a pot still for character, and how an urban distillery near Mahane Yehuda shapes visitor experience, cocktail culture, and brand identity.

Then we follow the details that make their spirits unusual: sourcing soft winter wheat from Champagne for a naturally sweet sipping vodka, using a different wheat origin to keep gin botanicals in front, and capturing water from Jerusalem air to control flavor and consistency batch after batch. We also dive into the Dew of Badolach bourbon story, distilled in Ohio, aged while crossing the Atlantic, and matured by the Mediterranean in Haifa, plus questions around kosher certification, gluten, and where the US spirits market is actually heading.

Subscribe, share this with a spirits loving friend, and leave a review so more people can find Kosher Terroir.

For more information:

Thinkers Distillery

Located in: Agrippas Street Shukanyon Market Mall

Address: Agripas St 88, Jerusalem

Phone: 02-620-5550 ask for Anat

Hours:
Tuesday | 11 am–8 pm
Wednesday | 11 am–8 pm
Thursday | 11 am–8 pm
Friday | 11 am–2 pm
Saturday | Closed
Sunday | 11 am–8 pm
Monday | 11 am–8 pm

Support the show

www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
+1212-999-4444
TheKosherTerroir@gmail.com
Link to Join “The Kosher Terroir” WhatsApp Chat
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EHmgm2u5lQW9VMzhnoM7C9
Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App