Lush Life

Meeting in primary school doesn’t always predict a future business career together, but in the case of our guests today, it most certainly did. They also went to the same prep school, university and lived together in London...oh and did I mention they both love rum! I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a...

A hotel was destined to be our guest’s second home from the time he first stepped into one when he was a little boy. Now Fabio Pezzini is all grown up and behind the bar at one of London’s premier hotels right in the center of it all. I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the industr...

Can you imagine a state where in every bar all that was served were airplane mini-bottles of spirits? So you order an old-fashioned and they take the tiny bottle of JD off the shelf, unscrew it, add sugar and bitters and that’s it. Only order, unscrew, serve for every cocktail! Crazy talk...yet that was South Carolina until 2006 - yes 2006.  I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, a...

Don’t ever call someone’s idea crazy - you’ll probably end up eating your words or in this case drinking them. Our guest today knew that cider was not just for crepes and galettes any more and when he heard the French government was paying farmers to chop down apple trees in his home region of Normandy, he knew the time was now. I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Po...

Before we head into The Connaught Bar , I want to make sure you know this is a two parter. Did you listen to part 1 of Ago Perrone’s story? Then you already know that he is Director of Mixology for The Connaught Bar. If you are flummoxed and have no idea what I’m talking about then head back to last week’s episode where you can hear the beginning of Ago’s journey. If you’re set, then let’s head to...

I felt right at home with my next guest, even though we had never met. The Connaught Hotel is a place I have been returning to since I was a child. As my parent’s port of call when visiting London, The Connaught has seen me roam its halls, sleep in its beds and also try smoked salmon for the first time in the now legendary dining room. We only stopped staying there because now I live in London. Me...

My friend and fellow podcaster Palle Bo, the Radio Vagabond, tells me that I don’t reveal enough about myself on Lush Life. I am slightly reticent to do that as I want it to be all about my guests. Still I will keep trying little by little I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion who lives in London by the way, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail...

Creating one successful brand is hard enough, but two - well as our guest today, Alex Carlton discovered, it’s just as exciting the second time round. I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the industry.   I met with Alex on his birthday a few weeks ago, having just received the...

When someone says their bourbon is made with 100% corn - you can’t really believe them can you? You can if it’s our guest today. Scott Blackwell of High Wire Distilling Company wanted to create a spirit that was different, but how do you even start? I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best...

So you know that your family once owned a gin company and some pubs, but how surreal would it be to find it was not just any gin company but one of the most important brands in the UK ever. Even arguably the oldest. I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the industry.   Milo Walk...

Can you say that one gelato changed your life? For our next guest, being served an ice cream cone introduced her to the world of hospitality and she never looked back. From the age of 12, Mariantonietta Varamo has been on a fast track to making her dreams come true. Thank goodness for us, she choose to be behind the bar. Little did Mariantonietta know when she left Italy for London that she would...

Strawberries only on Sunday could be the name of one of her cocktails, but as our guest today revealed her grandfather would truly only allow his strawberry jam to be enjoyed as a treat on Sunday. The strawberry season in Norway is only three weeks after all and he made jam so they could eat them all year round and that meant having a little bit only on Sunday to make it last. Monica Berg, one of...

It’s so easy to be seduced by the Italian way of life. Long lunches, great food, weather, wine, and all of August off on holiday. Rob Patchett fell for it in a big way and a gap year turned into nine years that would change his life. What Rob learned in Italy would stay with him for the rest of his career. Even when he returned to his hometown, he had acquired a touch of host-Italia: that perfect...

Can you ever have enough bourbon? Not as far as I am concerned. Therefore after a trip to Glendalough, we are heading straight back to Kentucky. This time to take a tour of Maker’s Mark Distillery - virtually. When I say a tour, I mean a tour. Today the lovely Matty will guide us through the ins and outs of the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto Kentucky. Discover why Maker’s Mark is called so, wh...

Poitin isn’t something to hide behind all the other bottles anymore. Gary Mcloughlin and his fellow co-founders of Glendalough Distillery in Wicklow, Ireland knew it was to be the first spirit that they had to make when establishing Ireland’s first craft distillery. If you don’t know what it is, then now is your chance to find out. Poitin is the traditional spirit of Ireland and after years if it...

The Old-Fashioned is one of the most iconic cocktails on the planet. Adored by Bourbon-lovers world-wide. Three simple ingredients - bourbon, sugar, and bitters, and a bit of fruit have wowed them since the 19th century. A billion variations have popped up especially in these cocktail-crazed times, but the true recipe is just perfection and hard to top. Today’s episode we see how the Old-Fashioned...

Sometimes the worlds collide and two people not only find each other but also speak the same language.  The language that Charles Roche and Eleanor Holcroft speak is cocktail creation. Charles and Eleanor who, from the depths of their underground kitchen, have concocted Jam Doughnut Negronis, Chicken Dumpling Martinis, and Cookie Dough Old Fashioneds and that’s just the beginning. Their bar c...

It really was just a coincidence that an Irishman is on our show the week of  St. Patrick’s Day. I promise it wasn’t planned! And what a pleasant coincidence it is to have James Goggin of Maverick Drinks on the show today. Slainte, I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the indus...

It takes a lot of guts to enter a cocktail competition when you are new to the business. But thanks to a gently prodding and supportive mentor, our guest today Ninon Fauvarque from Annecy France entered the Havana Club Grand Prix. What’s the worst that could happen? Bonjour, I’m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is Lush Life Podcast, every week we are inspired to live life one cock...

It sounds so easy. Master vacuum distillation and then create the gin that Alessandro Palazzi has selected for the most famous martinis in the world at Dukes Bar in London. But as our guests today, Ian Hart and Hilary Whitney of Sacred Spirits know, it’s not as easy as as all that. What is easy is checking out our Lush Life Merchandise at www.alushlifemanual.com/merch I’m trying to convince Alessa...

As a child, I couldn't stand asparagus, spinach, peas in fact most green vegetables.  Also wine, beer and spirits and, now I love them. How is that even possible? My nephew says it’s because our taste buds are getting old - which in turn means we are getting old. Well I’d rather have it that way if it means I can enjoy sipping a dram of whisky. Our guest Jason Clark never wanted to be in the...

I am so excited Lush Life is getting out of the studio and onto the slopes with our first Lush Guide. I‘m Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion and this is Lush Life Podcast - every week I’m inspired to live life one cocktail at a time by the best in the industry. Maybe it was speaking to Mia Johansson from Sweden for the past two weeks, but I couldn't help wanting to jump into the snow. So I he...

You know sometimes there is just too much pressure, not that starting a third season of Lush Life is so difficult but i had decided to start the season with a spoken intro, like I’m doing now and then it all changed and I went back to the way I was doing it before with the little canned intro I had slightly updated. why didn’t I do it the new way? This week the subject of our episode is how to sta...

We are beginning Lush Life Season 3 with a guest who somehow manages to be a surgeon and a nurse all at the same time. To be a great surgeon you need absolute precision and knowledge of your craft and to be a great nurse you need compassion, warmth and patience.   Mia Johansson combined these attributes in a mixing glass and out came Bar Swift. Determining who wants or needs to be hugged and/...

Welcome to Season 3 of Lush Life Podcast. If you’ve listened to the first two seasons of Lush Life, you know this is the place to meet the movers and shakers, I couldn’t help myself, in the drinks industry.   I keep reminding you that Lush Life is the how-to guide for living life one cocktail at a time. I think it’s time I explain what I mean by that. A few years ago I went through a pretty trauma...