Radio Imbibe Imbibe

Starting in the mid-1970s and continuing until his death in 2021, Tomas Estes was one of the most influential people in modern tequila. A fully revised version of his book, The Tequila Ambassador, was published this spring, and for this episode we talk to the team members who helped bring it together: his longtime friend and colleague Phil Bayly, his son and Tequila Ocho global ambassador Jesse Estes, and the book’s editor, Mitch Wilson.

Our May/June 2024 issue features an exploration of shochu, Japan’s signature spirit that’s increasingly showing up in American bars. For this episode, with talk with Japan Distilled co-hosts and shochu importers Stephen Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini about what makes this spirit so distinctive, and how to start your own shochu exploration.

Peak springtime is upon us and Derby Day is right around the corner, so there’s no better time to mix up a Mint Julep. In this episode, we talk Juleps with Joe Stinchcomb, a veteran bartender and an owner of Bar Muse in Oxford, Mississippi.

When he opened Romeo’s in New York City’s East Village in December, Evan Hawkins combined his years of experience bartending in nightclubs with the skills he developed making craft cocktails at bars including Mother’s Ruin and Broken Shaker. For this episode, we talk about the vision and ideas behind Romeo’s, and about making great cocktails an approachable experience.

Our March/April issue dives deep into the world of vermouth. For this episode, we hear from several bartenders who share a particular love for the aperitif wine: Alf del Portillo and Marta Premoli, owners of Quattro Teste in Lisbon, Portugal, and Francesco Lafranconi, who recently helped establish the vermouth program at the Rosevale Cocktail Room in New York City.

For our March/April issue, we journey into the world of vermouth, and few people follow the category more closely than journalist, educator, and Imbibe contributor François Monti. For this episode, we explore vermouth’s rich history in cocktails, its culinary connection, and the future of this aperitif wine.