Dr. Kevin Peterson (Instagram) is one of the driving forces behind the perfumery Sfumato Fragrances (website, Instagram) and Castalia Cocktails (website, Instagram) in Detroit.

Kevin landed on my radar because of his book, Cocktail Theory - A Sensory Approach to Transcendent Drinks. In addition to calling on his background in perfumery as a study of flavor, one of the things in particular that Kevin investigates is how to extend the lifetime of a drink, which involves working against the forces that can throw a drink out of its ideal state: temperature, dilution, and aeration.

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Charles Joly (website, Instagram) is a renowned mixologist, media personality, and innovative bartending entrepreneur. We met to discuss his latest collaborative venture The Riff Raff Club (website, Instagram) with Virgin Hotels.

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Charles says if you want to see more pictures of his dog Jackson, follow him on Instagram.

Joe and MariElena Raya launched are the driving force behind Bittermilk Bottling Co. They produce an array of cocktail/mocktail mixers and syrups as well as ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails.

They met at the Culinary Institute of America, and when they decided to return to Charleston, MariElena’s hometown, they took over a space her family had run for years and opened The Gin Joint, which is considered to be one of the city’s original cocktail bars of the modern era.

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Allen Katz (Instagram) founded the New York Distilling Company (website, Instagram) in 2011. He was in the industry for many years before this and during a trip to the town of Plymouth, England to visit the Plymouth Gin Distillery, Allen was overcome by the urban location of the distillery.

Many historic distilleries were often located in the countryside to be near the produce when it was harvested from farms. As a proud resident of New York City, this left him wondering if this might be possible in New York. Since its beginning, NYDC has focused on distilling products with historic ties to New York, specifically gin and rye whiskey.

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Not long into the running of the distillery, Allen found himself at Cornell’s College of Agriculture discussing grains with historical ties to the region. He was later sent 10 seeds in a white envelope called Horton Rye. After years of cultivating these seeds into an amount that could be field tested, 14 years later they now have a rye whiskey called Jaywalk Rye.

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Marshall Minaya (Instagram) is the beverage manager of Valerie, Madame George, and Lolita in Midtown Manhattan. The work of running three programs aside, we sat down to discuss his newest “project”, being a father to Florence, and how he is attempting to balance it with work.

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Today’s conversation is about the upcoming book The Bartender’s Pantry (website, Instagram), which was written by Jim Meehan (Instagram), Bart Sasso (Instagram), and (Instagram).

This multi-year project was catalyzed when Jim began to wonder if the teachings he’d learned about drink mixers and garnishes hadn’t reached the next generation of bartenders. At the same time, he reflected on some of the things he believed about them that he’d never investigated and verified.

In the book, you’ll find variety of categories to explore like sugars, grains, nuts, dairy, fruits, ferments, coffee, tea, and more.

In addition to being a partner in the Atlanta-based bar Ticonderoga Club, Bart’s background in design can be seen in illustrations throughout the book aimed at distilling kitchen projects onto one page.

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After years of being deep in research, testing, and writing, Jim and Bart asked (maybe begged?🙏) Emma to help them turn their mountain of information into a coherent and enjoyable story. Thus, the book is now here for all to read. It comes out on June 11th.

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Ben Branson (@Seedlip_Ben) launched Seedlip, the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit in 2015. Today it is available in roughly 25 countries and because it carries the designation non-alcoholic, it can be easily shipped to your door in the mail.

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Seedlip has four products, with its most recent launch being Notas de Agave, which is only sold in the US. They have an AI tool named Elli, which can help you decide what to buy and how to use it.

The two biggest takeaways from my conversation were: 1) a drink whether it has alcohol or not, deserves the same amount of care and attention. 2) when you buy a drink, are you paying for the ABV or the flavor and experience?

According to IWSR, the non-alcoholic market is now worth more than $13 billion. Ben believes there will be upcoming consolidations in the market as it balloons, but the overall trend is upward.

Ben mentioned a 17th-century document, The Art of Distillation, which helped him learn how to make basic non-alcoholic products.

Kip Moffitt (@kipmoffitt) is the head bartender of Superbueno (website, Instagram). A Mexican-American bar that opened for just over a year in Manhattan’s East Village and was just awarded the #2 spot on North America’s 50 Best Bars list.

The genesis of the bar came from Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez (@hopignacio) and explores the intersections he has experienced as a resident of New York who is from Mexico.

Kip and I talked about Mexican brandies coming on the market, particularly one he likes from Tosba. They use one in their Green Mango Martini. We also discussed their margarita, which contains a mushroom called “huitlacoche” that grows on corn.

A fun fact about their menu is that their most “sciency” cocktail as Kip put it, is their Vodka Y Soda cocktail. While you should definitely listen to my conversation with Kip first if you want to go in-depth on the Vodka Y Soda, check out Nacho’s conversation on the Cocktail College podcast.