The Cocktail Academy

Tyler Zielinski has built one of the most interesting careers in modern drinks. In this episode, Damian chats with the author of Tiny Cocktails about his path from early bartending roles in Boston, to advertising in New York, to becoming a writer, consultant, educator, and content creator working across the global drinks industry.They talk about what it really takes to build a career beyond the bar, why modern bartenders need to think differently about networking and visibility, and how Tyler carved out a lane that blends hospitality, media, and brand work.The conversation also digs into the rise of tiny cocktails — what they actually are, why they are more than just glorified shots, and how they can create real value for bars and guests alike. Tyler also shares how the book opened the door to projects like Wheels Up and the Up Mini Bar, showing how one idea can evolve into something much bigger.A great listen for bartenders, operators, drinks creatives, and anyone curious about where cocktail culture is heading next.In this episode:Tyler’s route into hospitalityFrom Boston bars to New York advertisingWhy content creation in drinks is harder than it looksBuilding a career outside the traditional bar pathWhy bartenders need to diversify their networkWhat tiny cocktails actually areHow smaller serves can work in a bar programPricing, access, and tasting-menu applicationsThe Wheels Up partnership and Up Mini BarWhy unusual ideas can lead to major opportunitiesFollow Tyler:Instagram: @bon_vivantitoIndustry content: @zeststoriesFollow The Cocktail Academy:Instagram: @welovecocktailsTikTok: @welovecocktailsxFacebook: @welovecocktailsxWebsite: www.thecocktailacademy.comEmail: sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a bartender mate, post it to your story, and tag us so we can see it.

Lindsey Johnson has spent nearly two decades quietly shaping the global drinks industry from behind the scenes. From punk bar bartender to broadcast journalist to founder of the world’s first bartender advocacy agency, Lindsey built Lush Life Productions on one simple principle: take care of bartenders and they’ll take care of everything else.In this episode, we dive into how she bridges the gap between brands and the bar community, why hospitality professionals should be treated like VIP guests, and the uncomfortable truths about awards, recognition, and what really matters in this industry.In this episode we cover:Lindsey’s unconventional path from punk clubs to brand strategistWhy 80% of alcohol purchasing decisions are influenced by bartendersThe founding of Lush Life Productions and 19 years of bartender advocacyWhy brands still misunderstand the power of the barEconomic downturns and why they often lead to smarter brand investmentThe real reason some bartender programs failWhy hospitality must be practiced towards hospitality professionalsWhy awards don’t always equal impactSocial responsibility and bars as community safe spacesAdvice for bartenders who want to work with brandsAdvice for small brands trying to grow strategicallyKey TakeawaysIf you want bartenders to champion your brand, feed them, respect them, and invest in them properly.Showing up consistently matters more than chasing visibility.Awards are nice — but mentorship and community-building matter more.Smaller brands win by focusing deeply, not broadly.Hospitality is not a buzzword. It’s logistics, care, trust, and follow-through.Connect with Lindsey🌐 Website: https://lushlifeproductions.com📩 Sign up to the newsletter via the website📸 Instagram:@livethelushlife@pdxcw (Portland Cocktail Week)@camp_runamuckIf you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone in hospitality who needs to hear it.

In this episode, Damian sits down with Declan McGurk, a hospitality leader whose career spans high-volume bars, global spirits brands, and one of the most iconic hotel bars in the world.Declan traces his journey from glass collecting and flair bartending in late-90s Leeds, through brand and sales roles in London, to managing the legendary American Bar at The Savoy. Along the way, he shares why systems matter more than stories, how classics training builds real confidence behind the bar, and why the martini remains the ultimate benchmark for hospitality standards.The conversation also dives into his move to Boatyard Distillery, the realities of growing a spirits brand in a crowded market, and why bartender trust is still the most powerful driver of long-term success.A must-listen for bartenders, managers, and drinks professionals who care about fundamentals, consistency, and genuine hospitality.In this episode:Starting out behind the bar and learning through structured trainingWhy everyone in hospitality is in sales (whether they realise it or not)Lessons from The Savoy: consistency over personalityThe martini as a diagnostic tool for bars and bartendersClassics vs over-complicated cocktail menusThe current state of gin and why “real gin” still mattersWhat great hospitality actually looks like heading into 2026Key takeaway:Great hospitality isn’t about perfection, i t’s about standards, energy, and making sure nobody leaves unhappy, guests or staff.🎧 Listen now and subscribe to The Cocktail Academy Podcast for more conversations with the people shaping modern hospitality.Instagram 📲 Follow @welovecocktails for episode clips, insights, and bartender-focused content.

Saeed “Hawk” House – better known online as @cocktailsbyhawk – joins Damian to talk about his path from Bay Area barback to LA content creator, why he still thinks like a working bartender, and how influencers with real bar chops can shape what guests drink around the world.They get into the tension between “what works on Instagram” and “what works on a busy Friday night,” the responsibilities that come with reach, and Hawk’s campaign to make cocktails fun (and drinkable) again.In this episode, we cover:Growing up in the Bay Area, studying audio engineering and falling sideways into bartending via Burning Man and Chelsea’s nudge behind the barBuilding foundations at Cantina, Prizefighter, Perch and Mrs. Fish – and what high-volume vs high-craft venues each taught himPicking up a GoPro, posting rough early videos and realising a working bartender could step into the influencer spaceCOVID as a turning point: brand deals, staying afloat and the decision to leave regular bar work for full-time content creationThe responsibility of bartender-creators: transparency around paid partnerships and learning to say no to brands that don’t fitThe inside story of the Batanga “conspiracy” and what it reveals about how online trends drive real-life ordersBalancing social-friendly recipes with drinks that bars and home drinkers can actually executeWhy Hawk is less interested in rotovaps and more focused on simple, repeatable cocktails you want four of—not just a one-off spectacleHow films, food and ingredients inspire his recipes, including a deep dive into his Joker-inspired cocktail buildAbout Saeed “Hawk” HouseSaeed “Hawk” House is a Los Angeles–based bartender, consultant and full-time creator behind Cocktails by Hawk. After years in San Francisco and LA bars, he now partners with spirits brands, develops menus, runs a mobile bartending business and shares approachable cocktail content with a global audience.Find Hawk: @cocktailsbyhawk on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and more.Find The Cocktail Academy: thecocktailacademy.com · IG @welovecocktails · TikTok @welovecocktailsx

From culinary classrooms to cocktail culture, Sother Teague has built one of the most distinctive bars in the world... Amor y Amargo in New York’s East Village by doing what few dared: saying no to juice, sugar and shakers, and saying yes to bitter, spirit-forward drinks built on precision and hospitality.In this episode, Damian sits down with the bartender, author and educator to talk about how a career that began in kitchens shaped his approach behind the bar, why “bitterness is the grown-up flavour,” and how a 240-square-foot pop-up turned into a global benchmark for flavour integrity and service culture.🧾 In This EpisodeHow Sother’s culinary discipline and mise en place mindset shaped his bar craft.The story of Amor y Amargo’s accidental beginnings — and why it still hasn’t stopped “popping” 14 years later.Building a bar around limitations and flavour focus: no fruit, no shakers, no syrups — only spirits, fortified wines and bitters.Turning “no” into “yes, but…” — educating guests through experience.The manifesto every team member receives: a two-way promise of mentorship, standards and care.Why true hospitality is about feelings, not transactions.New ventures: SAUCED, Sother’s upcoming podcast blending food, booze and creative friendship.🍊 Key Takeaways“We sell hospitality — everything else comes with it for free.”The first 10 seconds at the bar are everything: eye contact, a menu, and a glass of water.Great bartending starts with knowing your ingredients like a chef knows flavour.Limitation can be a creative superpower.Hospitality isn’t service — it’s making people feel welcome, comfortable, and cared for.🔗 Links & MentionsFollow Sother Teague → @CreativeDrunkAmor y Amargo — amoryamargo.comSAUCED Podcast → Check out the Kickstarter now liveI’m Just Here for the Drinks – Sother Teague’s essential book on spirits and flavourFollow & Subscribe:👉 Instagram @welovecocktails👉 TikTok @welovecocktailsx👉 Listen & support → thecocktailacademy.com

On this episode, Damian Cole sits down with Jamie Lewis and Drew Fleming from Kiki Lounge — the award-winning bar bringing tropical escapism to the windswept Isle of Man. The pair share how a pandemic pivot turned a small-island nightclub into one of the UK’s most talked-about cocktail destinations, and why they chose to drop the word tiki in favour of something more authentic and inclusive.They talk origin stories, supply-chain nightmares, and the creative freedom that comes with isolation. With only 80 thousand residents and every delivery arriving by boat, Kiki’s team have learned to plan months ahead, reuse everything, and turn scarcity into a design principle. From fermenting pineapple trim into milk punch to developing house “super-juice” for consistency, they prove sustainability can be both pragmatic and profitable.Jamie traces his path from McDonald’s in Sheffield to running Bath & Bottle and opening his first pop-up in a hotel basement. Drew recalls starting as a 17-year-old glass-washer before discovering hospitality’s addictive rhythm and rising to co-founder. Together they explain how Kiki Lounge began mid-COVID as a one-room experiment and evolved into a purpose-built venue mixing neon, pop culture, and tongue-in-cheek tropical style.The conversation dives deep into:Island hospitality: how intimacy, consistency, and humour define service in a close-knit community.Cultural awareness: moving beyond tiki stereotypes to celebrate joy and colour without caricature.Sustainability by necessity: waste-free prep, local-first sourcing, and ingredient life-cycles that make sense on a small island.The zine menu: an ever-changing printed magazine that educates guests (“What the **** is Kiki?”) and keeps the team inspired.Hospitality outside the glass: the energy, soundtrack, and sense of fun that make a night at Kiki feel like an event.Expect plenty of stories — from trading bar tabs for furniture in the early days to guest-shifts aboard the island’s heritage steam train. They also name their dream Kiki soundtrack (Spice Girls, Anderson .Paak, Madonna), confess the most Isle-of-Man thing that’s ever happened during service, and share their picks for overrated and underrated cocktails (spoiler: flavour-blaster bubbles out, 20th Century in).Key takeaways for bar owners and bartenders:You don’t need a big city to build a world-class bar; you need a clear identity.Sustainability works best when it’s built into the workflow, not bolted on for PR.Fun and professionalism can coexist — “we take what we do seriously, but not ourselves.”Print menus can educate, entertain, and evolve with your guests.Why it matters:Kiki Lounge has redefined what island hospitality can be — proving that creativity, community, and a little irony can turn 36 miles of rock in the Irish Sea into a global cocktail destination.Connect & Follow:Kiki Lounge @kikis.loungeJamie Lewis @jamielewislewisDrew Fleming @drewfleming00The Cocktail Academy @welovecocktails | @welovecocktailsxsayhello@thecocktailacademy.comIf you enjoyed this episode: share it with a hospitality friend, rate & review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and subscribe for weekly conversations with the bartenders, owners, and authors shaping modern cocktail culture.

This week Damian is joined by Emma Janzen, an award-winning journalist and drinks writer whose byline has become a fixture in the cocktail world. What started as a happy accident — cocktail classes in Austin, Texas, and a story pitch at her local newspaper — turned into a decade-plus career exploring drinks, design, and the culture surrounding them.Emma shares how she transitioned from multimedia work at a paper into drinks journalism, eventually becoming digital editor at Imbibe magazine before striking out on her own to focus on spirits, cocktails, and book projects. Along the way, she became a trusted collaborator for some of the biggest names in bartending, including Julia Momose (The Way of the Cocktail), Toby Maloney (The Bartender’s Manifesto), and Jim Meehan (The Bartender’s Pantry).In this conversation we cover:Emma’s unconventional path into the industry — from design writing to drinks journalism.The cocktail classes and first visit to Tales of the Cocktail that sparked her passion.Lessons from seven years at Imbibe and how that shaped her perspective on drinks writing.Moving into co-authoring books with leading bartenders and how her role flexes from writer to editor to project manager.Behind the scenes of The Bartender’s Manifesto and the challenge of translating Toby Maloney’s teaching into a book format.Why The Bartender’s Pantry feels like a pattern interrupt in cocktail publishing — with its focus on ingredients, culture, and ethics.Emma’s philosophy on what makes a book worth writing (and worth reading) in an industry full of recipe collections.Advice for bartenders and operators thinking about writing a book — from finding your niche to doing the research, and the realities of time, money, and motivation.Her favourite drinks books that continue to inspire her writing and thinking.What styles of cocktail books she’s ready to see less of.Emma also talks honestly about the craft of writing — how she bridges the gap between a bartender’s knowledge and what readers actually need — and why books in this space are best viewed as a service to the community.📲 Connect with Emma: Instagram @emmajanzen 🎧 Listen to more episodes & Lock-In sessions: thecocktailacademy.com 📩 Get in touch with Damian: sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com

This week on The Cocktail Academy Podcast, Damian welcomes back Tim Herlihy, co-founder of Lost Irish Whiskey, storyteller, and longtime champion of Irish hospitality.Tim’s journey is anything but ordinary — from working on his family’s egg farm in Termonfeckin, County Louth, to becoming U.S. Ambassador for Tullamore D.E.W., and now building a modern Irish whiskey brand that celebrates the global Irish diaspora.In this episode we cover:The buzz of the Irish House takeover at Tales of the Cocktail and why it marked such a powerful moment for Ireland’s bartenders, brands, and hospitality.Tim’s leap from farming to whiskey through the Bord Bia Fellowship and his early work with Cooley Distillery.Nearly a decade with Tullamore D.E.W., helping the brand grow across the U.S. and beyond.The spark behind Lost Irish Whiskey — how the concept of the Irish diaspora became both the story and the liquid.Sourcing casks from six continents, blending challenges, and the unexpected flavours that shaped the final whiskey.Why bottle design details like grip, cork acoustics, and visibility on the back bar were crucial to the brand’s identity.Insights from co-authoring From Barley to Blarney with the Dead Rabbit team, and how it influenced Tim’s approach to storytelling.What makes Irish pubs such enduring cultural spaces — unpretentiousness, community, and conversation.Tim also shares his quickfire takes:Banished forever: Aquafaba in cocktails.Favourite cocktail experience: Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco.Best pint of Guinness in Ireland: The Palace Bar, Dublin.Best pint abroad: Graces Bar on 14th Street, New York City.📩 To get in touch with Tim:Instagram: @lostirishtimInstagram (brand): @lostirishwhiskey🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.📩 To get in touch with Damian: sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram @welovecocktails

This week Damian is joined by Mandy Naglich, an Advanced Cicerone®, certified taster, drinks writer, and author of How to Taste. Mandy’s journey into the world of flavor started with homebrewing, where she won a gold medal at the National Homebrew Competition in 2016, and led her into the deep study of sensory science, fermentation, and tasting.In this episode, Mandy shares:How she went from winning a homebrew medal to becoming an Advanced Cicerone® and certified taster.Why fermentation underpins so many flavors we love—from chocolate and cheese to beer, wine, and spirits.Her take on the crossovers between beer, wine, and cocktails, and why cocktails are leading the charge in embracing science and chemistry.The biggest misconceptions about tasting—and why anyone can become a better taster with practice.Damian’s firsthand experience of the super taster test at Tales of the Cocktail, and what our genes reveal about how we each perceive flavor differently.The crucial role of aroma and retronasal smell in shaping what we taste.How sight, texture, and expectation can make or break the drinking experience.Tips for building your own flavor vocabulary and why note-taking helps train your palate.The surprising ways memory and context shape tasting, from German Hefeweizen to holiday meals.Mandy’s passion shines through as she shows how taste is not just biology—it’s memory, context, and practice. Whether you’re a bartender, a drinks enthusiast, or just curious about why things taste the way they do, this episode will give you tools to taste with more clarity, confidence, and joy.👉 Follow Mandy: @drinkswithmandy 📖 Her book: How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life🎙️ Lock-In Sessions Want more? Each episode continues in The Cocktail Academy Lock-In—exclusive, industry-focused conversations for bartenders, operators, and serious drinks fans. You can listen to Mandy’s Lock-In session and all previous extras for FREE at thecocktailacademy.com.📩 Connect with DamianInstagram: @welovecocktailsTikTok: @welovecocktailsxFacebook: @welovecocktailsxEmail: sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com