The Philip Duff Show
Liquor, bars, cocktails: the people and companies who make them, sell them and drink them, plus everything & everyone in-between, with your host, globetrotting spirits guy and escaped bartender, Philip Duff.
#180, Federico Pavan, former Area Director of Mixology, Rocco Forte Hotels (UK), currently co-founder Forget About it Hospitality (NYC)
Federico has worked for my friend Salvatore Calabrese in London for over a decade in total, at his Playboy Club, then at the Donovan Bar in Brown's Hotel - and now he's making the big move to New York, co-founding a hospitality group named Forget About It (nice!) that will soon open their first venue in Greenwich Village.
Federico's hospitality career started in his native Verona, Italy, after realising his passion - motorbike racing - wasn't going to work out.
On a whim - and without speaking any Spanish - he moved to Madrid, where he...
#179, Sarah Södersten, founder Studio Belle South, former brand ambassador & bartender, brand experience & activations expert
Sarah has gone from working in the family hotel and restaurant in her native Sweden, to party bars in both the Alps and London, then a move to the Netherlands, where we met.
She did a lot of work in Rotterdam with my old mates Jorgos and Ian at Barsupport, then moved to Amsterdam and got into brands.
She's done over a decade of great work as a European ambassador for Patron and then Mijenta Tequila, and she's just started her own consultancy to share her deep love of, and storied experience in, brand-building through thoughtful experiences an...
#178, Tom Zyankali, owner of Zyankali Bar, Berlin, and (not) mad scientist & pirate
Tom's one of the most fun people I know, as well as being intelligent and a fine bartender and host; he's also forgotten more science than almost anyone in our business, and has had a life so packed with adventure we couldn't fit it all in, even in a podcast that runs almost two-and-a-half hours!
From bartending at dancing class to working in labs to making the move to bohemian Berlin, then travelling through South-East Asia doing some questionable things, modelling with a blue Mohawk in Tokyo, then making his way back to Berlin and starting a...
#177, Nelson de Matos, multi-award winning bartender and bar manager, Four Seasons Lisbon
Nelson is an old mate - I can't even remember where exactly we met! - but he has blazed a trail from humble upbringings in Portugal, to the Savoy organisation in London, and back to Portugal, winning countless awards along the way, and now inspiring a new generation as he prepares to reboot the legendary Ritz Hotel Lisbon as a Four Seasons, the very epitome of contemporary hotel cool.
I loved chatting with Nelson; perhaps because we both come from very simple backgrounds.
And I have no doubt the Four Seasons Lisbon, when its bars op...
#176, Ibrahima Guenne and Lorenzo Cisi, owners, MUGI Bar, Barcelona
I met Lorenzo and Ibrahima just last week, and their Japanese-style cocktail bar, Mugi, which opened in Barcelona in April of this year, impressed me so much I wanted to get them on the podcast to tell their story.
They're both Italians (tho Ibra was born in Burkina Faso), met while bartending in London (of course), and developed a deep love of Japan (they are Japalian!) and its traditions while working in top places like Roka and Coya, before moving to Barcelona.
We talk about their hospitality journey, why they opened in Barcelona and not Ma...
#175, Natasha Bermudez, New York City bartender and Bar Manager, Seed Library NYC 22 September 2026
Natasha is a whole bundle of energy: raised in the Dominican Republic, she moved to NY young and amassed an impressive background bartending and managing in New York at places like Zuma, Llama Inn & Llama San, and, now, ruling the roost at the New York outpost of Ryan Chetiyawardana's Seed Library, whose first branch opened in 2022 in Shoreditch, east London.
Enjoy!
Natasha on IG: https://www.instagram.com/natashita/
(Get in touch with Duff!
Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only int...
#174 Adam Reiner, James Beard-award winning food, drinks, restaurant & bars writer, hospitality lifer, author of “The New Rules of Dining Out”Episode
Adam's a veteran of legendary Manhattan restaurants including Babbo, Carbone and The Grill (formerly The Four Seasons) and became an award-winning writer for publications including Bon Appetit, The Wall Street Journal, Grub Street and many more.
His new book The New Rules of Dining Out is fabulous - maybe the first-ever dedicated guide to enjoying yourself more in restaurants (and bars) by knowing the best way to treat the staff, deal with issues and generally be the kind of guest staff can't wait to wait on.
This was a GREAT ep - enjoy!
A...
#173 Tony Sachs, official The Philip Duff Show 6-time guest & sidekick, drinks writer, whiskey sage, bar haunter 7 September 2026
Officially our most-interviewed guest, me and Tony did our first-ever intercontinental podcast via satellite, and we jammed in a whole lot - spicy margs, Drastic Dave firing 36% of the staff at Diageo's NY HQ, how the UK as a whole apparently drinks fewer martinis in a year than the legendarily thirsty guests of Bemelmans Bar in NY, and a bunch more.
We also conducted a tasting of exquisite spirits (Tony) and random stuff I found lying around my host's apartment here in Spain, some of which was legit delish.
Enjoy!
Tony on IG: http...
#172 Shannon Tebay, Director of Mixology for The Venetian Resort (Las Vegas), former head bartender The American Bar at The Savoy (London), Death & Co (NY), 17 August 2026
Shannon is an utter powerhouse, and after seeing her nail it at Death & Co, then the American Bar at the Savoy, then the ultimate (massive) rock 'n' roll venue Outernet London, it came as no surprise she was tapped to be Director of Mixology for the Venetian - 1st or 2nd largest resort IN THE WORLD! - in Las Vegas.
So we had to talk.
This is a good one.
Shannon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/Shannontebay/
(Get in touch with Duff!
Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liqu...
#171, Allen Katz, spirits & cocktail educator and founder of New York Distilling Company
I met Allen in an Amsterdam bar in 2008, and everyone in the US scene already knew him; I assumed he'd been a bartender and transitioned into education & consulting, as so many of us did in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
But the truth is much cooler!
From growing up in Baltimore, living in NY as an aspiring musician, running a cooking school in Italy to becoming part of the Slow Food organisation, hosting a tribute to Jerry Thomas at the Plaza Hotel, being central to cocktail & spirits education for America's largest distributor and then founding NY Di...
#170, J’Nai Angelle Williams, Lead Bartender at the Chandelier Bar, Four Seasons New Orleans, & Content Creator
J'Nai, a born-and-raised New Orleanian, is lead bartender at The Chandelier Bar inside the rather ritzy Four Seasons New Orleans, was just nominated into the final 4 for "US Bartender of the Year" at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, makes content with her companies Pretty Magic Cocktails and Magic House Media, and is also awesome (we met on a shoot for Australian Bitters Co. that involved us, ahem, "taste-testing" Sazeracs at 10am in the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon St) and great fun, so onto the Philip Duff Show she goes!
We talked about her upbringing...
#169, Philip Duff solo - The Tales (& Awards) recap! 27 July 2026
Well, we - meaning me - survived Tales!
(not that Delta Airlines were any bloody help).
Here's a recap of what I did, where I went and how I think it all shook out, including of course some - sometimes salty - commentary on the Spirited Awards, said commentary applying to all the the other awards, Lists, nominations and suchlike that now bedevil our once-tranquil industry.
Enjoy!
(Get in touch with Duff!
Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only inte...
#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 Death & Co., Eleven Madison Park, Shinji's (RIP), Schmuck, and more, for the custom distillates they will co-create with such bars to form the basis of truly unique cocktails.
So wh...
#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 "The Classic Cocktail Sessions" a prequel to the Manifesto.
Emma is an acclaimed Chicago-based spirits, cocktail and bars writer and author, and has won numerous James Beard awards in addition to the one for The Bartender's Manifesto.
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 Golden Age of cocktails; unlike a lot of bartenders, he decided to make his experience into a branded range of liqueurs, higher quality than anything out there, y...
#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 Francisco's second-oldest bar, he's done it all.
Enjoy!
H on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocktailambassadors/
Elixir on Instagram: https://www.in...
#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 projects since.
His newest venture, Chimera brand development in the UK, is less than two years old but already has thousands of distribution points in bars and wholesalers th...
#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 restaurant, where Hemant went on to become the beverage director and general manager. Subsequently Hemant was able to buy his own restaurant, Tandoor Oven on NY's Upper East Side, and go on to open t...
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 us too soon.
This is a great conversation, and fun too - enjoy!
Brian on IG: https://www.instagram.com/shakerofspirits/
Vieux Carre on IG: https://www.instagram.com/vieuxcarrepgh/
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 Best Bars, so we caught up on his plans.
Aarón on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aarondiazolivos/?hl=en
(Get in touc...
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. Mike sent me a nice email afterwards saying he enjoyed reading some of the articles I was writing for Imbibe magazine at the time.
Fast forward to May 2023, and M...
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 after being on the market for just a couple of years, Diageo's Indian subsidiary, United Spirits, became minority investors.
Its the best non-Mexican agave spirit I've ever had.
...#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: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their p...
#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 learned his craft, winning the global finals of Bacardi Legacy in 2018 and moving to Mexico City in 2019 to open a bar there.
His se...
#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 savant vibes master Max Greco (quite a bit, in fact), what it takes to create a great bar now in Australia vs 16 years ago, banter becoming an endangered species, the death of...
#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, "Bar Design Essentials" that he started writing in 2007, and which is as seminal and definitive for bar design as "Roundbuilding" is for making rounds of cocktails, and as "T...
#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 bootlegged during Prohibition, a grandfather who legalised the business, and his father, who built US liquor distribution juggernaut Breakthru Beverage Group.
As well as a lifelong love of hospit...
#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 princely sum of $185, 000.
We talk about his switch into bartending from cooking, then into management, then ownership, what's changed since the first Mo...
#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 business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client...
#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 out a thriving business that's expanded to include rare liqueurs, Tiki Lovers rum and Pink Gin, exported all around the world and proudly served in the world's best bars.
...
#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 tenure at a single bar with helping him gain the trust of investors (Apres Cru Hospitality) and become an owner.
I've known Jeff since 2011, when he was a world finalist in the G'Vine Gin Connoisseur Program, a co...
#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: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a coupl...
#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 movie in 1988, the rise of well-run contests, the emergence of a professional contest circuit, and the state of play nowadays.
If you have any interest in bartending at all, you have to own this book.
We talk...
#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 program, the state of non-alc, and a whole lot more.
Enjoy!
Paul on IG: https://www.instagram.com/everleaf_paul/?hl=en
Everleaf on IG: http...
#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 W50BB, and is now Commercial Director for Boatyard Gin)
Ruben went back to Amsterdam with rum in his heart and started Spirited Union rum, in...
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's epically failed Our/Vodka distillery program.
This is a proper long Philip-Duff-Show episode, so settle in!
We kick off talking neuroscience and Ozempic (because of course) and...
#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 of New Jersey, and then (because, as a drinks writer, Tony gets sent unholy amounts of stuff), we created an infinity bottle from all the many samples of a particular bottled-in-bond whiskey Tony h...
#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=en
Cause + Effect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/causeeffectcpt/?hl=en
Order The Flair Bartending Book: https://barproducts.com/products/flair-bartending-by-marco-canova-tom-dyer?srsltid=AfmBOoq3_Nh9XBn3XIki60wKQyQzis1K_AGRoGHHdUomqsnSQ-5lbEjL
(Get in touch wi...
#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, the launch of Hard Cut Vodka, the downfall of Uncle Nearest, the rise of the GLP-1 agonists (better known as Ozempic, et al, to you and I...
#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 edition of Aberfeldy single malt, the rather delicious 18-Year-Old Bolgheri Tuscan Finish, and it occurred to me - after more than a few drams - that he'd be a fun guest on the show.
...
