I hope you shoot your YouTube show My Drunk Kitchen in the afternoon. I usually shoot them on a Friday or over the weekend just because during the work week I don’t really have time to be so blistering hungover.
You’ve done episodes on a number of different types of liquor, is there one you like best to drink while cooking? Honestly, I’m a really big fan of red wine. I love wine in general. I love the bubbles. Bubbles make me bubbly. I love vodka. I’ve filmed episodes of My Drunk Kitchen for five years by myself in my kitchen or hanging out with friends. So, it’s really just whatever mood strikes me. I definitely have had to slow down and make way less episodes now that I’m 30 and have two movies under my belt, a TV show with the Food Network, and my new book Buffering. My Drunk Kitchen will always be my first love.
Were you surprised by the show’s success? Absolutely. I had a career as a translator. I was actually a proof reader at a translation firm and back in March 2011, I made an episode of My Drunk Kitchen simply as a joke for a friend. I put that video online to send to her and then suddenly there were all these strangers watching this video. About three weeks later, I decided to make another one because people were saying things like, “This is my new favorite show on YouTube.” I was like, “Show on YouTube? What are you talking about?”
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You’ve done some of your best work with a drink in hand, did you have a drink while you were writing Buffering? I like to have a nice Scotch with me, but the reality is that a lot of the subject matter was so intense and devastating that drinking wouldn’t help. It’s not good to drink thinking up painful memories.
Who has been your favorite guest to drink and cook with? That’s tough. I’ve had so many amazing guests on the channel. Jamie Oliver is an incredible chef and awesome guy and he was on there. I really love working with my friends and my family. My sister, when she turned 31, we did one of the best episodes of My Drunk Kitchen called “Thirty(Fun) Year Old.” I just adore her. So, it’s the most fun to get drunk and cook with your family, but I really wouldn’t mind if like Beyoncé wanted to come on the show.
What spirits do you always have in your home liquor cabinet? I really like Dalmore 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch. I love it. It’s nice and peaty. It’s smooth enough for me but also rough enough to be interesting.
Do you like other types of whiskey? I’m not really a bourbon girl. I’m not going to lie. They’re a little too honeyed. A little too sweet for me. I really like a single malt Scotch. I like that feeling of drinking a campfire.
How about rye whiskey? I don’t want to exclude anybody from the party that is my palate, so I’ll just say not yet.
Are you a cocktails lover? I’m mostly, honestly, a fan of whiskey neat. If I [drink] cocktails, I gravitate towards something that’s spicy. I like jalapenos. I like smoked salt.
You drink while you cook but do you drink while you eat? While I’m eating, [I drink] wine but not whiskey. Whiskey for me is a Scotch, which is an experience unto itself. I can’t do Scotch with food. Or I’ve yet to experience a good Scotch tasting with food.
After filming an episode of My Drunk Kitchen, do you go out with your guests? No, usually we clean!
Hannah Hart’s latest book, Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded, is on sale now. You can watch My Drunk Kitchen on her YouTube channel MyHarto.
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Interview has been condensed and edited.
