Wiggin' Out with Oscar Simoza

Baiju is the worlds most popular spirit, but outside of a handful of nerds few people in the states know about it. Whiskey, on the other hand is a movie star. So naturally you’d combine them into a new category, right? That’s what Matt Rubin and Karl Josef Co did, and they’re here to talk about how they fell in love with this ancient Chinese spirit, why and how they’re redistilling it into whiskey, and how they’re teaching a skeptical public about this new type of spirit. Also, the bottle may have won some design awards.PLUS, nostalgia is a powerful emotion, which makes it dangerous in the wrong hands. But are bars the right place to indulge it safely?Follow Shang at @shangwhiskeyLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How exactly does one go from movie star to spokesdude for a small independent distillery? That’s the course that William H Macy charted for himself in the world of spirits when he joined up with Woody Creek Distillers. Together with man about town Sean Kenyon, Bill sits down with Greg and Sother to discuss his journey from everyman to something of a whiskey expert, why he fell in love with the brand, and how a whiskey with his name on it came to be. That, and the perils of making potato vodka.PLUS, why is the corner bar full while the cocktail bar’s empty? Greg, Sother and their guests investigate.Follow Woody Creek at @woodycreekdistillersLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kapri Robinson has a story to tell. At Allegory in Washington, DC she weaves together Alice in Wonderland, Ruby Bridges, post-apocalyptic archetypes, banned books, Bad Brains… and of course, delicious cocktails. She sits down with Greg and Sother ahead of the 2026 midterms to discuss how her storytelling and hospitality weave together, what it’s like flipping a menu that complex, how she feels about minimalism, and what it’s actually like to run a bar in the nation’s capital.PLUS, go vote.Follow Kapri at @kapri.possibleFollow Allegory at @allegory_dcLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everyone loves a good wig, especially Oscar Simoza for reasons that will be clear to our video listeners. The Beverage Director for The Wig Shop sits down with Greg and Sother to talk about his journey through hospitality, 90s nostalgia and how he mentors his “kids” behind the bar.PLUS, does 100% really mean 100%? Greg and Sother dive into a lawsuit that alleges otherwise.Follow Oscar at @mustache.flexFollow the Wig Shop at @thewigshopbostonLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you go from a bartender to building a career and an identity around a type of rum you’ve grown to absolutely fall in love with? And then, once that’s done, how do you walk away? That’s what Kate Perry, National Portfolio & US Market Manager for LM&V is doing right now, and she sits down with Greg & Sother to talk about falling in love with some of the Caribbean’s funkier rums, talking her way into her dream job, and then knowing when it was time to turn the page and walk away.PLUS, we all know there are too many breweries in this country, but are there too many distilleries too? Greg and Sother discuss.Follow Kate at @wheninrhumFollow LM&V at @lamaisonandvelierFollow Cazimi at @cazimi.vashonLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What comes first in a premium brand? A great product, or a market niche? That’s the question Brad Parkes, the Co-Founder of Palm Republic Rum is sitting down with us to resolve. He discuss building a premium brand in a category that isn’t always renowned for quality, getting people to change their mind about rum, and bringing a blended product to market in a world that’s a little single origin obsessed right now.PLUS, Do people become night owls because they’re bartenders, or become bartenders because they’re night owls? Greg & Sother discuss.Follow Palm Republic at @palmrepublicrumLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you’ve already pioneered two advanced techniques that take the bartending world by storm, and been called Cocktail Menu Innovator of the Year by The 50, where do you go next? That’s what Iain McPherson, the owner of Edinburgh’s award-winning bar Panda & Sons is here to talk about. He discusses the difference between high-tech moves that improve a drink and ones that are just impressive to bartenders, how his Scottish & Korean heritage shaped his take on hospitality, and how all of this may have started thanks to his training at a gelato school in Italy.PLUS, Greg gives a shoutout to a local hero.Follow Iain at @thecocktailpandaFollow Panda & Sons at @pandaandsonsLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are times when we all need a lawyer. Tiffany Hernandez, the founder of Escuelitas and Juliana Manzanarez, the founding attorney of VIA law group sit down in the studio to discuss of the administration’s immigration crackdown is affecting the hospitality industry, and what ordinary citizens can do about it. They run through the laws bar owners and managers need to know when dealing with law enforcement, some of the lesser-known laws people have on their side, and the ways you as a listener can get involved.PLUS, your annual PSA about pumpkin spice lattes…Follow Tiffany at @mezcalmistressFollow Escuelitas at @escuelitasfoundationLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Running a print magazine in the year 2026 is a choice to say the least. Ryan Foley, Publisher of Bartender Magazine sits down with Greg and Sother to talk about how the magazine has changed since his dad started it, what it’s like running a family business with his mom, what sorts of stories readers of a bartending magazine are looking for, and how physical media is staying current in the digital age.PLUS Happy Oktoberfest to all who celebrate! Greg and Sother ring in the season by giving traditional German beer styles their flowers and pointing to a possible example of what craft beer can do to refresh its image. And don’t even get us started on pumpkin beers…Follow Bartender Magazine at @bartendermagazineLINKSBecome a RegularCheck out bartender.com and use promo code Speakeasy for 15% off!For resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

No one in this industry’s mind works quite like Ektoras Binikos. The man behind Atheras Spirits, the distillery that gave us a shisho mastiha and fig leaf liqueur is back on The Speakeasy because he’s gone and done something really radical this time: made a couple of normal base spirits. Ektoras chats with Greg and Sother about what it was like to make gin and a vodka after so many weird creations, how making a London Dry style turned into making two different “twin gins” and how his bars, New York City’s Sugar Monk and Bitter Monk, have evolved as his spirits business has grown.PLUS Greg’s in New York and Sother’s on the road!? See what inspired this bizarre role reversal, what Sother’s doing in North Carolina, and what locally foraged goodies he’s managed to whip up along the way.Follow Atheras Spirits at @atherasspiritsFollow Sugar Monk at @sugarmonknycFollow Bitter Monk at @bittermonkbrooklynLINKSBecome a RegularFor resources on dealing with cold, hard water agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is on YouTube!Check out Quiote Imports and use promo code “Speakeasy” for free shipping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.