The Curious Bartender Podcast

Ian Stirling is the co-founder of the Port of Leith Distillery, located in the historic port of Leith, Scotland. He’s also the co-founder of Lind & Lime Gin and runs a wine and spirits bottling and import business.

The Port of Leith Distillery is one of the most remarkable in the world — a vertical distillery built like a tower block in an urban landscape. It holds the unique distinction of being the tallest distillery in the world. Whisky production began there about a year ago, but there’s so much more to explore in this conversation.

We dive into the architectural challenges of building a distillery vertically, the sustainability and energy-saving benefits (or lack thereof), and the economics of building a distillery from scratch. We also discuss the process of designing a whisky character before you truly know how it will mature.

The episode touches on the fascinating history of Leith — its regeneration, its legacy as a major trading port, and its role as a former global powerhouse of whisky blending. We also discuss why Scotch whisky is traditionally aged in sherry casks, and along the way, we chat about sherry and port too.

This episode is sponsored by Fever Tree Mixers

Charles Maclean is a renowned Scottish whisky writer, expert, and author. He has written numerous books on the subject, including Whisky: The Water of Life and Scotch Whisky, and specialises in the history and culture of scotch whisky, along with the sensory evaluation of its appreciation. This interview took place at his residence in Edinburgh.

Expect to hear about Charlie’s earliest experiences with whisky on the Isle of Arran and at Glenlivet, how his writing career began, how to assess, appreciate and enjoy whisky, what Charlie thinks of the modern whisky market, when in history the best time to be a whisky drinker was, the challenges that new distilleries face, plus loads of history dotted throughout, and much more.

Thanks to our sponsor for this episode: Fever-Tree Mixers

Jack Stein is a chef, author, and TV personality. He is the executive head chef of Rick Stein Group including the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, which recently celebrated its 50th birthday.

On the episode we talk about 50 years of The Seafood Restaurant—how it all started as a nightclub, its transformation into a culinary institution, and what the future holds as Jack and his brothers take the reins. We explore the evolving hospitality landscape, from the impact of TV and social media to the challenge of attracting a new generation of diners. Jack shares his thoughts on whisky, wine, and the unexpected eating habits of chefs behind the scenes. We also get into his travels across Central America, his time in world-class kitchens, and his vision for expanding the Stein brand, including a potential London fish bar.

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Isabel Graham-Yooll is a leading expert in the world of fine spirits and the secondary market. She was the director of Whisky.Auction and before that, she worked as a spirits buyer at Bordeaux Index and Milroy’s of Soho. In 2024, she launched Wisgy, an independent consultancy specialising in old and rare spirits, helping collectors, investors, and enthusiasts make sense of the ever-evolving market.

Expect to learn how the secondary whisky market works, who’s buying, who’s selling, and why prices have skyrocketed in recent years. Isabel breaks down the different types of whisky buyers—drinkers, traders, and collectors—and explains how miniatures have become a key part of the market. We also discuss the difference between price points and actual value, how trends shape whisky investment, and how reporting can sometimes distort perceptions of the market.

For those looking to buy or sell, Isabel offers expert advice on where to go to ensure you’re getting the best deal and avoiding potential pitfalls. She explains the challenges of valuing rare bottles, especially when there’s little market history to go on, and how informed guessing plays a role in setting prices.

We also hear some incredible stories of “barn finds”—forgotten caches of whisky discovered in attics and cellars—highlighting the importance of provenance and how a bottle’s backstory can affect its value. Isabel then walks us through the complex process of authenticating rare spirits, from referencing distillery archives to forensic testing and even carbon dating.

Counterfeit spirits are a growing problem, and we dig into the strategies used by forgers, from manipulating glass and closures to preying on psychological biases. We also discuss some of the most infamous fakes, including Macallan replicas, and how collectors can protect themselves. Finally, we shift our focus to vintage liqueurs and cocktails, exploring how factors like heat, light exposure, and the mysterious “old bottle effect” impact the flavour of aged spirits.

wisgy.co.uk

Salvatore Calabrese has remained one of the leading figures in global cocktail culture for at least forty years. He has served kings, queens, presidents, and a string of Hollywood actors over a career that has seen him tend the bar at legendary Mayfair hotels such as The Dukes, The Lanesborough, Fifty St James, The Playboy Club, and most recently Browns Hotel.

We sat down for a conversation about his life and career at the Donovan Bar in January 2025. During the conversation you can expect to hear about Salvatore's early years behind the bar at age 11, his mentor and teacher in Italy, how a flaming drink gone wrong landed him his first proper bar job in London, what it felt like when a guest dropped a priceless bottle of cognac in front of him at The Playboy Club, the circumstances that lead to the creation of the now legendary Direct Martini at The Dukes Hotel... and much more.

Antonio Amorim is the CEO of Amorim Cork, who over a 155 year history have become the world’s biggest producer of cork and cork products.  Amorim produce 6 billion cork stoppers annually accounting for over 50% of the global market.

Expect to learn the varied way in which infiltrates our lives, cork is harvested, processed and graded, how cork stoppers are produced and their applications, how the threat of TCA - aka cork wine taint - is viewed by Amorim in 2025, the remarkable sustainability credentials that cork can offer, and much more...

https://www.amorimcork.com

James Hoffmann is the best known coffee person in the world. He is the author of the World Atlas of Coffee, co-founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, former World Barista Champion, and the host of the James Hoffmann YouTube channel.Expect to learn how delicious instant coffee is made, how barista competitions work, the best ways to up your coffee game at home, why this might be the end of the golden age of coffee, and much more...

Links:James' YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMb0O2CdPBNi-QqPk5T3gsQSquare Mile Coffee: https://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimseven/?hl=enMe on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tristanstephenson

Andreia is an archaeologist and museum curator, working principally with the Art of Drinking Museum at the World of Wine in Porto, which holds more than 3,500 drinking vessels dating back 9,000 years. This episode was recorded and filmed in the museum, along with eight selected artefacts taken from the display cabinets that together total more than 20,000 years of human drinking history.

Expert to learn how the Egyptians drank wine, how the Greek Symposium evolved into the Roman Triclinium, the interesting innovations in drinkware that were going on in Mesoamerica 3,000 years ago, how the Germans played drinking games 400 years ago, and much more.

This episode was an absolute privilege to record and I want to thank all of the team at WOW in Porto, but especially Andreia herself whose passion and knowledge of this collection speaks for itself.

The Art of Drinking Museum - https://www.wow.pt/en/museums/the-art-of-drinking-the-bridge-collection

Andreia on Instagram - @andreia_fce

Ryan Chetiyawardana aka Ryan Cheti, aka Mr Lyan, is  a bartender, bar operator, and author, known for his unique creative style and multi award winning bars in London, Washington DC and Amsterdam, including White Lyan, Cub, Dandelion, Lyaness, Silver Lyan and Super Lyan.

Expect to learn about Ryan’s approach to creativity, how important language is to hospitality and flavour, some of the weirdest ingredients both of us have used or tasted, how Ryan was inspired to make a drink influenced by Chernobyl, challenges the hospitality industry faces, plus a load of chat about whisky, and much more besides. 

To support this show please share this episode with anyone who might find it interesting.

Ryan's instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrlyan/?hl=en

My instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tristanstephenson/?hl=en-gb

Nick Wykes is a former bartender and drinks consultant turned professional sport psychologist who holds a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology and a Doctorate in Sport Science.

There is a lot to be learned from elite performers and how they set goals, manage adversity, and work with other people. These skills are certainly applicable to people who work and train in teams but also relevant to anyone who is striving towards a goal or objective.

One of my goals for this podcast to occasionally bring on guests with expertise in psychology, social sciences, philosophy, business and arts, whose insights might help all of us become happier, healthier and more productive individuals - and thus support our shared curiosity of the history, science, and culture of food and drink.

Expect to learn about what makes a high performance individual, how to set goals and protocols to achieve them, accountability, vulnerability, dealing with failure, managing your internal dialogue, dealing with stress and anxiety, maintaining perspective, motivation.

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Adrian Bridge is the CEO of Taylor’s, Croft, and Fonseca Port Wine brands, a hotelier, museum owner, and holder of perhaps the greatest collection of glassware on the planet. This interview was recored in one of Taylor’s port lodges on the banks of the Douro river.

To watch it in full atmospheric 4K HD head to the Curious Bartender YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVD2zCfy0GVCd5kFTmbsr_A/

Angus Winchester is a 36 year legend of the hospitality and drinks industry who has worked with bars and bartenders across the world. He was the ambassador for Tanqueray Gin for a number of years, and has also worked with Sean Finter at Barmetrix, BCB in Berlin, and the Dark Horse bar in Bath.

Follow him on Threads and IG: @anguswinchester

Vikram Achanta who is a 25 year veteran of the India bar and drinks industry. He is the  founder of Tulleeho, one of the country’s premiere education and consultancy agencies, the co-founder of 30 Best Bars in India and the co-founder of India Bartender Week. 

This conversation, recorded in October at Bar Convent Berlin, features Vikram, who was delivering a seminar on the rise of indigenous Indian spirits. I spent an insightful hour with him during the event.

In the first 15 minutes, Vikram discusses the rapid evolution of the Indian bar scene, which has progressed significantly since my last visit to Delhi over a decade ago.

We then delve into spirits production in India, covering gin, rum, and whisky—India is now the world’s largest whisky producer, consumer, and a major importer of Scotch. We also explore Indian agave spirits and dedicate the second half of the episode to Mahua and Feni, two lesser-known indigenous spirits made in small, traditional distilleries.

It’s fascinating to consider whether these unique spirits could someday achieve global recognition, much like mezcal has in recent years.

Dr. Arielle Johnson is a chemist, biologist and food scientist. She was the science advisor to Alton Brown on the TV show good eats, is a director’s fellow at MIT media lab and has worked with acclaimed cooks and scientists across the world. She is the chief scientific advisor for Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, which was founded by Rene Redzepi - who also wrote the forward for a recent book, Flavorama: A guide to unlocking the art and science of flavour (available to buy here - https://www.ariellejohnson.com/buy)

On the episode we discuss the building blocks of taste and aroma, why you should never underestimate a humans capacity to smell, what it’s like to be a chilli plant, the tools that scientists use to analyse flavour, smoke, campfires and evolution, how ai and biotech might shape the future of flavour, cooking with insects, our favourite flavour molecules, and much more.

This episode is available to watch on Youtube in 4k with chapter makers so you can single out the bits that interest you most.

Colin Dunn is a whisky educator and collector and one of the best known ambassadors for malt whisky in the UK. This is a wide ranging conversation about malt whisky covering producing regions, production, marketing, new and old distilleries, luxury whisky, along with a tonne of anecdotes from Colin. You're in for a treat.

We are switching Spotify episodes to audio only for the time being, as it makes it much easier to include an introduction to the episode. If you prefer it this way or the previous way (with no intro) feel free to let us know in the comments.

Colin is on instagram as @colindunnwhisky

I am on instagram as @tristanstephenson

This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree mixers.

Sean Finter is a hospitality coach and mentor who has worked with hundreds of clients over the past 20 years to help them improve profitability, hire better, optimise their business operations and generally perfect the craft of hospitality. Trawling Sean's social media, I offered him 10 of his own quotes with which to frame a conversation around hospitality, business, motivation, efficiency and sustainability.

Ian Burrell is a bartender, brand owner, and rum ambassador. He is best known as The Rum Ambassador and as the founder of RumFest, as well as the co-founder of Equiano rum. This is a wide ranging conversation about the culture, classification and love of rum. To support the podcast please subscribe!

Thanks to our sponsor: Fever-Tree

Ian's book is available to buy now - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rum-Tasting-Course-Flavor-Focused-Approach/dp/0241664578

Charles is a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, the author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, and the head of the The Crossmodal Research Laboratory, which explores the interactions between senses when we experience flavour.  Charles also won the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition for his work on the 'sonic crisp'. On the episode we discuss the evolution of flavour, the differences between taste and flavour, how our tongues and noses work, learned flavour associations, the impact of sound, texture, temperature, colour and weight on flavour perception, the tongue map, imagined flavour, Louis Cheskin and how corporations manipulate flavour through shape and packaging, 'sonic seasoning', desserts that make you cry, hairy cutlery and much, much more.

Follow me on Instagram

Buy Charles' Book, Gastrophysics

This episode is sponsored by Fever-Tree

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Alice Lascelles is an award-winning drinks journalist, author and presenter. On the episode expected to find out why I don’t garnish my martinis, the bizarre way that Hemingway liked to drink martinis, Ian Fleming’s tip for ordering a martini in a pub, why an espresso martini IS a martini, whether a £25 Martini is really worth it, how Alice found er guest shift at Quo Vadis, what it was like being part of the founding team at Imbibe Magazine, the current state of Non-alc, Alice’s experience judging the ‘Leafies’ aka the world tea awards, the rise of the Speaksleezy, and much more.

Buy Alice's new book The Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon: https://www.alicelascelles.com/books-the-martini