Must watch: Zane Lamprey

There are currently a lot of fun and informative shows about drinking on the air; Brew Dogs, Booze Traveler, Moonshiners, and others. However, one man really led the charge and set the standard for these types of shows; Zane Lamprey. Zane has described himself as the Drinking Ambassador to the World and he has every right to that claim. For almost ten years Zane has been traveling the world and sampling the drinking cultures at each stop. Since you can't actually taste what he is drinking on the show, he spends more time talking about the city, the brewery and, most importantly, the people that make up the drinking culture of the area. Despite changes in networks, Zane has created a brand that is worth exploring.

Zane's first show, "Three Sheets," originally aired in 2006 on the MOJO HD network and ran for four seasons. In this show, he travels from the Champagne region of France to drinking bee brew with the Masai tribe in Tanzania. You learn a lot about various cultures that you wouldn't learn by reading the standard Lonely Plan travel book. Unfortunately, the network that was carrying the show tanked and Three Sheets ended with it.  But if you are looking for a show to binge watch, you can watch all fifty episodes of Three Sheets for free on Hulu.

After Three Sheets wrapped up, Zane quickly moved on to the U.S. based drinking show called "Drinking Made Easy" airing on AXS TV (they still play late-night reruns of the show). Essentially this was a domestic version of Three Sheets. Why fix something that isn't broken? There are some great characters on this show and it also features some great locations which have heavily influenced my travel itineraries when visiting a new city. You can visit the show's website at drinkingmadeeasy.com where you can purchase for download all of the seasons. It also has all of the places that they visited with cocktail recipes that you can try making at home.

AXS decided they wanted to take their station in a different direction and to the dismay of fans Drinking Made Easy did not fall into that. The fan base was so loyal though that a Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund a new show called "Chug." This was a revamped version of Three Sheets where Zane traveled from the outback of Australia to drinking in the shade of the Pantheon in Rome. Thankfully, the National Geographic Channel picked this show up so that anyone who missed the Kickstarter campaign could be exposed to its greatness. No news yet on a second season.

I'll admit it that I'm a bit of a fan boy. I want Zane Lamprey's life and who wouldn't?! The guy gets paid to travel to exotic locations and drink with his friends. Where can I apply? The thing that really makes this guy's shows so great though has to do with his ability to take spirits and cultures that may seem foreign and wrap them in a package that draws you to them. He even made Croatia look like a travel destination! I didn't drink until after college and when I did start I had a very immature palate. Watching Drinking Made Easy broadened my horizons and pushed me try different cocktails and appreciate the ingredients/process that goes into what I'm drinking.

Speaking of appreciating quality ingredients, Zane's most recent endeavor has been the production of his new rum, Monkey Rum. I haven't been able to try it yet, as distribution is limited to just a few coastal states, but you can purchase both the coconut and spiced versions online. Craft spirits are the next step following the craft beer movement and Zane has jumped on board. These rums are infused with toasted coconut and tropical spices and the bottles are branded with Zane's simian travel companion, Pleepleus. I will assume that after the amount of traveling and sampling Zane has done, he is fully qualified to make an excellent craft spirit. I can't wait to sip on a Monkey Rum and Coke while watching the Fiji episode of Chug.

Bula!