Cheers with Nat

In our final throwback episode, we're catching up with another guest from Beer with Nat season two, who I chatted with back in June 2019.

Today's guest is Lucy Do, owner of The Dodo Micropub.

We start by hearing what Lucy has been up to over the past 7 years, then we revisit our original conversation.

Lucy shares us what a micropub is and why she decided to open one. She also reflects on some of her key learnings over the years, the advice she wished she had when she first started out, and a whole lot more.

On community building: "Moving away from the corporate world, being successful was about being happy with who I am and what I've created and that's why I wanted it to be a community. I wanted people to not feel lonely. I wanted people to come in here on their own and make friends. I love that people make friends in here – I genuinely, genuinely love that. It's just heartwarming."

Lucy's micropub: The Dodo

• Follow her on follow here(and don't miss her creative reels and TV interviews, too!)

You'll find a full list of the awards she's won here and a few highlights below:

• Industry Champion of the Year at the Women in Beer Awards 2025

• Bar / Pub of the Year at the Be Inclusive Hospitality Spotlight Awards 2022

• CAMRA Ealing & West Middlesex Pub of the Year 2020 & 2021

Her beginnings:

• The loan that helped Lucy get her start: Virgin Start Up Loan

• And the micropub that inspired her: The Just Reproach in Kent

For more from Lucy:

• Listen in to the episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast we recorded together in January 2021

P.S. If you're inspired by the idea of 'doodling at The Dodo', here's one of my favourite adult colouring books. Enjoy! 😄

June 2019 in London + June 2026 voice note

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In this throwback episode, we're catching up with someone from season two of Beer with Nat who I recorded with back in May 2019.

Today's guest is Annabel Smith, Beer Sommelier and founder of the training, consultancy, and events business, BeerBelle.

We'll start by hearing what Annabel has been up to over the past 7 years, then we'll revisit our original conversation.

You'll hear about Annabel's journey from pub landlady to self-described professional beer taster. She also shares her passion for cask beer, her many firsts as a woman in beer, and her research into why so few women in the UK drink beer (and what to do about it!)

On getting more women into beer: "I say this all the time. We don't need a 'beer for women'. We've got beer."

On working in a pub: "Working in a pub teaches you to be a cook, a cleaner, an accountant. You learn crowd control. You learn to be an agony aunt. You have got to have so many hats and that's what I absolutely loved about being in the pub industry."

On how to live: "I think we should all be a bit more dog." (You've got to listen to Annabel's update! 😄)

Annabel's business: BeerBelle

Annabel's women and beer interest group: DeaLatis

• The Gender Pint Gap (2018)

• The Beer Agender (2019)

• The Gender Pint Gap: Revisited (2024)

Other organisations Annabel works with and teaches for:

• WSET (via Northern Wine School in Manchester)

• Guild of Beer Sommeliers

• Cask Marque

May 2019 in Norwich + May 2026 voice note

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This episode is another trip down memory lane, as we hear from a guest from the first season of Beer with Nat who I initially recorded with back in December 2018.

Today's guest is Lotte Peplow, American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe at The Brewers Association.

We'll start by hearing what Lotte has been up to over the past 8 years, then re-run our initial conversation.

You'll learn how Lotte got her start in PR, how a beer and food dinner – a topic she's still incredible passionate about – led her to current role with The Brewers Association, her vision for the future (that she's since managed to accomplish!), and lots more.

On getting into beer (at any age): "Everybody is welcome… no matter what age. If you're only just starting out in the beer world, it doesn't matter. Whether you're in your 20s, your 40s, your 60s, there is always a place and there is always a little niche that you can find. And I think that's important to retain and to keep hold of. Because it's just a great world to be in… and you'll always find something that you love here."

Who Lotte works for:

• The Brewers Association

Where you can find Lotte – and the American craft beers she represents – next:

• London Craft Beer Festival

Lotte's bonus episode (from 2018) on beer & food pairing:

• Learn more here

• Listen here

December 2018 in London + May 2026 voice note

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In today's episode, we're digging into the archives! You're going to hear from a guest from the first season of Beer with Nat, who I initially recorded with way back in December 2018.

Today's guest is drinks educator, author, and founder of the School of Booze, Jane Peyton.

We'll start by hearing what Jane has been up to over the past 8 years (wow!), then re-run our initial conversation.

You'll learn how a Venn diagram helped Jane to discover her perfect career path after she left behind her previous role as a documentary film producer, what it took to set a Guinness World Record, the aspect of her work she's most proud of, and more.

On establishing a national beer day for the UK: "Beer is Britain's national drink and has been for thousands of years. We do beer really well in this country… We have this history and heritage, we have our amazing pubs, we have real ale, we have a vibrant brewing scene here, but we didn't have a national beer day… so I said, I'll start one!"

Jane's business

• The School of Booze

And some of her many accomplishments

• Her qualifications

• The Guinness World Record she set

• Beer Day Britain, which she founded

Jane's books

• Non-fiction

• Novels

December 2018 in London + March 2026 voice note

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Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks.

Today's guest is Erika Haigh, founder of Mai Sake.

Erika talks us through her career to date, including how her work in wine led her to discover her true passion for sake, and how she went from opening London's first dedicated sake bar to setting up a boutique fine sake merchant.

A true sake educator, Erika tells us about her training, both within and outside of the classroom, helps us to bust some sake myths, and reflects on her role as a representative of Japanese culture more broadly.

You'll also hear about her recent TV appearances, her love of travel, how she stays grounded outside of work, and more.

On running a small business: "Primarily, I do think it really revolves around human relationships. I think it's about cultivating and nurturing relationships I have. Whether… it's with those producers in Japan or it's with the beverage buyers or sommeliers in the restaurants I partner with or it's my team… I do think a lot of it is relationship building is really what I do."

On helping people through hospitality: "I do think the world of food and beverage is about brightening people's day to day"

On finding and following her passion: "I had a few things happen that led me to realise that you only live one life, why not make your passion into a job… I thought why not just make something I love into something I dedicate myself to day to day. So I started off in the world of wine, but quickly transitioned to sake when I really felt that I could make an impact with my background."

On opening a sake bar: "You really could not find a place like a wine bar or a pub for a pint of beer that you could go to very casually to enjoy sake. Of course, there has been sake in the UK for a decade or two, but it was purely in Japanese restaurants or somewhere very premium perhaps. You know, there wasn't this casual offering that people could just rock up to and have a glass of sake, so that is truly what I wanted to open."

On being a small business owner: "I think every single business owner – regardless of whether they're in hospitality or not – will tell you that every single day is filled with challenges, but it's truly about how you tackle those challenges and just knowing that everything you can figure out. Or at least having that confidence… that's what's key."

On the importance of education: "I think it's just basic human nature that you don't really want to approach something that you don't really know much about. You don't want to seem foolish… And especially in the UK where there are so many other drinks available, why would you seek out sake. So with that, I think education comes first and foremost, [on] how delicious these drinks are and also how varied the world of sake is."

On representing Japanese culture beyond sake: "It's always great for me to travel and its wonderful for me to be able to eat these things and go to this location, but it if stops with me, I feel like that would be quite a shame. So, yes, I do like to chat about the sake, but I always involve an element of something about the culture or the history, as well."

On combining her love of running and travel: "I love travelling after booking a running race. It also keeps me very responsible, let's say, because the days leading up to the race, I can't drink as much. And then I get to overindulge after the race because, you know, we're celebrating. So it keeps me in check. But again, you see more of the city and you just have this sense of accomplishment… so it adds to the fun of travelling there, as well."

What we're drinking:

• EIKUNholic sake

Where Erika's worked:

• Co-founder of MotoLDN

• Founder of Mai Sake

Where you can catch Erika on TV:

• Sunday Brunch

Sake education options:

• WSET sake education

• SSI International Kikisake-shi certification

• Sake Sommelier Association

Mai Sake 'Mai Traveller' newsletter:

• Sign up here!

Podcast recc:

• Sake on Air

Book recc:

• Hooked by Asako Yuzuki

• April 2026 in London

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Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks.

In this episode, we're continuing our conversation with Becky Paskin, drinks journalist and founder of the OurWhisky Foundation.

If you haven't yet heard part 1 of this episode, do start there, then come on back here for more.

For those of you that are caught up, we pick up right where we left off – with the experience that led Becky to say "never again", including what happened 6 years ago and its impact since.

Becky then tells us more about her latest project, Drink This, along with her tasting events and TV work. And we have lots of fun with our last call round – quick questions, not so quick answers this time around!

I also wanted to share a content warning that we do discuss a cancer scare and how Becky has since learned to put herself and her health first.

As you can probably tell, we touch on a wide range of topics in this conversation and I'm incredibly grateful to Becky for being so open and honest throughout.

On the learnings from her experience calling out Jim Murray's sexist language: "…the amount of messages I received from women off the back of this one incident made me say to myself – maybe this is a promise and driving thing really – never again. I will never let a single woman experience the sort of things I've just experienced and I will never let the next generation of women coming into this industry experience the sort of things that these women are telling me they have."

On priorities: "You can keep giving yourself to others to make them happy and you can keep putting yourself into work, thinking that those accomplishments are going to make you happy, but you have to prioritize yourself. Whatever that looks like for you as an individual. Put yourself first every single day… and the rest of the day can be for anybody else. But if you don't put yourself first, no one else is going to."

On this conversation: "I just want to put it on the record that I think the questions that you've asked in this podcast… they've been the most insightful and interesting questions I've ever been asked in my career."

On calling out Jim Murray's sexist language:

• Becky's post on Instagram, Sept 2020

• Felipe's article in Forbes – Sexism In Whisky: Why You Shouldn't Read The Whisky Bible

• Becky's resulting power anthem – Taylor Swift, "Look What You Made Me Do"

Becky's Brighton reccs:

• Vine Street Tap

• Patio

• Voya

• On Air

• And the story behind "Hove, actually"

Where you can catch Becky on TV:

• ITV Love Your Weekend

• ITV This Morning

• Channel 5 Harvest on the Farm

On the gym:

• Becky's pull up journey

• Nat's podcast recc on the benefits of strength training

Becky's book reccs:

• Nonfiction before the gym:

  • The Wine Bible by Karen McNeil (Luma recommended this book in Ep 6, too!)

• Fiction before bed:

  • Sarah J Mass Throne of Glass & ACOTAR series

  • Rebecca Yarros The Empyrean series

Becky's travel bucket list:

• Tasmania (paging Discover Tasmania to get Becky over there!)

• March 2026 at PLATF9RM in Brighton

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Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks.

Today's guest is Becky Paskin, drinks journalist and founder of The OurWhisky Foundation.

We had so much to talk about, this episode will be coming at you in two parts!

In this first half, Becky tells us how she got her start as a drinks writer, what it takes to make a living as one today, what an editor actually does, and why she believes they don't get nearly enough credit.

We also dig into her distilling qualifications – why she pursued them and how they've informed her work.

Lastly, we explore why she's such a passionate advocate for diversity within the drinks industry, along with the work she's doing to drive real change.

On looking back: "We can always look back on what could have been, but so long as you're always following your heart and your interests and what makes you happy, I don't think you're ever going to regret your decisions."

On being an editor: "…a lot of people think that's a really glamorous thing and that the best thing you could possibly be doing is writing, but I genuinely think editing is a much greater skill."

On the advice she received after gaining her qualifications: "'Learn it, have it under your belt, but forget about it.' So I've tried my best over the years to just think simply, just break it down and create frameworks and systems within the way I speak about whisky to simplify it for audiences as much as possible, while still making everything true."

On the importance of diversity: "I feel like no two people have the same palate and it's all based on experience, and that's why diversity in drinks is so important because people bring different experiences of different flavours to the table… I think we should be celebrating individuality a lot more than we actually do within the drinks industry."

On the OurWhisky mentees: "I'm so proud of all of them. Somebody said, can you give me an idea of a success story from the Atonia Programme and I said, I can't give you just one. There are so many of them – 250 women have gone through our programme and they're all doing amazing things and I'm proud of each and every one of them."

What we're drinking:

• A 2015 sample bottle of Bruichladdich's A Final Act of Creation, a 23-year old aged whisky aged in a Château Latour Wine Cask

Where Becky's worked:

• Big Hospitality, now Restaurant

• Spirits Business

• ScotchWhisky.com

Her 'hats':

• Drinks journalist, presenter and consultant

• The OurWhisky Foundation

  • Atonia Programme for mentorship

  • The Modern Face of Whisky image library

  • Do You Even Like Whisky? report

• Drink This

Qualifications Becky holds:

• NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

• CIBD General Certificate in Distilling

• WSET Level 3 Award in Spirits

People shout outs:

• Jim McEwan, who gifted Becky the whisky we're tasting

• Alan Whichester, who supported Becky during her GCD studies

• Dr. Nick Morgan, who gave Becky some advice after completing her GCD

• Dhavall Ghandi, who Becky mentions during our discussion about the importance of diversity in drinks, especially when it comes to tasting

• Lucy Cox, founder of The Academe who runs The Power Room for Becky's mentees

• Millie Milliken, who works with Becky on The OurWhisky Foundation

More to follow soon from part 2…

• March 2026 at PLATF9RM in Brighton

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Hey listeners, Nat here. Just a quick note that I'm a little behind schedule with this week's episode of Cheers with Nat and it will be with you on Friday instead of today.

I know consistency is super important, so please accept my apologies for the delay. I do have a good reason though – I was over in New York City recording 4 episodes for an upcoming mini-series – so you've got that to look forward to this summer!

For now, back to this season. My next guest and I had so much to chat about, Episode 9 will be coming at you in two parts.

Check back on Friday to find out who I'm chatting with, and thanks for your patience in the meantime. Cheers!

Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks.

Last week, you heard from Amélie, the founder of the Women in Beer mentorship programme. This week, you're going to hear from one of the mentees!

Today's guest is Elizabeth Townsend, co-owner of Kerroo Brewing Company.

Elizabeth shares how she went from studying music at university to opening a brewery with her partner, taking us through her portfolio career and how it gave her the confidence to do what she does today.

We also discuss how her role in the business is evolving, how she stays grounded outside of work, the life changing network she's grateful to be part of, and more.

On portfolio careers: "I've had quite a portfolio career. Some might say I haven't stuck at things for very long. But I like to think of it as just doing different jobs, I pick up different skills – it's made it possible to do what I do now."

On working with her partner: "We have complementary skills that work together and mean that I can do all the logistics and the sales and the PR and that kinda thing, and he brews the beer and absolutely nails that…. and I think running a business is something I'm good at. Can I say that?"

On an early inspiration: "My parents would never talk me out of anything. They'd give me their opinion, and I might take it or I might not take it. But I appreciated that they also took risks and I saw that… I've never actually thought about that before. But ya, I think that's what it was."

On learnings from her time at Decca Records: "I had to learn how to stay calm under pressure, make sure that I had an awareness of what was going on. You know that feeling when you get overwhelmed and you start to panic and you can't think straight. That was really good training of just being like, 'No, things will work out. Just think straight and you'll be fine.' And I think over the last couple of years I've gone, 'I literally don't know what do to here.' But it's having faith in yourself that you will figure something out."

On the importance of passion: "Everything that I've done in my career so far has been something that I've wanted to do. And it's been interesting. And I think having an interest in what you do is really important."

On the Women in Beer mentorship programme: "Having the Women in Beer network has been life changing for me in that it's given me the ability to see other people doing the things I'm doing."

What we're drinking:

• Kerroo x Colbier Aranne Mountain IPA

Elizabeth & Nick's brewery:

• Kerroo Brewing Company

Where she worked before:

• Decca Records

• One of her best pieces of work there:

  • Sheku Kanneh Mason in GQ

  • Listen here

Podcast recc:

• Pellicle podcast:

  • Ep85 — How Thornbridge Saved The Burton Union

  • (Nat's addition: Ep80 — Nick Scarffe and Elizabeth Townsend of Kerroo Brewing)

TV reccs:

• Ozark

• Arrested Development

Who she'd love to share a drink with: Jessie Buckley

• Hamnet

• Cabaret

• March 2026 at BeerX, Liverpool

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Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks.

Today's guest is Amélie Tassin, founder of Tipple Marketing and Women in Beer.

Amélie shares how her career in marketing began, what led her to focus on beer, and how the social group she started after moving to Scotland grew into a festival, a mentorship scheme, and an awards programme – you'll hear the whole story!

We also discuss what drives her, what helps her to rest and reset outside of work, and plenty more along the way.

On her early inspiration: "When I was like 17/18, I was always going on the road with my dad to visit wineries and distilleries in the southwest. We were stopping in nice restaurants to have food. I had the Michelin guide on my knees in the car… And I thought it was absolutely amazing – the food, the details, the passion of the people."

On the idea behind the Women in Beer Festival: "The idea was to bring a few breweries up to Edinburgh, invite them on panel discussions, let them talk about what they know. Not talk about the fact of being a woman, but talk about what they know about the beer industry and their skills in the industry. It was very much visibility. It was creating role models for the younger generation, as well. For them to imagine a career was possible in the beer industry."

On what drives her: "If nobody's doing it, well, I'm gona do it because I don't want to wait."

On what the mentorship programme funds, and why: "We also pay for the travel and accommodation of our mentees when we ask them to go to their WSET qualification, for example, or when we invite them to do a field trip to network with their peers. Because, again, if we only offer those chances to people that can afford it, we're not changing the system… We are paying for that because we need to have people coming from all backgrounds and it's very important."

On why she loves working in drinks: "We're very lucky to work with something that is so emotional and so artistic – like drinks, and the making of a drink – and that provokes so much emotional reaction in people, as well. It's a fantastic industry."

What we're drinking

• Dolcita IPA: The Moonwake & Mother Tongue IWBCD brew with Women in Beer UK & Glasladies Beer Society

Amelie's beer-specific marketing agency: Tipple Marketing

Amelie's social group, and more: Women in Beer UK

• The social group

• The festival

• The mentorship programme - see all mentors here

• The annual awards & all 2025 winners

Drinks publication recommendation: Pellicle

Book recc: The Witcher

• March 2026 at BeerX, Liverpool

• Oddly, the can opening and cheers sounds didn't get picked up by the mic this time, so that's why they're not there!

• (I think my mic is on its way out (after 8 years!), so I'm currently shopping for a new one to fix these issues. Thanks again for bearing with in the meantime!)

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