#110, Ektoras Binikos, founder, Sugar Monk, Bitter Monk and Atheras Spirits

Ektoras Binikos opened Sugar Monk cocktail bar in Harlem just 9 months before the COVID lockdowns kicked off, after a career in both art and mixology, having emigrated to Manhattan from his native Greece. While weathering the storm of the lockdown, he and his team started making and selling amaros and liqueurs, and this venture has blossomed into a company, Atheras Spirits, which has a distillery and a cocktail bar/tasting room, Bitter Monk, in Industry City, Brooklyn. We sat down on a gorgeous day and talked about his career, opening a bar, trying to keep the wheels turning during a lockdown, the delights of gin/aquavit martinis, and the frankly wild inspirations of each of his amaros and liqueurs which, of course, we tasted our way through. Enjoy!(And shout-out to Helen Baldus, Sugar Monk's publicist, who suggested this - thanks Helen!)Ektoras on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ektorasb/Sugar Monk on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sugarmonknyc/Bitter Monk on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bittermonkbrooklyn/Atheras Spirits on IG: https://www.instagram.com/atherasspirits/ Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Regular listeners will know New York drinks writer Tony Sachs, who occupies a place in The Philip Duff Show universe somewhere between "henchman" and "drinking buddy". It's been a while since we convened to drink our way through the literal lakes of booze Tony is sent on a daily basis, and because he was off to drink Direct Martinis from the hand of Alessandro Palazzi that evening, we started out with a nice run of tasting no- and low-alc drinks, including new low-alcohol gin Second Sip from Leo Robitschek & Nick Strangeway, St Agrestis' Phony Negroni, Three Cents' superior grapefruit soda for Palomas, and Jillian Vose's Badger Bevs tonic (for mixing with the Second Sip), as well as bottled Second Sip cocktails from both Leo and Clemente Bar head bartender Nicole Giampino. But then, predictably, the wheels came off as Tony started dragging out bottles of booze potent enough to run a small car on. This is a fun one, and there's some breaking news about tequila master Carlos Camarena right at the start, too - enjoy!Tony on IG: https://www.instagram.com/retromannyc/Tony's writing: https://www.tonysachsdrinks.com/what-im-writingSecond Sip 20% abv gin: https://www.instagram.com/drink.secondsip/ Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Warren has written six cocktail books - including on cannabis cocktails, as well as more conventional cocktail tomes - and he was way ahead of what is now a trend of quitting alcohol, back in 2018, during Tales of the Cocktail, which is like quitting skydiving mid-jump. He's recently created a range of delicious cocktail-inspired THC beverages named KLAUS, so it was high* time we sat down, guzzled a little Klaus, and caught up on the state of the world and the long, strange journey that took him from being a trained chef, a pasta entrepreneur, a private banker and then a rum judge, cocktail man-about-town and on to the wonderful world of THC. Enjoy!*See what I did there?Warren on IG: https://www.instagram.com/warrenbobrow/Klaus on IG: https://www.instagram.com/drinkklaus/Buy Warren's books: https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=warren+bobrow Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Me and Rob have known each other since the early early days, back when I was still a competitive flair bartender in the 1990s, and together with fellow OGs Dean Serneels and Deborah Richards, he's just created and premiered the world's first documentary about flair, "Shaken & Stirred", so it was high time we had a chat. We talked about the wild network that was flair, before this Second Golden Age of mixology was properly underway: travelling the world, yard days, why - and how - flair makes you humble in a way mixology does not, why revolutions start with sledgehammers and end with scalpels, the USBG & IBA, speed contests anno 2025, freepouring and a whole bunch more, including of course the making of the documentary and how Deborah is actually an old mate of mine!Download or stream "Shaken & Stirred" here: https://www.shakenandstirredthemovie.com/Rob on IG: https://www.instagram.com/theflairambassador/Rob’s website: http://bartendbetternow.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5C9RrOaKGY4UNXdZCqIV4LwxlSU_QWaLZxQyJ4gsxPYB53HSFgDUORTQU51Q_aem_bHsvfis_mbeqj9GMjPiFqgRob on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/flairbar?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfrRob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theflairambassador  Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Hayden's been a mate for ages, and his bar, a gorgeous, tiny, stripped-back speakeasy-type Mecca in Melbourne, is almost ten years old and has been winning awards and getting on lists quite a lot, so it was time we got together and shot the shit. This tiny little bar in Australia's second city got #100 on the overall World's 50 Best Bars list - not bad, eh?I had no idea about Hayden's Euro ski-resort Flugel-drinking past, as he'd only popped up on my radar after his rather more seemly stint at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, and then promptly dropped off until he opened Above Board, and we even got to hang a little when I was in Australia last, around 2019/early 2020, as I recall...This was a really fun chat (more for me than him, because it was evening time in NY so I could have a drink or two, as you'll be able to hear, but it was morning time the next day in Melbourne, so all Hayden had was coffee, poor bastard) and we went nice and long. Enjoy!Hayden on IG: https://www.instagram.com/travlinboy/Above Board on IG: https://www.instagram.com/aboveboardbarmelb/ Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Without Jonathan and the London-based international Match Bar Group he built, spanning 40+ venues at one time or another, cocktails in the UK would look very different today. Jonathan, a cheerful Mancunian former lawyer, invested heavily in bartending expertise when building his group: his first head bartender for Match bar was the legendary, late Dick Bradsell, he hired Dale de Groff to be a training consultant and partnered with the much-missed Sasha Petraske to open only the second-ever Milk & Honey, in London. Match Bars opened in Ibiza, Chamonix and as far afield as Melbourne, shaping the careers of literally hundreds of bartenders including Kevin Armstrong, Tim Phillips and Sam Jeveons.His second act was pop-up street festivals, and last time we had lunch he was referring to himself as semi-retired - but now he's getting back in the game, opening two big new places in London soon. I love chatting with Jonathan, and this one - uncharacteristically short, as he had to go to his Pilates class at 730pm on a Friday(!) - was pure gold, as ever. Apply for a job with Jonathan: [email protected] on X/Twitter: https://x.com/DowneyJD?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorJonathan on IG: https://www.instagram.com/downeyjd/?hl=en Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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 known Nico since his time at Experimental Cocktail Club Paris around 2008, and he's very much the mixologist's mixologist; most people would say - I agree - that he's one of the two or three best mixologists working today. He just launched Kota Pandan liqueur with a banging party in Mace NY, so the next day we sat down to talk bars, pandan, awards, the state of the business, how he almost opened a place in Singapore, the importance of hiring, burning out on cocktails, his guest bartending odysseys, and our love of arrack - plus a whole lot more!Nico's website: https://nicodesoto.com/ Nico on IG: https://www.instagram.com/nico2soto/?hl=frKota Pandan Liqueur: https://www.instagram.com/kota.pandan/ Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Few people in the cocktail world are as well known as Salvatore; you don't even have to say his surname before people begin talking about his many achievements in bartending, dating back forty years to his youth on the sun-kissed shores of the Amalfi Coast. He really is the  Maestro, and it's been a privilege to call him a friend for several decades now. From inventing the Direct Martini (while at Dukes Hotel, for guest Stanton Delaplane, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who himself invented/popularised the Irish Coffee, depending on who you ask), to running celebrated bar programs at The Lanesborough Hotel, Salvatore at Fifty, the Playboy Club and (currently) The Donovan Bar at Browns Hotel, Velvet by Salvatore at The Corinthia London, and several projects in his native Italy. He created modern classic cocktails including The Breakfast Martini and Spicy 50, has written many cocktail books (including one that sold a million copies), an award-winning book on cognac, and is a former President of the UK Bartending Guild. And he's a lot of fun. We sat down over coffee to talk about his career, what's changed, how he used to sell five-pound Mai Tais containing 17-year-old Wray & Nephew rum, his womanising bar mentor, advice he'd give a young bartender, the art of hosting and a whole lot more. Enjoy!Salvatore's website: https://salvatore-calabrese.co.uk/Salvatore on IG: https://www.instagram.com/cocktailmaestro/The Donovan Bar on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thedonovanbar/?hl=enVelvet Bar on IG: https://www.instagram.com/velvetbysalvatorecalabrese/?hl=enSalvatore's books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=salvatore+calabrese&crid=2L1S4BQCUS0IP&sprefix=salvatore+calabrese%2Caps%2C82&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

Maxwell is an old friend who came to prominence with the drinks program he curated at Brooklyn's amazing Maison Premiere, winning James Beard awards, World's 50 Best Bars listing, and Tales of the Cocktail awards, to name but a few. (It is also, and to this day, a magnificent place for dinner or a cocktail).  He's also co-authored a cocktail book and created one of the first modern-era cocktail recipe apps. Maxwell recently finished working on a great project - more below - plus we'll take any opportunity for a chat and a drink here at the Philip Duff Show, so we got together in Brooklyn at the Ace Hotel. Maxwell's always been drawn to music and movies as well as mixology, and he's just helped produce "BAR" a documentary about the Beverage Alcohol Resource five-day residential spirits education course, originally created by a murderer's row of American liquor- and cocktail luminaries including F. Paul Pacult, Dave Wondrich, Doug Frost and Dale de Groff, to name but a few. The documentary, from KTF Films, follows several of the students preparing studying and being tested at what is one of the world's toughest spirits coursesThe trailer is out now, and the documentary premiere at Cinequest Film Festival in March, hopefully followed by a tour that includes Bar Convent Brooklyn, Aspen Food & Wine and Tales of the Cocktail as well as the Tribeca Film Festival and others. Brands! There are some limited opportunities to sponsor screenings of BAR - get in touch with Maxwell: [email protected] on IG: http://instagram.com/maxwellbrittenMaxwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-britten-25306930Buy Maxwell's book, co-authored with rapper T-Pain: https://bookshop.org/p/books/can-i-mix-you-a-drink-a-cocktail-book-of-50-drink-recipes-inspired-by-t-pain-s-music-t-pain/17156993?ean=9781954220003&next=t&next=tMaxwell's app, The Liquor Cabinet: https://apps.apple.com/bh/app/the-liquor-cabinet/id1073493589 Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...

It's nomination season!If you enjoy The Philip Duff Show, take a minute to throw our hat in the ring for an award that is guaranteed to annoy everyone - link to nominate us for "Best Broadcast, Podcast Or Online Video" here: https://spiritedawards.secure-platform.com/a (Nominations deadline is February 13th, at 1159pm New Orleans time!)Dolph's been a legend in Hollywood for almost forty years, from his first role in Bond movie "A View To a Kill", to his breakthrough as Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV", and more recently in "The Expendables", "Creed II" and as King Nereus in the "Aquaman" movies. But he also graduated #1 in his class in the masters' degree program in Chemical Engineering, won scholarships in that subject all over the world (including a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT), was a European and Australian karate champion, and - as we hear - almost became a boxer when he first moved to New York.  After two long days of me teaching Dolph mixology, we sat down in West Hollywood over a couple of glasses of the new vodka brand that Dolph and his wife Emma are launching in a month or so (and that I'm helping with), and talked about how he got into acting, why it's no fun to spend your weekends punching Australians, and how he still does a kata every morning, among a whole lot more. This was a lot of fun and we're going to tape a muuuch longer episode next month, after the vodka launch.  Enjoy!Dolph on IG: https://www.instagram.com/dolphlundgren/?hl=enDolph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolph-lundgren-68983432a  Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: [email protected] (PR friends: we’re only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things than their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is, for a few hours. 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.) Retain Philip’s consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: [email protected] 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: ...