The Philip Duff Show
A podcast about liquor, bars, and cocktails, featuring interviews with the people and companies who make, sell, and drink them. Hosted by globetrotting spirits expert and former bartender Philip Duff, the show covers everything from industry trends to personal stories.
Episodes
#168, Leslie Merinoff Kwasnieski , master distiller, Matchbook Distilling, North Fork, Long Island, NY. 20 July 2026
I didn't realise Leslie was the person behind Matchbook Distilling until I had her brother, Andrew Merinoff, on the show (Episode #154, here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Qgz2nPJNYyrVu4MnHoLfd?si=Ypn5UXXlTMii5zNOD_1KrQ )I was aware of Matchbook, you see, because as well as making their own mindboggling spirits, Matchbook are spoken of reverently by the very best bars in New York, such as
#167, Emma Janzen & Toby Maloney, award-winning authors of “The Bartender’s Manifesto” and “The Classic Cocktail Sessions”
Toby is a veteran bartender and mixologist, who added high-level mixology to his legendary drinkmaking speed with stints at Milk & Honey (NY), The Violet Hour (Chicago) and Mother's Ruin, before turning his hand to (as well as consulting on bar programs) writing and co-authoring "The Bartender's Manifesto" with Emma, which won a James Beard award, and most recently "Th
#166, Scott Mayer, bartender, manager , beverage director & founder of Blended Family liqueurs
I first ran into Scott down in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail, but we've since hung out many times, also in Atlanta. His story, about coming up in mixology, especially in Miami in the early years when it wasn't cool, is fascinating. Like a lot of bartenders back then, he made his own bitters, syrups and liqueurs because the industry then hadn't yet caught up to the Second Gold
#165, H. Joseph Ehrmann, owner, Elixir bar (San Francisco), Chief Mixology Officer, Fresh Victor cocktail mixers 29 June 2026
H is an old friend and I'd been meaning to catch up with him anyway, but when I heard he was piloting a ground-breaking new mentorship program for bartenders, in association with the brand he helps spearhead, Fresh Victor, it was time to schedule a session. From being a line cook to gaining an MBA, creating products for grocery and consulting on liquor brands, then breathing new life into San
#164, Seymour Ferreira, global liquor CEO, brand owner (inc. Ridgeview Wine Estate), founder of Chimera import, distribution & brand development (UK)
Seymour has has a long career in liquor and has been a global CEO multiple times, adding millions of cases and value to every firm he worked at, from the Philippines to Singapore, to Amsterdam, and from Allied-Domecq to Maxxium to Amber Beverage, and many more besides. Seymour was my client for years, starting at Maxxium, and we developed a friendship that's seen us collaborate on many projec
#163, Hemant Pathak, partner & beverage director Junoon, Jazba, Room 207 & Tandoor Oven (NYC), World Class and Bacardi Legacy winner (India)
Hemant , who is from a small village in the foothills of the Himalayas, became a star overnight after winning Diageo World Class India, followed quickly by winning Bacardi Legacy India, but when he moved to New York he was briefly homeless and just four weeks from returning to India. At the last moment he was connected to restaurateur Rajesh Bhardwaj, owner of the Michelin-starred Junoon restaura
Brian Maxwell, owner & beverage director, Vieux Carre, Pittsburgh
Brian is a peripatetic bartender who's slung drinks in his native Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, and, with the recently opened Vieux Carre, back to Pittsburgh. He's also been a fighter, starting with wrestling, then boxing and MMA, and fought the booze too, becoming and staying sober after going to just one too many "celebrations of life" for someone who left
Aarón Díaz, founder, Carnaval (Lima), beverage director Super Group, chef & mixologist
I met Aarón in Europe when he was visiting, and I've wanted to sit down with him for ages. From a childhood in kitchens to teaching culinary arts around the world and falling sideways into mixology after a stint at Chicago's world-famous Aviary, his career path has been anything but straightforward. He's now moving on from Carnaval, the bar he founded that put Lima on the map for 50
Mike Paladini and Danny Polise, founders, Penelope Bourbon
I bumped into Mike at NY's legendary Irish bar Swift in 2020, when a mutual friend who'd been showing Mike around Manhattan bars introduced us. I'd heard a story or two about this new-to-the-market MGP-sourced bourbon named Penelope from a couple of New Jersey guys, and I took his business card and wished him well; the whiskey had only been available for a year or so at that stage.
Rakshay Dhariwal, founder, Maya Pistola Agavepura Indian agave spirit, co-founder Passcode Hospitality and India Cocktail Week
I met Rakshay a few years back on one of the legendary Blueblazer press tours of bars in Italy, and he let me taste the agave spirit he produces in India, Maya Pistola Agavepura. Its distilled with traditional tequila methods from an Indian-grown species of agave usually used in Mexico for mezcal, then aged on the tropical Indian island of Goa before bottling. Pistola was born during Covid and aft
#158, Drew Schenck, owner, Dram & Draught bar group,(North Carolina), founder, Moonbird Gin & GOATz Rum
Drew has been a friend for half a decade, and as well as being a lauded bar owner, we created Moonbird Gin (double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Awards) and GOATz Spiced Rum together - and he's a hilarious, fascinating guy. Drew on IG: https://www.instagram.com/drewbarman/ (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org (PR friends: we’re only in
#157, Eric van Beek, co-founder, Handshake Bar (Mexico City, #1 W50BB ‘24) & Shakerato (Amsterdam)
I met Eric in Amsterdam in 2019 just before he moved to Mexico City to open his first bar there, and our paths have crossed a good bit since then, most recently at the Maybe Cocktail Festival in Sydney, where we got to hang out for almost a week. Eric started off in the world of basketball, training and playing in the US, switched to hospitality after returning to the Netherlands, and rapidly lear
#156, Sven Almenning, founder, Behind Bars agency (Australia), and Australian cocktail bars Eau de Vie, Nick & Nora’s, The Roosevelt, The Sanderson, Pearl Diver & Mjolner Viking steakhouses, 13 April 2026
What can you say about the extravagantly-bearded Norwegian Sven Almenning, who at one stage owned the world's largest bar agency, based in Sydney, running best-in-class bartender engagement programs at scale, and has since morphed into a tycoon of the Australian cocktail bar scene, with 8 or so top-notch venues in Sydney, Melbourne and the like?Well, quite a lot it seems!We talked about savan
#155, Tobin Ellis, veteran bartender, author of “Bar Design Essentials", champion flair bartender, principal of Barmagic design studios (Las Vegas & New York) 30 March 2026
God help me, I've known Tobin for thirty years now, having met when we both competed in flair bartending contests, starting with the legendary Quest for the Best in Orlando many moons ago. Tobin went on to co-found the Flair Bartenders Association (FBA) and later moved to Las Vegas, where he still (mostly) hangs his hat. He went all-in on bar design decades ago, and has completed a book, &quo
#154, Andrew Merinoff, Co-founder & Investor Chinola Liqueur, Coconut Cartel, Empirical Spirits, Matchbook Distilling, Seven Rooms, & more
I met Andrew several years ago when he came to hang out at an Old Duff Genever evening I was hosting at Berlin’s marvellous Zyankali Bar, and the good people of Rachel Harrison Communications recently recommended I get him on, which struck me as an excellent idea. Turns out he’s fourth-generation American liquor royalty, with a mother from the Hiram Walker family, a great-grandfather who bootlegge
#153, TJ Lynch, co-founder Mother’s Ruin (NY, Austin, Nashville, Chicago), Lowlife Bar and Lost Isle restaurant (South Carolina)
TJ Lynch is one of the most genuinely hilarious people I know, but the success he and business partner Richard Knapp have had with cocktail dive bar Mother's Ruin - four branches, a fifth and sixth on the way, plus separate concepts in Folly Beach and Johns Island South Carolina - is no joke. And it all started with a little bar on Spring Street in Manhattan that they opened in 2011 for the p
#152, David Vogel, founder, Badger Bevs premium mixers, 9 March
David’s a great guy I met through Jillian Vose, ex-supremo of mixology at Dead Rabbit and all-round bar goddess. Badger Bevs is a gorgeous range of premium mixers, and David IS ALL IN on the on-premise, so I badly wanted to sit down and hear his story, and it did not disappoint - enjoy! Badger Bevs on IG: https://www.instagram.com/badgerbevs?igsh=cTMzYjlrZndteDg2 (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast bu
#151, Stephan Berg & Alexander Hauck, founders, The Bitter Truth cocktail bitters, liqueurs & spirits
The Bitter Truth cocktail bitters launched in 2006, after German bartenders Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck visited London Bar Show, had a drink in Sketch bar, and decided to go for it. This year TBT celebrates 20 years, so it was time to sit down with Stephan and Alexander to talk about how a couple of bartenders making extinct bitters in their garage entered a centuries-old category and carved
#150, Jeff Bell, owner-partner PDT, Crif Dogs, Tacos 1986, Mixteca and Kees, New York City
Jeff's best-known for being a mainstay of New York's world-famous speakeasy-behind-a-phone-booth Please Don't Tell (PDT), where he was hired by Jim Meehan and has worked since 2010, and which post-pandemic he bought from its founder Brian Shebairo along with the hotdog stand it's housed inside, Crif Dogs. In a city where bartenders hop around jobs willy-nilly, Jeff credits his
#149, Marcio Silva, founder, Eximia bar Sao Paolo, 16 February 2026
Marcio is very much Our Man In Brazil, an old friend and (during Bar Convent Brazil) I’ve visited his previous, much-vaunted bar Guilhotina. Marcio was in NY to do a MasterCard-backed pop-up of his Sao Paolo bar, Eximia, at New York’s Dante, so we carved out a few hours to hang out and catch up. Enjoy! (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org (PR friends
#148, Tom Dyer & Marco Canova, flair champions and authors of “The Flair Bartending Book”
Tom and Marco are legendary flair competitors, multiple-times world champions, teachers, contest judges - and now, authors of the 501-page (!) “The Flair Bartending Book”.Its unquestionably the most definitive tome ever written on this chapter in bartending, from flair’s origins in the 1600s to Jerry Thomas & co.’s flamboyant 1800s mixology to TGI Friday’s Bartender Olympics in 1984, THAT movi
#147, Paul Mathew, founder, Everleaf non-alcoholic aperitifs 02 February 2026
Paul's been a a friend for ages; he's former London bartender and bar owner, taught seminars for the WSET and Diageo, has lived all over the world* as a conservation biologist - and founded Everleaf. *And is currently wrapping up several years living in Iceland!We chatted about his many careers, the bar biz, learning Chinese, being part of Diageo's Distill Ventures brand incubator p
#146, Ruben Maduro, founder, Spirited Union Rum Distillery (Amsterdam), Pineapple Drinks Club distribution (Netherlands)
Ruben’s an old friend from Amsterdam, a native Aruban who bartended in Amsterdam and London, and whose life was changed by a Diplomatico rum training he attended while working as a flair bartender at London’s famed Roadhouse. (That training was given by none other than Declan McGurk, himself a former flair bartender, who went on to become Director of Bars at The Savoy, leading them to a #1 spot on
Brendan Bartley, GM Bathtub Gin, co-owner Hello Hello, co-founder Silent Alibi Distillery, all NYC
Brendan's a hell of a cool guy: Australian, learned distilling in parallel with his university medical and science studies back home, got a Phd from NYU, GM of New York's hugely fun Bathtub Gin, and in late 2025 he opened Hello Hello Bar and Silent Alibi distillery, both of which are in the West 26th Street space in Manhattan formerly occupied by the New York branch of Pernod-Ricard&apo
#144, Tony Sachs, Manhattan drinks writer and man-about-town
It's never dull when I drop round Tony's, even during Dry January, and this session was no exception. After chowing down on sushi and sashimi, fancy fellows that we are, we got down to serious discussions encompassing Fraggle Rock, 1980s "wrestling" in the UK, the new American health directives on alcohol, how I happened into a random Miracle Christmas pop-up bar in the wilds o
#143, Kurt Schlechter, Our Man In Africa, owner, Cause + Effect Cocktail Kitchen Cape Town
,Kurt's back! His last appearance on the 'pod was November 2023, so we sat down to catch up on everything that's been going on since then in Africa, South Africa, and further afield, over martinis, delicious SA brandy and a spot of Brooklyn whiskey - enjoy!Kurt on IG: https://www.instagram.com/kurtschlechter/?hl=enCause + Effect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/causeeffectcpt/?hl=en
#142, 2025 Year’s End Round Up - with Philip!
Well, what a year it's been!I added Kazakhstan to my "list of countries I got drunk in", hit all the usual suspects on the global bar show circuit and added the inaugural Gulf Bar Show in Dubai as well, and spent my usual eight weeks living in Europe to boot, sucking down €9 (instead of $36) martinis and plate after plate of delicious boquerones. 2025 was also the Year of Tariffs, t
#141, Gareth Howells, North American Single Malt Whisky Ambassador, Bacardi
Gareth's been a mate and fellow expat-in-New-York for a longish time, but I ran into him again recently when he hosted a mega-fancy private dinner in the already-mega-fancy members' area of private club Casa Tua, a dinner which I gatecrashed in a genteel manner, as my apartment was unexpectedly full of women playing mahjong. Gareth was the consummate host, introducing the 2025 special ed
#140, Daniyel Jones, global brand ambassador, Angostura
Daniyel is, in my opinion, the most naturally gifted brand ambassador I've ever met, but the reason he's been nominated for so many awards and other accolades is that since I met him many years ago, he has always been on a never-ending journey of self-improvement. I don't think I've ever seen him without a broad grin on his face, and if you spend ten seconds in his company, you
#139, Michael Neff, bar owner, consultant, podcaster and bartender’s bartender
Michael Neff, like so many of us, fell sideways into hospitality and now 27-odd years later, he's still in it, opening bars across the USA, consulting, podcasting and just plain bartending. He's a real bartender's bartender, and you can see that DNA in all the places he's opened or consulted on or worked at: Ward III, Rum House, Holiday Cocktail Lounge (NY), Cottonmouth Club (H
#138, Robert "RFR" Furniss-Roe, co-founder of Samson & Surrey, board member at Filthy Foods, OG liquor baron
Robert's a swashbuckling figure even by liquor biz standards: son of a fighter pilot, he grew up in England, set up a chain of radio stations across Europe in his youth, ran an agency, then slipped sideways into the liquor biz (armed only with a degree in languages) and climbed the greasy pole at Bacardi for 26 years, ending up as CEO of North America, after stints running the business in Mos
#137, Angus Winchester, legendary spirits educator, brand ambassador, emeritus Director of Education for BCB, Director of Bars, raconteur
Angus is so old a friend that we can't remember exactly where we met but we're 99% sure it was at a bar show or get-together of some kind, probably in London, where he, a bartender from Oxford, was in on the ground floor of what we can now look back - after thirty years - to confirm was the birth of the Second Golden Age of cocktails. He and I were the two first people from the bar biz t
#136, Ben Schott, multi-million-copy best-selling author, (Schott’s Significa), journalist, consultant, designer and photographer
I've been a fan of Ben's since his first book, Schott's Original Miscellany came out in 2002, a collection of quirky facts and insights into subcultures; his 13 (!) subsequent books expanded on the theme and have sold more than 2.5 million copies, in multiple languages, to date. Ben also wrote two of the best "homage" books in the style of PG Wodehouse, which, if you'
#135, Eddie Rudzinskas, founder, @cocktails_for_you & Old Baile Irish whiskey, global advocacy lead for Thomas Henry mixers
The irrepressible Edvinas "Eddie" Rudzinskas is a fixture at just about every bar show and party, and the Instagram he created, @cocktails_for_you, boasts 565, 000 followers. We sat down during BCBerlin to talk about how he went from working in his native Lithuania to bartending in a small town in Ireland, falling deep down the rabbit hole of mixology, and founding Cocktails for You, ini
#134, Jenna Hemsworth (l) & Alexandra Hooker (r), co-founders, Sorry Not Sorry Collective
I've always followed the industry in Australia closely, as in my opinion it is, pound-for-pound, the best mixology nation on Earth; I've visited often, for teaching and consulting, and wrote a column in Australian Bartender magazine for some years. Last year the Sydney Morning Herald broke a story (sadly, only the first of many) uncovering alleged wide-ranging abuse at the renowned Austr
#133, Andrea Marseglia, slow drinks advocate, mixologist, IG influencer, founder of New Zealand Bar Convention, Staffies card game, and Agnes vermouth
I met Andrea in the End Times, even though we didn't know it, then; he made several delicious cocktails with Old Duff Genever for me, in New Zealand, in mid-March 2020, before the world closed down. Andrea is a remarkably cool guy who came from Italy to, first, Australia, and then NZ, to perfect his craft, knowing that first he had to perfect his language skills. He then worked months - even
#132, Edmund Weil, co-founder, Nightjar, Oriole and Swift bars, London
Edmund co-founded Nightjar, a speakeasy cocktail bar with live music, in London with his life and business partner, Roisin Stimpson, in 2010, with its first head bartender being Marian Beke. Nightjar quickly stormed the lists of nominations, Best Bars, and more, and a lot of that success was due to Marian's incredible cocktail presentations, in bespoke vessels, using skill and flavour combina
#131, Steven Yeng, co-founder, Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey
I met Steve at Cologne Bar Symposium earlier this year, which also hosted the first-ever launch of Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey outside the USA. We chatted a bit and I attended his seminar; to say Steve's life is fascinating is like saying Elon Musk is a decent engineer. From a childhood of wealth in Cambodia with servants and bodyguards, to contracting polio and losing the use of one of h
#130, Ken Aufiero, Director of Spirits, United States Beverage and NY liquor-biz legend
Our mutual friend (and PR guru) Laura Peet suggested I have liquor biz lifer Ken on, and he was a great guest! We chatted about the liquor industry, recent developments like GLP-1 inhibitors, the effects of phone-based gambling on drinks sales in bars, the Seagrams curse, and a whole bunch more, while I was drinking a Fre Damm Tostada a non-alc beer whose parent brand, Damm coincidentally is impor
#129, Sarah Morrissey, award-winning NYC mixologist, bar manager and Substack author
Sarah Morrissey is a little bundle of joy on the NY bar circuit, but also a skilled mixologist who's had her bar programs reviewed in the likes of the New York Times on multiple occasions, shepherded bar programs to James Beard and Tales of the Cocktail nominations (and wins) and is rightly respected by all who know her. She's done stints at Le Veau d'Or, Frenchette, Ernesto's,
#128, Robin Robinson, liquor brand Sherpa, consultant, spirits expert and author of “The History of Whiskey in 100 Bottles, Barrels and More”
Return guest and one of my favorite people, Robin Robinson is back! He's a sales & marketing guru, a brand sherpa, a truly gifted storyteller and spirits expert - and he's just written another book, so back on The Philip Duff Show he comes.We talked storytelling, Star Wars, some of the mindbending facts he's unearthed for the new book (First use of a sherry barrel for whiskey ag
#127, Miguel Lancha, global beverage consultant, former head of beverage for Jose Andres Group
Miguel became a mainstay of the burgeoning Spanish cocktail scene in the early 2000s, and we met in 2008, when he brought a crew of Spanish bartenders to the Bols Bartender Academy, which I had founded in Amsterdam. We stayed friends and soon after he moved to the USA, where we reconnected after I moved to NY in 2012. Miguel had a wild ride, from his native Spain to his parents' Venezuela, ba
#126, Christian Balke, founder, SIP Advocacy Program (Pernod-Ricard worldwide), Team Leader, Advocacy & Education, Pernod-Ricard Deutschland
Me and Christian met almost twenty years ago; when I was still living in the Netherlands, my friend Robin Weiss asked me to help judge the Havana Club Germany bartender contests, and Christian was involved even back then. In the next few years we hung out at Havana Club contests in Sylt, Dusseldorf, Havana itself and several other cities I can't recall, plus of course Bar Convent Berlin, and
#125, BONUS, Amir Babayoff, beverage director, Ophelia Lounge, NYC (collab dual-cast with The Speakeasy podcast)
This is the last of our Tales-recorded episodes, and our final collab with The Speakeasy!Amir, originally from Tel Aviv, runs the cocktail program at one of Manhattan's hidden gems, the amazing Ophelia Lounge on top of the Beekman Tower, one of NY's last remaining true Art Deco skyscrapers, overlooking the UN. He was down at Tales helping us at The Australian Embassy, so myself and Greg
#124, Francois Monti, author, drinks writer, vermouth fanatic
Francois escaped growing up in Belgium and, God help us, working in banking, to become a drinks writer, relocating to his beloved Spain and becoming an in-demand consultant to brands and bars, a World's 50 Best Bars Academy Chair, a drinks writer, drinks book author, and one of the two or three most expert and authoritative voices in the industry on vermouth. We've been friends for a lon
#123, BONUS, Sahil Beri, master blender (and interim CEO), The Australian Bitters Co. (collab dual-cast with The Speakeasy podcast)
Sahil was down in New Orleans to re-launch Australian Bitters Co. in the US, and also because Australian Bitters Co scored both gold and silver medals in the New Orleans Spirits Competition, so me and Greg Benson of The Speakeasy lured him into our makeshift podcast studio and talked about the benefits of having royal family license plates, taking on the Goliath of cocktail bitters companies, and
#122, Jake Burger, mixologist, London bar owner, Portobello Road gin distiller, raconteur
Jake's one of the OG's of the UK bar scene, first making waves by winning multiple cocktail and bartending contests (including one where he won a £10, 000 diamond) when based out of his native Leeds, working in Leeds' top bars and then opening one of his own, then moving to London and opening beloved industry hangout The Portobello Star bar, co-founding the Alternative Bar Awards in
#121, BONUS, Alan Murungi & Guy Brennan, Founders of Procera Gin (collab dual-cast with The Speakeasy podcast)
Down in New Orleans during the Tales of the Cocktail festival, I helped Procera, a luxury gin from Kenya, to run a private hospitality House, which came complete with a pool, so myself and Greg Benson of The Speakeasy had the bright idea to interview the Procera founders, Guy and Alan, while drinking martinis on the rocks, in the pool.Yep, we invented poolcasting!Alan, born and raised in Nairobi,
#120, Alexandre Gabriel & Matt Pietrek, authors of “The Rum Never Sets”, a history of naval rum (collab dual-cast with The Speakeasy podcast) 28 July 2025
Myself and The Speakeasy Podcast co-host Greg Benson were both in New Orleans last week at the Tales of the Cocktail festival, and so were Alexandre Gabriel, master distiller and blender at Maison Ferrand & Planteray rum, plus Matt Pietrek, spirits author & publisher, who lives in the Crescent City. AND Alexandre and Matt had just published (with Matt's WonkPress company) "The Ru
#119, Christian Delpech, 19 x world champion flair bartending, bar director Presidente Miami, bar consultant
I first met Christian, who is Argentinian, in 2000, at the Quest for the Best world bartending championships in Orlando. I'd competed in Quest and Roadhouse and other contests like those quite a few times, but when many of us saw Christian that year - who competed in the Rookie division - a lot of us just decided to retire from competition and become judges! He was that good; next-level, Mich
#118, Ian Burrell, global rum ambassador, author, “Rum: A Tasting Course”, founder, UK RumFest, co-founder Equiano Rum, EduTainer
I've judged many a cocktail contest with Ian, and he's got a new book out AND just been awarded the Lifetime Achievement award by Tales of the Cocktail, so it was time for us to catch up over a rum or two. Having played basketball in his native UK, and rapped - he still gets royalties from a song of his featured on the soundtrack of "Space Jam" - Ian built a career as the self-
#117, Timo Janse: opening bar manager, door 74 bar; owner, Dutch Courage bar, Perfect Serve Barshow and RevolutionCherry; co-founder, Flying Dutchmen Cocktails bar, Belly of the Beast bar, Amsterdam Cocktail Week; VP, the NBC (Dutch national bartender as
Timo has been a friend for almost two decades now: first he was the bartender who served me, then my employee, then my bar's manager, and then a bar owner in his own right, before founding a bar show, and several other excellent bars. We could have gone for four hours. We've known each other through multiple marriages, got to know each other before my Dutch was good enough to switch from
#116, Kristiane Westray, UK-based drinks writer and LGBTQIA+ proponent, who also runs FAR too much
Krissy is a hilarious person that I got to know judging spirits contests together, and an accomplished drinks writer as well as being an outspoken proponent of the LGBTQIA+ community, so I wanted to catch up with her just as we round out Pride Month. We had a great chat, not even that much about that community, because we both had a lot to catch up on, and she had a hard stop as she had to go do s
#115, DNN - Duff News Network
It's been a minute since we went over the news, and I've been rocketing around the world doing interesting things, so here's a DNN episode!We cover bar shows like BCBrooklyn, the Gulf Bar Show, the upcoming BCB London, the risers and fallers in the annual Millionaires List of million-case-selling liquor brands, Pernod's restructuring, the tiny cocktail trend, how I found the be
#114, Lorenzo Antinori, founder, Bar Leone (HK), #2 W50BB 2024, #1 Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024
I've known Lorenzo since his days bartending at The Savoy in London, and have also had the pleasure of his drinks during his stint at Argo Bar (HK).Now he's opened Bar Leone, which is the fastest-ever to get to #1 in Asia's 50 Best Bars and #2 in World's 50 Best, after opening in June 2023. He's also about to open Montana bar in HK together with his fellow Italian, Simone
#113, Hayden “Woody” Wood, cocktail entrepreneur, world champion, author of 10 cocktail books (and Guy Fieri’s tour buddy)
Woody, a New Zealander, has been a fixture in Australian bartending for as long as I've been in the business, and he built his flair bartending and cocktail catering firm into a massive business there, wrote ten best-selling cocktail books, toured with Guy Fieri, burned out, came back, and has now founded a new solution to revolutionise the import-distribution of liquor in Australia, Drinks N
#112, Josh Harris, founder, Trick Dog (San Francisco), Pig & Punch, and forthcoming Quik Dog
Me, Josh and a bunch of other people (including Julio Bermejo and Mauro Mahjoub) were together in Yerevan for Yerevan Cocktail Week (YCW), so I took the chance to tape an episode with Josh, who I always run into at Tales of the Cocktail, but never get to sit down and chat with. Josh is best known for Trick Dog cocktail bar in SF, a perennial award winner and two-time World's Best Cocktail Men
#111, Patrick Pistolesi, owner Drink Kong and Nite Kong, Rome, co-founder NIO Cocktails
Taped live in an annoyingly child-ridden park on a lovely day in NYC, myself and the rock 'n' roll Irish-Italian Rome-based cocktail bar owner Patrick Pistolesi cracked some all-American tariff-free beers, washed 'em down with mezcal and 'Murican single malt whiskey, and talked about Japan, billionaires, awards, his adventurous Irish mum, bars, cocktails, and the profusion of g
#110, Ektoras Binikos, founder, Sugar Monk, Bitter Monk and Atheras Spirits
Ektoras Binikos opened Sugar Monk cocktail bar in Harlem just 9 months before the COVID lockdowns kicked off, after a career in both art and mixology, having emigrated to Manhattan from his native Greece. While weathering the storm of the lockdown, he and his team started making and selling amaros and liqueurs, and this venture has blossomed into a company, Atheras Spirits, which has a distillery
#109, Tony Sachs, Philip Duff Show regular, drinks writer, bon vivant
Regular listeners will know New York drinks writer Tony Sachs, who occupies a place in The Philip Duff Show universe somewhere between "henchman" and "drinking buddy". It's been a while since we convened to drink our way through the literal lakes of booze Tony is sent on a daily basis, and because he was off to drink Direct Martinis from the hand of Alessandro Palazzi that
#108, Warren Bobrow, creator KLAUS THC beverages, cocktail book author, cannabis advocate
Warren has written six cocktail books - including on cannabis cocktails, as well as more conventional cocktail tomes - and he was way ahead of what is now a trend of quitting alcohol, back in 2018, during Tales of the Cocktail, which is like quitting skydiving mid-jump. He's recently created a range of delicious cocktail-inspired THC beverages named KLAUS, so it was high* time we sat down, gu
#107, Rob Husted, flair bartender, competitor & judge, co-creator “Shaken & Stirred” flair documentary
Me and Rob have known each other since the early early days, back when I was still a competitive flair bartender in the 1990s, and together with fellow OGs Dean Serneels and Deborah Richards, he's just created and premiered the world's first documentary about flair, "Shaken & Stirred", so it was high time we had a chat. We talked about the wild network that was flair, befor
#106, Hayden Lambert, owner, Above Board (Melbourne), jet-set bartender
Hayden's been a mate for ages, and his bar, a gorgeous, tiny, stripped-back speakeasy-type Mecca in Melbourne, is almost ten years old and has been winning awards and getting on lists quite a lot, so it was time we got together and shot the shit. This tiny little bar in Australia's second city got #100 on the overall World's 50 Best Bars list - not bad, eh?I had no idea about Hayden
#105, Jonathan Downey, cocktail bar empire builder and hospitality entrepreneur
Without Jonathan and the London-based international Match Bar Group he built, spanning 40+ venues at one time or another, cocktails in the UK would look very different today. Jonathan, a cheerful Mancunian former lawyer, invested heavily in bartending expertise when building his group: his first head bartender for Match bar was the legendary, late Dick Bradsell, he hired Dale de Groff to be a trai
#104, Nico de Soto, co-owner Mace (NY), Danico (Paris) Kota Pandan Liqueur, globetrotting bartender & consultant
I've known Nico since his time at Experimental Cocktail Club Paris around 2008, and he's very much the mixologist's mixologist; most people would say - I agree - that he's one of the two or three best mixologists working today. He just launched Kota Pandan liqueur with a banging party in Mace NY, so the next day we sat down to talk bars, pandan, awards, the state of the busines
#103, Salvatore Calabrese, bar maestro, The Donovan Bar, Velvet by Salvatore (London), Igiea Terrazza (Palermo), Stravinsky (Rome), author, public speaker
Few people in the cocktail world are as well known as Salvatore; you don't even have to say his surname before people begin talking about his many achievements in bartending, dating back forty years to his youth on the sun-kissed shores of the Amalfi Coast. He really is the Maestro, and it's been a privilege to call him a friend for several decades now. From inventing the Direct Martini
#102, Maxwell Britten, award-winning NY beverage director, cocktail book author & documentary producer
Maxwell is an old friend who came to prominence with the drinks program he curated at Brooklyn's amazing Maison Premiere, winning James Beard awards, World's 50 Best Bars listing, and Tales of the Cocktail awards, to name but a few. (It is also, and to this day, a magnificent place for dinner or a cocktail). He's also co-authored a cocktail book and created one of the first modern-
#101, Dolph Lundgren, MA (Chem. Eng.), karate champion, vodka entrepreneur, Hollywood movie star
It's nomination season!If you enjoy The Philip Duff Show, take a minute to throw our hat in the ring for an award that is guaranteed to annoy everyone - link to nominate us for "Best Broadcast, Podcast Or Online Video" here: https://spiritedawards.secure-platform.com/a (Nominations deadline is February 13th, at 1159pm New Orleans time!)Dolph's been a legend in Hollywood for alm
#100 David Gluckman, creator of Baileys, Tanqueray TEN, The Singleton, etc., author of “That Shit Will Never Sell” (2nd edition)
Nominate The Philip Duff Show for the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards - “Best Broadcast, Podcast, or Online Video Series” category: https://spiritedawards.secure-platform.com/aDavid’s a legend in the liquor business, ever since he and his business partner came up with the idea for Baileys Irish Cream, easily the most succesful liquor brand created in the last half-century or so. He followed
#99, Adam Montgomerie, former bar manager, Hawksmoor New York
Adam, a native Scot, spent a decade working for the Hawksmoor group, including a five-year stint opening and running the bar at their first-ever US branch here in New York, and he's just moved back to London, so I thought we'd have a chat.It was a lot of fun and we got into a ton of different stuff, including US tipping culture, the "Sopranos"-esque nature of doing deals with A
#98, Caitlin Bartlemay, Master Distiller at Clear Creek Distillery and McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt
Caitlin makes some of America’s best eaux-des-vie, as well as America’s first-ever single malt whiskey, McCarthy’s. (American Single Malt was only recognized by the US government’s TTB as a legal category about a month ago, but McCarthy’s started distilling in 1985. ) This is a nerdy one.It was a great chat, though, discussing Caitlin’s unconventional path to being a master distiller, who’s drinki
#97, Oisin Davis, owner, Great Irish Beverages (Ireland), ex-bartender, drinks writer, brand consultant
I'm not sure exactly where me and Oisin met, but we definitely had a drink to hand!Born in New Jersey, he moved to Ireland when he was just 10, so he's lived there for far longer than I have - in fact he moved there more or less precisely as I left - and has done far more cool stuff there than I ever did, from running great Dublin bars and music venues, to writing an award-winning cockta
96, Steve Schneider, co-owner Sip & Guzzle (NY), Elysian Cafe (Hoboken), Employees Only (Singapore) & The Odd Couple (Shanghai)
Ever wondered what'd happen if I sat down with Steve Schneider for three hours over half a bottle of whisky and numerous beers?Wonder no more!Steve's been a friend since his time bartending (and later managing) Employees Only NY, and I've had the pleasure of drinking with him in EO Singapore, which he co-founded. His newest place, Sip + Guzzle in Manhattan, is a second project with
#95, Giuseppe Gallo, ex-London bartender, founder of the Italicus rosolio and Savoia vino aperitivo brands AND Roma Bar Show
Giuseppe's an old friend, so when I heard he'd be in NY we made time to sit down and catch up over a negroni or two. Yet another Italian bartender transplanted to London, Giuseppe worked at some of the OG cocktail bars back in the day, was the global ambassador for Martini & Rossi, founded onpremise agency Italspirits, created Italicus and Savoia and, more recently, the hugely succes
#94, Alex Kammerling, London cocktail OG, author, liquor entrepreneur and training consultant
Simon Difford once described Alex as being an even better mixologist than his mentor Dick Bradsell, and it was in the pages of Simon's print magazine CLASS than I first came across Alex, first being written about, and then as a writer for CLASS himself. After bartending at the birth of mixology's Second Golden Age in 1990s London, Alex went on to work at one of the world's first coc
#93, Mark Reynier, talking about Waterford Whisky and Renegade Rum entering (and hopefully exiting) receivership
Mark, founder of the ground-breaking terroir-driven Waterford Whisky in Ireland and Renegade Rum in Grenada, is going through the grinder of both being in receivership*, and made time for a chat with me. Mark is very open on the 'pod about the factors that led to the current situation, and there are some real nuggets in here, such as Waterford being French powerhouse distributor La Maison du
#92, Rob Cullins, liquor industry titan, current CEO of Disaronno and former CEO of Stoli Group
I've known Rob for several decades now; we met in Korea when he was MD for global liquor distributor Maxxium, and I was doing cocktail seminars there for bartenders. We've had personal and professional intersections - not to mention more than a few martinis here and there - ever since, as he racked up a truly stellar resume in the liquor biz: Diageo, Shaw-Ross, Maxxium, Gruppo Montenegr
#91, Se Busca Barmaid Week (Barcelona) with organisers Bianca Grisolia, Laura Alonso and Meritxell Coll
An unusual one!My friend, and top-rank bar PR guru Bianca Grisolia organised the first-ever Se Busca* Barmaid Week recently in Barcelona, and I thought it was a great opportunity to have a discussion about mezcal, ladies in bartending, and bar weeks in general, with Bianca (of PR firm BG Communications), Laura Alonso (Global Agave Director for SE Busca mezcal and Villa One tequila) and Meritxell C
#90, Dr. Nicola Nice, sociologist, entrepreneur and author of “The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought The Cocktail Home”
I met Dr. Nicola, an English expat, just a couple of weeks ago, but I'd been hearing about her - and her groundbreaking book detailing the forgotten history of women's involvement in the cocktail's evolution, especially in the home - for quite a while, since before the book came out, in fact. We say down for a nice long chat about what it's like for expats like us to have Ameri
#89, Ambre van de Berg, founder of Lala Tequila, wellness consultant & yoga instructor (but definitely not woo)
I met Ambre at the infamous pre-Bar Convent Berlin networking hosted by Thorsten Husmann a couple of years ago, and learned she had just founded the first woman-owned tequila brand in the Netherlands, Lala. Ambre is fascinating: a wellness guru but not woo-woo (very likely due to her no-nonsense Dutch upbringing) who came to love great tequila after living and teaching fancy yoga classes in Willia
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