The Honest Drink Podcast

Today the HaHa Monsters critique on each others strengths and weaknesses while sharing their thoughts on various personality traits. 🙈🙊🙉

Cymri Chang is a commercial producer in Shanghai.  We get into subjects like society, culture, politics, government and language just to name a few. We compare and contrast many of these topics against the backdrop of the United States and China.  We talk about drinking the Kool-Aid, which is a metaphor for being convinced to believe in certain ideologies depending on where you live.  We had a bla...

Today the gang gets back together and discusses the spectrum of motivation. They debate the effectiveness between punishment and reward. Is the concept of pain vs pleasure at the heart of all our behavior and natural motivation? Can all our actions be traced back to some sort of pleasure seeking or pain avoidance? In todays episode we try to broaden our concepts of pleasure and fear and debate its...

Todays guest is a professional mix martial arts fight manager, student of boxing, coach, motorcyclist, insurance executive, father and overall fun guy to grab a beer with.  We went back to basics over some Maker's Mark today and went wherever the conversation took us. 🥊 

Today's guests Brett Decolyse and Bruce Chen join us to share their stories on managing a startup company in China. They also provide commentary on Chinese business culture and dealing with cultural barriers. We discuss their "work hard, play hard" mentality as well as how their experiences with co-founder David Suzuki shaped their values on work, friendship, family and life.  

Today's episode is a conversation between Aric and Justin where they discuss all the intricacies of traveling and catch up on Aric's trip to Italy.  This is an old archived episode from before this podcast was launched but thought it might be relevant to those preparing a trip or vacation.  Enjoy. 🛫

Victor Kuo is a Precision Nutrition certified sports nutrition coach and founder of FitFresh, a fitness nutrition plan and meal prep company in Shanghai.  After six years in finance and investor relations, he jumped industries to pursue his passion for helping people achieve peak sports performance and physique goals through optimal nutrition.  We had a great conversation and of course finished a...

Today New York chef Audrey Villegas joins us for some Chivas 18yr.  Audrey has worked in the 3 Michelin star restaurant Per Se and the 2 Michelin star London Gordon Ramsay.  She has also helmed the kitchens at Recette, The Gander and 2 Spring in New York City.  She has spent much of her career working under celebrated chefs such as Thomas Keller and Gordon Ramsay.  We caught up with Audrey today a...

Today the gang toasts with Ardbeg whisky and shares their early experiences with drugs and alcohol.  Justin argues it is better to start early than be a late bloomer.  They also debate whether ignorance is bliss and we learn Aric doesn't believe in happiness.  Enjoy the full episode. 🤯

James Wu is a serial entrepreneur and avid motorcyclist from California.  Having spent 10 years in Shanghai after college, he has started several businesses in China and the U.S.  He is currently bridging Chinese investors with real estate development in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Based in Palo Alto his work also includes land acquisition and construction of luxury housing.  We got to catch up...

Today the guys toast with single grain Irish Whisky.  Howie opens up about his frequent panic attacks and explains why they occur and how he deals with them.  We dive into the therapy of cold showers and their supposed benefits.  We conclude the conversation by talking about other good habits and why you should change your perspective on "comfort zones", "fear zones" and connecting the dots in you...

Charles Zeng is a restauranteur, dog lover, and cooking show personality on tv.  Raised in the U.S. and now living in Shanghai, he currently owns and operates 6 Charlie's burger chains and 2 Cantonese restaurants.  In addition to burgers he also has his own beer and ice cream brands. We talk with Charles about his restaurants, Shake Shack, bootleg alcohol and growing up poor.  We also drink the be...

Today the guys try some Teeling's Irish Whisky.  At first they share some thoughts on fitness culture but then the conversation takes a hard turn to marriage and coping with its realities. Enjoy the full episode.

Today the guys break into another new bottle of whisky.  They talk about the crazy pace of China and living in its rising tide.  Enjoy the full episode.

Welcome to the first full episode of The Honest Drink podcast!   Today the gang cracks open a new bottle of whisky and gets personal. They talk about possibly going through an early mid life crisis and building habits.  They share personal stories and new observations as they laugh, cry and drink.  Enjoy! 🥃