Radio Imbibe

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  magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid...

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  magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid cultu...

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 it’s supported over the years, and what he’s le...

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 this episode, we talk with Pinnacle’s three co-fo...

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 to put together a full menu of Halloween-themed coc...

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 at working with the Negroni both as a cocktail an...

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 Guide to No- and Low-Alcohol Cocktails , to talk abo...

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  magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid c...

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 Eileen Wayner, and board members Claire Warner and Jo...

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 international sensation, and sharing his own approach t...

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 recipe become a global favorite, and his thoughts...

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 touch today’s drinks world. Radio Imbibe is the aud...

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 initial debut. Radio Imbibe is the audio home of  Imbibe...

Bartenders Caer Maiko ( DrinkWell , Austin) and Sharon Yeung ( The Walrus and the Carpenter , Seattle) organized their first Daijoubu pop-up bar event four years ago, and found ways to keep the self-described “super-Asian cocktail pop-up” going through the pandemic, with events in cities ranging from New York City and Houston to San Francisco and beyond. For this episode, we check in with the Daij...

Tropical drinks have a timeless quality, but that doesn’t mean the recipes and techniques for making them need to be stuck in the past. Brooklyn bartender Garret Richard ( Sunken Harbor Club ) and author Ben Schaffer ( The Rum Reader ) bring today’s cutting-edge bar knowledge to the world of tropical drinks in their new book, Tropical Standard: Cocktail Techniques & Reinvented Recipes . In this ep...

Camper English has been experimenting with ways to make the perfect ice for cocktails since 2009 and documenting his findings on his blog, Alcademics . With his new book, The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts , coming out this spring, we catch up with the San Francisco–based writer and educator to talk about the origins of his clear-ice experiments, the impact of...

Few cocktails have demonstrated such historical staying power as the Manhattan. For this episode, we consider this classic cocktail from all angles with Toby Maloney, who’s mixed Manhattans at influential bars ranging from Milk & Honey and Pegu Club in New York City to The Violet Hour in Chicago, where he’s a partner and now co-author of The Bartender’s Manifesto . Radio Imbibe is the audio home o...

Over the past 20 years, rye whiskey has moved from being an also-ran to taking the spotlight, with bartenders and distillers nationwide rediscovering its promise. Our March/April 2023 issue dives deep into today’s world of rye, and for this episode, we talk with three distillers about their enthusiasm for making rye whiskey: Nicole Austin from Cascade Hollow Distilling , Todd Leopold from Leopold...

Thousands of hospitality professionals have honed their bartending skills over the past 15 years via the BarSmarts bartender education program. For this episode, we talk with Kevin Denton Rex , the director of mixology and education for Pernod Ricard, about the newly revamped BarSmarts program, how BarSmarts has evolved over the years, and how it’s filling an essential role in today’s hospitality...

We wrap up our Imbibe 75 coverage for 2023 by checking in with Julio “Jules” Gutierrez, the founder of the bar pop-up series Chuntikis . Designed to help tell the stories of Latinos and immigrants through the medium of tropical drinks, Chuntikis has appeared at a number of bars near Gutierrez’ home in Long Beach, California, and this past summer he shared his experiences during a seminar at Tales...

We continue our Imbibe 75 coverage by catching up with Christine Wiseman , one of our People to Watch for 2023. A longtime bartender in LA, most recently at Broken Shaker, Wiseman moved to Miami in 2021 to step into the role as beverage director for Broken Shaker’s parent company BarLab . In this episode, she fills us in on what the transition has been like moving from West Coast to East, the thin...

We continue our Imbibe 75 coverage with a conversation with Jack Beguedou, one of our 2023 People to Watch. Originally from Togo, Jack Beguedou now lives in Omaha, and is known on Instagram and YouTube as the Hood Sommelier, sharing his whiskey explorations with thousands of online followers. For this episode, we chat about what first brought him into the whiskey world, and about how he’s sharing...

We kick off our Imbibe 75 coverage for 2023 with a conversation with Seattle bartender Josh Ibañez . A veteran of Houston’s cocktail scene, Ibañez moved to Seattle several years ago and recently assumed the role of bar manager at Rumba , an acclaimed rum bar now entering its second decade. For this episode, he talks about his upcoming plans for Rumba, the differences between Houston and Seattle ba...

Brother Cleve was a musician, DJ, bartender, and bar owner who helped shape the direction of the modern cocktail renaissance, while bringing up a generation of Boston bartenders and bar owners, earning the title “the Godfather of Boston’s Cocktail Scene.” In 2017, we featured Brother Cleve and the significant role he played in cocktail culture. This past September he died unexpectedly, leaving beh...

In 2017, St. John Frizell , owner of Fort Defiance and co-owner of Gage & Tollner in Brooklyn, wrote an essay for Imbibe about the enduring appeal of fire rituals in winter. For this episode, Frizell returns to the topic to discuss flaming punches for the holidays, the history of flaming drinks, and best practices for preparing flaming cocktails Radio Imbibe is the audio home of  Imbibe  magazine....