Speed Rack is a national cocktail competition featuring top female bartenders in key cocktail markets, putting them head to head in round robin style timed and judged challenges. It is the first competition to highlight the up and coming generation of strong women in the spirits industry. 100% of the proceeds from the events they produce goes to breast cancer education, prevention and research. On this week's episode of In the Drink, tune in as Joe Campanale chats with the ladies behind the competition, Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero. Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini, who will be a judge at Speed Rack, also joins the show to explain how he will be critically tasting the drinks at the competition. Find out how Speed Rack started, what makes it so unique, and tune in for a special on-air cocktail! This program was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

"It was hard for a woman to become a 'mixologist' because we look stupid in suspenders and can't grow a mustache!" [18:00]

--Ivy Mix on In the Drink

Meet Eric Ripert - one of the most adored and celebrated chefs working in America today. Eric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of the New York restaurant Le Bernardin, which ranks 18 on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The celebrated restaurant holds three stars from the Michelin Guide, a “29” food rating from the 2011 Zagat Guide, the highest of any restaurant in the city, and has upheld a four-star review from The New York Times for over two decades. It has never dropped a star throughout four reviews, and is the only restaurant to maintain four stars for that length of time. We proudly present his life story on Evolutionaries. Hear him recount his upbringing in Andorra, his time spent with Jean-Louis Palladin in Washington DC, and his career defining work at Le Bernadin. Discover how he overcame the oppressive confrontational kitchen culture of France to embrace a more relaxed and loving management style that he implemented in the kitchen at Le Bernadin. This program was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

Bill Fitch, wine director of Vinegar Hill House and recently opened Hillside talks about his experiences in the wine industry. He discusses the trends of wine, especially in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn food and wine scene. Bill had to have surgery to gain a sense of smell, and upon gaining his sense of scent, was obsessed with smell which led him to wine. In Portland Oregon, he had his first wine related job in a wine cellar, learning all he could about wines. He came to NYC in 1998 and worked at Il Bucco. Soon after, he began putting together wine lists for various NYC restaurants. Currently, he splits his time between Paris and New York City. Today's show was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

I was a kindergarden teacher in the Waldorf and Montessori method... I The enthusiasm is learned and picked up by the children. I like that, everyone is in a certain stage of their wine education." [23:00]

--Bill Fitch on In the Drink