The Brandy Crusta isn’t only an essential New Orleans cocktail, it’s a key part of cocktail history, too. New Orleans bartender Chris Hannah first refined his approach to the Crusta while working at Arnaud’s French 75, and today the cocktail is a central part of the story at Jewel of the South, the French Quarter bar and restaurant where he’s a par…

[This episode originally debuted in July 2023.] Perhaps no 20th-century cocktail has resonated as strongly (or been misinterpreted as widely) as the Mai Tai. This episode considers the Mai Tai from every angle, with drinks historian, author, and bar owner Jeff “Beachbum” Berry (Latitude 29, New Orleans) delving into his first-hand research into the…

[This episode originally debuted in May 2022.] In the May/June 2022 issue of Imbibe, we feature a Vodka Martini from The Doctor’s Office in Seattle, and for this episode, we visit the bar and find out about their approach to the cocktail. We chat with TDO bar director Keith Waldbauer about the blind-tasting process that resulted in their preferred …

It’s Negroni Week! In celebration of this iconic cocktail, thousands of bars around the world are mixing Negronis and its relatives all week, while supporting this year’s giving partner, Slow Food. For this episode, we talk to Livio Lauro, an Italian-born bartender now working as the director of mixology and product education for Southern Glazer’s …

Australian bartender Sam Ross first made his name in the New York City bar world at Milk & Honey, working under Sasha Petraske and alongside longtime business partner Michael McIlroy. Today, Ross is the co-owner of Attaboy, along with a growing list of bars and cafes. For this episode, we talk about the duo’s newest New York bar, Good Guy’s; the gr…

Danny Childs turned to bartending as a way to earn extra money between research work as an anthropologist and ethnobotanist. Over time, he merged his interests in the botanical world and bartending, culminating in the book Slow Drinks, which recently earned a James Beard Foundation Award. For this episode, we chat with Childs about his path from fi…

The annual Tales of the Cocktail conference kicks off next week in New Orleans. Tales has gone through many changes over the past 22 years, and for this episode, we explore some of the recent history of the event, and its influence and philanthropic efforts around the globe, with Tales of the Cocktail Foundation co-chairs Neal Bodenheimer and Gary …

Our July/August issue features a profile of Samara Davis, written by Gray Chapman. For this episode, Samara returns to Radio Imbibe to talk about her many projects in the spirits industry and in bourbon culture, including the Black Bourbon Society, Diversity Distilled, the Society Marketing Group, the Black-Owned Spirits Scholarship, and Bourbon Bo…

The Daiquiri is an undisputed champion of the cocktail world, and its simple formula not only offers the promise of a complex character, but it’s a great starting point for endless exploration. For this episode, we take a deep dive into all things Daiquiri with a roundtable discussion including some of today’s top Daiquiri practitioners: Joshua Iba…

The Uncle Nearest Raise the Bar Mentorship Alliance is a new platform that aims to match veteran bartenders with upcoming talent for the betterment of the bar community. In addition to Lucia Creed, head of trade advocacy for Uncle Nearest, we're joined by two of the program’s inaugural mentors: Kate Gerwin, owner of Happy Accidents in Albuquerque, …

With a career that started in the mid-1970s and that continued until his death in 2021, bar owner and Tequila Ocho co-founder Tomas Estes helped change the way we drink, and think about, tequila. The Tequila Ambassador V.O., a fully revised version of his book, was released this spring, and for this episode we talk to the team members who helped br…

Shochu is Japan’s signature spirit, yet it’s not well known outside the country. As our May/June 2024 cover feature reveals, that’s starting to change, with a wider array of excellent shochu increasingly appearing in American bars. For this episode, we talk about all things shochu with Stephen Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini, the co-hosts of the J…

Pick some mint from the garden (or the farmers market) and grab a bottle of bourbon, because peak springtime is the perfect season for mixing up Mint Juleps. With Derby Day just around the corner, we talk Juleps with Joe Stinchcomb, a veteran bartender and an owner of Bar Muse in Oxford, Mississippi. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazin…

Romeo’s opened in New York City this past December, promising to bring a new kind of cocktail experience to the East Village. For this episode, we talk to owner Evan Hawkins about the kind of bar he wanted to open with Romeo’s, and about how the bar combines his years of experience bartending in nightclubs with the lessons he learned at craft cockt…

Vermouth is an essential cocktail ingredient, and it can also be spectacular when served on its own. For this episode, we talk to several bartenders about the many reasons vermouth fascinates them and factors into their work: Alf del Portillo and Marta Premoli, owners of Quattro Teste in Lisbon, Portugal, and Francesco Lafranconi, who helped establ…

François Monti is a Madrid-based journalist, educator, and Imbibe contributing writer, and the author of books including El Gran Libro del Vermut. For this episode, he joins us to talk about all things vermouth (the focus of our March/April issue), exploring vermouth’s rich history in cocktails, its culinary connection, and the future of this aperi…

In 2021, we recognized Victoria Eady Butler as one of our Imbibe 75 People to Watch for her work as the master blender for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. For this episode, we catch up with her on her ongoing work at Uncle Nearest; get a glimpse into future plans for the brand as it looks toward Cognac; and talk about the Uncle Nearest HBCU Old Fash…

Tequila and mezcal are booming in American bars, and other Mexican spirits are making their way to the mainstream. For this episode, we explore this growing part of the drinks world with Salvador “Chava” Peribán, host of the Heritage Mezcal podcast and one of this year’s Imbibe 75 People to Watch; and Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, a partner and master o…

In the January/February 2024 issue, San Francisco bartender, bar owner, and author Thad Vogler shares his story of the Single Village Fix. Vogler first created this simple mix of mezcal, lime juice, and pineapple gum syrup for a bar menu in 2008, tying together his passions for agriculturally rooted spirits and simple, classic formulations. In the …

We’re continuing our coverage of this year’s Imbibe 75 list of people and places who’ll change the way we drink in the year ahead. For this episode, we talk to two of 2024’s People to Watch: cocktail journalist (and Imbibe contributing editor) Robert Simonson, and Baylee Hopings, a Southeast Regional Speed Rack champion who recently made the move f…

We’re kicking off 2024 by introducing you to some of this year’s Imbibe 75 list of people and places who’ll change the way we drink in the year ahead. For this episode, we talk to Denver bartender and beverage consultant Alex Jump about her work as co-founder and senior manager of operations for Focus on Health, and her work with no- and low-ABV co…

No holiday season is complete without festive drinks, and among the seasonal standards is eggnog. Jeffrey Morgenthaler is an eggnog evangelist, serving his signature Tequila and Sherry Eggnog to guests at his bar, Pacific Standard, in Portland, Oregon. For this episode, Morgenthaler reflects on how he arrived at his recipe, and he shares some tips …

The Cosmopolitan is a modern classic cocktail that’s reached far into drinks culture. For this episode, Cosmo creator Toby Cecchini (owner of Brooklyn’s Long Island Bar) shares the story of the drink’s origins and its rapid takeover of cocktail culture, along with his approach to making his signature drink. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe …

The San Francisco Bay Area has been at the heart of craft brewing for more than 50 years. For this episode, we track craft beer’s tumultuous trajectory with Dave McLean, co-founder of Admiral Maltings in Alameda and founder of Magnolia Brewing, San Francisco Beer Week, and the Bay Area Brewers Guild. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazin…

The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling aims to provide scholarship support to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the brewing and distilling industries. For this episode, we check in with Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster and MJF chair, Garrett Oliver, about the rationale behind the foundation’s mission, some of the people …

As co-founders of London Cocktail Week, Hannah Sharman-Cox, and Siobhan Payne are familiar with the growing complexity of the bar world. Early next year, Sharman-Cox and Payne (along with co-founder Dan Dove) will introduce The Pinnacle Guide, a bar evaluation and ranking system that’s been compared to the Michelin Guide in the culinary world. For …

Halloween is one of the most popular holidays around, and with this year’s Black Lagoon Cocktail Pop-up, bars everywhere are getting in on the celebrations. For this episode, we talk with Black Lagoon co-founders Kelsey Ramage and Erin Hayes about the origins of Black Lagoon, what visitors can expect from this years’ experience, and what it takes t…

Negroni Week is taking place right now, from September 18-24, 2023. For this episode, we explore the wide world of Negroni variations with Lindsay Matteson. Currently the bar manager at the bitters-focused Barnacle and The Walrus and The Carpenter in Seattle, she’s also former head bartender at Amor y Amargo in New York City, and a longtime veteran…

Drinkers are increasingly looking for great-tasting cocktails that reduce or avoid the use of alcohol, and bartenders are stepping up to the challenge. Our September/October issue delves into the details of making great NA cocktails, and for this episode, we’re joined by veteran bartender Derek Brown, author of Mindful Mixology: A Comprehensive Gui…

The Mojito is one of the key cocktails to originate in Cuba, and it’s gone on to become a worldwide standard. For this episode, we take a deep dive into the Mojito—its composition, methodology, and history—with Julio Cabrera, a Cuban-born bartender and now owner of the award-winning Café La Trova in Miami. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe m…

Tales of the Cocktail has shaped the cocktail world in myriad ways over the more than 20 years its been taking place in New Orleans. With the 2023 event about to kick off on July 23, we check in to talk about the event and the organization’s global reach. For this episode, we’re talking all things Tales with Tales of the Cocktail Foundation CEO Eil…

Perhaps no 20th-century cocktail has resonated as strongly (or been misinterpreted as widely) as the Mai Tai. This episode considers the Mai Tai from every angle, with drinks historian, author, and bar owner Jeff “Beachbum” Berry (Latitude 29, New Orleans) delving into his first-hand research into the Mai Tai’s history and how it became an internat…

Marco Dionysos helped San Francisco become one of the most influential cities of the contemporary cocktail renaissance, and his Chartreuse Swizzle has become a modern cocktail classic. For this episode, we explore the drink’s origins and how it grew to prominence, and Dionysos (now a bartender at Comstock Saloon) shares his experiences seeing his r…

Nick Kokonas is a Chicago-based bartender and writer. The author of the award-winning book Something & Tonic, he also contributed a feature on tonic water for our May/June issue. In this episode, we talk with Kokonas about the deep global history of tonic water and its defining ingredient, cinchona bark, and explore the many ways it continues to to…

Joshua M. Bernstein has been a contributor and contributing editor to Imbibe since 2006. For this episode, we talk with Josh about the completely revised and updated edition of his best-selling book, The Complete Beer Guide (first published in 2013), and about the many changes that have taken place in the beer world in the 10 years since its initia…

Bartenders Caer Maiko (DrinkWell, Austin) and Sharon Yeung (The Walrus and the Carpenter, Seattle) organized their first Daijoubu pop-up bar event four years ago, and found ways to keep the self-described “super-Asian cocktail pop-up” going through the pandemic, with events in cities ranging from New York City and Houston to San Francisco and beyon…

Tropical drinks have a timeless quality, but that doesn’t mean the recipes and techniques for making them need to be stuck in the past. Brooklyn bartender Garret Richard (Sunken Harbor Club) and author Ben Schaffer (The Rum Reader) bring today’s cutting-edge bar knowledge to the world of tropical drinks in their new book, Tropical Standard: Cocktai…

Camper English has been experimenting with ways to make the perfect ice for cocktails since 2009 and documenting his findings on his blog, Alcademics. With his new book, The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts, coming out this spring, we catch up with the San Francisco–based writer and educator to talk about the ori…

Few cocktails have demonstrated such historical staying power as the Manhattan. For this episode, we consider this classic cocktail from all angles with Toby Maloney, who’s mixed Manhattans at influential bars ranging from Milk & Honey and Pegu Club in New York City to The Violet Hour in Chicago, where he’s a partner and now co-author of The Barten…

Over the past 20 years, rye whiskey has moved from being an also-ran to taking the spotlight, with bartenders and distillers nationwide rediscovering its promise. Our March/April 2023 issue dives deep into today’s world of rye, and for this episode, we talk with three distillers about their enthusiasm for making rye whiskey: Nicole Austin from Casc…

Thousands of hospitality professionals have honed their bartending skills over the past 15 years via the BarSmarts bartender education program. For this episode, we talk with Kevin Denton Rex, the director of mixology and education for Pernod Ricard, about the newly revamped BarSmarts program, how BarSmarts has evolved over the years, and how it’s …

We wrap up our Imbibe 75 coverage for 2023 by checking in with Julio “Jules” Gutierrez, the founder of the bar pop-up series Chuntikis. Designed to help tell the stories of Latinos and immigrants through the medium of tropical drinks, Chuntikis has appeared at a number of bars near Gutierrez’ home in Long Beach, California, and this past summer he …

We continue our Imbibe 75 coverage by catching up with Christine Wiseman, one of our People to Watch for 2023. A longtime bartender in LA, most recently at Broken Shaker, Wiseman moved to Miami in 2021 to step into the role as beverage director for Broken Shaker’s parent company BarLab. In this episode, she fills us in on what the transition has be…

We continue our Imbibe 75 coverage with a conversation with Jack Beguedou, one of our 2023 People to Watch. Originally from Togo, Jack Beguedou now lives in Omaha, and is known on Instagram and YouTube as the Hood Sommelier, sharing his whiskey explorations with thousands of online followers. For this episode, we chat about what first brought him i…

We kick off our Imbibe 75 coverage for 2023 with a conversation with Seattle bartender Josh Ibañez. A veteran of Houston’s cocktail scene, Ibañez moved to Seattle several years ago and recently assumed the role of bar manager at Rumba, an acclaimed rum bar now entering its second decade. For this episode, he talks about his upcoming plans for Rumba…

Brother Cleve was a musician, DJ, bartender, and bar owner who helped shape the direction of the modern cocktail renaissance, while bringing up a generation of Boston bartenders and bar owners, earning the title “the Godfather of Boston’s Cocktail Scene.” In 2017, we featured Brother Cleve and the significant role he played in cocktail culture. Thi…

In 2017, St. John Frizell, owner of Fort Defiance and co-owner of Gage & Tollner in Brooklyn, wrote an essay for Imbibe about the enduring appeal of fire rituals in winter. For this episode, Frizell returns to the topic to discuss flaming punches for the holidays, the history of flaming drinks, and best practices for preparing flaming cocktails Rad…

In 2021, Chockie Tom was featured as part of the Imbibe 75 for her work with Doom Tiki (now Doommersive), and her advocacy for indigenous communities in hospitality. For this episode, we honor Native American Heritage Month by catching up on her recent work in Europe, talking about indigenous representation and cultural empowerment, and considering…

We’re reflecting on 100 issues of Imbibe with Wayne Curtis. One of our longtime contributing editors, Wayne has been a regular columnist for Imbibe since issue 48, in 2014, and his column has won awards from Tales of the Cocktail and IACP. For this episode, we revisit some of our favorite columns over the years, and Wayne discusses his approach to …

The Charleston Wine + Food Festival is one of the country’s great food events and a mainstay of Charleston’s culinary community. For this episode, the event’s interim executive director Alyssa Smith and beverage director Cha McCoy give a preview of the 2023 event, for which tickets are now on sale. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine.…