Drew McBath, Banner Butter (Atlanta, GA)
Right about now, if you are doing the holidays like I do the holidays, chances are you’ve had your hands on some butter. Maybe it was unwrapping a stick to mix into cookie dough or adding it into a cream sauce for Friendsgiving, but if you’ve been paying attention to the butter section of your local suburbia grocery store, well, you’ve noticed some new varieties, and this is the time to celebrate it in all its creamy glory. In Atlanta, Drew McBath, along with his wife Elizabeth, have admittedly gone down the butter rabbit hole, jumped off the butter cliff, bet their future on butter. I met them just about five years ago when they brought their just launched Banner Butter to the Local Palate office here in Charleston, and it was different and more flavorful than most butters I’d tried in the States. Now, they’re rocking and rolling on the butter bus (I can keep going with these analogies all day, ok?), selling at places such as Whole Foods and Central Market and Earth Fare, and so I sat down with Drew at Made South to dive deep into the butter banter. And with the help of the guys from the Podcask, I tried out some new equipment that upped the ante on my sound quality immensely! Sound quality improvement is one of the 2018 goals, and so here I give you a taste of the new setup, and of course if I’ve done my job, a craving for some butter on toast. Sorry, lactose intolerant folks. I can’t help it!