Distilled spirits form the foundation of our favorite cocktails. But beyond simple differences like bourbon vs. scotch or gin vs. vodka, many bartenders and drinkers may only have a cursory knowledge of the deeper details. The Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) is a global educational organization that aims to make such deeper, detailed knowledg…

In order to understand what the Martini is, it’s important to know what the Martini was. Our contributing editor Robert Simonson (publisher of The Mix newsletter and author of The Martini Cocktail) joins us for this episode to explore the Martini’s evolution since its inception, and to consider the Martini’s role in modern cocktail culture. Radio I…

The most celebrated cocktail of the 20th century is finding fresh fans today, as bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts around the world discover the Martini’s magic. Our May/June 2025 issue digs into the Martini’s details. For this episode, we’re joined by three veteran bartenders and bar owners, who share their Martini experience and their insight: …

Alcohol-free beer still occupies a small part of the overall market, but as we cover in our March/April 2025 issue, brewers big and small are increasingly focusing their expertise and modern techniques on making NA beers that can compete with traditional beers in flavor, style, and overall appeal. For this episode, Imbibecontributing editor Joshua …

For decades, the Margarita has reigned as a champion of the cocktail world. For this episode, we explore the many facets of this classic drink and the way it’s inspiring bartenders around the world with Margarita Time!author (and Imbibe digital content editor) Caroline Pardilla. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we…

Irish whiskey has been experiencing dramatic growth and evolution over the past 15 years. Mark McLaughlin, director of Irish whiskey for The Dead Rabbit in New York City, joins us for this episode to break down the major categories of Irish whiskey, and to share insight into the many flavorful ways Irish whiskey’s future is unfolding. Radio Imbibe …

Irish whiskey has been one of the biggest-growing categories in the spirits world in recent years, with a flurry of new distillery openings in Ireland and an ever-increasing range of options available to curious drinkers. For this episode, we talk about the modern growth and evolution of Irish whiskey, and the best ways to drink it and mix it in co…

Start searching online for creative coffee drinks, and you’ll quickly come across the work of Morgan Eckroth, one of this year’s Imbibe 75 People to Watch. Based in Portland, Oregon, Eckroth is an award-winning barista who took a love of coffee online via an immensely popular series of videos on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. For this episode, we …

Natasha Bahrami helped turn the Midwest into gin country via her St. Louis bar, The Gin Room. For this episode, we continue our 2025 Imbibe 75 coverage with Bahrami about gin’s enduring appeal, and about her ongoing efforts to spread the love of gin nationwide via her series of Gin World events, taking place in cities across America. Radio Imbibe i…

We’re continuing our coverage of the 2025 Imbibe 75 with this conversation featuring Moe Aljaff and Julliette Larrouy, who (with business partner Dan Binkiewicz) are opening Schmuck in New York City in late January. An original founder of Two Schmucks in Barcelona, Aljaff and former Two Schmucks bar manager Larrouy join us for this episode to talk …

Happy New Year! We’re kicking off our coverage of the 2025 Imbibe 75 list of people and places sure to change we drink in the months ahead with this conversation with Howard Conyers. Trained as an aeronautic engineer and with a resume that includes work with NASA, he’s also a barbecue pit master and now a distiller at his family’s Backyard Distille…

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 …

Giuseppe González built his bartending reputation at bars including Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club, PKNY, and Suffolk Arms. Now working in Las Vegas, he’s made it his mission every December to share his love of coquito, a spiced rum-and-coconut drink from Puerto Rico that’s essential for celebrating the holidays. For this episode, González talks with…

What’s an ideal Thanksgiving cocktail? And how do you make the perfect eggnog? In our November/December 2024 issue, Imbibe contributing editor Wayne Curtis explores the former topic, and Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler contemplates the latter. For this episode, we talk with Wayne and Jeff about Thanksgiving cocktails, other holiday drinks (…

Boston has long been a beacon of cocktail culture in America, and Jackson Cannon is a big reason behind that. For this episode, we talk with the longtime Boston bartender about the evolution of the city’s cocktail scene over the past couple of decades, and about the reopening of Eastern Standard, one of the city’s landmark establishments. Radio Imb…

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…