Montclair Magazine Holiday 2018 | Page 30

Q&A Cocktails and Podcasts, the Perfect Mix Rashaun Hall blends business and pleasure in his Shot Caller show WRITTEN BY JULIA MARTIN P inning a label on Rashaun Hall, Montclair music writer-turned-liquor pitchman-turned-podcast host, isn’t easy. Fortunately, Hall, who knows a thing or two about branding, provides the elevator pitch, calling himself a “pop-culture expert and cocktail connoisseur,” and describing his Shot Caller podcast as “two parts booze and one part pop culture.” It’s a recipe that seems to be working. The 41-year old Hall and his co-host, Lucinda Sterling, manag- ing partner of the cocktail bars Middle Branch in 28 HOLIDAY 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE Manhattan and Seaborne in Red Hook, Brooklyn, release their second season of episodes in November. Hall and his wife, Leah, corporate communications manager for Jaguar/Land Rover North America, are also in the vanguard of Montclairians who brought their creative sensibilities to last month’s first Montclair Design Week, when they organized a cocktail competition with Sterling as a judge. We talked to Hall about his path from shelf-stocker at his family’s Newark bar to cocktail-culture taste- maker, and how he and Leah keep the drinks flowing at their holiday parties. TAKING HIS SHOT Rashaun Hall has fun and shares his knowledge of cocktail culture on his Shot Caller podcast.