Tickle looks to the side while building a still. On selecting a site, Tickle said: “You look for certain things in a still site. You want a good canopy overhead; you need nice water; you want to make sure that the woods aren’t heavily traversed.”
Tickle looks to the side while building a still. On selecting a site, Tickle said: “You look for certain things in a still site. You want a good canopy overhead; you need nice water; you want to make sure that the woods aren’t heavily traversed.”
As American as apple pie and a proper regional tradition dating back to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791, Discovery’s series, “Moonshiners,” now in season 12, celebrates the tax-evading artisans who make the shine, frequently handed down in multi-generational traditions that are woven into their cultural history. They’re damn funny, too, and have captured an audience who argues online about the veracity of their exploits and never misses an episode. Cast member Steve Tickle, more commonly known as “Tickle,” has been through the holler and back, with a few prominent arrests and miraculously finding love in the middle of all that mess.
Now, Tickle talks to the Idaho Press and sets the record straight: They do make illegal shine running and gunning, and they also have legal brands distributed across the country, capturing both ends of the mash-loving market.
And despite inflation and supply chain disruptions hitting Appalachia hard, these Moonshiners are creative folk and figure out how to keep making America’s favorite backwoods beverages and earn a tidy tax-free profit. Currently, Tennessee shiners, Mark and Digger, have legally distributed brands but also dabble in the down low and naughty. The coming episode sees them face a determined law enforcement officer on their tail as they deal with sky-high prices for raw materials, such as corn. Mike and Jerry recruit Solomon Sutton, son of an infamous moonshiner, Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, for new liquor recipes to keep ahead of the competition. Next, Louisiana moonshiner Richard moves his operation to Tennessee. Over in Virginia, Tickle and Henry must find a new location for their largest ever thousand-gallon still, as fellow cast mate Josh disappears to avoid the law.
The bottom line is that producers and their colorful cast regale the viewers with hopeful futures, dispelling preconceived Appalachia backwater notions as they have carved out real careers—albeit unconventional—all on their terms. This theory is likely the most resonant aspect of “Moonshiners”—that you can be born into virtually nothing and make a life worth living by sheer will, hard work and grit. We’ll drink to that.
The Idaho Press passed the proverbial jar with Tickle, who thinks there may be an underground shine business happening in the Gem State.
You found love during your journey on Moonshiners. How did your wife Carol change your life?
Steve Tickle: Well, I thought I had everything together until I met Carol. Then I realized I didn’t have anything together, and it’s been an adjustment for the both of us. I’ve been a single man since I was almost 43 years old. And so, this is my first marriage. And there was a learning curve there. I didn’t know what a married man was supposed to do and what he was. I mean, generally, the big things you don’t do. Everything’s going great.
Tickle puts hose water in the still while Henry has his thumbs down in the background.
Steve Tickle/Courtesy of Discovery
My biggest problem with her, she wants to flip real estate, but she won’t sell the houses. She collects them. I think she’s hoarding them. When they found out I was marrying her, I believe this was about the third time she’s turned down her own [TV] series because she was a female bounty hunter. But she looked at me and saw how it’d affected my life, and she would rather stand behind me. She has, however, started a series of books about her bounty-hunting days. And, we also got a cookbook that we just put out, well, I say ‘we,’ but the reality is that she finally got me to measure how much of the ingredients I put in. It’s on Amazon. The book in her Bounty Hunting series is Cat the Bounty Huntress. And the cookbook is called The Tickle’s Table. You can buy them on Amazon.
What is the difference between moonshine and Everclear? Is there a difference?
Steve Tickle: Oh, yes. There’s a big difference between moonshine and Everclear. What makes moonshine is you could have any recipe you want, plus the fact that there are no taxes paid on it, so it’s illegal. And, I just know this, Everclear left my state, Virginia, when they passed the law, saying it has to be what proof it is on the label. So they pulled it out of all the Virginia ABC stores. Because I believe anything can taste like it’s very high-proof—if it’s not well done, it’s rough.
But moonshine is almost the gourmet of liquors. They’ll either flavor or put them in barrels and age them. But authentic moonshine’s got to be ready to drink right out of the still. So it’s, ultimately, the gourmet of alcohol. Because it has to be good right off the bat. If not, forget it.
And most of your other moonshine will have grains such as corn, barley, rye and wheat, to name a few. But brandy is an all-fruit mash fill. It, it’s just fruit, sugar, water and yeast. You ferment it, and then you run that off. So that’s, that’s what separates brandy from grain moonshine
Are you going to open your distillery?
Steve Tickle: I don’t know that I’m going do that, but I’m like Mark and Digger. I have been with Sugarland for nine years, with a legal brand. Mark and Digger also have legal moonshine with them. So I have a flavor with them—and that’s what Mark and Digger do, too, with Sugarland Shine company. And the owners are just great people, Ned Vickers and Kent Woods. They’re just outstanding human beings.
How do you evade the law while you’re making shine?
Steve Tickle: Well, I get a lot of questions: How do you make a TV show about doing something illegal? To avoid getting caught? And there are two good reasons for that. First, they can watch this show and say, I know exactly where they’re at, and then they can go there. But I’m not there anymore, even though I was making liquor there a while ago. We move around a lot.
And number two, the footage from the show is not admissible in a court of law because it’s been edited. So they have to get their footage. But as a moonshiner, it’s their [law] job to find me, and it’s my job not to be found. So you look for certain things in a still site. You want a good canopy overhead; you need nice water; you want to make sure that the woods aren’t heavily traversed, no hiking trails or ATV trails. Anything that would draw the law and avoid any big roads going into your still site. You want it to look as natural as possible. And those are just some ways we keep away from the law.
If you look at the history of Moonshining, I’m sure that a lot of police in your area have family that probably moonshine. Do you have friends within the police force?
Steve Tickle: I do have some friends within the police force, mostly up in Culpepper, Virginia. They’ve got a job to do, and I salute them and applaud them for their work.
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It’s not a job I would want to have as they never know whether they’re coming home. They could run into some crazy idiot like me [laughs]; they never know what will happen in their daily life. And I do have some friends that are police officers. Yes. I do.
If they run across me making the shine, they’ve got a job to do, and like I say, it is their job to catch me is my job to make sure they don’t.
Idaho is a solid beer and wine state. There are craft breweries on every corner. It doesn’t seem like there’s any moonshine underground here. Is it just a regional and cultural thing?
Steve Tickle: Well, you find more of your moonshiners in more of your backwoods places.
There are a lot of backwoods here.
Steve Tickle: If you have the hollers and stuff like that, not really traversed to be able to hide into. And with moonshine, it’s not something you will advertise unless it’s a legal brand. So there may be an underground moonshine market you’re just not aware of
Discovery’s “Moonshiners,” now in season 12, celebrates the tax-evading artisans who make the shine.
Steve Tickle/Courtesy of Discovery
Who have you grown closest to throughout the series?
Steve Tickle: Tim [Smith]. We’ve been very close. In season one, it was Tim and me who launched this. And in the beginning, we didn’t know whether it was going to go big, whether we were going to get arrested, or whether it was going to be a flop. And after the first episode aired, it was a success overnight.
He used to wear a shirt. Now he doesn’t. What’s the deal with that?
Steve Tickle: Well, he will if it’s cold! Tim played that one really smart. If he’s dressed in regular clothes, he can stand beside me, and people will ask how he’s doing. People don’t recognize him at all if he’s not dressed the way he dresses on the show. Some diehard fans will spot him, but it takes him a minute. If it was me, I could dress up in a three-piece suit, and as long as I could keep my mouth shut, nobody would know it was me. But as soon as I speak, everybody knows it’s me.
Bigfoot, crazy monsters in the woods, strange Southern lore about paranormal activity. Have you seen anything odd while you’ve been out in these moonshiner hinterlands?
Steve Tickle: Nothing other than me. I’ve never seen anything like that [Bigfoot]. I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods. It’s basically my office—but nothing ever out of the ordinary. There are a lot of people that believe that this stuff is out there. And it may be so, but I’ve never seen anything myself. Or anything like that would tend to shy away from where there’s activity.
A bit of moonshine daily keeps the doctor away, and it’s good for your health. Do you believe that, or do you think it’s hogwash?
Steve Tickle: That is 100% true. 100%. I never get sick. Ever. In fact, back in 2019, before we knew what COVID was, my family all had this. And this had to be what it was. There was yet to be a test for it.
The doctors didn’t know what it was. I took care of all of them. And not once did I ever have any symptoms, was ever sick. And we chalked it up to the fact that I was sanitized from the inside out.
And during the pandemic, a lot of moonshine and liquor distilleries were making hand sanitizer out of their product. You kill it on your hands. So you gotta think taking a sip of it could knock anything that’s going to go inside.
Well, I like to say it’ll kill anything on your lips, you know what I’m saying? So pass the jar there now.
”Moonshiners” airs Wednesdays at 8 PM et/pt on Discovery and streaming on discovery+
Go to idahopress.com for a TVTV Talk exclusive with ‘Gold Rush’ stars Dave and Shelly Turin.
