Notes
[00:00:33]
Episode #8 Overview
[00:01:27]
What the Big Bang Theory of Innovation is
[00:01:57]
The Idea is Only 10% – Don’t Miss the 90%
[00:02:51]
Half the Value of an Idea is Lost During the Development of the Idea
[00:03:32]
The Problem with Trends in Innovation
[00:04:11]
The Leader into the Market Leads Profits – This Counters Business Lore
[00:05:12]
You Need a System to Innovate
[00:06:13]
The Story of Stage Gate
[00:09:10]
Innovation is More Thank Just a Better Idea
[00:10:39]
How Companies Kill a Good Idea
[00:11:38]
Your System is Killing Your People and Ideas
[00:12:48]
The Driving Eureka! Book Segment
[00:12:58]
Why Patents Should Matter to You
[00:13:42]
Patents are Going to Other Countries – The US is NO Longer the Leader
[00:14:27]
Patents Lead to Higher Margins and Paid Employees
[00:14:46]
Universities are Missing Patents from Curriculum
[00:16:01]
70-80% of A Company’s Valuation is Intellectual Property (IP)
[00:16:53]
What Makes Something Patentable
[00:17:21]
Whiskey Business and Patents
[00:18:52]
Patents Force You to Think Differently
[00:20:40]
Amazon Files Lots of Patents
[00:21:27]
Patent Literacy Test
[00:25:43]
Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy Segment
[00:25:54]
The “Proper” Martini
[00:28:26]
The Martini – Step 1
[00:28:52]
Step 2 – The Boston Shaker
[00:29:58]
Step #3 – Fill Boston Shaker with Ice
[00:29:59]
Step #4 – Add 2 oz of Beefeater Gin
[00:31:06]
Step #5 – Dolin Dry Vermouth
[00:31:53]
Step #6 – Shake in Boston Shaker for 12 seconds
[00:32:29]
Step #7 – Dump Ice from Martini Glass
[00:32:33]
Step #8 – Use the Hawthorne Strainer to Pour from Boston Shaker to Martini Glass
[00:32:45]
Step #9 – Garnish
[00:33:08]
Step #10 – Sit Down and Drink
Transcript
Tripp: [00:00:01] Welcome to the Driving Eureka! podcasts where we share ideas and advice for helping you find filter and fast track big ideas.
Tripp: [00:00:14] Hi I’m Tripp Babbitt advisor to global organizations on the Deming philosophy and host of the Deming Institute podcast.
Doug: [00:00:22] And I’m Doug Hall inventor speaker teacher and whiskey maker. I’m also the founder of the Eureka ranch and author of the driving Eureka book.
Tripp: [00:00:33] This is episode number eight of the Driving Eureka! podcast. The podcast is structured around Doug Hall’s newsletter at DougHall.com and you can find all the archived newsletters under the heading “newsletters” from the main menu. This week’s feature story is the end of Big Bang innovation that Driving Eureka! book segment answers the question why do patents matter and in the Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy. We’ll discuss the classic cocktail the martini.
Tripp: [00:01:11] Well let’s talk about our featured story for this week the big bang theory it’s a show that I love Big Bang Theory is very popular for people with Sheldon and Leonard and the gang. But I don’t think that’s what you’re talking about here.
Doug: [00:01:27] No it’s a fine TV show but the thing that doesn’t work for me is corporations have this view that innovation is about a big bang and in 40 years of doing this I’ve never seen it happen. The premise is if we just come up with this big bang idea you know we go on the roof of our office sit in a lotus position wait for the lightning to strike us and we get this big idea and tell people to do it.
Doug: [00:01:57] Then a miracle occurs and the truth of the matter is as far as I’m concerned at best 10 percent of the initial idea is is what you’re going to realize at the end of the day. The idea is worth just 10 percent 90 percent of it lies in the hard work you put in during the journey from idea to reality and the consultants speakers and authors who I ran again who preach but have never practiced innovation perpetuate this they say the front end you’ve got to invest in the front end you need to do all of this stuff at the beginning and insights and design and all of this stuff.
Doug: [00:02:36] And then they claim victory that they’ve got this magical idea and then you’re stuck with it you try to figure out how to actually ship it.
Tripp: [00:02:43] So is this the is is the The Big Idea Hunt that you talk about it well it’s related to that. OK.
Doug: [00:02:51] It’s after you’ve gotten it and you say oh look miracles occur we got it the gurus gave us this magical idea and but the fact of the matter is is that’s not what you got to do more than that. You’ve got to do more than that. You it’s taking it from there. Because two separate studies show that companies lose half the value of an idea is lost during the development because people end up compromising they compromise. This is what we can’t do this we can’t do this. And next thing you know the idea is and worth doing but they’ve got so much time into it. They just go ahead anyways which is just madness it’s madness.
Tripp: [00:03:32] You know this kind of brings up. It’s somewhat related. It’s maybe a touch off of the subject but you know I constantly read about people tracking trends for innovation. You know that’s the way to innovate is to track trends what what you’re kind of what’s your stand on now what what you’re thinking with regards to the things that are trending in certain industries.
Doug: [00:04:00] Well trends are fine if we call it future mining. My my problem with some trends is is that they’re rearview mirror looking.
Doug: [00:04:11] In other words look to other companies are making a lot of money in this. That’s a trend. Let’s go do it now. Now we’re the third went in with the same old crap as everybody else. No place left is cheap as opposed to taking those things and doing future mining and building scenarios as to what could happen in the future if you’re not careful with trends you just become a follower. And the research is clear. You’re gonna make a fraction of the profits of the leader. I mean that’s the data. I mean you can say you don’t like it. You can say well there was this example yeah sure. That was an example just like when the weatherman says there’s a 90 percent chance of rain well 10 percent of the time you have to get the reverse because that’s what 90 percent means it doesn’t mean 100 percent. The fact of the matter is is that you want to be anticipating the future and driving it.
Doug: [00:05:03] And so future mining is good but it’s not enough because the marketplace changes ideas change and you’ve got to be able to pivot and adjust.
Doug: [00:05:12] But it all gets back to your system your system for going from idea to reality.
Doug: [00:05:18] And you’ve got to get that built into the DNA of your organization.
Tripp: [00:05:24] And is it because organizations don’t have something in place or it’s it’s it’s informal.
Doug: [00:05:34] There is no system there’s no system. System is get its management by by metric to get through the gate you have to have these numbers. You have to navigate you have to have these. Wow OK. But that doesn’t tell you how to do it. There’s no mindset for doing it. And in fact you’ve got three quarters of the organization and support groups whose job it is is to prevent risk it all all causes Tripp.
Doug: [00:05:59] I just I just got a request from a big academic book to write a chapter on innovation and product development which is you know I don’t know if I’m probably going to do I don’t know. We’ll see.
Doug: [00:06:13] But I mean and but it was interesting their questions they said Can you give me the arc of the story of what’s gone on in innovation and I’ll tell you what happened is that there was everything was fine the world got going faster people had to go faster people started to come up with ideas they had to failure. They then put in a system. The aim of the system was to prevent a failure from ever happening. And that system tends to be a gated system it came from Nassau originally. Then a professor named it Stage Gate. And the idea was gates of inspection.
Doug: [00:06:50] You see where I’m going. Yeah we’re gonna. We’re going to measure the quality we’re gonna inspect the quality as we produce the man in the car. 1950s Ford and Chevy and what did that do. It didn’t create quality. No. It creates gaming of the system. Guess what happens with the Stage Gate system. You game the set.
Doug: [00:07:09] It’s madness. Madness is guaranteed to not work. That’s why you have a ninety five percent failure rate at corporations because the system stupid is not designed to do it. And you say oh well we were being made to be objective.
Doug: [00:07:28] No it’s not when Drucker set up management by objective it was not to be. No it was management by strategic goal that you were doing not numerology you know it’s interesting read.
Tripp: [00:07:42] Well no it does and that’s OK because well even even with the you know that was the thing with Deming Deming really came down on management by objectives with Drucker and Drucker clarified himself and said the way it’s being practiced is not what I intended. It’s it’s completely gone to you know to the Milky Way. So. So there’s a very wide misconception and unfortunately it seems like everybody’s doing the wrong thing when they’re using the management by objectives that Drucker intended when he wrote it and it’s all and it’s perpetuated by business schools. So they’re in essence perpetuating this thinking that’s very Tayloristic. So if Frederick Taylor you know in the early nineteen hundreds it’s a different it’s a different world now. It’s you know it’s basically going from Newton to Einstein. So. So we’re we’re we’re in a we’re in a different we’re in a different universe and companies are still operating in the old one. Now I’m not I’m not real familiar with the stage the Stage Gate portion is it’s something that’s widely used in corporations.
Doug: [00:08:55] Yeah. About 85 percent of companies.
Tripp: [00:08:58] So these will be large companies I assume.
Doug: [00:09:00] Yeah yeah. Large companies. Eighty five percent use it. And by the way there were two Robert Coopers who worked on it. One was a business person one was a professor the Robert E. and Robert C or something like that.
Doug: [00:09:10] And I met the business person and it was supposed to increase being decrease risk but because the were not the systems were in place and how to do the work then you know it’s worse now than what they’ve done is see when you put these systems in what happens happened is as people have turned around and blamed the front end. Well if we had a better idea our system for development is fine. We just had a better idea. Okay. And so they’re now focusing on what they call stage zero at the beginning. You know the fuzzy front end and and and I was part of that. I was part of that for a long time with you reconvening but I am telling you it’s the wrong place. You know it that’s not where the problem is the problem is when you try to take that wicked cool idea and make it into reality. That’s where the problem is. That’s where all the messes.
Tripp: [00:10:03] So. So let me ask you this. You guys for years did kind of the big idea piece at the Eureka Ranch! and you’re saying you know that’s only 10 percent of it. What what got you what was the trigger that made you realize that you know we’re not really getting anywhere here because the companies aren’t because they’re taking the ideas and killing them off with their. We talked about this before the bureaucracy or you know other things that are involved in their culture or system. What was it. What was the trigger that that single for me path.
Doug: [00:10:39] Yeah yeah for me what drove me crazy was wasting my life you know. Yes. Great money. We’d invent this big idea. I kid you not we’d invent this. They give us a ridiculous objective.
Doug: [00:10:54] That was impossible to do we invent patentable breakthroughs miracle has occurred and then they f it up and not because the people want to but because the system screws it up the system kills it and then they get to the end and they come back and the worst part of this for me was they never blamed us. They said yeah we messed it up here.
Doug: [00:11:19] Can you give me some more when you’ve been doing this for 40 years you go. I’ve seen this movie. OK.
Tripp: [00:11:26] I poked my eye. Can you poke my other eye.
Doug: [00:11:29] Do it again. This companies that I’ve done 20 and 30 projects for. This is amazing. It is amazing.
Doug: [00:11:38] And you tell people it’s your system it’s bad they go we’re no we’re no we’re no worse than anybody else. I go That’s right. You’re no stupider than all the other stupid people fix the system that people want to do quality work. They want to do something good they want to do something amazing and we’ve just we robbed them of the pride of work to be able to do something. We’ve taken all of this effort and you know what it’s like we have an impossible mission. And then you accomplish it and then you see it just get flushed that really really is horrific. It just is terrible. It’s terrible.
Tripp: [00:12:10] Was it across the board. Doug. I mean was it. I mean you worked with a lot of big companies. I mean you know we’ve talked about Disney and Nike and different ceremonies like that.
Doug: [00:12:19] It’s everywhere it was. OK. So was it was it just you.
Doug: [00:12:22] It’s mostly big companies. It’s smaller companies it’s not as bad it’s not as bad with smaller companies but with with with these others it’s just a mess. It’s just a mess.
Tripp: [00:12:34] Very interesting. Ok.
Tripp: [00:12:48] It’s time now for the Driving Eureka! Book excerpt with legendary inventor Doug Hall.
Tripp: [00:12:58] Why do patents matter and this is kind of.
Tripp: [00:13:01] This is a kind of a big deal.
Tripp: [00:13:04] And you know I have never really thought about it until I’ve started working with you guys about the patents and how important that they really are. And now we’re seeing a whole I think the awareness level I think in the US now is is piqued. I mean we’ve got this whole thing going on with China and IP and those types of things. Any commentary on that because now often people are interested in intellectual property and what does that mean and what do you mean Micron Technology last you know eight point six billion dollars because they had their IP stolen would it.
Doug: [00:13:42] Yeah yeah I’d like to think I’d like to think that they actually cared about it. But the reality is they don’t. These are all reactionary examples so forget everything you’re hearing in the news. It’s just it’s a whole pile of bunk because the reality is is that the patent laws have been changed to make them more powerful and more helpful to us and patents should be expanding. But there are more patents going to companies and to people from outside the U.S. than in the U.S. In other words born in the USA invented in the USA is going continues to go down as a percentage of the patents filed. So we have a serious problem of patent illiteracy going on right now. And we have a true false test on basic patent knowledge.
Doug: [00:14:27] 50 percent would be guessing and the average executive gets 60 percent and they’ll give you every story in the world what patents aren’t worthwhile in our category they don’t matter. Well here’s the reality. The reality is is that what research shows is is that companies where they file patents make higher margin and the employees get paid more money.
Doug: [00:14:46] But other than that they don’t really matter because a patent is a government supported monopoly. Now is it the giant wall that ends all things. No. But you got to understand. But I talked to executives and I ask what are your opinion. Well yeah we have a patent on that and I’m like on what on that. What part of that. Well no it’s just you can’t make that. I said What part can I. They don’t even understand it. I then go out and I’m sitting in front of twenty four engineering deans and I say who teaches your engineering students what’s patentable. Not a single hand goes up. Now I can tell you that trip you can maybe guess by the tone of my voice. I then went ballistically crazy.
Tripp: [00:15:28] Not you Doug.
Doug: [00:15:30] And they said they said and one person said the accreditation bodies don’t require it. I said in the accreditation bodies are crap crap I go to business school. I said Are you interested in how we make more money. Oh yes money is important. Yes money is important. Yes. Want to make higher margins. Oh yes I want to do that finance. Yes finance support. Okay. Do you understand what is patentable and what is not. And be able to evaluate a patent. What are you talking about. No that’s not a job. That’s engineering job. No I already talked to them.
Doug: [00:16:01] They said it’s not their job either I mean for crying out loud we’re doing all of this work to do strategic thinking strategic thinking on how to get an advantage. And the one thing that matters more than anything else is intellectual property. It’s 70 percent to 80 percent of the valuation a company’s intellectual property. The factories are easy I can rent those I can borrow those I can find those all over the world. It’s the thinking where all the value is. Patents are critical. My view is if you work with me on a project you hire us doing can investing if I’m helping out with it the right role is reasonable.
Doug: [00:16:41] No patent no project no patent no project because a patent means your idea.
Doug: [00:16:50] Here’s a simple definition.
Doug: [00:16:53] A patent is when you have a an element of it a claim that is something that you’re going to do that is not obvious to somebody with ordinary skill in the industry so let me say it the reverse way. If what your new idea is is obvious to somebody with ordinary skill then your idea is not patentable and it doesn’t sound like much of an innovation to me.
Tripp: [00:17:21] So Doug what about the whiskey business and patents.
Doug: [00:17:24] Well a fair point. So you check in on me at your trip. I can see this is a tribute to make sure that I’m following. I’m doing this rant but am I doing it myself.
Doug: [00:17:37] The Whiskey business as it turns out. Until very recently had very very few patents because you’ve got an industry that is basically the three big conglomerates that own most of the Bourbons and most of the scotch and they all kind of work together. I’m not saying they illegally work together but they cooperate. They buy barrels back and forth from each other in some of this is very good and some of it is less good. In my mind for innovation and so they don’t file a lot of patents and but with the whiskey business because I’m putting my money into it because I put my money on the table for it my time energy money no patent no project and so patents have been a major piece of the work here. And for the first year we’re now getting into our third year here now for the first year I would probably say 70 percent of our time was on perfecting the technology and the patents doing it. And so and a future episode we go into that more depth because we’ve got some of the and some that are not public and I recently talked about the ones that are not public that are still secret but that are in the process so we can talk about it. But it is it’s a critical thing.
Doug: [00:18:52] And what I like about working on patents is it forces the team to think differently you can’t just do the same old stuff and get a patent. You have to think differently. You’ve got to break the rules. They only give patents to crazy people. And in fact at one point I you know because if you’re normal if you’re adult immature it’s obvious it’s no good. I tell my guys I took the old apple thing I said some call us the crazy ones and we’re OK with that because that’s the only people that get paid.
Tripp: [00:19:24] So they made the prudent and the prudent ones aren’t allowed that right. What’s that the prudent ones aren’t allowed.
Doug: [00:19:30] Being prudent will not get you a patent.
Tripp: [00:19:35] Well nice that you have had you touch upon this and I don’t want to go too deep into it but are they not they been these distilleries the large ones. Are they not patenting things because they’re just trade secrets that they have. Or how what’s the . . .
Doug: [00:19:51] To be perfectly honest I don’t know that they’re even actually trade secrets in most cases because most of the people in the industry know pretty much everything that’s going on. Just ask a few folks. No I think part of it is is that the big companies in all industries not just whisky tend to get to a recipe for a product.
Doug: [00:20:11] And they make the same product that way all the time. And so they make little tweaks on it but they don’t really invent original stuff. You know I mean what was the last time you had a remarkably different whiskey. You know I mean you may get an expensive one or a cheap one a smooth one or a harsh one. But how many times do you taste something we go Oh my God that’s like nothing else.
Doug: [00:20:36] It’s not often. No it’s often no.
Tripp: [00:20:40] So it’s this kind of situation. You know what. Let’s just shift a little bit into talking about service industry here now where you’ve seen this. I mean the biggest tidal wave I’ve seen is obviously Amazon. I mean they’ve completely changed the way that they’ve done and my understanding is and maybe you know more about this than me Doug. But as the they’ve they filed a ton of patents on stuff called Yeah.
Doug: [00:21:06] Well they’re very aggressive with it.
Doug: [00:21:07] I mean most most Internet companies most of these things are in it now whether or not you want to enforce without you complete that’s a separate. These are separate questions but filing for them is done very aggressively on some future episodes will give some more hints on on ways ways to work this and driving you Rebekah Brooks got a whole bunch more concepts in it.
Doug: [00:21:27] In fact the the the price of the book alone it’s worth it to get the quiz in there for the patent literacy test because it’ll really it’s going to shake up when you realize what you didn’t know you didn’t know.
Tripp: [00:21:44] Yeah well yeah. We want to put that into the show notes on the website so people have access to that. I think we’ve we definitely want to be able to do that so they can kind of know you got to know what you don’t know. So and I don’t know that people are aware. And again just what I said at the beginning that despite whatever politics you’re in this whole fight with China over intellectual property I think it’s got people’s attention about patents and things that things they never really thought about before. Wow.
Doug: [00:22:15] But there was we have to be careful what we ask for.
Doug: [00:22:21] There is a very very good chance that you know China’s view is that they are developing nation. You know there’s so many people in poverty and that kind of stuff it that they can’t afford to do it but if they were to start they’ve gone on a rampage filing patents remember patents are by country and a lot of U.S. companies have ignored filing in China. And if you haven’t filed in China you can’t complain about them copying them.
Doug: [00:22:54] Okay. So because that’s the way the rules are and there’s a lot of I’ve seen that before people so I can’t believe what they did in China. So did you file in China. No I said well then they’re not breaking the law.
Doug: [00:23:04] Yeah but the patents are no good there. Well without me you can’t have it both ways and so we’re going to end up in a situation where freedom to practice in China.
Doug: [00:23:14] Companies are going to get their products manufactured there because they’re gonna be violating a Chinese patent. So this is not as simple a story as you hear. I suppose examples. Absolutely positively.
Doug: [00:23:26] But if you start to track these things down and you start to track some of the stuff that the people are doing it it it’s a more complex story. And I I I am not an expert at this but this is gonna be more complex than you think because you’re going to end up wandering over to China. You’re going to say what do you mean I can’t manufacture my product. Well let’s say well you’re going to violate Chinese patent they said.
Doug: [00:23:49] But but but that’s not that’s not reasonable. And it’s like well it is because you know they were filing. Now how good they are how good the examination is. Lots more issues to this there’s a lot more to this conversation than the simple soundbites that you’re hearing that they’re stealing stuff. It’s probably fair to say that the vast majority of the stuff that they’re quote stealing is they’re just reading the patent literature and the companies were smart enough to file over there or didn’t care enough to do it because management was illiterate on it and so they lost it.
Tripp: [00:24:23] Interesting. Okay. Well yeah. Well it is what it is. It’s just. But it has drawn more attention. My my broader point was it’s drawn more attention to this particular piece and I’ll be honest with you. Before I met you I patents were not at the front of my mind. I never really thought about it. And then you know once you start introducing how important it is. And you know being able to figure out how to get make something patentable as far as a product or a service it you know you read just the awareness of it changes how you how you think about it. And I think that’s that’s the issue that we’re fighting here whether you’re a dead man or whether you’re an engineer or something else.
Tripp: [00:25:10] So. Doing Polaroids there.
Doug: [00:25:14] Sorry about that.
Tripp: [00:25:16] Ok let’s move out of patents for now. I mean I’m sure we’re going to revisit that a number of times as as time goes by. This is the Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy podcasts we’re going to take you behind the scenes on what it takes to build a whiskey distillery business
Tripp: [00:25:43] The Eureka! Ranch team led by Doug Hall are creating a craft whiskey company. Life has never been done before
Tripp: [00:25:54] The Brain Brew Whiskey Academy. A martini worth worthy of celebrating eighty five years since prohibition. And I got. You know Doug that’s my drink so I and I’m not quite as probably detailed as you are around.
Doug: [00:26:12] Now this is one where I am I am prudent and proper.
Tripp: [00:26:15] Oh no. Oh no. Oh I’m very prudent and proper but I you know the thing I like Doug and you don’t know this may may make your eyes roll but I and I got it for the first time out at Sullivan’s restaurant here in Indy. But they had a dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed alos and they ever since then I will not drink a martini without blue cheese stuff. So I’ll let you take it from here.
Doug: [00:26:42] And that’s fine. That’s that’s that’s nice.
Doug: [00:26:47] No I mean I would say and and dirty martinis. You know it was eighty five years ago on December 5th 1933 prohibition ended and FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Well he ran that he was gonna get rid of it and he loved martinis and he he preferred a dirty martini like you do. Okay. But I am in this case even though I love all these different things when it comes to martinis. I am an absolute fanatic about martinis actually all cocktails. It doesn’t help that I’m a chemical engineer and I’m into rapid psych tests and and I’ve got some friends of I manage the newsletter I mentioned Tim Jon and Sheldon who know who they are that fortunately are just as compulsive as I. With regards to making martinis and I have gone through a ridiculous I mean it would be hundreds of tests on this and in fact just the other night I found another gin and I said Well let me try this one. And I tried it three ways and I nope nope didn’t beat my classic didn’t be the classic. So now. So this is in the shout outs if you’re driving. Don’t worry about that you can get it there. And this is precision. So here’s the way this works. You’ve got to do it exactly precisely as I say. I mean and I’m talking precision here now after that you can do your riffs but if you want to learn jazz you’ve got to learn to play the scales first. You hear me here now. You’ve got to do it precise. And once you can play the scales well then you can start doing your riffs on it.
Doug: [00:28:26] Ok. So here we go. There’s a little bit of details to this OK. So step one you’re going to fill a martini glass with water and ice to chill it while you make the drink. OK. And this is important because otherwise when you put the cold martini in that the thermodynamic side of the cold goes into the glass so you’re going to let that sip. I put it together.
Doug: [00:28:52] Step two. You’re gonna get a classic Boston shaker. That’s the type that has the you know the cup and the two cups that go together like you tend to not what’s called the cobbler type where you have the little strainer thing on the top. OK. The difference is is that with the Boston shaker you get a longer throw. Okay so the ice bangs around more and it gets to the perfect dilution and all of my recipe is built around doing it out of that shaker.
Tripp: [00:29:22] And there’s the shaker me have to be made out of something in particular.
Doug: [00:29:25] I’m sure there’s developed hugely. It’s usually metal and glass is what you usually use. OK. This is what they normally are. All right. So now I know that there are I am a shaken not stirred martini drinker. And there are people that are of the stirred camp not me. I like the cold and I like the ice crystals. I think it gives it a zing versus the clear which I call practical imprudent stirred version of martinis. I don’t want to do that. OK so you got your Boston shaking you.
Doug: [00:29:58] Fill it with ice.
Doug: [00:29:59] Now to the ice you’re going to add two ounces of Beefeater gin. Now don’t be arguing with me here do it. You’ve got to get the Beefeater. I know it doesn’t cost like a stupid amount of money but it is that world standard. I talk with a guy once who got his PHD and his thesis was around gin and he told me he said Beefeater is the standard that everything is measured against and it is truly dry. Sadly today many of the gins. The reason why people liked them is they keep you can legally add sugar to them and they’ve got sugar added to them. You know it’s it’s nuts. You know they had one and two percent sugar. I mean we measure it. You can you can pick it up and that’s what the that’s what the vermouth is for is to add a little sweetness. So if you add remove on top of some of these modern gins it’s just stupid. Then work and work. So you’ve added two ounces of Beefeater and I’m not going to give you an option for an ounce half on this one Tripp. You’ve got to do two outs. I’m just telling you how to make it right.
Doug: [00:31:06] Then you’re gonna get Dolin Dry Vermouth. It’s the green bottle and you’re gonna get Dolan you’re not going to use the others. You’re going to use Dolan because that’s the best. And then you’re gonna take the cap off it. You’re going to buy the half sized bottle the three seventy five and you’re going to keep it in the refrigerator because it goes bad. You go to these bars and they’ve got to remove sitting there is frickin oxidized. It’s horrible. And so you only want to buy a half sized bottle and if you get the little ones that’s even better. Mm hmm. It’s fresh. This is gonna matter here. You’re gonna take the cap off and you’re gonna pour the Vermouth into the cap the screw cap comes off it and that’s how much removed you’re gonna use huh. OK. OK. I learnt that from Harry’s Bar now in Venice Florida. Venice Italy capful.
Doug: [00:31:53] OK now you’re gonna shake the martini for twelve seconds. You can use your watch account one Mississippi two Mississippi three Mississippi and yes I’m twelve of that gets it’s not 13 seconds it’s got to be consistent down seconds Oh I told you. Twelve seconds. I know it’s different but that’s the way it is. And what that does is the the ice starts to chill and it and the liquid hits the maximum cold in twelve seconds after that it starts to just dilute and you’re not you’re not going to get any colder.
Doug: [00:32:29] Then you’re going to dump the ice water for a martini glass.
Doug: [00:32:33] And you’re gonna use what’s called a Hawthorn strainer. And the Hawthorn strainer makes it so that you can get strain it out and it’s got a little curly things on it.
Doug: [00:32:45] You can look it up you’ll see what it is. And you got to strain that in and I got three choices You can add two olives a thin piece of lemon peel wiping it on the rim or go crazy and do both. Now I switch it up like in the summertime sometimes I’ll do the lemon but most of the time it’s two olives and then you then you need to sit down you don’t stand to drink this drink.
Doug: [00:33:08] This is a sitting drink. You sit there and you hold the martini glass and you look at the Little Ice sheds that are there because you shook it and then you slowly take it and you take a sip and hold it in your mouth for a second and then it’s like oh. My God is Sarah you know it’s spectacular. It’s spectacular.
Tripp: [00:33:31] So so my only question Doug is where’s the Kettle One Vodka that you do in the martini.
Doug: [00:33:37] Well not in my mind.
Doug: [00:33:44] Actually I told you how to make the best martini and I do vibe can not go there I’m going to go after those people up there. They’d like to have their vodka.
Doug: [00:33:55] I’m talking about a truly proper truly proper martini. That is just. Magnificent.
Doug: [00:34:03] I’m telling you all all my buddy’s Tim. John and Sheldon they go.
Doug: [00:34:09] I like my I like martinis gin and tonic sake say gin and tonic for cans soda when you have a rum and coke for crying out loud. It’s just it’s a sugar pill with it was a little Virginia he came taste a gin anymore. Well I like Let don’t drink gin you know. You know just drink vodka or something.
Tripp: [00:34:27] So who damaged you with this formula. Well what we’re so stuck on this thing.
Doug: [00:34:34] Well because I got into it and I started doing it and I and I ordered them and I would love them and hate them and now I’m at the point where I just I can’t even order them at bars. I can’t even order bars because they’re just horrific. But the Vermouth is usually cheaper smooth. That’s oxidized. That’s horrific to begin with. And a sugar pill craft. What. Gin. That’s got sugar. And they put it and it’s just concoctions and it just worthless. So it’s it’s it is just it’s just not worth getting. Harry’s Bar in Venice right round from the big cathedral there on the square St. Marks is a spectacular spectacular spectacular. There they make a proper martini and that’s where some of this recipe came from spending maybe some time with the bartender.
Tripp: [00:35:26] Ok. All right. Well that’s.
Tripp: [00:35:30] I’ve never heard you so adamant about you have to follow this step by step. I’m just looking through here.
Doug: [00:35:36] Usually there’s a lot of flexibility to it you know make it to your taste. I’m just telling you make it this way. Exactly. And I think you’ll become a convert. I think you’ll become a convert then after that do whatever you want. Makes exactly this way. I will be amazed and those people who don’t like a martini are going to say My God I have now I have seen the light.
Tripp: [00:36:01] Brothers it’s and they may be saying that after three anyway.
Doug: [00:36:05] So this is I can’t imagine in the 50s they would make a pitcher of martinis. I can’t even imagine the concept.
Tripp: [00:36:12] Oh my God. Joe you can sense to me. All right. Well that concludes our bring boom whiskey Academy for for this week
Tripp: [00:36:29] Because we appreciate you as a listener. We are offering for limited time for things a 1 hour abridged audio of the driving Eureka book. A subscription to the driving Eureka newsletter which contains weekly advice from Doug Hall on how to find filter and fast track big ideas and the newsletter. Has other offers that are not made public. The driving Eureka prescription for success you answer questions and will help you assess your ability to find filter and fast track big ideas and you get advice on how to grow your ability to innovate. And the last item. Access to a Doug Hall interview with a radio legend. To get these offers. Go to w w w dot Doug Hall dot com forward slash podcast.
Tripp: [00:37:29] And don’t forget to subscribe to the Driving Eureka! podcast on iTunes.