Best Philip Duff Podcasts (2024)

1
#78 Erik Lorincz, owner Kwānt (London), Antique American Bar (Bratislava), BIRDY by Erik Lorincz bar tools, ex-head bartender The Savoy, former Diageo World Class global champion. 1:42:01

1d ago1:42:01

1:42:01

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 …

1
How to be Philip Duff 1:02:33

14d ago1:02:33

1:02:33

Philip Duff, a true icon in the industry, is on Lush Life. He is a renowned expert on everything drinks related and has a passion for the craft. Thank goodness our guest was not one of the Skerries-born citizens who kidnapped St. Patrick's goat and was cursed to bleat from then on, cus that would make for an awkward interview. Today we have a true …

1
#77 Simon Difford, founder Diffordsguide.com, creator Difford's Easy Jigger, chronicler of the Second Cocktail Golden Age 1:42:21

8d ago1:42:21

1:42:21

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…

1
#76, Natasha Bahrami, The Gin Girl, The Gin Room (St. Louis, MIssouri), Gin World festivals (everywhere), member The Gin Guild 1:19:14

15d ago1:19:14

1:19:14

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…

1
#75 Zev Glesta, spirits specialist Sotheby's New York, ex-bartender at The Modern, The Fat Duck/Dinner 1:47:20

22d ago1:47:20

1:47:20

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…

1
How to be the London Boozehound with Sam Gilani 37:58

29d ago37:58

37:58

Did it ever occur to you to ask your friendly bartenders where they like to drink? Because you know they know the best places in town. Well, don’t worry, our guest has. And lucky for us, he’s sharing that info. Sam Gilani was making Sazeracs when he was at university - that should tell you that he was bound to become The London Boozehound. He is no…

1
#74, Anna Sebastian, UK-based hospitality consultant, founder of #CelebrateHer, ending homelessness with @underonesky 2:06:58

29d ago2:06:58

2:06:58

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…

1
#73, Ago Perrone, Director of Mixology, The Connaught, co-author, The Connaught Bar book 1:20:23

1M ago1:20:23

1:20:23

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…

1
#72 Benji Cavagna, partner, Farmily Bars Group (Milan), co-founder, Bitter Fusetti 1:36:19

1M ago1:36:19

1:36:19

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…

1
#71, David Thomas Tao, Kentuckian, whisky writer, fitness commentator (!), voiceover actor, theatre investor 2:26:31

2M ago2:26:31

2:26:31

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…

1
How To Drink at the Lansdowne Club with David Herbert and Marco Caglià 31:59

2M ago31:59

31:59

Who doesn’t want to enjoy a tipple or two in a gorgeous setting? Today, I bring you to one of the most historically important homes in London, which held and is still holding some of the best parties the city has ever seen. On today’s episode, you’ll meet a power player in Georgian society, the Lansdowne House, constructed in the 1760s by the celeb…

1
#70, Gegam Kazarian, founder Yerevan Cocktail Week, Magika Cordials, champion bartender, renaisssance man 1:27:50

2M ago1:27:50

1:27:50

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…

1
#69 (nice!), Shannon Mustipher, tropical drinks guru, bartender, author, consultant 1:24:19

2M ago1:24:19

1:24:19

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 …

1
#68 Jim Meehan, award-winning mixologist, bartender, author and consultant 2:06:11

2M ago2:06:11

2:06:11

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 …

1
How to Use seasn with Ben Branson 50:02

3M ago50:02

50:02

Remember a time when asking for a non-alcoholic beverage meant getting a soda or an apple juice? Well, thanks to the brain behind Seedlip, there are now stores filled with No-ABV and Low-ABV spirits. It’s not often one can invent a whole new category of drinking, but our guest did, and now he is coming for bitters, watch out. My friend and former L…

1
#67, Robb Jones, owner, Meteor bar, Minneapolis 1:09:35

3M ago1:09:35

1:09:35

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…

1
#66, Negotiation Book Club with Bianca Grisolia, BG Communication, Barcelona 1:30:05

3M ago1:30:05

1:30:05

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…

1
How to Discover More About Sustainability at the Paradiso Sustainability Summit 2024 39:18

3M ago39:18

39:18

This March, I was blown away by the creativity of some of the best bars in the world. Not only were they making cocktails, but they were saving the planet. On the 17 and 18th of March 2024, the third edition of the Paradiso Sustainability Summit, organized by Giacomo Giannotti and his team, in partnership with Ketel One Vodka through their Garnishe…

1
#65, Linden Pride, co-owner Caffe Dante, Dante West Village & Dante Beverly Hills 1:20:57

3M ago1:20:57

1:20:57

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…

1
#64, Mark Reynier, founder of Waterford Whisky, Renegade Rum and former owner of Bruichladdich 1:47:12

3M ago1:47:12

1:47:12

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…

1
How to Make Never Say Die Bourbon with Brian Luftman 36:02

4M ago36:02

36:02

The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. Our butterfly, in this case, is one small sip of bourbon. That specific sip of bourbon started off a chain reaction that would see not only the world of drinks but the…

1
#63, Ciaran Smith, founder, The Bottle Cocktail Shop (London), former award-winning cocktail bar owner & hotel executive 2:04:31

4M ago2:04:31

2:04:31

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…

1
#62, Nick Papanicolaou, founder No Sleep Beverage liquor incubator, former mergers & acquisitions at Pernod-Ricard USA 1:45:51

4M ago1:45:51

1:45:51

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…

1
#61, Amir Babayoff, Mixologist, Actor & Teacher 1:30:19

4M ago1:30:19

1:30:19

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,…

1
Serving up Season 8½ of Lush Life 3:01

4M ago3:01

3:01

I think relaunch is the word of the moment. It is Spring, after all. Not only will I be relaunching Season 8 of Lush Life, bringing you exciting episodes about sustainability, horse racing, the Beatles, absinthe, and so much more! But the big news is I have just re-launched my cocktail tours in London’s Soho- Long story but I first started them in …

1
#60, Phil & Tony Sachs Eclipse Special! 1:49:00

4M ago1:49:00

1:49:00

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…

1
#59, Jillian Vose, Hazel and Apple (Charleston), Outwalker Whiskey 55:48

5M ago55:48

55:48

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…

1
#58, Margarita Sader (Paradiso, Barcelona), Bianca Grisolia (BG Communications), Kaitlyn Stewart (Likeable Bartender) 2:09:12

5M ago2:09:12

2:09:12

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 …

1
#57 Agave Series 3 of 3: Sophie Decobecq, Agave Spirits Production Consultant & Founder, Calle 23 Tequila 1:27:41

5M ago1:27:41

1:27:41

(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 …

1
#56 Agave Series 2 of 3: The Tequila Ambassador V.O., with Jesse Estes, Phil Bayly and Mitch Wilson. 2:02:34

5M ago2:02:34

2:02:34

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…

1
#55 Agave Series 1 of 3: Danielle Tatarin, founder Mezcal Gotagorda, mixologist & entrepreneur. 1:36:41

5M ago1:36:41

1:36:41

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 …

1
#54, Damon Boelte, owner Grand Army Bar, founder The Speakeasy podcast, bartender 2:07:32

6M ago2:07:32

2:07:32

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…

1
#53 DNN Duff News Network! 57:03

6M ago57:03

57:03

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 about OTHER things than their prepa…

1
#52, Sid Patel, founder of Beverage Trade Network and a TON of spirits contests worldwide 1:37:33

6M ago1:37:33

1:37:33

Sid's a fascinating chap; coming from a family background of East Coast (USA) liquor stores, he created Beverage Trade Network to operate spirits, wine and beer contests just about everywhere, as well as advise brands, all with the goal of helping brands market themselves and succeed in the marketplace. There's a lot of cold hard truth truth in thi…

1
#51 Greg Benson, podcast co-host (The Speakeasy), co-founder Ancestral Agave Syrup 1:47:22

7M ago1:47:22

1:47:22

Greg's a top chap and I first met him years ago when he had a brief stint as GM at one of my local bars here in NY. A hospitality refugee, Greg dove deep into the beer world before coming to the dark side of spirits and cocktails, and is now the third leg of the sturdy stool that is the award-winning The Speakeasy podcast, together with its founder…

1
#50, Nick Vrielink, IBA World Cocktail Championships 2023 Gold Medal Winner, bar manager Fitz's Bar (Amsterdam), Best New Cocktail Bar 2023 1:53:41

7M ago1:53:41

1:53:41

The champ is here! Dutchman Nick Vrielink is definitely on a roll: Fitz's Bar, which he set up in Amsterdam's Pillows Hotel, won Best New Cocktail Bar at the Entree (Dutch hospitality) Awards last year, and the day after the Awards Nick boarded a plane to Rome to compete on behalf of the Netherlands Bartender Club (NBC) in the International Bartend…

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