The Speakeasy

What’s more punk rock than opening a cocktail bar in a strip mall? A psychedelic harp maybe? Bartender and lifelong musician Paul Finn knows a little something about both after opening up Little Gem in Chapel Hill, NC. Together with Greg, Sother and Damon he unpacks his philosophy for hiring, training and explaining new concepts to guests, making the transition from bartender to bar owner, and of course how his love of music built the concept for his new bar, consciously or otherwise.

PLUS, Happy Burns Night lads and lassies! The Scottish Cinco de Mayo is upon us, leading to a lively discussion about whether this holiday should be celebrated by everyone, or whether it’s better to leave it to folks in the know.

Follow Paul at @stardustbeverage

Follow Little Gem at @littlegembar

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rob Lam-Burns has bartended all over the world: Thailand, Hong Kong, Maison Premiere and now LenLen, a new Thai spot in the Flatiron district. He joins Greg and Sother to talk about his philosophy behind putting new and unexpected flavors in front of people, the divisive magic of Durian, “the king of fruits” and of course, professional skateboarding.

PLUS, chili and cinnamon rolls? A culinary sensation from the great state of Nebraska gets its time in the limelight, and Greg and Sother discuss how refreshing it is that there are still some things in life yet to be explored.

Follow Rob at @rob.hlss

Follow LenLen at @lenlen.nyc

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• Read JJ’s article on Chili & Cinnamon Rolls: flatwaterfreepress.org/chili-and-cinnamon-rolls-warm-welcoming-and-a-little-unexpected-just-like-nebraska/
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast

Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New Year, New Us! We were awfully mean to the good people of Lansing, MI and in 2026 we’re going to do better, starting today. To help us make good on this resolution, Gregg Smyth and Brian Phillips of Phillips Cider Bar in Lansing sat down to tell us why the capital of the Wolverine state is actually a pretty cool place. Plus, they delve into the history of their sixth generation orchard, talk about the transition to making hard ciders, and help us pick the new town we’ll be dumping on for the next 365 days.

PLUS The Speakeasy turns 15! Greg, Sother and Damon reminisce about episode 1 and reflect on how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Follow Phillips Cider at @phillipsorchards

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In their annual year end wrap-up show Greg, Sother and Damon sit down to talk about what the heck just happened. They unpack some of the leading trends of 2025, including Hi-Fi Lounges, High-Dives, Premiumization and the migration to the extremes of either luxury or ultra-discount experiences. Are we too used to curated experiences to accept risk in our bars and restaurants? Can a true high-end dive really exist? And why does Sother have such a fascination with the US Postal Service anyway? All that and more is answered in the final Speakeasy of 2025.

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this Boomerang! episode Greg travels to the Second City of Anaheim, where he meets with Strong Water’s “Fleet Commander” Ying Chang. They discuss how the bar was assembled almost entirely from estate sales, how the idea of elevated tropical bar with great rum cocktails came to fruition, their impending high dive concept, and what it’s like running a James Beard Award finalist bar in the “middle brother” of Los Angeles and San Diego

Follow Strong Water at @strongwateranaheim

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast

Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Wondrich is one of the few people in the world of spirits and cocktails that truly needs no introduction. The James Beard and Spirited Award-winning author of Imbibe!, Punch, and The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails is back with a new book, The Comic Book History of the Cocktail. He sits down with the band to talk about breaking new ground in the world of cocktail history, picking the right collaborator for a work of this size and answering the age old question that eats at all of us: Cocktails… what are they for?

PLUS, Jimmy’s Corner, a hidden gem in Times Square, is in danger of closing. Greg, Sother and Damon discuss why it’s so hard to get a decent drink in that part of the world (for less than forty dollars) and what losing a storied institution like this would mean for the theatre district, and for New York City.

Follow David at @splificator

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this Boomerang! episode Greg sits down with Stephen Julander, Senior Ops Manager at Woody Creek Distillers to talk about his new gig, what it’s like to distill and age whiskey over a mile above sea level, and how needing more space to grow potatoes for vodka brought a movie star into the company.

Follow Woody Creek at @woodycreekdistillers

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you put a barrel inside a barrel? That’s the question Dixon Dedman looked to solve when he founded 2XO, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon brand that uses two times the oak on all of their whiskies. Dixon sits down with Greg and Sother to discuss his innovative solution to this problem (it involves a very fun prop) his long family history in Kentucky Bourbon, and how blenders might finally be getting the respect they deserve in the world of whiskey.

PLUS: Raccoons. They’re just like us. And as a recent news story makes clear, if you've been on a bit of a bender, those cool bathroom tiles feel mighty good, no matter what your species is.

Follow 2XO at @2xowhiskey

Follow Dixon at @dixon_dedman

Follow Til Death at @tildeathkc

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• Support Til Death’s fundraiser for Veteran’s Community Project: vcp.org
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Sauced Kickstarter: kickstarter.com/projects/timmckirdy/sauced-the-podcast
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the second Boomerang episode from Kansas City Greg sits down with Phil Worden and Andrew Loos of Til Death, the famous speakeasy located below a fully operational funeral home. In a surprisingly deep and moving conversation the three of them chat about the relationship between alcohol, grief and celebration, the similarity between the job of a funeral director and a bartender, and the character of a city at a crossroads. Also, they talk about how a bar wound up in a mortician’s basement a half century ago, and the practical concerns of having a casket for a bar top.

Follow Til Death at @tildeathkc

Learn more about Veterans Community Project at vcp.org

LINKS

• Become a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegulars
• For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycalliance
• The Sauced Kickstarter: kickstarter.com/projects/timmckirdy/sauced-the-podcast
• The Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we’re talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.Podcast
• Check out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greg travels to Kansas City to chat with Ryan Maybee, Co-Founder and keeper of history about rediscovering and re-founding KC's famous long-lost distillery. The two of them chat about the historic campus the new distillery sits on, what the Kansas City Whiskey style entails (hint: sherry is involved) and how the cocktail culture of Kansas City reflects its storied past.

Follow J. Rieger at @jriegerco

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.