Shift Drink

Over the last 10 years, restaurants and bars have placed a much bigger emphasis on their cocktail program. And one segment where this is most apparent is the world of...

For the final episode of 2024 I've got a fun one for you. This week, we departing from the norm a little. Well, a very little. We're talking Tiki, but...

Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted another interview. And for my sins, they gave me one. It took 5 years to recover from the last “interview” on Shift Drink,...

If this week's guest sounds familiar, you probably recognize her last name. Eve Bergeron, granddaughter of the late Trader Vic Bergeron, is now helping to run the family business that...

Rum nerds and mid-century Mavens, Martin and Rebecca Cate are back on the show! Check out Tiki Guru and The Cult of Tiki to hear previous interviews. This week, we're...

Eric Kaye spent decades of his life as a professional musician and amateur rum aficionado. But, as a composer for film and television, technological advances brought the barrier-to-entry intro so...

It's always a great time when I get a chance to talk with Zan Kong of Worthy Park Estate. But, despite the many hours of sharing Jamaican rum together, I've...

I've been working on getting Christophe Rossi on the show  since mid-August of last year. His bar, L'Escamoteur, came highly recommended from several Kyoto locals while I was in Japan....

Lately, there seems to be a theme of guests that had a specific path in life only to find it disrupted and hijacked by the craft spirits business. And this...

This week's guest, Garett Richard has worked in some of the best bars and with some of the best bartenders in New York, which also makes them some of the...

Rolling Fork Spirits won me over immediately. The two owners, Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris, set out to create a brand that offered something no one else was offering. Luckily...

When Ashok Chokalingam took his first job with Amrut Distilleries, he had no idea how far that job would take him, and the impact he'd have on the whisky category,...

The Cocktail Wonk is back on the show after six long years. And he's accomplished a lot in that time. This week we're talking about his influential book, Minimalist Tiki...

If you're reading this we hope you're in Tokyo, because you're in for a real treat. Tonight is the opening of Japan's newest craft cocktail bar, Tokyo Confidential. So today...

Just a decade ago, Chris Montana opened DuNord spirits. In the ten years since, his role has grown in ways that he could have never imagined. Looking around rooms filled...

Returning to the show this week is the legendary cocktalien, Brother Cleve. Since our last conversation back in 2017, he's been hard at work DJing, tending bar around Boston, and...

After the first ever shochu episode back in 2017 A Shochu Lesson with Erik Zmara, I received a tweet from a gentleman in Japan that was working in a distillery....

A week ago I had the opportunity to visit KōHana Rum in Kunia, Oahu. And that visit was precisely what I needed to get my groove back. The trek to...

Today I welcome Jennifer Matthewson, founder of Daily Blender ,to the show. As the ripple effects of the pandemic are now becoming clear, it looks as though we are losing...

One in four Americans lives with some degree of disability – whether that is the need for a wheelchair, limited sight or hearing, or limited range of motion. Yannick Benjamin...

Nick Kokonas has worked in some of the most well-known cocktail destinations in Chicago. But it was at Heritage that he curated a program that eventually led to an entire...

There are few things more confusing than the three-tier system controlling alcohol distribution in the United States. It's a topic that is complex even for policy savvy bar owners and...

It's been four months, but we're finally back from break. And this week I have my friend Al Thompson on the show to talk his position as Beverage Director for...

Sullivan Doh has seemingly done it all, and just seems to be garnering more respect from the community each time he shifts his focus. He became enamored with fine dining...

Bailey Pryor’s achievements are impressive. He is the recipient of several Emmy awards, has written and directed over 100 movies and documentaries, and is the leading authority on notorious rum...

It’s the return of André Darlington! The last time he was on the show we were discussing his now-bestselling cocktail book, Booze & Vinyl. And now he’s back to discuss...

PLEASE NOTE: This episode mentions several links and articles. They are available at the bottom of these show notes. Sother Teague is no stranger to Shift Drink. We’ve been planning...

When Sother and I get to chatting, jaunts off-topic aren’t rare. So, here we’re offering this bonus material for you to eavesdrop. If you haven’t listened to I’m Just Here...

Misty Kalkofen needs no introduction in the spirits community — or if you listened to my interview her on our last episode,Drinking Like Misty Kalkofen Pt. 1. But regardless of...

Misty Kalkofen has done it all. She was building craft cocktail menus in an era ruled by pre-mixed Long Island Iced Tea. While studying at Harvard Divinity School, she took...

Carrie Abbott started her candy company, Newfangled Confections, back in 2012. But that wasn’t the beginning. This hospitality industry veteran had been running the pastry and service side of a...

As we wrap up the end of the year in our living rooms rather than bars and restaurants, I want you to take a moment and listen to this abbreviated...

When Randy Prasse took the job to help overhaul the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, didn’t realize that a month later the world would shut down and no one would be able...

In the food and beverage world, it’s easy to dismiss companies with wide distribution as “sellouts”. We expect everyone to starve for their art and if they don’t, they become...

I’ve mentioned my business partner numerous times on the show – perhaps ad nauseam (see Fear and Loathing with Beachbum Berry). I always try to avoid doing interview with people...

Just after this interview posted, news broke in Washington D.C. that Robin Miller is awaiting trial for a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge from early 2019. He has since been suspended...

We may be witnessing the death of independent restaurants as we’ve known them. We all closed with the trust that we would have help recovering. That trust was misplaced. But...

It’s our 100th EPISODE! To mark the occasion, this interview was conducted in-person and… Arthur is back! And he’s brought a good friend with him this time. Elizabeth Cooper has...

For the first time in three years, I took a break. This week’s episode is a repost from an interview I did with Thomas Dean of Sipping with Somms a...