Angela Tuell 00:05
Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those reports on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world. From our studio here at Communications Redefined, this is Media in Minutes. Today I’m excited to talk with Jake Emen. Jake is a freelance drink, food, and travel journalist whose work has been published in outlets including AFAR, Barron’s, Conde Nast Traveler, Departures, Eater, Food & Wine, GQ, Maxim, Men’s Health, USA Today, Whiskey Advocate, Wine Enthusiast and a wide range of others. He’s served as a judge for several international spirits and cocktail competitions and has visited over 130 distilleries across 30 countries and six continents. Hi, Jake, thank you for joining us.
Jake Emen 01:04
Yeah, absolutely. Hey, Angela, how are you doing?
Angela Tuell 01:06
Great. I’m really excited. You must first tell everyone where you are right now. I’m so jealous.
Jake Emen 01:14
Yeah. Calling you from French Polynesia right now. It’s a place I’ve long wanted to, come to and it’s my first time visiting here and I’m on the island of Tahiti as we speak. And it’s a beautiful day.
Angela Tuell 01:26
How – that is wonderful. How long are you staying?
Jake Emen 01:28
So, unfortunately, my trip comes to an end tomorrow evening. But I’ve been here for about two weeks hopping around the islands. So it’s been a nice day, and I’ve been really enjoying my time.
Angela Tuell 01:38
I bet. What are some of your best tips for travelers who want to visit there?
Jake Emen 01:42
The most important thing I think is that you really have to keep in mind each of the islands has its own personality. You know, we kind of conjure up the idea of Bora Bora. I think that’s what most of us you know, think all of the Polynesian islands are. And, you know, that’s amazing. I love the overwater bungalow life. You know, that’s totally up my alley. But you know, for example, in Raiatea, there are no resorts. If you stay there, it’s only going to be Airbnbs or homestay guest stays, that kind of thing. Yeah. Then you have the island of Tahiti, which is the main population center, it has the capital Papeete on it. So if you stay there, you know, you have access to more of the actual main town itself, the restaurants, the bars, the shops, that kind of thing. So yeah, all the islands really have their own take on Polynesian life. And you know, it’s just about matching, what the experience you want to have might be.
Angela Tuell 02:34
Yeah, do you think you have a favorite?
Jake Emen 02:36
Like I said, you know, it’s hard to argue with the overwater bungalow life, I am totally a sucker for an amazing luxury hotel. So I will admit that. But that said, I also really enjoyed my time in Mo’orea as well, which I believe is either the second or third most populous of the islands. Only one or two major resorts and besides that, again the villas, are the rentals. And it’s a really great slice of culture over there.
Angela Tuell 03:00
I bet. Where are you going next?
Jake Emen 03:03
So, very conveniently, I hopped straight from Tahiti to Turkey, in two days, which is, you know, not a direct flight, as you might imagine. But I’ll spend a couple of weeks in Turkey visiting Istanbul and then down to Bodrum and Cappadocia.
Angela Tuell 03:19
Wow. So for those who don’t know you are a full-time nomad. So no fixed residence.
Jake Emen 03:25
Exactly.
Angela Tuell 03:26
How long have you done that? How’s it been?
Jake Emen 03:29
It’s been amazing. I made the leap at the start of 2022, I figured enough things were reopening that I could kind of get out there and start stringing some things together. Originally, I wanted to do it at the start of 2020, but I made up my mind to do it at the end of February 2020, you know, got rid of my residence in San Diego and started to sell my furniture. So I was committed to doing it. And obviously, the pandemic set in about a week or two later. So that’s pretty bad timing, unfortunately. Yeah, so that was too bad. But you know, knock on wood, you know, came out the other side of the pandemic, obviously, not that we’re done with it. But you know, at the stage that we are now where things are starting to reopen. And, you know, again, I decided that it was time to give it a try. So it’s been almost six months so far. And I absolutely love it.
Angela Tuell 04:16
What have you learned? That was any different than what you thought?
Jake Emen 04:20
Well, you know, it’s really there’s a ton of planning and logistics to it. You know, whenever I get to one destination, I’m thinking about where I’m going next and how I’m getting there and how long I’ll be there when I’ll be there for what I’m doing, why I’m going, what I might write about or research while I’m there. So yeah, it’s somewhat of a grind. But once you get into that mindset, and you have that momentum kind of building, it’s, you know, pretty easy to maintain. And, you know, big picture, I’d like to slow down a little bit from what I’ve been doing, you know, spend one or two months in a destination and kind of, you know, be a little bit more relaxed than what I’ve been so far this year, which is kind of hopping around one place after another.
Angela Tuell 05:01
Yeah, that’s a lot. I was thinking, you know that the whole trend of slow travel might might be a little bit better.
Jake Emen 05:07
Yeah. Yeah yeah. I do embrace slow travel.
Angela Tuell 05:09
I feel like you’re – you can’t enjoy as much where you’re at when you’re trying to plan the next one.
Jake Emen 05:14
It’s tricky. It’s all about, you know, maximizing your time. And you know, as a writer, a good deal of my time is typically just procrastination anyway. So if I kind of, you know, get my procrastination done on, say, the beach of Tahiti, as opposed to in front of my laptop. So, you know, that’s how you kind of make the most of your time and ensure that you enjoy the destination, too. But certainly, you know, so far the way it’s not been, you know, the way a tourist would travel around typically, that’s for sure.
Angela Tuell 05:44
Yeah. How long do you think you’ll do it for?
Jake Emen 05:46
At least a couple of years now that I’m going so? In my head, I’m committed to at least a year or two, and then we’ll see from there.
Angela Tuell 05:53
That’s great. So you read about drinks, food, and travel? What topic do you prefer? Just the blend of the three?
Jake Emen 06:00
Yeah, you know, a blend of the three is always great. And those things are always interconnected. You know, I feel like drinks and food are a great way to explore, you know, somebody’s culture and learn something about those people. But that being said, whiskey is kind of my first love, journalistically speaking. And that’s how I got into the industry. And so you know, whenever I’m visiting, you know, a world-class whiskey distillery, and diving into all the geeky details about how they make their whiskey and why it tastes a certain way and what their history is. That’s, that’s really when I’m most in my wheelhouse I would say.
Angela Tuell 06:31
So how did you get into it? How did whiskey help?
Jake Emen 06:34
Well, you know, Whiskey was just something my father taught me an appreciation of, you know, he always had some single malts around the house, and he was not a heavy drinker at all, it would be, you know, a special occasion, glass of whiskey one at a time kind of thing. But he always taught me an appreciation for that. And, as I came of age and matured, you know, whiskey was something I turned to as well. And literally one day, a buddy of mine suggested, like, Hey, Jake, you drink a lot of whiskey and you and your writer, why don’t you write about whiskey? And literally, that quick conversation kind of put my career on a whole new path.
Angela Tuell 07:11
Really? So what was it before that? You said, You’re a writer, but yeah, so
Jake Emen 07:15
I was actually doing sports writing before that, primarily boxing. So a big boxing fan. And at the time, it was my dream job. I was covering fights in New York and Atlantic City, sitting ringside, doing all these things. Interviewing, you know, major fighters. So that was absolutely the dream for me. And then, you know, the perks that, you know, come with the travel and whiskey side of things are where we’re kind of just too good to ignore. So yeah, I pivoted, I tried to do both for a while and then eventually, you know, went full time into food, drinks, travel.
Angela Tuell 07:48
Yeah. So have you had – has it, um, I don’t wanna say easy, have you had a hard time at all, placing all of your stories as you’re traveling?
Jake Emen 07:57
While I’m traveling? No, thankfully. You know, I’ve good relationships with a number of editors. And you know, it’s all about building those relationships and working with somebody that, you know, both of you can trust each other. And, you know, it’s the same between journalists and the PR side as well. It’s about relationships, I think.
Angela Tuell 08:15
Yes. Yes. What are some of your favorite recent stories?
Jake Emen 08:19
Oh, wow. Let’s see. So I recently just did a story for Vine Pair, which I found very, very interesting. It was about the ways that big technology, big tech companies, and artificial intelligence are starting to enter the alcohol space. And, you know, there’s, you know, lots of positive sides of that, you know, climate change, fighting AI systems to help wineries, you know, stay ahead of the curve in terms of changing weather systems and climate systems. So that’s great. And then, you know, there’s kind of the interesting side of things, which is, you know, robot bartenders decide to, you know, make your drinks in five seconds and tell you a funny joke as they do it. So, you know, there’s, there’s both sides to the technology equation. So I found that interesting. That was a fun one to report. Another piece I actually did for Vine Pair recently was reporting on the first modern peated Irish whiskey to actually be made with Irish ingredients. So Irish grown barley and then smoked by Irish Pete’s. So Waterford first time anybody since the downturn of the industry, basically, since prohibition has done that in Ireland. So Waterford Distillery, they’re the first ones to do it. There are other peated Irish whiskies, but they’re not being made with those Irish ingredients and processes. So I believe I was the first one to report on that story. So that was fun to get that out there as well.
Angela Tuell 09:42
Yeah. How do you typically find your stories?
Jake Emen 09:45
You know, that is a mix of you know, proper tips and relationships, but also a bit of a discerning eye. You know, like, to be entirely honest, the story somebody tells me, I’m going to find is often not the story I ended up finding and reporting on and you know, that’s what it’s all about. And that initial tip or that admission initial idea might come from, you know, the PR side. I might, you know, get an invitation to visit a distillery in Ireland, but then have no clue what I’m gonna find once I’m there. And what I find exciting in this case, for example, the first modern peated Irish whiskey might not be the initial idea they wanted to talk about. So it’s combining, you know, tips and then just having a bit of a discerning eye and, and figuring out what’s most relevant and interesting to you, and might be for your readers as well.
Angela Tuell 10:36
Yeah, and I think and I love that I think, you know, most paraprofessionals, whatever the story is, it still brings awareness. You know, whenever you’re the audience for the publication would find interesting is what you know. And, yeah, we love that. And speaking of working with public relations professionals, you know, how can we best help you do your job?
Jake Emen 10:56
Yeah, that’s a great question. The publicists and PR professionals I enjoy working with the most are the ones who really personalize their pitches, and their ideas, for me. So you know, try to make it relevant for me what I cover specifically, the outlets I work with. You know, the more generic and mass email the ideas, just, you know, to be honest, the less likely that is to break through with me. So you know, and then the other thing from there is really, to help me, you know, do my job and make it as easy as possible. And I was just talking about relationships a minute ago. As a freelance journalist, one of my jobs is to make my editor’s job as easy as possible. I want my editor to never think for a second or hesitate about assigning a story to me, because he or she knows, I’ll turn it in on time, it’ll be in the publication style, and it’ll you know, hit all the checkmarks of what they’re looking for. So that’s really what I want to do as a freelance journalist. And then on the PR side, for me, I think is the same thing. If you can help me meet my deadlines, give me the answers or information or photos or facts I might need by the date I need them, you know, the easier you are to work with in that sense, the more I’m going to turn to you as a trusted resource and somebody want to continue working with.
Angela Tuell 12:16
Yes, and I think I know the answer to this next question because you have it as a pinned tweet. But what is – what are your professional pet peeves?
Jake Emen 12:24
Yeah, you know, that pin tweet, that’s funny, got a lot of traction in the Twitter journalist world. And that’s, you know, talking about just, you know, I totally understand it, but it’s the story check-in from a PR professional and might be, you know, Hey, Jake, what’s the story coming in, you know, and what, what am I run? What’s gonna run? And you know, as a freelancer, I just don’t know, we don’t know. You know, that’s happening on the editorial side, and we have no insights into that, unfortunately, so I always know that question is coming. And I know on your end, you know, you gotta make your clients happy, and you have your own goals and targets to hit. So totally, I respect that side of it. And it’s not meant as a dig to anybody on your side of the fence. It’s just as a freelancer, it’s just I, we – we never know. We’re more in the dark than anybody as freelancers.
Angela Tuell 13:12
Right? You love when you hear someone like, I just saw your story, right?
Jake Emen 13:15
Yes, yes, exactly.
Angela Tuell 13:18
So what stories are you working on currently?
Jake Emen 13:21
So currently, while researching several different stories while I’m here in Tahiti, and again, the stories you fly in versus what you think you might find, so I happen to find several rum distilleries out here in Tahiti so I’ll be excited to report on those and tell people about those. And I was just in Scotland right before this and I was visiting Ardbeg distillery on the island of Isla for Ardbeg day, which is a huge festival and attracts 1000s of whiskey drinkers and fans. And it’s kind of a madhouse. But yeah, so I have a couple of stories coming from that reporting on the distillery and what it’s like to kind of be there on the ground for this internationally renowned whisky festival.
Angela Tuell 14:01
So cool. How are you choosing where to go next? Are you having hosted trips? Or how’s that working?
Jake Emen 14:07
Sure, it’s a combination of hosted trips, and me just doing my own thing. And, you know, I certainly don’t always want to be hosted, I want time to explore a destination the way I personally would like to not just the way somebody builds an itinerary for me. So it’s very important for me to get my own time to travel somewhere. But yeah, besides that, you know, I kind of just build my schedule out in advance and slot in some big trips. And, for example, this French Polynesia trip to Tahiti in the other islands was kind of on the calendar for a couple of months. And I was looking forward to that. And then kind of Scotland got slammed in right beforehand, just a couple of weeks after this trip and had a couple of free days. So it made no sense in terms of where I was traveling to in terms of taking it easy on my body and not killing myself traveling around the world for 30 hours at a time. But you know, I’ve decided to take advantage of opportunities as they come right now. And, so I have a say yes mentality of it’s someplace that I would generally like to visit. And I feel like I could find a relevant story while I’m there.
Angela Tuell 15:11
That’s wonderful. So you also have to be flexible, right? I mean, all of our travel, things happen all the time the airlines. Do you have some stories?
Jake Emen 15:22
Yeah. So, for example, again, Scotland to Tahiti, which probably doesn’t sound like an easy travel day to begin with. I was scheduled I had to take a ferry from Isla to mainland Scotland, then a bus ride from the coast to Edinburgh, and then a flight from there to Paris, Paris CDG to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Tahiti. So it was about, you know, 40 hours, including the bus ride and ferry and everything door to door. But then my first flight was late for two hours, I missed my flight. And in Paris, I ran through the airport and got to the gate, just as they closed the doors, the plane was still there, but still missed the flight. And then I had to catch a later flight from Paris to Los Angeles, but then I also had to run through the LAX airport to make my flight to Tahiti. And there’s only one of those a day. So if I missed that, it would have been a 24-hour delay. But I ran through the airport and got on that flight and made it out here in time. But that was certainly not the ideal way. I would like to spend my time in the airport or traveling around. But yeah, you have to be flexible. And you know, if I had missed that flight, it would have been unfortunate to lose a day out here. But you know, I would have tried to make the most of it.
Angela Tuell 16:33
Yeah, you can either get upset and be angry or in a cabby mood, or you can make the best of it.
Jake Emen 16:38
Absolutely, absolutely.
Angela Tuell 16:40
So when did you start Man Talk Food? And how’s it going?
Jake Emen 16:44
Sure. Yeah, you know, Man Talk Food, you know, kind of became my personal online presence, I want to say, I think back in 2014. So it’s been a while now. But what originally spurred that on was the closure of what was known as the Yahoo Contributor Network back in the day, right? So that was a platform I was using, I was writing for Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, and some of the Yahoo Local channels as well. And as a freelancer, that was one of my main outlets at the time. And not only were they closing it, but they were taking everything offline. So all this, you know, hundreds of stories I’d written for them, they were just gonna delete. So I was like, Okay, I need my own presence, one, to back publish all these existing stories. But then two, I decided to use that as a way, originally to do a lot of local coverage. I was living in Washington, DC at the time. And so I was doing a lot of you know, local food, local restaurants, bars, that kind of thing. So it kind of sprung into action, built the website and launch the social channels, things like that. And, you know, I’d love to have more time to continue to build up my personal presence on it. But you know, it’s kind of the last project, unfortunately. It always falls to the wayside, behind, you know, the latest assignments, paid projects, things like that.
Angela Tuell 17:58
You don’t get paid for it.
Jake Emen 17:59
Exactly, not and not upfront anyway. And so, you know, I’d love to build up an audience, you know, that was large enough that I could earn revenue of a substantial degree from that. But it’s not quite there yet. And thankfully, I’m busy enough with everything else that you know, that’s a good problem to have. But I certainly would like to spend more time kind of investing in myself to build that presence up.
Angela Tuell 18:24
Yeah. You mentioned the DC area. Are you from that area?
Jake Emen 18:27
I’m from New Jersey originally. And then, yeah, I went to high school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, and went to college at NYU, then came back to the DC area and then spent quite a number of years living in Montgomery County.
Angela Tuell 18:43
Yeah, I went to the University of Maryland College Park. So –
Jake Emen 18:46
There you go. Okay.
Angela Tuell 18:46
So Maryland holds a special place in my heart,
Jake Emen 18:48
Very nice. very nice.
Angela Tuell 18:49
And worked on the Eastern Shore on TV there.
Jake Emen 18:52
Of course, you did. That’s great.
Angela Tuell 18:57
Before we go, we definitely have to talk a little bit more about the spirits. And the fact that you did over 130 distilleries across 30 countries and six continents. What have you learned?
Jake Emen 19:10
I’ve learned that alcohol is everywhere. Everybody makes their own alcohol, and there’s always a cultural tradition of, you know, that production. And one of the things I always learn when I go to any country is how to say cheers, in that language. So here in Tahiti and Tahiti, it would be Manuia. So I think that was the first word I learned while I was out here. But more to the point, you know, there’s always a story to be found even in places you don’t expect. There’s always something to explore. And, you know, a lot of those distilleries were planned trips to certain destinations. And other ones you find by happenstance when you just happen to be someplace around the world. And those often end up being the most memorable ones.
Angela Tuell 19:53
Yeah. Which ones have stuck out specifically?
Jake Emen 19:56
Yeah, so on the ladder front in terms of you know, kind of happenstance. I happen to be in Nairobi, Kenya, hopping off on a safari trip that I was taking and spending some time in Nairobi. Was at one of the trendy cocktail bars in town, and happened to be introduced to somebody who introduced me to somebody who was just there that evening, who was the owner of a company called Procera Gin, and they’re the first distillery in Kenya, and just happened to meet this guy and come across them. And he was like, What are you doing tomorrow? Do you want to come by the distillery? I was like, yeah, absolutely. Let’s do it. So that’s, you know, kind of how you find some of these unique stories along the way. But you know, visiting Japan and getting to go to Suntory Whiskey’s two single malt distilleries, Yamazaki and Hakushu. Those are both like Mecca for any whiskey drinker. And they’re so beautiful, they’re gorgeous destinations, really special places to visit. And then the first time I went to Kentucky bourbon country as well, that was totally, you know, like a come home moment for me personally. So, you know, took a trip and visited Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey and a few other spots along the way. And that was totally just a very special moment. You know, personally and professionally as well.
Angela Tuell 21:12
Yeah, were, I live in Indianapolis, and we were down and we lived in southern Indiana for a year and a half. So we were right there with it all. That was a lot of fun. Yes.
Jake Emen 21:22
Yeah. No, it’s a great part of the world. And everyone’s so hospitable down there. And obviously, the whiskey is good. The drinking is good down there.
Angela Tuell 21:28
It is it is. So how can listeners connect with you online? And can they follow along with your travels?
Jake Emen 21:34
Absolutely. It’s @Man Talk Food on Twitter and on Instagram. And yeah, please do follow along.
Angela Tuell 21:41
Thank you so much. We will be.
Jake Emen 21:43
Thank you very much. I appreciate the chat.
Angela Tuell 21:47
That’s all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We’d love to hear what you think. You can find more at Communications Redefined.com/podcast. I’m your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.
Listen as Jake shares with Angela about his nomadic adventures in search of enjoying good eats, downing excellent drams, and how he transitioned from sports writing to a career as a freelance food, drink and travel journalist.
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