Welcome to The Pellicle Mixtape, a monthly feature where I (Pellicle co-founder Jonathan Hamilton) will be asking people from across the food and drink industry to create a playlist set to a theme of their choosing.

The hope is to gain a small insight into that person and their place of work through not only their song choices but also the thought process and level of obsessiveness they put into their mixtape. I’ll also be asking them what they’ve been enjoying eating and drinking recently, and finding out what else has been exciting them in the world of food and drink.

In this, the sixth in the series, I’m thrilled to present our first overseas guest, Kim Mercado, the owner and founder of Lager Dog, and The Sweetest Taboo Zine.

Kim and I met a few weeks ago in Edinburgh. She was travelling around the UK and stopped by the city to see friends and colleagues of mine (more on that later). I was out one evening waiting for the bus to go home when I got a late text message from Gordon. Confused why I was getting such late texts on a Monday evening, I concluded they were partying somewhere. I skipped the bus and walked to their flat, via the all-night bakery to pick up a bounty of snacks.

Upon my arrival I found that they had been partying because Kim was in town. We stayed up late playing music, talking and drinking whisky. When I realised that Kim had a zine, The Sweetest Taboo, I knew we needed to do something together. The Sweetest Taboo is a zine focussing on women in the service industry, and the proceeds go to a different women’s organisation each month. Issues 2 & 3 are out now, and if you would like to get hold of one, give the zine a follow on Instagram and shoot Kim a DM.

While we figured out what it is we are going to do together in the long run, I asked Kim if she would do us a mixtape for the site. She was more than happy to oblige and knocked this up in a few days.

It’s as comprehensive as it is excellent.

Oh, and Kim also runs a hot-dog pop-up called Lager Dog. If you live on the East Coast you should keep an eye out for their next events.

Thanks Kim, over to you!

Volume 6 — Owner/Founder of Lager Dog and The Sweetest Taboo Zine Kim Mercado

I LOVE music.

You can definitely tell from this playlist. It's eclectic as fuck. It sorta fits well together in some odd way. I collect vinyl and love to just listen to a lots of music. Sometimes, although it's been a while, I'll join a DJ night along with friends, whether it's with vinyl, or playing stuff off a laptop, and usually to like punk/metal OR soul etc.

So this playlist goes from the silly, happy Grateful Dead song, to an infamous song that was in a Bollywood drama movie called Jyoti, to a bunch of talented friends from the Massachusetts area, to a Q-U-E-E-N, to a mega-talented friend doing what he does best and killin' it, to what it feels like in 2020 because humans can't take care of stuff sometimes.

From there it goes to where my family is from in Colombia (Track 7 translates to The Women from Cali are like Flowers), to one of the funniest prank groups ever above anyone, to this sick french synth-wave band from '85, to another QUEEN from NYC, to this electro/dance beat that's so boom! it just makes you wanna move!

Then it goes to a brilliant musician that always puts me in a good zone, to another funky beat that samples Henri Texier's Les La-Bas, to one of the greatest groups to exist, to song that reminds me of my mom, my abuela (grandmother), her grandmother and so forth, to another talented group of friends in a death metal band, to my fiancé and our friends (my fiancé is an amazing singer and our pals are insanely talented musicians, just check out live footage and they're coming out with a new record out soon!).

To finish there’s from a song that's the perfect fusion of soul, boogie and disco, to Blitz goes New Order, to this song I’ve been jamming to for a bit thanks to my friend Heather Breen—I listen to it for EVERYTHING: cooking, gym, drawing, you name it—to a song that is in Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, a 1985 American biographical drama based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. I am a big Phil Glass fan.

What have you been drinking recently?

I mix it up a lot. Some weeks I stick to tea and seltzer. I'll do a Diet Coke or Dr Pepper if I'm really, badly hungover, which is rare.

I’ve been sticking to loads of classics when it comes to beer like lagers and saison as of late because there’s too much weird shit going on with beer.

Actually just gimme any of the following: Sierra Nevada Celebration, Orval, De La Senne Taras Boulba, Rothaus Pils, Schlenkerla Helles and I’ll be content. A side of Underberg is a must, but OK if not easily accessible.

I recently had my first pop-up [Kickstarter success Lager Dog] at the venerable Suarez Family Brewery and they make exquisite beers. Everything from them is amazing, and they’re also the sweetest folks ever.

Another thing I’ve been doing as of late has been going into my cellar (a.k.a. closet) and cracking open a lot of my BFM collection. Man, they're such an underrated brewery! I opened up their Special 20th Anniversary Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien aged in Bordeaux Grand Cru (Château Latour) barrels.

It was smooth, earthy, and woody with a beautiful mild burst of sweetness in the finish. Red wine spritz to the max! Definitely has stayed on my mind since cracking into it.

What else? I love wine, but I’m not even gonna front I don’t know much about it. I've been trying to read more about it via Marissa Ross's book, Wine. All the Time: The Casual Guide to Confident Drinking, and I think it's been helping me.

There is one specific wine that stands out right now though and has been since I first tried it on my birthday the first year Frenchette in TriBeCa was opened. It was el Carner Rouge 2018 from Matassa—a blend of 60% Grenache Gris and 40% Macabeo.

A quick side note: if you’re ever in NYC, go eat at Frenchette. I also sometimes grab a Negroni, Green Chartreuse, or a scotch to end the dinner.

There's this upcoming beer fest I'm dying to go. FRANKENBIERFEST: It's all beers from Franconia and it's the most dreamy beer festival thrown by my friend Manuele from Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fa in Rome, Italy.

Besides beer stuff, I drink coffee and I’ve been really digging making pour-overs at home. As of late, I've been using a lot of Koppi beans from Sweden (thanks to my friends Fatou and Johan for bringing them over from Sweden for me).

Oh yeah, I'm gonna stick this in here as a reminder for myself as well: DRINK WATER OFTEN.

Check out Is/Was Brewing in Chicago, IL—my buddy Mike Schallau is killing it! Shout out to him and to Alexi & Natalie, Averie at Keeping Together, Gabe, Phil and the Half Acre crew, Kate and the Pipeworks crew and aah here I am now giving shout outs to a bunch of Chicago friends. Hehe—my bad!

Lastly, I'm most looking forward to trying Edinburgh's up-and-coming newest brewery: Newbarns Brewery [I swear I didn’t influence this in any way—ed]. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed drinking fresh pints of Tennent’s Lager and fresh cask pints of Fyne Ales Jarl at Kay's Bar (a.k.a. The Best Bar) recently with some of the Newbarns crew.

Where/What have you been eating recently?

I’ve been cooking at home a lot using recipes from Alison Roman’s books Nothing Fancy and Dining In. If not that, I’m trying out some raw/paleo/auto-immune diet or enjoying my mom's cooking or my fiance's fam's cooking, and when I’m not doing that I usually tend to go to the following spots in the NYC/NJ area for snacks (in no particular order):

Keen's Steakhouse for a wonderful lunch of Vermont blue cheese puffs, shrimp cocktails, Iceberg salad, Martini's and meat, please.

Wu's Wonton King is one of my favs ever (shout out to Derek and crew!), Minca #1 ramen in NYC—bonus point: it's super close to The Grand Delancey which is a killer new beer bar.

Noches de Colombia for Colombian comfort food, Isted Grill in Copenhagen for Flaeskesteg Sandwich, Amass (CPH as well), Hiram’s Roadstand, Superiority Burger, Commodore Nachos, Little Pepper, Scarr’s Pizza.

The Four Horsemen has a KILLER weekend lunch special (amazing in general as well though), Myung Dong Noodle House for amazing Korean food, Rutt’s Hut (of course a NJ classic) as well as PizzaTown USA for a classic pizza slice and orange soda, L&B Spumoni whenever I can make it out there.

Okonomi in Williamsburg for Japanese brekkie although nowadays it's impossible to get in, Bozu is STILL amazing, Punjabi Deli in the East Village, eager to check out Equilibrium's Bonfire joint and St. Oner’s from the Tired Hands crew, big ups to Brushland Eating House in Bovina Center NY because I think about their menu often and Lil Deb's Oasis in Hudson NY as well as Gaskins in Germantown NY.

Bacon Egg and Cheese on a Toasted Everything Bagel from Peter Pan Donut Shop in Brooklyn, White Manna for their scrumptious little sliders that are dangerously good and last but definitely not least, Patsy’s Tavern in Paterson, NJ. It’s a classic old-school neighbourhood Italian red sauce joint. Too good, and just right when you're in the mood. I’ve gotta thank my bud Fava (from Oxbow Brewing) for that recommendation.

Ooh! Another epic dinner I had as of late was with my friends Shahin (from Novare Res Bier Cafe), Os and Dennis at Izakaya Minato in Portland, ME! I'm SO glad I remembered about that because that friggin' ruled.