 kills Wayne, and Nick and Hank burst in. They explain that Nick is a Grimm, and Wayne runs out the back The detectives go after him and Wayne dives into the water. The monster hunters on the lake spot him and open fire, and the detectives walk back.
The next night, Parsell finds Logan's and Wayne's bodies and wonders why Wayne was swimming at night with monsters on the lake. Hank suggests that he was drumming up business for the shop, and Nick suggests that the monster might be real. The detectives meet Trubel and leave.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 6, 2016Explore our timeline to learn more about the history of Tastings, the Beverage Testing Institute and the people, our customers and the events that have shaped our company.
To provide real reviews with real results for the wine, spirits and beer industry. Helping people to discover and understand drinks they'll love!
Conduct blind, industry tastings for the wine, spirits and beer industry. Produce objective ratings and reviews for marketing and quality beverage development.
Our objective tastings shut down biases toward a product and creates a level playing field for review. This spotlights the benchmark quality attributes of a product, helping consumers and producers to focus on the beverage they like the most.
Since 1981, we've been delivering reviews for wine, spirits and beer to help consumers discover and try quality brands. We love to hear from new brands and current customers and have conversations about drinks and the drinks industry. Some people might call us connoisseurs, but Tastings is built firmly on a foundation of scientific, organoleptic evaluation. What's organoleptic? We experience products by taste, sight, smell and touch. Our highly organized blind tastings are completed in our tasting suite to control any external factors and maximize our judges' concentration. We take away the branding, remove the price variable, and taste every beverage blind in a bias-free environment. Every month, Tastings.com features a new category of wine, beer, and spirits reviews with special focus on value-oriented and unique products we find through our tastings. This creates fresh content for consumers and provides sales success for brands. People engage with Tastings.com every day and every brand included on it. We are a unique, high-touch, boutique marketing resource for beverage brands.
The Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) has been submersed in the wine, spirits and beer industry for over 35 years. Knowing the challenges time and budget place on buyers in a competitive marketplace, BTI was formed from this need. In 1981, there was no international review company for wine! BTI was launched and decided to post all reviews on the Internet so that everyone could access the objective and educational information. This type of sharing and transparency hasn't changed. Today we are proud to be a highly skilled group of judges, influencers and educators. While BTI became famous for its full review service to the wine industry, the spirits and beer brand owners quickly evolved with our company. We help serve several facets of spirits brands in product development, fault findings, and flavor profiles with key costing analysis. We provide time-saving and cost-saving benefits to beverage departments, buyers and vendors.
We are extremely proud of the 80 years combined experience that drives our company. To be the best company, we must be the best employer. Meet the team of passionate Tasters of Tastings!
A graduate of the University of Chicago, Jerald has enjoyed over a decade of food and beverage management and event management experience. He first worked with BTI as a senior panelist because of his remarkable sensory abilities, quickly joining the team in 2000 to launch e-commerce development and database management. He brings his influence in both high arts and business to a robust model of organization and creative direction at Tastings. He is a contributing writer for several news publications and often consulted and interviewed for NY Times, Business 2.0, Wall Street Journal, Men's Journal and Reuters. He loves to travel and learn from wine, spirits and beer producers around the world. In what little spare time he has, he is developing our interactive video series, composing music and recording albums for movie soundtracks. His passion for life revolves around the "Three C's" of culture, cuisine and celebrations. tasting events where she will certainly convert any wine taster to a European wine lover.
Beginning her food career serving hash and flipping burgers at the local Woolworth's at the tender age of 15, Debra brings her passion for food and great wine to her multi-functional role at Tastings. She has worked for more than 30 years in the food industry including a role with Arnie Morton and 15 years with the Chicago Caterers & Culinary Enterprises. She ran a successful catering company of her own until she joined Tastings in 2002 as lead Administrator and troop rally'er. Taking the helm for the company's accounting, HR and project management, Deb has an innate sense of execution and when to throw in a life preserver. She enjoys being a mother, coach and leftover sample taster. In her downtime, you'll be sure to find her at the local farmer's market or newest haute cuisine restaurant where she'll snap a photo of a memorable dish only to deconstruct and recreate it for our readers.
Gallit began her career in the media production world and spent 10 years producing everything from infomercials to political spots for a then unknown Barack Obama. In 2004, she took a job on "Check, Please!" and after 5 years, the restaurant world had her hooked. She took her talents to the front of the house, doing everything from events to hosting to managing. While learning the ins and outs of the restaurant scene, she also wanted to broaden her knowledge and love of whiskey—working with both Diageo and Angels' Envy. Gallit joined the Tastings team in 2016 in order to help boost social media and assist in marketing efforts. Being around all the wine, spirits, and beer is very rewarding because after becoming a mom of twins in 2015, alcohol has become especially important!
Laura is a Certified Specialist of Spirits and professional spirits nerd with an affinity for unique regional liqueurs and single malt Scotch. Previously a Tastings.com judge, Laura joined the Tastings.com team as panel moderator, editor, and cocktail queen. The past 10 years have brought her to every part of the bar and restaurant business- including a five year stint as a Chicago cab driver schlepping hungry diners and tipsy imbibers. After directing a multi-outlet beverage program at The Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago, she keeps her skills sharp behind the bar at Sable Kitchen & Bar. Laura has spoken at the NRA's BAR show and competed in numerous cocktail competitions, including the all-female speed-bartending competition, Speedrack. When not working or gallivanting around the city's food and beverage scene, Laura is at home with her wife and their Italian greyhound sipping old-world wine and planning their next dinner party.
Tastings is a community of people that work, contribute and support our mission to bring the best drinks to consumers. We're an exciting place to work for dedicated beverage professionals. Are you creative? Are you critical? Are you trustworthy? You might want to join our team. Contact us by emailing: bti@tastings.com
We welcome your comments or suggestions. Feel free to contact us about Tastings.com by emailing: bti@tastings.comWhen Neil Lansing purchased Fournier AC and Refrigeration in 2006, he was a man with a plan: expand the 18-year-old company beyond its Jacksonville, FL-region, and become a major player in commercial refrigeration throughout the Southeast. He’s making good on that plan.
“Our founder — Tom Fournier — laid the foundation. The current management team has expanded the company’s capabilities by expanding services and moving into new geographic locations,” Lansing says.
In six short years, Lansing and his team have expanded Fournier’s service outreach to include the entire state of Florida, the east coast of Georgia, and all of South Carolina.
In addition, it’s now licensed for HVACR installation in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. An electrical contracting division was formed near the end of 2010, to support Fournier’s installation business.
Bottom line: Fournier has grown five times its original size in five years.
Business, Engineering Background
Lansing’s background includes high finance and high tech. Prior to purchasing Fournier, Lansing served as chief financial officer for publicly-traded and private organizations, including 10 years in various senior financial positions with Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. He served as vice president of operation/audit services for A.C. Nielsen, and was CFO for A. C. Nielsen’s Europe/Middle East division.
Lansing’s technical background is just as impressive. For a time, he worked as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft and Grumman Aerospace.
So why purchase an HVACR business? Lansing says it suited his personality, and was a good way to channel his diverse experience into an entrepreneurial venture.
“I wanted to leverage my mechanical engineering and business background, and my prior experience in service businesses, with my passion to build a company to be the best,” he says.
Lansing says his past experience helped him approach the HVACR industry with a clear understanding of what was needed to improve Fournier’s business management processes, service quality, and growth strategy.
Fournier’s business model is based on providing clients with the best quality service for the lowest possible price. Lansing has focused on growing the company carefully, without diminishing any of the company’s services.
