We welcome the holiday season this episode with a conversation on holiday cocktails (good and bad), featuring Imbibe contributing editor Wayne Curtis and Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

Our November/December 2024 issue features a profile of Boston bartender Jackson Cannon. For this episode, we talk with Cannon about the evolution of Boston’s cocktail culture, and the re-opening of Eastern Standard.

The Brandy Crusta is an essential part of New Orleans’ cocktail history. For this episode, we talk about the cocktail’s historical significance, and best practices for making one, with legendary NOLA bartender Chris Hannah from Jewel of the South.

[This episode originally debuted in July 2023.] The Mai Tai is one of the most influential (and misunderstood) cocktails of the past century, and a touchstone tropical drink. For this episode, we dig into the Mai Tai’s history and character with drinks historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, owner of Latitude 29 in New Orleans.

[This episode originally debuted in May 2022.] For this episode, we visit The Doctor’s Office in Seattle to talk with Keith Waldbauer about the bar’s approach to the Vodka Martini, and how they blind-tasted their way through hundreds of approaches to the drink before landing on their ideal mix.

It’s Negroni Week! Every year since 2013, bars around the world have joined together in celebration of the Negroni and its many relatives, in support of a great cause. For this episode, we talk to Livio Lauro, an Italian-born bartender now living in Las Vegas, who helped lead the way for the Negroni’s resurgence in America.

Sam Ross is one of the most influential bartenders of the modern era. For this episode, we talk about his journey from Milk & Honey to Attaboy, his growing roster of bars in New York City and Nashville with business partner Michael McIlroy, and the process behind the creation of his modern classic cocktail, the Penicillin.

For this episode, we welcome anthropologist and ethnobotanist turned bartender and author Danny Childs, whose book “Slow Drinks” recently earned a James Beard Foundation Award.

It’s July, and in the cocktail world, that means one thing: It’s time for Tales of the Cocktail. This year’s event kicks off next week, and for this episode, we chat about the contemporary history of Tales with the co-chairs of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation Board of Directors, Neal Bodenheimer and Gary Solomon Jr.

Black Bourbon Society founder Samara Davis revisits the podcast to talk about Diversity Distilled, the Society Marketing Group, the Black-Owned Spirits Scholarship, Bourbon Boule, and how bourbon is just the beginning of her work in the spirits space.

The Daiquiri is one of the greatest cocktails in the canon, and with summer now upon us, we explore the drink from every angle with a panel of Daiquiri experts including Joshua Ibañez (Rumba, Seattle), Shannon Mustipher (Brooklyn), and Garret Richard (Sunken Harbor Club, Brooklyn).

For our 100th episode, we introduce the Uncle Nearest Raise the Bar Mentorship Alliance with Lucia Creed, Uncle Nearest head of trade advocacy; Kate Gerwin, owner of Happy Accidents in Albuquerque, New Mexico and a finalist of Drink Masters on Netflix; and Tiffanie Barriere, Atlanta-based bartender and educator and Imbibe 75 alum.

Starting in the mid-1970s and continuing until his death in 2021, Tomas Estes was one of the most influential people in modern tequila. A fully revised version of his book, The Tequila Ambassador, was published this spring, and for this episode we talk to the team members who helped bring it together: his longtime friend and colleague Phil Bayly, his son and Tequila Ocho global ambassador Jesse Estes, and the book’s editor, Mitch Wilson.

Starting in the mid-1970s and continuing until his death in 2021, Tomas Estes was one of the most influential people in modern tequila. A fully revised version of his book, The Tequila Ambassador, was published this spring, and for this episode we talk to the team members who helped bring it together: his longtime friend and colleague Phil Bayley, his son and Tequila Ocho global ambassador Jesse Estes, and the book’s editor, Mitch Wright.

Our May/June 2024 issue features an exploration of shochu, Japan’s signature spirit that’s increasingly showing up in American bars. For this episode, with talk with Japan Distilled co-hosts and shochu importers Stephen Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini about what makes this spirit so distinctive, and how to start your own shochu exploration.

Peak springtime is upon us and Derby Day is right around the corner, so there’s no better time to mix up a Mint Julep. In this episode, we talk Juleps with Joe Stinchcomb, a veteran bartender and an owner of Bar Muse in Oxford, Mississippi.

When he opened Romeo’s in New York City’s East Village in December, Evan Hawkins combined his years of experience bartending in nightclubs with the skills he developed making craft cocktails at bars including Mother’s Ruin and Broken Shaker. For this episode, we talk about the vision and ideas behind Romeo’s, and about making great cocktails an approachable experience.

Our March/April issue dives deep into the world of vermouth. For this episode, we hear from several bartenders who share a particular love for the aperitif wine: Alf del Portillo and Marta Premoli, owners of Quattro Teste in Lisbon, Portugal, and Francesco Lafranconi, who recently helped establish the vermouth program at the Rosevale Cocktail Room in New York City.

For our March/April issue, we journey into the world of vermouth, and few people follow the category more closely than journalist, educator, and Imbibe contributor François Monti. For this episode, we explore vermouth’s rich history in cocktails, its culinary connection, and the future of this aperitif wine.

Victoria Eady Butler is the master blender for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and one of our Imbibe 75 People to Watch for 2021. In this episode, we catch up with her on her work at Uncle Nearest, the brand’s move into Cognac, and the Uncle Nearest HBCU Old Fashioned Challenge.

Tequila and mezcal are more popular than ever, and other Mexican spirits are also coming on strong. For this episode, we turn to this year’s Imbibe 75 for two perspectives on agave and other Mexican spirits: mezcal envoy and “Heritage Mezcal” podcast host Chava Peribán, and Nacho Jimenez, a partner and master of ceremonies at Superbueno in New York City.

San Francisco bartender, bar owner, and author Thad Vogler joins us for this episode to talk about the Single Village Fix, a cocktail he created in 2008, and the ways the drink went on to influence his life and career.

We continue our Imbibe 75 coverage for 2024 with two of this year’s People to Watch: cocktail journalist Robert Simonson, and veteran bartender Baylee Hopings.

Happy New Year! We’re welcoming 2024 with an introduction to one of this year’s Imbibe 75, Alex Jump, the co-founder and senior manager of operations for Focus on Health.