Radio Imbibe

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 a different approach to observing the Thanksgivi...

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 researching and writing each round of Mixopedia. R...

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. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, e...

Lauren Mote is a career bartender and entrepreneur now living in Amsterdam. The recipient of this year’s Spirited Award for Best Bar Mentor, Mote joins the podcast to talk about her new book, A Bartender’s Guide to the World: Cocktails and Stories from 75 Places (co-written with James O. Fraioli) and about how destinations around the world have influenced her approach to cocktails. Radio Imbibe is...

In our September/October 2022 issue , Susannah Skiver Barton explores the ongoing evolution of the craft distilling boom in America, and for this episode, we talk about the history and future of craft spirits with Margie Lehrman, CEO of the American Craft Spirits Association . Lehrman is also president of the StepUp Foundation , which aims to increase diversity, equity, and inclusivity in craft sp...

It’s Negroni Week ! This week, thousands of bars worldwide are celebrating the Negroni and raising funds for this year’s giving partner, Slow Food . For this episode, we delve into the Negroni formula with one of the cocktail’s true experts, Francesco Lafranconi , vice president of beverage operations and hospitality culture for Carver Road Hospitality in Las Vegas. Radio Imbibe is the audio home...

For our September/October 2022 issue, Jennifer Fiedler digs into the story of POG, the iconic blend of fruit juices that was part of her childhood growing up in Hawaii. Honolulu bartender Harry Chin of Fête Restaurant was featured in the story, and for this episode, he shares the details surrounding his POG Cutter cocktail, a riff on a Trader Vic’s classic. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of  Imbib...

In 2021, Boisson entered the New York City retail market with a bold idea: to provide customers with alcohol-free wines, beers, and spirits in an engaging, judgement-free environment. For this episode, we catch up with Nick Bodkins, a co-owner and co-founder of Boisson (an Imbibe 75 Place to Watch for 2022), to talk about low- and no-alcohol wines (as featured in our July/August issue ), and to as...

In July, Tales of the Cocktail returned to New Orleans as an in-person event for its 20th anniversary, and for this episode, we catch up with two of this year’s Imbibe 75 People to Watch, both of whom live and work in New Orleans: Touré Folkes and  Kimberly Patton-Bragg . Folkes is the founder and program director for Turning Tables , which works to create equity in the hospitality industry, and P...

In our July/August 2022 issue, Robert Simonson introduces readers to New York Times reporter and whiskey writer Clay Risen . For this episode, we talk with Clay about the rapidly changing world of American whiskey and the whiskey evolutions he’s finding intriguing these days; and we discuss the whiskey stories he’s shared in his articles, including the role that the formerly enslaved distiller Nea...

In our July/August 2022 issue, Kate Bernot explores the backstory of Ranch Water, the tequila-based Texas cocktail that’s enjoying a moment in the spotlight. For this episode, we talk about the appeal of Ranch Water with Travis Tober, owner of Nickle City in Austin and Fort Worth (and an upcoming location in Houston), and of Old Pal Texas Tavern in Lockhart. Nickle City’s Ranch Water 1¼ oz. blanco...

Alex Negranza ’s career has taken him from Seattle’s specialty coffee shops and cocktail bars to some of Houston’s most prestigious bars and restaurants. For this episode, we check in with our 2018 Imbibe 75 Bartender of the Year to catch up on how his career is unfolding, and to chat about the work he’s taking on in his newest role as president of GLASS , the Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Spirited...

In 2011, New York City bartenders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix joined forces to launch Speed Rack ( @speed_rack ), a women’s bartending competition that would raise funds for charities supporting breast cancer research. For this episode, we talk with the duo about what they’ve learned over the course of more than a decade of producing Speed Rack, the charity beneficiaries they’re proud to support,...

In the May/June 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 formula, the virtues of batching cocktails in advance, and about coming to terms with vodka and vodka...

For the cover feature about vodka in our May/June issue, we spoke with St. George Spirits master distiller and president Lance Winters about the distillery’s approach to making vodka and flavored vodka. St. George is also known for its gins, whiskies, fruit brandies, and other spirits, and Winters discusses how they bring a similar philosophy to making vodka as they do to other spirits; and we loo...

Since its 2013 debut, The Dead Rabbit in New York City has garnered numerous awards and accolades as being one of the world’s best bars. For this episode, we talk with founding partner Jack McGarry about the bar’s ambitious expansion plans starting with outposts in New Orleans and Austin, Texas, in 2023; how the Dead Rabbit’s style is evolving as it approaches its 10th anniversary; and how McGarry...

The cover story of our March/April 2022 issue focuses on the world of brandy, and for this episode, we wrap up our coverage of the spirit with Nicolas Palazzi. Born in Bordeaux and now living in Brooklyn, Palazzi is the founder of PM Spirits , an importer and distributor of specialty spirits, including Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados. For this episode, we talk with Palazzi about his search for memo...

The cover story of our March/April 2022 issue focuses on the world of brandy, and for this episode, we talk with acclaimed New York bartender ms. franky marshall . A longtime Cognac educator, ms. franky shares insights into what makes Cognac so distinctive; the ways Cognac remains a dynamic spirit today; and how Cognac novices can begin their own explorations of this exceptional French brandy. Rad...

As a companion to the brandy cover story in our March/April 2022 issue, we head to California to chat with David Warter, the vice president of winemaking and distilling for E&J Gallo Winery. Gallo’s gone big on California brandy in recent years, and Warter shares details about what makes California brandy distinctive, and he offers insight into Gallo’s brandies from the Argonaut and Germain-Robin...

Our March/April issue dives deep into the world of brandy—and it’s impossible to talk about brandy in America, or the world of apple brandy, without talking to Lisa Laird Dunn . The executive vice president, COO, and global ambassador for Laird & Co. in New Jersey, she’s the ninth generation of her family to be involved in the brandy business. For this episode, we chat with her about apple brandy’...

Andra “AJ” Johnson has been a barista, sommelier, cicerone, and bartender, and today she’s a partner and beverage director for Serenata in Washington, D.C. For this episode, we catch up with AJ about her ongoing project White Plates Black Faces , which shares the stories of people of color in the hospitality industry, and talk about her role as co-founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week and the Back...

When Efrem Fesaha made the leap from a career in finance to open Boon Boona Coffee , a roastery and café in the Seattle area, he looked to his family’s home in Eritrea for inspiration. For this episode, we chat with Fesaha about Boon Boona’s approach to coffee, from its focus on African producers and Africa’s significance in coffee history, to the role it plays in the Seattle area’s African immigr...

This episode introduces another of our Imbibe 75 People to Watch, Linda Milagros Violago . A Canadian sommelier and wine professional who’s worked at restaurants worldwide, Violago recently relocated to Seattle to lead the wine program at Canlis , a family-run institution that dates to 1950, with an award-winning wine program more than 22,000 bottles deep. For this episode, we chat with Violago ab...

To kick off 2022, this episode introduces one of our Imbibe 75 People to Watch, Christian Suzuki-Orellana , known more familiarly as Suzu. A longtime Bay Area bartender, Suzu is the creator of the Kagano Bar pop-up, based on his grandparents’ bar in Japan, and the bar manager (and “Head Bird,” with bar supervisor Marguerite Regan) at Wildhawk in San Francisco. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of  Im...

Martin and Rebecca Cate are the owners of  Smuggler’s Cove  and  Whitechapel  in San Francisco, and the authors of the James Beard Award–winning book,  Smuggler’s Cove . The Cates have also both written for  Imbibe , and for this episode, we talk with Rebecca about her essay in our November/December 2021 issue in which she reflects on what pandemic closures meant for their bar’s family of regulars...