What We're Drinking with Dan Dunn

So we all know about Dry January, right? It's the time of year people boast about 'detoxing' while secretly crying into their non-alcoholic beer. It's grown like a bad rumor, spreading worldwide with people bragging about better sleep and more cash, all while secretly dreaming of the moment February 1st arrives. Well, Dan has had enough, for a number reasons. And so he's kicking off the year by pu...

Dan says goodbye to 2023, but not before dishing on his most challenging interview of the year AND reviewing a brand new boozy product — the beverage equivalent of a unicorn wearing a sombrero... we're talking about Empirical x Doritos Nacho Cheese Spirit. Oh boy! Also, a Christmas poem and a special 3-Minute Bartender all about that most beloved holiday libation, Eggnog. Our Sponsors: * Check out...

Our annual Winter Wonderland of Wine continues with special guests Katia Dragotis and vino expert Kaitlyn Harrah. Wines featured on this episode include: Terlato Pinot Grigio 2022, Rodney Strong Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Beronia Reserva Rioja 2018, Scaia 2020, Harveys Medium Dry Sherry and Dows' 2018 Late Bottled Vintage Port. Recorded on location at Dear Jane's in Marina Del Rey, Californi...

Dan celebrates, evaluates and appreciates the wines of winter, 2023, long with Purple Banter Network's Katia Dragotis and Kaitlyn Harrah, wine director for the Citrin and Melissa Hospitality Group. Recorded on location at Dear Jane's in Marina Del Rey, California. Wines featured on this episode include Bottega Vinaia Pinot Grigio ($22), Landmark Vineyards Hop Kiln Estate 2021 Pinot Noir ($50), J.O...

Alcohol was originally considered a medicine, Indeed, during Prohibition one of the most reliable places to get your hands on a bottle of liquor was the pharmacy. So with that — and everyone’s general health and well being in mind — we present the Penicillin. With fresh ginger, lemon and a healthy dose of Scotch, this little wonder, invented by Sam Ross in 2005, does indeed have an ineffable heali...

Everyone's favorite wine expert, Clair Coppi of SOMM TV, returns for a wide ranging exploration of the wonderful world of New Zealand wine. Among the many fun facts discussed: Marlborough is New Zealand's largest wine-producing region, and Hawkes Bay is the oldest; winery growth in NZ really took off in the 1990s; and due to its location, its vineyards are the first on our planet to see the sun ea...

Pleased to welcome back longtime friend of the show Joe Beatrice, founder of Barrell Craft Spirits. Joe and Dan discuss the brand's latest releases, which include a Cask Finish Series and Barrell Foundation, its first non-cask strength bourbon. Also, Dan recounts his "Sunday Funday" shenanigans in Beverly Hills, including an extremely chichi lunch atop the Gucci store and some after-lunc...

Five years ago this month the spirits industry lost a titan in master distiller Dave Pickerell, whose imprimatur is on such iconic brands as Maker's Mark, Blackened and WhistlePig among others. This episode features an interview Dan and his former "Drinky Fun Time" cohost Emma Patterson conducted with Dave at the 2017 Bourbon & Beyond Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Also, updates o...

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh returns, and he brought along Nicolas Granier, whose family's Bolivian distillery produces Soderbergh's delightful spirit, Singani 63. They talk cocktails, movies, government agencies and other cool stuff. Also on the show, WWD's Official Brooklyn Correspondent Scott Alexander is back to discuss Dan's recent woes — namely a serious eye injury and h...

Dan's beloved 12-year-old pit-lab mix Buna has unfortunately been facing some health issues of late. As anyone who's ever dealt with an ailing, aging pet knows, when your fur baby suffers so do you. And at times like these it helps to have someone to talk to who can not only empathize, but educate... and there's no one better at doing both than Ellen Ballon, founder of Deity Animal Rescue in Los A...

Dan is joined in-studio by WWD's Official Brooklyn Correspondent Scott Alexander for a lively, in-depth discussion about a service industry and tipping culture gone mad. The fellas take on “tipflation”— the proliferation of bars, restaurants and other establishments implementing digital payment checkout systems that prompt customers to select the gratuity rate before any service has even been rend...

This one’s for anyone who’s ever woken up with a hangover and thought, "What I could really use right now is… another drink!" That’s right, we’re talking about that most morbid of libations, the Corpse Reviver #2, one of the few cases where the sequel is better than the original — it’s like the "Godfather Part 2" or "Wrath of Kahn" of cocktails. In just over 180 secon...

As Dan sees it, there are precisely 10 things you must do in a bar before your LAST last call, from making a lifelong friend to having sex in the bathroom. Whether you’re a fellow stiff-necked sot bound for Satan-town or a holy roller who only drinks on the Lord’s day (because when you think about it, every day is the Lord’s day, isn’t it?), Dan is here to help, delivering the list in all its ingl...

Friend of the show Jon Taffer returns to talk about his latest venture, Taffer's Browned Butter Bourbon. Other topics of discussion include, but are not limited to, Taffer's Tavern, the Las Vegas Knights, ageism, and the enduring appeal of Jon's long-running TV show "Bar Rescue" and the craziest things he's encountered on set. Also, another installment of "Drinks of the Week,"...

Dan is joined by Johnny Van Zant, lead vocalist of the legendary band Lynyrd Skynyrd and proprietor of a new American whiskey brand called Hell House. They talk rock n'roll and booze. Johnny reveals which Skynyrd songs he loves to perform most, and Dan teaches him the Philadelphia Eagles fight song. Also, an update on Dan's next book, and another installment of "Drinks of the Week" featu...

In the course of 180-some-odd seconds, Dan lays out the history and proper preparation technique of the cocktail canon's most slovenly standout — a middling, uncomplicated cream drink from the mid-20th century that would likely have faded into obscurity had it not been plucked from a room crowded with milkshake-like beverages of the era and ushered into the spotlight by Jeff Bridges in the 1998 mo...

"Somebody Feed Phil" star Phil Rosenthal and Emmy-winning comedian/writer Tom Caltabiano join Dan for an epic exploration of tequila and mezcal. Agave-based spirits are the hottest category in America, and on this episode the fellas sample some heavy hitters — on the tequila side, Tequila Ocho Plata, Nosotros Tequila Madera and El Tesoro de Don Felipe. Mezcal featured includes Hedonistas...

In the time it took James Bond to escape before Goldfinger's laser beam could burn a hole through his short and curlies, Dan spills the beans about author Ian Fleming's second most favorite creation, the Vesper, a beguiling combination of gin, vodka, Lillet and bitters. Once Fleming invented the drink, he named it after the very first Bond girl, thankfully one with a name that hasn’t become SUPER...

Join us for a joyous celebration of some of America's finest whiskies including Barrell Bourbon, Widow Jane Rye, FEW Bourbon, Michter's Rye and Clermont Steep American Single Malt. Recorded at one of LA's coolest watering holes, Melrose Umbrella Co. Dan's guests include WWD's Chief West Hollywood Correspondent, Katia Dragotis, Emmy-winning writer and comedian Tom Caltabiano, film director Marcos E...

The legend returns! Dan Aykroyd is back on the pod, talking Crystal Head Vodka, his favorite cocktails, aliens, Saturday Night Live, Steve Martin, mustaches, fans' tattoos and much, much more. Also, in another installment of our wildly popular segment "Outside the Zone," Dan goes ballistic over a PR pitch about a water bottle. Our Sponsors: * Check out Diet Smoke and use my code WWDPOD20...

As Dan regularly tells anyone who'll listen, his #1 favorite tequila is Tequila Fortaleza, a brand with 150 years of experience behind it. And so we're thrilled to welcome Fortaleza's Billy Erickson for an in-depth chat about everything agave spirits-related. Dan and Billy are joined by WWD's Official Los Angeles Correspondent, Katia Dragotas. Recorded on location at State Social House on the lege...

Dan and radio legend "Dead Air Dave" Sozinho wax nostalgic about an epic adventure they embarked upon many years ago. Their triumphant march across the European Continent on the mother of all booze junkets included run-ins with a well-known American actor in Turin, a pair of ball-hugging Italian jeans that nearly rendered Dan infertile and their own personal D-Day on Normandy’s Omaha Bea...

Dan chats up Cody Cannon, vocalist/guitarist.songwriter for a fantastic band called Whiskey Myers, who in addition to making great music have partnered with the award-winning distillers at Bespoken to make their own straight bourbon, Uncle Chicken's Sippin' Whiskey. And with America's biggest drinks festival, Tales of the Cocktail, taking place this week in New Orleans, Dan waxes nostalgic about h...

Just hours after having emergency eye surgery, Dan goes on an epic rant about Eater Los Angeles. He also laments the passing of one of America's all-time great breweries, Anchor. Plus, hear his review of the latest bourbon expression from Wild Turkey. Our Sponsors: * Check out Diet Smoke and use my code WWDPOD20 for a great deal: https://www.dietsmoke.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.c...

In the time it takes dice a pineapple, Dan reveals all about a tiki classic called the Jungle Bird. While not as famous as the Mai Tai or Singapore sling, it's every bit as tasty and — Dan contends — a more authentically "tropical" libation that the aforementioned. It’s made with rum, pineapple and lime, the holy trinity of tropical tiki drinks. The thing that sets the Jungle Bird apart,...