Nick Wykes is a former bartender and drinks consultant turned professional sport psychologist who holds a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology and a Doctorate in Sport Science.

There is a lot to be learned from elite performers and how they set goals, manage adversity, and work with other people. These skills are certainly applicable to people who work and train in teams but also relevant to anyone who is striving towards a goal or objective.

One of my goals for this podcast to occasionally bring on guests with expertise in psychology, social sciences, philosophy, business and arts, whose insights might help all of us become happier, healthier and more productive individuals - and thus support our shared curiosity of the history, science, and culture of food and drink.

Expect to learn about what makes a high performance individual, how to set goals and protocols to achieve them, accountability, vulnerability, dealing with failure, managing your internal dialogue, dealing with stress and anxiety, maintaining perspective, motivation.

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Adrian Bridge is the CEO of Taylor’s, Croft, and Fonseca Port Wine brands, a hotelier, museum owner, and holder of perhaps the greatest collection of glassware on the planet. This interview was recored in one of Taylor’s port lodges on the banks of the Douro river.

To watch it in full atmospheric 4K HD head to the Curious Bartender YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVD2zCfy0GVCd5kFTmbsr_A/

Angus Winchester is a 36 year legend of the hospitality and drinks industry who has worked with bars and bartenders across the world. He was the ambassador for Tanqueray Gin for a number of years, and has also worked with Sean Finter at Barmetrix, BCB in Berlin, and the Dark Horse bar in Bath.

Follow him on Threads and IG: @anguswinchester

Vikram Achanta who is a 25 year veteran of the India bar and drinks industry. He is the  founder of Tulleeho, one of the country’s premiere education and consultancy agencies, the co-founder of 30 Best Bars in India and the co-founder of India Bartender Week. 

This conversation, recorded in October at Bar Convent Berlin, features Vikram, who was delivering a seminar on the rise of indigenous Indian spirits. I spent an insightful hour with him during the event.

In the first 15 minutes, Vikram discusses the rapid evolution of the Indian bar scene, which has progressed significantly since my last visit to Delhi over a decade ago.

We then delve into spirits production in India, covering gin, rum, and whisky—India is now the world’s largest whisky producer, consumer, and a major importer of Scotch. We also explore Indian agave spirits and dedicate the second half of the episode to Mahua and Feni, two lesser-known indigenous spirits made in small, traditional distilleries.

It’s fascinating to consider whether these unique spirits could someday achieve global recognition, much like mezcal has in recent years.

Dr. Arielle Johnson is a chemist, biologist and food scientist. She was the science advisor to Alton Brown on the TV show good eats, is a director’s fellow at MIT media lab and has worked with acclaimed cooks and scientists across the world. She is the chief scientific advisor for Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, which was founded by Rene Redzepi - who also wrote the forward for a recent book, Flavorama: A guide to unlocking the art and science of flavour (available to buy here - https://www.ariellejohnson.com/buy)

On the episode we discuss the building blocks of taste and aroma, why you should never underestimate a humans capacity to smell, what it’s like to be a chilli plant, the tools that scientists use to analyse flavour, smoke, campfires and evolution, how ai and biotech might shape the future of flavour, cooking with insects, our favourite flavour molecules, and much more.

This episode is available to watch on Youtube in 4k with chapter makers so you can single out the bits that interest you most.

Colin Dunn is a whisky educator and collector and one of the best known ambassadors for malt whisky in the UK. This is a wide ranging conversation about malt whisky covering producing regions, production, marketing, new and old distilleries, luxury whisky, along with a tonne of anecdotes from Colin. You're in for a treat.

We are switching Spotify episodes to audio only for the time being, as it makes it much easier to include an introduction to the episode. If you prefer it this way or the previous way (with no intro) feel free to let us know in the comments.

Colin is on instagram as @colindunnwhisky

I am on instagram as @tristanstephenson

This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree mixers.

Sean Finter is a hospitality coach and mentor who has worked with hundreds of clients over the past 20 years to help them improve profitability, hire better, optimise their business operations and generally perfect the craft of hospitality.

Ian Burrell is a bartender, brand owner, and rum ambassador. He is best known as The Rum Ambassador and as the founder of RumFest, as well as the co-founder of Equiano rum. This is a wide ranging conversation about the culture, classification and love of rum.

Thanks to our sponsor: Fever-Tree

Ian's book is available to buy now - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rum-Tasting-Course-Flavor-Focused-Approach/dp/0241664578

Charles is a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, the author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, and the head of the The Crossmodal Research Laboratory, which explores the interactions between senses when we experience flavour.  Charles also won the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition for his work on the 'sonic crisp'. On the episode we discuss the evolution of flavour, the differences between taste and flavour, how our tongues and noses work, learned flavour associations, the impact of sound, texture, temperature, colour and weight on flavour perception, the tongue map, imagined flavour, Louis Cheskin and how corporations manipulate flavour through shape and packaging, 'sonic seasoning', desserts that make you cry, hairy cutlery and much, much more.

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Alice Lascelles is an award-winning drinks journalist, author and presenter. On the episode expected to find out why I don’t garnish my martinis, the bizarre way that Hemingway liked to drink martinis, Ian Fleming’s tip for ordering a martini in a pub, why an espresso martini IS a martini, whether a £25 Martini is really worth it, how Alice found er guest shift at Quo Vadis, what it was like being part of the founding team at Imbibe Magazine, the current state of Non-alc, Alice’s experience judging the ‘Leafies’ aka the world tea awards, the rise of the Speaksleezy, and much more.

Buy Alice's new book The Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon: https://www.alicelascelles.com/books-the-martini