Gareth's been a mate and fellow expat-in-New-York for a longish time, but I ran into him again recently when he hosted a mega-fancy private dinner in the already-mega-fancy members' area of private club Casa Tua, a dinner which I gatecrashed in a genteel manner, as my apartment was unexpectedly full of women playing mahjong.

Gareth was the consummate host, introducing the 2025 special edition of Aberfeldy single malt, the rather delicious 18-Year-Old Bolgheri Tuscan Finish, and it occurred to me - after more than a few drams - that he'd be a fun guest on the show.

We caught up* on all things expat, his origin story in Guildford, differences in bartending in the UK vs NY, how his milk punch is better than both Nico de Soto's and Eamon Rockey's, modern bartender education, why ICE are about to arrest him for smuggling explosives (and Christmas pudding) into the USA, his go-to order in a bar, and a whole lot more, tasted our way through three Aberfeldy releases including the aforementioned Super Tuscan finish, then we went for pints at the Dead Rabbit's holiday pop-up, Jingle Jangle, and then a couple more at the excellent Lucky Tiger.

*At Bacardi’s PR firm’s NY office: shout-out to Nike Communications!

Enjoy!

Gareth's IG: https://www.instagram.com/smokeymcgowan/

Aberfeldy's IG: https://www.instagram.com/aberfeldy/

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
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Daniyel is, in my opinion, the most naturally gifted brand ambassador I've ever met, but the reason he's been nominated for so many awards and other accolades is that since I met him many years ago, he has always been on a never-ending journey of self-improvement. I don't think I've ever seen him without a broad grin on his face, and if you spend ten seconds in his company, you'll have one, too.

We caught up to talk about his origin story in Trinidad, working in fine dining and TGI Friday's, leaving mobile cocktail-bar catering entrepreneurship behind for full-time brand ambassadorship for the House of Angostura, and the power of gratitude, among a lot more.

This is a very wholesome episode - enjoy!

Daniyel on IG: https://www.instagram.com/daniyeljones/

Daniyel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniyeljones

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
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Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Michael Neff, like so many of us, fell sideways into hospitality and now 27-odd years later, he's still in it, opening bars across the USA, consulting, podcasting and just plain bartending.

He's a real bartender's bartender, and you can see that DNA in all the places he's opened or consulted on or worked at: Ward III, Rum House, Holiday Cocktail Lounge (NY), Cottonmouth Club (Houston), Inkwell (Omaha) and other bars - more than fifty of them - that he's opened, spanning seven US states.

His approach to hospitality is thoughtful, insightful and empathetic; he can sling drinks with the best of them, but he also thinks carefully about why every guest is walking through the door.

I really enjoyed catching up with Michael for this episode, and I think you will, too.

Michael on IG: https://www.instagram.com/cocktailwhisperer/

Michael's website: https://michaeljneff.com/

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Robert's a swashbuckling figure even by liquor biz standards: son of a fighter pilot, he grew up in England, set up a chain of radio stations across Europe in his youth, ran an agency, then slipped sideways into the liquor biz (armed only with a degree in languages) and climbed the greasy pole at Bacardi for 26 years, ending up as CEO of North America, after stints running the business in Moscow and Asia, among others.

In 2015, with another Bacardi refugee, Juan Rovira, RFR founded Samson & Surrey, a craft brand incubator which acquired Tequila Ocho, Mezcal Vago, Bluecoat Gin, Widow Jane whiskey, FEW whiskey and Brenne whisky and then applied RFR & Juan's expertise to grow the brands, before Samson & Surrey was itself acquired by Heaven Hill in 2022.

(Full disclosure: RFR & Juan were both still running Samson & Surrey in May 2023, when they hired Mrs Duff to be their head of advocacy).

We've had a quick drink together here and there but I've wanted to have a longer chat for ages, and we finally managed to plan it in - not easily, as, by his own admission, RFR sucks at being retired and is working harder than ever, helping (among other things) Filthy Foods grow.

We chatted about marketing, NPDs, what's changed in the liquor biz, the fallacy of research, Dick Bradsell's branding genius, why packaging rules, and a whole lot more. Enjoy!

RFR on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-furniss-roe-418136

RFR's email: robert_furnissroe@hotmail.com

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

Angus is so old a friend that we can't remember exactly where we met but we're 99% sure it was at a bar show or get-together of some kind, probably in London, where he, a bartender from Oxford, was in on the ground floor of what we can now look back - after thirty years - to confirm was the birth of the Second Golden Age of cocktails.

He and I were the two first people from the bar biz to have "Global Brand Ambassador" on our business cards (he for Tanqueray, me for Bols), and our careers have had significant parallels and overlaps ever since.

He's written numerous articles, taught at every bar show in the world and hasn't written a book. (Yet). He also just stepped down from being BCB (global)'s first-ever Director of Education, having taken the already-stellar BCB seminar program to new heights.

He's a terrific public speaker, a deep thinker, funny and self-deprecating as only an Englishman can be - and he loves all things liquor and bars to distraction.

In a move we can all get behind, this living legend is back running bars, as Director of Bars for the Capella luxury resort in Taipei, and as we were both in Athens for the Bar Show (he to give a great seminar on Talking In Bars, me to carry my wife Elayne's bags), I decided we had to sit down and catch up.

Enjoy!

Angus on IG: https://www.instagram.com/anguswinchester/?hl=en

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

I've been a fan of Ben's since his first book, Schott's Original Miscellany came out in 2002, a collection of quirky facts and insights into subcultures; his 13 (!) subsequent books expanded on the theme and have sold more than 2.5 million copies, in multiple languages, to date.

Ben also wrote two of the best "homage" books in the style of PG Wodehouse, which, if you're a Wodehouse fan, I urge you to read.

His newest book, Schott's Significa, delves into the worlds of hidden languages and subcultures: open-outcry stock trading hand signals, the unspoken languages of the servers of Eleven Madison Park, and the very-much-spoken insider slang of everyone from the diamond dealers of midtown Manhattan to world-famous cocktail bars like Tres Monos and Overstory.

We had a very pleasant and - as you might expect - wide-ranging chat about everything, enjoy!

Ben on IG: https://www.instagram.com/benschott/

Ben on X / Twitter: https://x.com/benschott?s=21&t=kTsTPMPK0kgHLvK8ldrFXQ

Ben's website: https://www.benschott.com/

Buy Ben's books (and support independent bookshops): https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=ben+schott

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

The irrepressible Edvinas "Eddie" Rudzinskas is a fixture at just about every bar show and party, and the Instagram he created, @cocktails_for_you, boasts 565, 000 followers.

We sat down during BCBerlin to talk about how he went from working in his native Lithuania to bartending in a small town in Ireland, falling deep down the rabbit hole of mixology, and founding Cocktails for You, initially as a Facebook page sharing all the seminars and events he'd attend, first in Ireland and then - often representing the Bartender's Association of Ireland, BAI - abroad.

He's also recently been named Global Advocacy Lead for Thomas Henry mixers, and co-founded his own (delicious) Irish whiskey, Old Baile.

We grabbed a spare hour (and some champagne) to talk about how he became a social media influencer, the state of the bar world, and building brands in the onpremise, as well as a whole bunch more.

Enjoy!

Eddie's personal IG: https://www.instagram.com/eddie_this_is_my_life/?hl=en

Cocktails For You IG: https://www.instagram.com/cocktails_for_you/?hl=en

Old Baile Whiskey IG: https://www.instagram.com/oldbailewhiskey/?hl=en

Thomas Henry mixers: https://www.instagram.com/thomashenry_borninbars/?hl=en

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...

I've always followed the industry in Australia closely, as in my opinion it is, pound-for-pound, the best mixology nation on Earth; I've visited often, for teaching and consulting, and wrote a column in Australian Bartender magazine for some years.

Last year the Sydney Morning Herald broke a story (sadly, only the first of many) uncovering alleged wide-ranging abuse at the renowned Australian hospitality group Swillhouse, with allegations ranging from management ignoring complaints right up to sexual harassment and rape by former and current staff.

Several former Swillhouse employees who were victims, including Jenna and Alexandra, bravely waived their right to anonymity, started a lawsuit against their former employer, and formed the Sorry Not Sorry Collective, which is currently touring with guest bartending and other events to raise awareness about these heinous issues, and to raise actual cash to fund their lawsuit.

We caught up during Bar Convent Berlin; I've known Jenna for quite a while and travelled through Japan with her as part of a group learning about shochu.

Because of that, and because both her and Alexandra are also Australians - automatically gregarious and affable people - and bartenders to boot, we had what could be described as a deceptively light-hearted sounding conversation that, as well as learning about their routes into bartending and the Australian scene, deals with some very deep topics indeed, ranging from the alleged abuses to the definition of sex work, consent, and a lot more.

We couldn't go into every detail of the alleged abuses, because their lawsuit is ongoing, however we discussed some comparable cases in other countries, of which there are a depressing amount.

This is very much worth a listen.

Sydney Morning Herald article exposing abuse: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sex-sleaze-and-swillhouse-the-sinister-side-of-the-glitzy-hospitality-scene-20240820-p5k3r0.html

Jenna on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jrhemsworth/?hl=en

Alexandra on IG: https://www.instagram.com/alexandr4hoo

Get in touch with Duff!

Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org
(PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is.
They need to be able to hang.
Oh, plus we don't edit, and we won’t supply prepared or sample questions, or listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview or Zoom.)

Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.org

Philip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/
Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff
Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter
Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com

Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos
Old Duff Genever on Facebook: facebook.com
Old Duff Genever on X/Twitter: ...