A new age of whisky talk: Dram Fine Podcast - Interviewed
Could you kindly introduce yourself to those who don't know you?
We are Dram Fine Podcast, Canadian based whisky podcasters, Pamela Dobbin and Chelsey Belec. Dram Fine was born out of our mutual love for the spirit, and the need for more female representation in the whisky podcasting world.
We have since starting the pod received an award nomination, got some whisky qualifications under our belt, been judges in the World Whisky Awards 2 years in a row, hosted some incredible whisky events and produced 3 series of the show plus a new mini series.
So you are the co-hosts of the first all-female whisky podcast, 'Dram Fine Podcast.’ What brought you to this, and what is your background with whisky?
Pam - "We started Dram Fine because we didn't feel represented by what was out there at the time, and we wanted to be that familiar voice for other women who enjoy whisky."
Drinking whisky can feel elitist and nerve-wracking to some, but it’s to be enjoyed by all. We launched our podcast for those needing a light-hearted approach to drinking scotch and provide a fun opportunity for them to learn more on the complex liquid.
Chelsey - "I believe anyone can fall in love with whisky. They just need time, patience, an open mind... and to listen to our podcast."
I/Chelsey started out working at a whisky bar where I was, at first, completely intimidated with the massive selection of bottles. After learning more and more about whisky, I eventually started hosting whisky tastings at the bar so I could share my love of the dram with others. From there, I began working at a local distillery where I got some hands-on experience on how whisky is made. It was then I knew I wanted to always be part of this community.
I/Pamela have always been around whisky as my family on my mother’s side are from Islay. I’d been on so many distillery tours as a kid and whisky just always seemed part of a conversation that was going on when I was growing up. It wasn’t really till I moved to Canada when I realized the wealth of knowledge I had on the subject. People would ask my husband about Scotch (being from Scotland) and I realized everything he was telling them he had learned from me. It was around that time that I met Chelsey and we became fast friends. We actually almost started a band, but decided a podcast was easier since I have no musical talent.
We are now in the midst of recording the third season and recently launched a new mini series called ‘Wee Drams’ - 5 minute episodes with fast tasting notes. We have grown so much over the last 3 years, branching out from Scotch exclusively, to more world whiskies. As our knowledge grew, our eyes were opened to the many amazing distilleries all over the world, doing some really interesting things and we want to explore that as much as we can.
Could you explain why you choose audio (podcasting) over vlogging (YouTube) or social influence (Instagram or Twitter) as a means of reaching your audience?
We were interested in podcasting first off because as we mentioned there were no other female voices doing it at the time and we wanted to fill that gap. It’s also a rapidly growing medium that we wanted to take part in – it’s still a bit of the wild wild west out there in the Podcast world, so it was a great time to focus on an audio-based show.
Secondly, it honestly had a lot to do with affordability. Starting up a podcast was also a much more affordable option for us at the time, but as we continue to grow, we have definitely been chatting more about expanding into the video realm! Know any good video producers?
Could you describe the procedures you use to develop and produce a podcast episode for me?
For us, it all starts with research. We want to make sure that we have new, interesting and informed content for our listeners…we could have the best audio and equipment in the world, but none of that matters if we are recording absolute garbage. We have a big planning session (involving a few drams) where we outline what topics we want to tackle, as well as what guests we’d love to have on the show. Once we have an outline for the episode ready, we record! Because of the pandemic, recording via zoom has been an extremely useful tool that we have used almost exclusively. But as much as we appreciate zoom, we would LOVE to eventually have a studio to record in at some point. Since we are a small team of two, we do all our own editing as well. Audacity and GarageBand have been super easy to use (and free) and we would highly recommend either of them for any podcast newbies out there!
What resources or techniques do you use to advertise and promote your podcast?
We’ve been pretty lucky that the pod has grown organically for the most part with the exception of the odd social media ad here and there. We really just focus on researching the topic or whisky we are discussing in each episode and making sure that we are making the best content we can for each episode. Social media always comes second to the episode quality and content.
We’re both busy working mums who do this on the side and really rely on our fantastic listeners to spread the word.
Can you describe some of the strategies you implement and some of the difficulties you encounter in order to make yourself stand out as a unique podcast?
We wanted our format to be a little different to other whisky podcasts we’ve listened to. I think one of our biggest challenges of starting a podcast about whisky is, how do we make tasting whisky ‘sound’ interesting? Taking whisky into an audio form, isn’t straightforward. That’s where the episodes like ghost stories, interesting distillery characters, historical information and distilling methods or current trends come in. Again, putting the groundwork in before recording each episode is still our main thing, but it came from a vulnerable place where we were worried we’d be perceived as not knowing enough because we were women. Once we realized that most whisky podcasts were started by guys who just wanted to drink whisky and chat with their friends… we thought well, we are just the female version and there’s nothing wrong with that. Why can’t we do the same? And why can’t we do it our way?
Three years in, the challenges change, but we focus on being ourselves and bring that approachable and fun vibe we are known for.
Do you make an effort to stay current with the episodes you release, or is it more casual?
We tend to plan out each season, with the exception of the odd special episode. This season we have a real focus on amplifying female voices. But the joy of it being a passion project and our own thing, we can pivot and add special episodes that take our fancy whenever we want.
What whisky do you prefer to drink and, more importantly, discuss on your podcast?
Our main love will always be Scotch since that’s the reason we started the pod and had so much. Chelsey is a sucker for anything port cask and Pam a PX cask. We are both huge fans of anything Islay.
Have you thought about who your ideal podcast guest would be, and why?
We are so lucky that our original dream guest appeared in the season 3 premier, Becky Paskin. We’ve been fans of hers even before we started the pod so that was a really lovely moment for us.
We would love to get Rachel Barrie on an episode in the future. She is an absolute legend… or Matt Barry… we’d take any Barry.
What do you like to do to unwind when you're not working on the "Dram Fine Podcast"? Do you have other interests besides this line of work?
Pam is pretty artsy. Always painting or making something… she just made all her Halloween decorations for her house in one weekend.
Chelsey is into photography and spends a lot of time doing photoshoots whether it’s product photography or portraits.
We are both big music fans and go to a lot of concerts and chat music when we aren’t talking whisky.
Thank you to Pamela and Chelsey for taking the time to answer the questions in this special Q&A. For additional information and links to their podcast, please visit DramFine.com
