The Curious Bartender Podcast podcast | Listen online for free

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#26 Ed Hughes - Beer Sommelier, Beer Styles, Sharps Brewery
Ed Hughes is a certified beer sommelier, the author of Just add Beer - a book about beer and food pairing - and also one of my oldest friends. Based in Cornwall he works at Sharps Brewery as an educator and advocate for Molson Coors but also the beer category as a whole.This is a wide ranging conversation about beer, where we drink through 10 different beers reflecting a bunch of styles, whilst covering the ingredients, production, marketing, packaging, culture and public perception of beer - with more than a little bit of beer and food chat. Quite a few chefs get name checked. Expect to learn how German lagers dominated the world, what defines a cask ale, who drinks the most beer in the world, what food you should pair a Belgian Lambic Ale with, and what a 10% beer aged 14 years tastes like. Beers Tasted:Sharp’s Offshore PilsnerStaropramenBamberg RauchbierSharps Doom BarBlue MoonSharps Chalky’s BiteDuchesse de BourgogneBoon Oude GeuzeSharp’s Quadruple Ale 2011Ed's Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Add-Beer-Ed-Hughes/dp/1999647807Sponsored by Fever-tree Mixers
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2:19:00
#25 David Gluckman - Inventor of Bailey's, Tanqueray Ten, Smirnoff Black, The Singleton, etc. Innovation, Non-Alc, Design
David Gluckman is a retired brand and advertising consultant and author, who over a 40 year career working in the drinks industry created the ideas behind some of the world’s best know spirits, liqueurs and soft drinks.This is a conversation about how brands come into existence, how to test them, package them and market them, and how to streamline this process so as to do it quickly and avoid compromise. You can expect to learn how a popular brand of butter (which David also worked on) inspired Bailey's, how Smirnoff Black became the smoothest vodka in the world - and why David thinks it never fulfilled its potential, how the idea of making grape based vodka came to David in Tlibisi, how non-alc and energy drinks started at least 10 years before you think they did, and much more.There are quite a lot of brands mentioned here, and if you find yourself not being ale to picture them or do check out the video version of the show on YouTube where I have kindly put them up on the screen.To support this podcast please rate it, subscribe and share.This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree MixersBuy David's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/That-Will-Never-Sell-Person-ebook/dp/B0BDGDPB2J
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2:02:45
#24 Jake Burger - Who/What is the Greatest Bartender, Bar, Cocktail Book & Cocktail Of All Time?
Jake Burger is a bartender, gin producer and amateur (his own words) drinks historian. I gave him just four questions - who is the greatest bartender of all time, what is the greatest cocktail of all time, what is the greatest cocktail book of all time, and which is the greatest bar of all time?Now an apology. Before recording with Jake I had just finished my interview with Alessandro Palazzi at Dukes. Then followed a martini, followed by a taxi ride to my other good friend Hannah-Sharman Cox’s house in west London, where upon arrival Hannah and her partner in crime Siobhan gave me a beer and a gin & tonic. Then we began recording and worked airway through a further three martinis, beers, and whisky. And no food. All of this is to say, you may notice the effects of all that alcohol taking hold at around the halfway point of the interview. Jake, being Jake manages to come away relatively unscathed, though even he falters a little towards the end. Thus, this is not the most professional looking or sounding episode of this podcast. There is bad language, and there are incomplete trains of thought. But it is a pretty honest one, and not a million miles away from what it’s like spending a night drinking with Jake and I. Regardless of my fairly obvious and steady transition into an intoxicated person, there remains some great insights - mostly from Jake - and historical anecdote that make this episode too good not to release in spite of the mild embarrassment it’s going to cause me.This Episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree Mixers
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2:11:42
#23 Jamie Baxter - 100+ Distilleries Built, How To Make Gin, Baijiu
Jamie Baxter is a Distillery Consultant who has designed and built more than 100 distilleries over the past 15 years. He setup the Chase Vodka Distillery in Herefordshire in 2008, built the City of London Distillery, East London Liquor Company, and distilleries in Europe and India. On the episode we discuss his transition from cereal manufacturing to potato vodka distilling when he joined Willian Chase in Herefordshire, some of his consultancy projects, along with the pitfalls of building a distillery from scratch. Jamie gives a brief rundown of the various factors that go into making a great gin, then we finish by talking about the Chinese spirit baijiu (arguably the most popular spirit in the world), which Jamie became an ambassador of after a recent trip to China.To support this podcast please like and subscribe.This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree mixers.
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2:14:22
#22 Alessandro Palazzi - Dukes Hotel, Martinis, Ian Fleming, 50 Years of Bartending
Alessandro Palazzi is the Head Bartender at Dukes Hotel in London where this episode was filmed. In a career spanning 50 years, he has made possibly more martinis that anyone else alive today at what is perhaps the most famous martini bar in the world. On the episode Alessandro shares his 50 year career in hospitality, the philosophy of Dukes, his tips on how to make a great martini, what it was like making martinis for King Charles, and we delve into the commonly held legend that Ian Fleming (author of the James Bond novels) drank martinis at Dukes.Notes: • Gilberto Preti, whose name comes up once or twice, worked at Dukes from 1984 until around 2003. • George V (cinq) hotel is mentioned a few times - it's a very fancy hotel in Paris• The Fleming biography that is mentioned is The Life of Ian Fleming by John PearsonTo support this podcast please share, like, and subscribe!This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree03:09 50 Years of Bartending Part 1 - Origin Stories, Lessons, Savoy, George V Paris11:54 Arriving at Dukes Hotel15:40 50 Years of Bartending Part 2 - Los Angeles Gangs, Greek Sherry, Ritz Paris, Learning from People22:57 Ian Fleming and Dukes - Evidence, Stories, Dukes in the 50’s, Life of Ian Fleming34:07 Dukes Cocktails, Exploring Gin Brands, Freezers37:29 The Dukes Experience - Regulars, Ritual, Holiness44:09 Secrets & Inspiration, Margaritas, Bullshot47:44 The Secrets of the Perfect Martini - Temperature, Dilution, Ingredients, Garnish, Preparation, Price, Consumption1:01:12 Making Martinis with The King1:05:25 Self Reflection1:06:58 No Power in the Bar - Dealing with Issues1:08:44 Legacy - Dukes Bartenders & Team1:13:09 Vesper Martini - Creation Story, Gin & Vodka, Fleming, Mythbusting
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1:17:34