I've known New York (well, Long Island) native Chris for over two decades, since we met at a flair bartending contest in the Cayman Islands, and he's maintained his rep as a flair bartender while becoming an accomplished mixologist as well, getting sober, winning Diageo World Class USA in 2017, crafting the Via Carota range of bottled cocktails and…

In this talk Dr Claire Jones explores the writing of birth control advocate Marie Stopes before the Second World War.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/marie-stopes-her-writings-and-their-impactTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/Physician…

The Cocktail Panda himself comes on The Philip Duff Show! I've known Iain for years - he entered the G'Vin Gin Connoisseur Program which I used to run - and he's built a mini bar empire in Edinburgh so it was time to catch up on his adventures guest bartending for his uncle in Korea, celeb liquor, how he got his start in the bar business and what h…

In this talk Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik presents the sanitary bin in its historical context for the first time, and argues that it reveals changing attitudes towards menstruation, the environment and bathroom politics.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/history-menstruation-and-sanitary-waste-managementTw…

Marshall - and the three top-notch places he runs the beverage programs for, Valerie, Lolita and Madame George - is one of Manhattan's best-kept secrets. If you come to New York, I'll take you to one of these places (or all three, as they're conveniently located right next door to one another), and I guarantee you'll be blown away by the quality of…

Myself and Tim have been threatening each other with a podcast taping for over a year, and we finally found time to sit down, beverages to hand, and make it happen! (This is a satisfyingly lengthy episode, clocking in at over 2.5 hours, and we'll do more of such chat fests in the future, too). We talk about Tim's path into the industry as a cook an…

In this talk Dr Dan O'Brien discusses the history of funerals and coffins.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/after-life-history-death-exhibition-launch-0Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@p…

Simone has come a long way since his Italian childhood in Como: while part of a legendary double-act with Alex Kratena, he led London's Artesian Bar to an unprecedented four #1 listings in World's 50 Best Bars. Simone's post-Artesian career is even more impressive: Sips, his Barcelona bar together with business partner Marc Alvarez, was crowned #1 …

Francis, and, later Mark, have been friends of mine for a long time; we must have bumped into one another in Manhattan or at a Tales of the Cocktail event in New Orleans, but it was our mutual friend Dale de Groff who persuaded me to make the trek out to NJ to see their restaurants, which are incredibly successful and a mainstay of their community.…

This lecture explores some famous historical body parts, through the eyes of author Suzie Edge.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/vital-organs-history-worlds-most-famous-body-partsTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok…

Me and Erik go waaaaaay back, to when I taught a class on the IBA's elite John Whyte residential training course in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, before Erik moved to London to start his stratospheric ascent to the top of the bartending world. We sat down during Tales of the Cocktail to talk about all that: awards, scalpels vs. hammers, how cities …

Simon's been a mate since the late 1990s, when he created CLASS (standing for Cocktail Liqueur And Speciality Spirit) magazine, the print forerunner of Difford's Guide and, in a pre-Internet world, just about the only way to learn about the revolution in cocktails that began sweeping London in the mid-1990s, which we both agree dates to the opening…

In this talk Dr Jessica Sharkey considers why Henry VIII is buried in relative obscurity, why Edward VI was cast as a sickly Lord Fauntleroy and why Elizabeth I refused to be married to her winding sheet.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/sad-stories-death-kings-end-tudorsTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeri…

I've known Natasha for ages and it's no exaggeration to say she's changed the landscape of gin consumption in her native Missouri, and indeed in the wider USA as well. Much as Julio Bermejo built a dedicated band of fanatics drinking 100% Blue Agave tequila at Tommy's, a suburb of San Francisco, Natasha did the same with gin, in her family's restau…

Zev's had one of the most interesting career arcs of any bartender I know, but when we finally sat down to tape an episode, it turned out to have even more twists and turns than I thought! From Brooklyn to Melbourne to Montreal and back to NY, and from bartending for Heston Blumenthal Down Under to manning the shakers in the Meyerverse* that is Uni…

In this talk Professor Jonathan Reinarz explores the history of burn scars over the last two centuries.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/historical-reflections-burn-scarsTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok: https:/…

Anna is brilliant and this episode - taped partly in a hotel lobby in London, and then on Zoom - is just like having a drink with her, which is always great. She's not afraid to say the things others won't, and her goal is to elevate anyone she works with, and especially to make bars better and get more women to embrace hospitality as a career opti…

Well, I've know Agostino since he was a fresh-faced young buck at Montgomery Place, one of London's best cocktail bars back in the day. I remember when he moved to take the reins at the Connaught when it reopened, and the dream opening duo that was him and Erik Lorincz. In the sixteen years since, Ago built a core around him with stunning professio…

In this talk Prof Seamus O'Mahony, a member of the Lancet Commission on The Value of Death, explores the idea of a 'good death' in the 21st century.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/after-life-history-death-exhibition-launch-0Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery…

Benji (whose actual name is Fabio), is a friend, and a tremendous host even among his fellow Italian bartenders, which is really saying something. After studing philosophy and being a professional soccer player (!), Benji went into bartending and is now a partner in the Farmily hospitality group that includes 1930 Bar, MAG Cafe and Tripstillery, al…

I kept bumping into David at events (like Philip Duff Show stalwart Tony Sach's regular get-togethers for writers and other waifs and strays) and he was always good fun to chat with, so me and him sat down in a shady spot inside Central Park* on a hot-as-balls day, on camp chairs, with a nearby wheelie cooler bag full of ice cold Negra Modelo beers…

This lecture explores Roald Dahl and his interest in medicine through the eyes of his doctor and friend, Professor Tom Solomon.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/roald-dahls-marvellous-christmas-medicineTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/…

What to say about my old mate Gegam Kazarian? In his native Armenia, he studied biochemistry, then floral design, then silversmithing, started bartending, followed his passion for Spanish classical guitar by emigrating to Spain, started several bars and a mixology lab, won the Havana Club Rum European championships, the G'Vine Gin Connoisseur Progr…

Shannon, a Charleston native, is a powerhouse: an artist who left art due to its restrictions, a New York City bartender who championed rum when no-one cared about it (spoiler: a lot of people still don't care), the award-winning author of "Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails" and a consultant and ambassador for brands including Denizen Rum, Privateer …

In this talk Dr Katie Aske discusses the history of skincare.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/skin-layered-history-exhibition-launchTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgallery…

Me and Jim met in 2006, when he entered the Bols 200 contest I organised, and I dropped by Pegu Club to see him next time I was in New York (I was living in Holland at the time). He went on to open PDT (Please Don't Tell) in 2007, which almost immediately became the most famous cocktail bar in the world (and also served the best hot dogs to be had …

Robb's been a mate for a long time - I think we met when he was a Tales of the Cocktail Cocktail Apprentice (CAP) - and the first event we ever did after I launched Old Duff Genever in Minnesota was at his bar, Meteor, which he opened in late 2019. Timing, eh! Robb and his business partners and staff weathered the madness of the 'rona, and recently…

In this talk Dr Emily Cock uses some of the immense volume of colonial administrative paperwork to illuminate experiences of individual prisoners with variable health and permanent disabilities. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/health-and-disability-convict-sydneyTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageIns…

Another first for the Philip Duff Show! Bianca, a Barcelona-based PR maestra, is a good friend and we were chatting about all sorts of things during the recent Paradiso Sustainability Summit* in Barcelona, and it turned out we both were interested in the practice and study of negotiation. So, we agreed she’d read a book on the topic that I recommen…

What to say about my mate Linden? He built Caffe Dante, already a decades-old fixture in New York, into the #1 rated on the World's 50 Best Bars list, then opened Dante West Village in the teeth of the COVID pandemic, and recently opened Dante in the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills. We talk about his origin story in Australia - I didn't know he wa…

How did people in the past decide what to eat and what not to? What factors shaped their decisions? How did they obtain the information necessary to shape these decisions? And how did this information evolve over the course of the ‘early modern’ period (1500-1800)?In this talk Professor David Gentilcore explores the changing nature of the genre of …

Mark is one of the most interesting people you could meet in the liquor business; drawing on his and his father's experiences importing and selling fine wines in his native England, he applied the logic of terroir to spirits, starting back in 2000 when he led a consortium of investors who bought the mothballed Bruichladdich distillery. Mark and the…

He was a bit knackered because he just got back from consulting on a banqueting event in the Middle East, but London-based Tallaght* bowsie Ciaran Smith brought the heat in this episode, from supplying me with one of his Bottle Cocktail Shop spicy margaritas all the way from London (plus a bottled negroni, and very tasty they both were too), to giv…

UPDATE SUNDAY 28 April - fixed the audio, which cut out at 15mins on Friday & Saturday. The full 1 hour 45min session is now live! Nick Papanicolaou just founded No Sleep Beverage, an innovative incubator taking minority investments in liquor brands in order to add value by combining his own entrepreneurial experience with big-company expertise, in…

In this talk Dr Kate Stephenson explores the strange and fascinating history of condoms. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/history-condomsTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgalle…

I was introduced to Amir a few years back by our mutual friend Oron Lerner, of Imperial Group in Tel Aviv. Amir came to New York decades ago to try his hand at acting, and began working in hospitality as a side hustle. Along the way he also worked as a special-education teacher, but he's now, in my opinion, one of the best mixologists in Manhattan,…

In this talk Dr Matt Lodder presents an overview of his new book ‘Painted People’, and argues that through the history of tattooing, we can glean unique insights into forgotten areas of human history.You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/painted-people-untold-history-tattooingTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHer…

I sat down yesterday with Philip Duff Show stalwart and drinks writer Tony Sachs to catch up, drink some of the colossal amount of booze he has in his apartment, and pre-game an event yesterday evening which saw New York bartending legend Brian Miller step back behind the bar. There's a celebrity rum-off, some tobala mezcal in a plastic water bottl…

We're off on a new journey into the muddy marshes of medical history!Website: www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritageTwitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritageInstagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGalleryTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgalleryBy Physicians' Gallery at RCPE

Jillian's an old friend from her acclaimed days heading up storied New York cocktail bars such as Dead Rabbit, Death & Co, and Maison Premiere, to name but a few. She relocated to Charleston, South Carolina a while back to open her next project with Sean Muldoon, Hazel and Apple, so it was great to make time to meet up when we were both judging a b…

This is the last episode in our Head to Toe series finishing, of course, with the feet! We set off on the right foot, put our best feet forward and jump in with both feet. We explore why ancient Egyptians had two left feet, why witches had flat feet, why ancient Greeks had one foot longer than the other and what you’d do with a ‘foot bag’. We also …

Well, I couldn't pass up this opportunity! I was at the third and largest edition of the Paradiso Sustainability Summit in Barcelona recently, organised by #1 W50BB 2022 bar Paradiso, which brought together speakers and bars from around the planet to share best practises on sustainability for bars, and have a bit of fun into the bargain. Margarita …

(In my voiceover I say this is episode 2 of 3 for the Agave Series, but we swapped it with last week's episode, to coordinate with the release of The Tequila Ambassador V.O. book, so this - episode 2 - is now coming out 3rd in the series.) Sophie Decobecq is a force of nature: from Lille, France, she moved to South Africa to work on agave research …

In this episode we explore the history of the throat – including lump in your throat, frog in your throat and, if you’re French, a cat in the throat. We delve into the art of changing your voice and Margaret Thatcher’s baritone. We also explore the longest case of hiccups on record. And, finally, we uncover the tale of the funeral mute – a Victoria…

I first met Tomas Estes, a West Coast American (who opened Europe’s first-ever Mexican restaurants starting in Amsterdam in 1976, and co-founded Tequila Ocho in 2008) almost twenty years ago. We last had dinner and drinks in Athens in December 2020. The Tequila Ambassador V.O.(link to preorder below) is the "director's cut" of Tomas' book The Tequi…

This is the first in a mini-series of three about agave spirits and the people who make them. (The WiFi wasn’t great, so sound quality is a little echoey at times and there’s the occasional pause in dialogue when Zoom froze, but that’s how it goes when you’re a 4-hour drive from Oaxaca!) It was great to catch up with Dani, who I first met when she …

In this episode we’re scooping fish liver oil out of a bucket of offal in the name of health. We’re also exploring the myth of Prometheus and some votive offerings and exploring just what they can tell us about the regeneration of the liver. And we’re going to dig into some old country offal in the form of haggis – and what it can tell us about ant…

I sat down with the extravagantly-hatted Damon Boelte himself, founder of the longest-running bars & cocktails podcast The Speakeasy as well as owner of Grand Army bar in Brooklyn, musician, and bartender of decades standing. We talked about him going from never having worked in hospitality to being the bar manager in four weeks, did a Where Are Th…

Well, we did it all. Awards? 50 Best? Alternative agave? We got it all, and this was fun - plus discounts for awesome gin and the world's best spiced rum! Get in touch with Duff! Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER t…

In this episode we’ll explore perhaps the most confusing organ – the spleen. It’s a body part, a disease and a state of mind all in one. According to some it purified the blood, others thought it acted as a back-up liver. Romans thought the spleen stopped you from running fast and suggested burning it with a hot iron to speed up. Others argued that…