The Speakeasy

Micah Melton was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa and began his studies in computer science before finding his calling in the culinary arts. While attending Culinary Arts school he began working in bars to pay the bills and fell in love with the beverage side of the industry. Micah was part of the opening team that envisioned and created the opening menu at the Aviary. He studied and trained in the kitchen at Alinea restaurant for the opening of the new bar concept. His role at the time of opening was the 'ice chef' -- probably the only one in the world -- charged with creating over 30 types of ice for the bar program. The program now boosts an impressive 39 varieties of ice. Micah currently serves as Beverage Director of the Alinea Group and is in charge of the cocktail, non-alcoholic, beer, and spirits menus at The Aviary & the Office Chicago, The Aviary & the Office NYC, Next Restaurant, Roister and Alinea. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

Author, musician, world-traveller, and professor of whiskey—Bernie Lubbers travelled the road for 20 years performing comedy before getting into the bourbon business. Originally hired by Jim Beam to promote their Knob Creek brand, Bernie took it upon himself to delve into the rich history and heritage of American Whiskey and the whiskey men and women who forged that legacy, and along that way earned the title of The Whiskey Professor and was awarded Whiskey Ambassador of the Year by Whiskey Magazine’s Icons of Whiskey Awards. Mixing his talents for music and comedy with his passion for America’s “native spirit”, Bernie today holds the position as The American Whiskey Ambassador for the largest single-site whiskey distiller in the world—Heaven Hill—where, among many things, he has championed bottled in bond spirits, helping to preserve, promote, and revitalize the category. His book, Bourbon Whiskey: Our Native Spirit is available wherever boozy books are sold. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

Reunited and it feels so good! Damon and Sother are back together again, and this week on The Speakeasy they're joined by Shanna Farrell, an interviewer at UC Berkeley's Oral History Center, where she does many things but specializes in contemporary cocktail culture. She is the author of the new book is Bay Area Cocktails, and the co-host of The Prix Fixe, a new podcast about the intersection of food and drink. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

This week on The Speakeasy, Damon is back! He and Sother are joined in the studio by Claire Bertin-Lang, the founder and president of CBL Liquid Consulting. Claire has over a decade's worth of experience in the hospitality industry, with a focus on spirits and food & wine events. A native New Yorker, she began tending bar at one of the city's classic dives at the age of 19. After college, she worked both on the brand side and for agencies executing major projects, beverage programs, and trade and consumer events. Claire started her own company, CBL Liquid Consulting, in 2011. In addition to working with The Cooper Spirits Co. and House Spirits Distillery on consumer and trade events, she serves as the Beverage Director for Eat Drink SF and runs all Mixology for the StarChefs.com International Chef’s Congress. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

This week on The Speakeasy, Sother is taking the reins again, and is joined in studio by acclaimed barman Jim Meehan, whose new book Meehan's Bartender Manual is a magnum opus of mixology. Meehan is best known for his pioneering work at PDT in New York's East Village. Though he now lives in Portland, Oregon, Meehan recently opened a new bar called Prairie School in Chicago’s Fulton Market. Also sitting in is Cory Bonfiglio of Beer Street. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

This week on The Speakeasy, Sother is flying solo in the host chair. He's joined in studio by John Little, CEO and master distiller of Smooth Ambler Spirits, and Antonia Fattizzi, founder and president of Cork and Tin, a strategic partner for emerging beverage alcohol brands. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

This week on The Speakeasy, Damon and Sother are joined in the studio by Alla Lapushchik and Jane Danger, co-authors of the new book The Bourbon Bartender: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the American Spirit. They have also co-written the book Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks, in addition to being top shelf New York bartenders. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

On this week's episode of The Speakeasy, Damon and Sother are joined in studio by bartender and baker Leslie Feinberg of Prohibition Bakery and bartender Brian Grummert of Subject Bar. Prohibition Bakery makes delicious alcoholic cupcakes based on classic cocktails, which are available at their store in the Lower East Side and at Subject Bar, a neighbor and partner of the bakery, which also offers cocktails in their traditional liquid form. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

This week on The Speakeasy, Damon and Sother are joined by Andrew Meltzer, who was named 2016 U.S. Bartender of the Year by the United States Bartender's Guild (USBG), following two days of heated competition at the global finals in Miami. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast

Damon and Sother are joined in studio by Matteo Luxardo and mixologist and brand ambassador G. Franklin of Luxardo, a family-owned company founded in Zara, a port city on the Dalmatian coast of what is now Croatia. Girolamo Luxardo, a Genovese businessman, and his wife, Maria Canevari, moved to Zara in 1817. It was Maria who began perfecting "rosolio maraschino," a liqueur produced in Dalmatian convents since medieval times from special maraschino cherries. Canevari's liqueur was of such high quality that it gained the attention of connoisseurs, and her husband founded the Luxardo Distillery in 1821 to produce her original Maraschino. Not long afterwards, the Emperor of Austria awarded the Luxardo liqueur the highest honor "Privilegiata Fabbrica Maraschino Excelsior." The distillery remained under the family's control and prospered by exporting the liqueur to aficionados around the world. The Maraschino liqueur became an essential cocktail ingredient internationally, and is found in classics such as the Last Word, Martinez and Hemingway cocktails of the late 19th and early 20th century. The distillery also expanded to create other fruit-based and herbal liqueurs such as Bitter, Limoncello and Amaro Abano. The Speakeasy is powered by Simplecast