Emma Janzen - Imbibe Magazine

Emma Janzen and I have known each other for years. Well, in the sort of way that two people on Twitter who have never met in person can. We’ve traded messages, likes, and retweets. She’s a talented writer and photographer who possesses a great eye for detail while not losing focus on the story. She’s someone whose work I’ve followed for a long time and who I’ve wanted to have on the podcast. 

Her career is a melange of multimedia endeavors. After focusing on audio and video editing, she graduated with a degree in film. She didn’t plan on being a journalist but her background skills set her up perfectly for the new coming age of reporting and social media. 

She started her career working at the Austin-American Statesman in Texas after college. Living, working, and drinking in Austin, Emma had a front row seat for the nascent cocktail scene growing in the city. She reported on all things drinks there, shooting photos and video to accompany her articles, years before this would become regular practice in the industry. Emma then moved to Chicago, where she worked as a freelance writer, which is where she started focusing more on beer. She then got a job with Imbibe Magazine as the digital content editor. 

Emma is responsible for everything you see on Imbibe’s website. She runs the editorial calendar, helps select and write stories, shoots photos, sources and curates recipes for the publication. She’s also the author of several books, including Mezcal: The History, Craft and Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit, which was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award in 2018. Her latest book, a collaboration with co-author Julia Momose of Kumiko in Chicago, is The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes.

We don’t talk a lot about beer in this episode, though there is some. We’re mainly talking about booze this week, about how little I understand and appreciate mezcal, the beauty and art of Japanese bar culture, how much we both miss travel, and whether the RTD and NA spirits trends have legs. 

We also talk a lot about the business of journalism in the modern age. Emma offers advice on how to take better photos of your drinks. And we talk about how to maintain a healthy work life balance and the importance of re-energizing your creativity in the face of the burnout that so many of us are facing.

We start this week by talking about the state of alcohol journalism and how her employer, Imbibe Magazine, has managed to succeed where so many others have tripped up. And how the romance of the printed page endures.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Emma Janzen
Sponsors: Arryved - Novozymes