The Speakeasy

This week on The Speakeasy, things get meta. Tales of the Cocktail's Philip Duff joins us in the studio to record an episode that will air WHILE HOSTS DAMON BOELTE AND SOTHER TEAGUE JOIN HIM IN NEW ORLEANS FOR DRINKS! Phew. Listen in to learn all about how an Irishman ended up teaching an extraordinary set of cocktail seminars (on shaking, stirring, air, ice, carbon, etc.) down in Nola.

On today's episode of The Speakeasy, longtime friend of the program Chris Barrett joins us in the studio from Oklahoma City, where he manages (what else?) the bar. On the menu? A few cocktails inspired by The Beatles. We're not talking one drink per member of the Fab Four. Instead, Barrett pours a drink named after each track off of Revolver, the band's seventh studio album.

Today on The Speakeasy, the newfound owner of a 16-acre farm in upstate New York joins us to talk about farming, foraging, and vermouth. Bianca Miraglia, the founder of Uncouth Vermouth, is growing all kinds of fruit, barks, and plants to be turned into the fortified wine.

Today, a friend of the hosts' jumps into the studio to talk about his career in mixology. Eben Freeman once stocked bottles of wine at Crossroads Wine & Spirits. Now he's a couple miles farther downtown in Manhattan, with Genuine Liquorette opening last fall. The Little Italy spot does things differently, with black and white tiles, Tecate boxes aplenty, and "The Cha-Chunker," a machine that punches holes in the tops of cans.

It's a bittersweet day on The Speakeasy, as hosts Damon Boelte and Sother Teague bid adieu to longtime Heritage Radio Network producer Jack Inslee, who's moving to D.C. but staying firmly in the radio world. Just before the goodbye party kicking off in Roberta's own backyard, the glasses were already clinking in the studio as Jack told the story of his career and the network's early days.

This week on The Speakeasy, Damon Boelte and Sother Teague are joined in the studio by Colin Spoelman, co-founder of Kings County Distillery, the oldest and largest whiskey distillery in New York City. He is also the co-author of the new book Dead Distillers: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits.

Shane Feirstein of Lovers Rock in Bed-Stuy joins us in the studio with quite a few rums, from a Santa Teresa 1796 to an aged offering from Barbados.

Jack Summers (aka Jack from Brooklyn) joins us in the studio to talk about hustling to success in the New York food scene, in his case with a hibiscus liqueur known as sorel.

Brendan McCarron, a distiller at The Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, talks about his life in the Scotch industry.

This week on The Speakeasy, Eamon Rockey and Gareth Howells of Betony break down the beauty and intricacies of making milk cocktails, including Betony's famous clarified milk punch + more.