Wednesday, August 19 2026

Theodore Jahng is a writer, producer, and wine programmer who can frequently be found spinning vinyl at Colbo Next Door, or on the decks at The Lot Radio, among other places. In honor of the release of his Colbo branded Pulltap's Genuine Wine Key, designed exclusively for our Next Door wine bar, we tapped Theodore to create a playlist inspired by the wine key, and naturally, by this extra-hot summer.

In his own words below, Theodore shares a bit about his time in the hospitality industry, thought process behind the wine key + playlist, as well as his pick for a perfect album to drink wine to.

I cut my teeth mopping floors and washing dishes at Buvette before becoming the restaurant’s first proper barista and daytime bartender. I eventually began learning about natural wine at the legendary Racines before managing wine programs at Dimes and Metrograph. I now work as a copywriter and producer in the design industry while moonlighting as a music supervisor, writer and DJ. I also do beverage programming and production for an ambient music concert series.

Eldar and I initially met when she bought one of my bootleg Prada wine keys, shortly before she helped open Colbo. Since then, we’ve been trying to produce a wine key together specifically for Colbo, and when Next Door opened, it was the perfect occasion to finally bring it to life.

My dear friend Rashaad Jones, who is on a very short list of people who truly embody wine and hospitality expertise in NYC, serendipitously came by the store on the day of the photoshoot, and it felt fated to have him there. I can’t think of anyone better to “model” the Colbo Wine Key.

A wine key, also known as a waiter’s corkscrew, is the industry standard bottle opener. Using a double-hinged lever and a thin corkscrew, it makes uncorking your standard wine bottle a simple, graceful experience.

When I make custom wine keys, I only use Pulltap's Genuine, working directly with the manufacturer in Spain. Chances are, if you think you own a Pulltap's, it’s a dupe. When you finally use the real thing, the difference is unmistakable. The construction and weight of the OG can’t be faked, even if the logo often is.

We got lucky and were able to convince Pulltap's to make us a version of their Classic 500 wine key in a custom Colbo brown colorway. There was only a small amount of paint available, so this is a true limited edition. We chose to produce the lever with a black metal finish instead of the standard nickel, and the Colbo Next Door wordmark has been pad printed, which means it won’t wear off quickly like a standard digital print. These were made to last.

This mix is called “Hot Day/Lazy Ass”—pretty self-explanatory. There are a dozen different musical directions that would suit the theme, but I went with a mix of reggae, dancehall, and dub. It starts with the joyous one-two swing of Robert Ffrench and Hollie Cook before segueing into a superb cover of “Steppin’ Razor” performed by Sublime. I get grief from a certain subset of friends in New York for loving smoothies and Sublime, perhaps betraying my Southern California roots—and their snobbish affectations. 

The mix peaks early, ebbing more than flowing, always drifting downward until we hit “Walk Away From Love,” a showstopper, tearjerker, and litmus test for human emotion, before Rhythm & Sound and a Sade instrumental gently fade the volume back down to zero. This mix is meant to end well before your gathering does; while the beginnings of a casual social hang or dinner party warrant the hum of recorded music to break the ice and set the mood, in my humble opinion, there is no better music than the sounds of glasses clinking, bottles pouring and human voices conversing late into the night. 

The Rubáiyát of Dorothy Ashby is great wine-drinking music, riding an impossible line between meditative and funky, but it sits oddly in the jazz harpist’s discography. Some diehard fans of Dorothy’s music—jazz purists, usually—can’t appreciate that her voice and the koto feature prominently on this record, whereas I fell easily in love with it. To me, the music is synesthesia: the mystery, immediacy, and sensuality of these songs have a sound, but also a body and even a fragrance. For the oenophiles, there are a number of tracks that reference wine, too, such as “Joyful Grass and Grape” and even one simply called “Wine.”

Cheers,

Theo