How Good is Good Enough? Craft Pursuits & Diminishing Returns

How Good is Good Enough? Craft Pursuits & Diminishing Returns

Author: BLISTER May 20, 2026 Duration: 1:11:00

How good is good enough? For those of us obsessed with any craft category (e.g., coffee, watches, wine, knives, audio gear, etc), we can find ourselves crossing the line of ‘diminishing returns,’ where we keep chasing some notion or ideal of perfection. So why do we do this? Today, our CRAFTED co-hosts, Eli Brown, Jonathan Ellsworth, & Simon Stewart discuss.

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Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at info@blisterreview.com to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED.

TOPICS & TIMES:

JE's Manifesto (1:54)

Eli's Categories For Spending (11:14)

MOMA NYC (16:38)

Status As Return? (20:48)

Rabbit Holes (26:58)

Wine Price Points (30:09)

Craft As Experience (35:45)

Audio Space: Diminishing Returns (37:25)

Headphones (41:12)

Contentment and Curiosity (46:22)

Hario V60 (53:16)

Watches (56:12)

Paying Scarcity (1:04:17)

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There's a particular kind of conversation that happens when someone has dedicated their life to making something tangible, driven by obsession over details most of us overlook. CRAFTED, from BLISTER, is built on those conversations. Each episode moves beyond a simple product review to explore the entire ecosystem of creation, whether the subject is a meticulously roasted coffee, a complex whiskey, a precision timepiece, or a bold new wine. You'll hear directly from the individuals who define these fields-brewers, distillers, founders, and artisans who started their ventures not because it was easy, but because they couldn't imagine doing anything else. This podcast digs into the raw materials, the failed experiments, the business risks taken on a principle, and the quiet triumphs that happen long before a product reaches a shelf. It’s about the philosophy embedded in the process as much as the technical skill. Tuning in feels less like listening to an interview and more like pulling up a stool in a workshop or a tasting room, offering an intimate look at the patience, setbacks, and unwavering standards that transform a simple idea into a crafted object. The stories are specific, but the themes of creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurial spirit are universal, connecting anyone who appreciates the depth behind a well-made thing.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

CRAFTED
Podcast Episodes
Amateur Hour: Blister reviewer, Zack Henderson, on Paella [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:07
Today on CRAFTED, Eli is joined by fellow Blister contributor Zack Henderson to talk all things paella. What started as a casual interest has turned into a full-blown culinary rabbit hole — and we dig into everything fro…
Amateur Hour: Tequila, with Simon Stewart, Eli Brown, & Troy Rarick [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:39
CRAFTED co-hosts Simon Stewart and Eli Brown talk with Troy Rarick, the founder of Over the Edge bike shops and the person who first got Simon into tequila, about why tequila might be the quintessential craft spirit; the…
Viticulture, Wine Making, & Karaoke w/ Field Recordings’ Andrew Jones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:45
Andrew Jones didn’t set out to make wine. Instead, he spent decades planting vines for other people — some of the biggest names in California (e.g., Beckstoffer). But along the way, Andrew started stockpiling stories — a…
Is This the ‘Top Gun’ for Bartenders? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:09
We’re all familiar with ‘Top Gun’ — a school that separates the best of the best. But what if we told you there is an elite certification program designed to test the best bartenders in the business? Today, we’re discuss…