Tara Derington

Meet the makers on these factory tours.

Scott Lafollette began brewing beer in his basement as a cheaper way to drink. Thirteen years later, he quit his job as a chemist to start Blank Slate Brewing Company.

Not all mint juleps are created equal, and Virgils Café has one of the city’s best. We asked bartender Eric Bosler, who has a degree in horticulture and grows four kinds of mint for his drinks, to walk us through the ingredients for, and the making of, his prize-worthy drink.