Ever wondered what'd happen if I sat down with Steve Schneider for three hours over half a bottle of whisky and numerous beers?
Wonder no more!
Steve's been a friend since his time bartending (and later managing) Employees Only NY, and I've had the pleasure of drinking with him in EO Singapore, which he co-founded.
His newest place, Sip + Guzzle in Manhattan, is a second project with Shingo Gokan after they opened The Odd Couple in Shanghai.
We go into detail of how Steve got into bartending, how he made the step to bar ownership, and why he's happiest now standing behind his own bar, commanding the room and raising the next generation of New York City bartenders.
Plus, we catch up and talk a ton of shit about everyone.
Happy Holidays, everyone!

Steve on IG: https://www.instagram.com/mightyschneidey/?hl=en
Sip & Guzzle on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sipandguzzlenyc/?hl=en
Elysian Cafe on IG: https://www.instagram.com/elysiancafehoboken/?hl=en
EO Singapore on IG: https://www.instagram.com/employeesonlysg/?hl=en
The Odd Couple on IG: https://www.instagram.com/theoddcoupleshanghai/?hl=en

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
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Giuseppe's an old friend, so when I heard he'd be in NY we made time to sit down and catch up over a negroni or two.
Yet another Italian bartender transplanted to London, Giuseppe worked at some of the OG cocktail bars back in the day, was the global ambassador for Martini & Rossi, founded onpremise agency Italspirits, created Italicus and Savoia and, more recently, the hugely successful Roma Bar Show.
And we talked about aaaaaaaall of that...and then went to Sip and Guzzle for some more beverages.

Giuseppe on IG: https://www.instagram.com/peppegallo1/?hl=en
Italicus on IG: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/1590818544545761/italicus-rosolio-di-bergamotto/?hl=en
Savoia on IG: https://www.instagram.com/casa.savoia?igsh=MXV6dGxtZmVvYzJ2eg==
Italspirits on IG: https://www.instagram.com/italspirits/?hl=en
Roma Bar Show on IG: https://www.instagram.com/romabarshow/?hl=en

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Simon Difford once described Alex as being an even better mixologist than his mentor Dick Bradsell, and it was in the pages of Simon's print magazine CLASS than I first came across Alex, first being written about, and then as a writer for CLASS himself.

After bartending at the birth of mixology's Second Golden Age in 1990s London, Alex went on to work at one of the world's first cocktail consultancies, IP Bartenders, wrote cocktail book "Blend Me, Shake Me" in 2004, worked as a Grey Goose ambassador and founded his own British amaro brand, Kammerlings, which changed its name to Kamm & Sons.
He's now a training manager for the liquor biz as well as operations director at Well & Being, a wellness firm specialising in the hospitality sector.

Most importantly, Alex is the true creator of a phrase often attributed to me that involves Campari - listen to the episode for the full story!

Buy "Blend Me, Shake Me": https://www.amazon.com/Blend-Me-Shake-101-Cocktails/dp/056348795X
Alex on IG: https://www.instagram.com/kammtheman/
Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-kammerling-0aa2225?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BHNZKH%2FNkR6y73KPhsIVrsA%3D%3D
Well & Being on IG: https://www.instagram.com/wellandbeinglondon/

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
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Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Mark, founder of the ground-breaking terroir-driven Waterford Whisky in Ireland and Renegade Rum in Grenada, is going through the grinder of both being in receivership*, and made time for a chat with me.

Mark is very open on the 'pod about the factors that led to the current situation, and there are some real nuggets in here, such as Waterford being French powerhouse distributor La Maison du Whisky's 5th best-selling whisky, why Waterford never did private casks, why you need to go deep, not wide (especially in the USA) and why whisky before the OPEC crisis of 1973 was better.

We're all hoping Mark  - who is assembling an investment syndicate to bid for the assets - can regain control of the companies when the assets are auctioned in January, as I don't think anyone can realise the promise of Waterford and Renegade that isn't named Mark Reynier.

*Ireland, where Waterford Whisky is based, doesn't have similar options to the USA's Chapter 11 "protection from creditors"-type of insolvency laws.

Contact Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-reynier-86913344
Contact Mark on X/Twitter: https://x.com/markreynier?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

I've known Rob for several decades now; we met in Korea when he was MD for global liquor distributor Maxxium, and I was doing cocktail seminars there for bartenders.
We've had personal and professional intersections  - not to mention more than a few martinis here and there - ever since, as he racked up a truly stellar resume in the liquor biz: Diageo, Shaw-Ross, Maxxium, Gruppo Montenegro (where he was also MD), and Disaronno, where he's currently CEO.
But, as he's a former Stoli CEO, I thought I'd have him on this week, as Stoli USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just last week, which came as a bit of a shock to one and all.
So sit down - like me and Rob did - with a nice large vodka martini to hand, and listen to us dive into the Stoli saga, the current state of play in liquor, the role of private equity, what Rob thinks of what's in the trade news these days, and why he'll absolutely hire someone without a college degree...

Rob on X/Twitter: https://x.com/rbc1964?s=11&t=kTsTPMPK0kgHLvK8ldrFXQ
Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-cullins-1419346?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_mweb&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

An unusual one!
My friend, and top-rank bar PR guru Bianca Grisolia organised the first-ever Se Busca* Barmaid Week recently in Barcelona, and I thought it was a great opportunity to have a discussion about mezcal, ladies in bartending, and bar weeks in general, with Bianca (of PR firm BG Communications), Laura Alonso (Global Agave Director for SE Busca mezcal and Villa One tequila) and Meritxell Coll, brand manager for Se Busca at Spanish distributor General Goods.
This is a little Frankenstein's Monster - it's two chats stitched together - but I think it's great, and I had fun taping it.
Enjoy!
*Great brand of mezcal.

Bianca on IG: https://www.instagram.com/biancagrisolia/
Laura on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lau.taggart/
Meritxell on IG: https://www.instagram.com/txell_lexington?igsh=dWp5a3ZpdTZsbXZh
Se Busca Barmaid Week on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sebuscabw/

The Bars & Ladies of Se Busca Barmaid Week 2024
(Probably awesome barmaids &* bars, all year-round)

• Bar Sauvage - Giulia Falluzz
• Dr. Stravinsky - Tillea Bruce
• Especiarium - Jennifer Opderbeck 
• La Whiskeria - Liv Rosengren
• Magma Bar - Emily Cova y Soline Rousseau
• Marlowe Bar - Nathalie Giacomuzzi
• Paradiso TimeOut Market - Angeles Rodriguez
• Piñata Cantina - Olga Villuendas
• Solange Cocktails - Amanda Kenner
• Vesou - Ana Michel Alves
• 
  

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

I met Dr. Nicola, an English expat, just a couple of weeks ago, but I'd been hearing about her - and her groundbreaking book detailing the forgotten history of women's involvement in the cocktail's evolution, especially in the home - for quite a while, since before the book came out, in fact.

We say down for a nice long chat about what it's like for expats like us to have American kids, how university is mostly about networking now and not education, how women cleverly got themselves a seat at the table by recreating the amenities of a men's club for their husbands, including cocktails, why clients abuse research and then create stupid liquor brands, how English sarcasm falls flat in America, running focus groups, the birth of singles bars, the art of assembling good guests for a party, the future of hosting, why introverts will always check out your photos or bookshelves first if you invite them round for a party, and a whoooole lot more.

Enjoy!

Dr. Nice on IG: https://www.instagram.com/nicola.nice
Dr. Nice's website: https://www.nicolanice.com/
Dr. Nice's new project The Hostess Diaries: https://www.thehostessdiaries.com/
Buy The Cocktail Parlor online from an independent bookstore: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-cocktail-parlor-how-women-brought-the-cocktail-home-nicola-nice/20073879?ean=9781682688717

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

I met Ambre at the infamous pre-Bar Convent Berlin networking hosted by Thorsten Husmann a couple of years ago, and learned she had just founded the first woman-owned tequila brand in the Netherlands, Lala.
Ambre is fascinating: a wellness guru but not woo-woo (very likely due to her no-nonsense Dutch upbringing) who came to love great tequila after living and teaching fancy yoga classes in Williamsburg (of course!) Brooklyn, she got the idea for Lala after avocado toast brunch and many a glass of good tequila, and she  now lives and runs the company from Amsterdam.
We had a great chat, covering the CRT controversy around tequila additive labelling, Uncle Nearest whiskey founder Fawn Weaver's baffling Instagram posts on the same topic, grappling with the realities of establishing an all-female supply chain, why I should become a full-time transatlantic Casamigos smuggler, the role of assholes in the workplace, the poverty tourism of trade visitors to mezcal and tequila distilleries, and how to decompress after Athens Bar Show!

Enjoy!

Ambre on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ambrevandeberg/?hl=en
Ambre's website: https://www.ambrevandeberg.com/
Lala Tequila on IG: https://www.instagram.com/drinkelala?igsh=MWNkaGJwb2d6aXI5cw==
Lala Tequila website: https://www.lalatequila.com/

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Robin's been a fixture of the spirits education world for as long as I can remember - I think we first met when he was still shepherding Compass Box Whisky for the US, at a bar show in Paris.
He's a remarkable raconteur - like a lot of the ex-actors littering the spirits industry - and a true expert across the broad world of spirits, but what really sets him apart is his structured, masterful approach to actually selling, a skill he learned in Silicon Valley and took with him to the liquor industry.
Unlike most people who've been terrified of selling due to watching movies like "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Tin Men", Robin respects sales people - and helps create great ones as part of his consulting services.
As he says "If you have something in your hand, a sales person put it there".

We had a great chat about his origin story, about truly honing your own brand, his move into the liquor biz, and the state of the industry.
We didn't even talk about his excellent book "The Complete Whiskey Course", so for sure we'll have to have him back on to catch up.
Enjoy!

Buy Robin's book from independent bookstores: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-complete-whiskey-course-a-comprehensive-tasting-school-in-ten-classes-robin-robinson/12350951?ean=9781454921226

Robin's website: https://www.robinrobinsonllc.com/

Robin on Facebook: http://facebook.com/robin.robinson1
Robin on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/robinrobinsonllc
Robin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robinrobinsonllc

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Emily LaRuffa has scaled the dizzy heights of Manhattan hospitality business, from bartending to managing and being a GM at every kind of NY joint from rock 'n' roll bars in Hell's Kitchen to the five-star luxury of Loews Hotel, The Baccarat, Major Food Group (and cheerful pirate Brian Miller)'s The Polynesian, and Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group's Manhatta bar-restaurant.
She's now founded an innovative consultancy, Oracle Hospitality Consultants, to share her knowledge with owners and managers who lack the time or experience to stop working in their business so they can work on their business, so it was time for us to catch up.
We had a great chat about everything, the state of the industry, why bar owner GoFundMe pages make our blood boil, the joy of managing union staff, why owners will drop $50k on a bar system but $0 on buying in far more lucrative knowledge, and a bunch more.
Enjoy!

Emily's Favorite Books (click to buy from independent bookstores)
Trust & Inspire - Stephen Covey. Buy: https://bookshop.org/p/books/trust-and-inspire-how-truly-great-leaders-unleash-greatness-in-others-stephen-m-r-covey/17380308?ean=9781982143756

Unreasonable Hospitality - Will Guidara. Buy: https://bookshop.org/p/books/unreasonable-hospitality-the-remarkable-power-of-giving-people-more-than-they-expect-will-guidara/17927785?ean=9780593418574

Traction - Gino Wickman. Buy: https://bookshop.org/p/books/traction-get-a-grip-on-your-business-gino-wickman/8408027?ean=9781936661831

Fierce Conversations - Susan Scott. Buy: https://bookshop.org/p/books/fierce-conversations-revised-and-updated-achieving-success-at-work-and-in-life-one-conversation-at-a-time-susan-scott/7706050?ean=9780425193372

Oracle Hospitality Consultants website: 

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: [email protected]
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected]

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...