This week on The Speakeasy, Damon has a great conversation with friend and bartender Jim Meehan, author of "The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy". Jim discusses his experiences at PDT and elaborates on the bartender vs customer wars. Why do people always ask for vodka? Does vodka have a place in high-end cocktails? Tune in to hear about what it's like working on cocktail books and how the classics helped inspire Jim to get to where he is today. This episode was sponsored by Fairway Market.

Trust your barender! Especially if his name is Frankie Cocktails. Tune in to a friendly episode of The Speakeasy as Damon speaks with Frank Cicneros, aka Frankie Cocktails, about his latest venture, The Bourgeois Pig. Learn about his sherry based cocktails and how carbonated cocktails are generally trending. Don't be that guy at the bar who constantly asks for drink modifications, trust the expert behind the bar! This episode was sponsored by Fairway Market.

"People forget that proof and water content are very important elements of a cocktail" - Frankie Cocktails on The Speakeasy

"A great cocktail is the result of 50 failures" - Frankie Cocktails on The Speakeasy

This week on The Speakeasy Damon Boelte welcomes Time Out New York's infamous food and drink editor, Jordana Rothman. Jordana shares her defining, imbibing "a-ha" moment and gives listeners some insight into likely trends for 2012. Tune in to hear how she came around on challenging spirits like cynar and why she thinks nobody should be excluded from the cocktail movement. Damon & Jordana also discuss what makes food at cocktail bars successful and why small plates and communal dishes are usually the way to go. This episode was sponsored by White Oak Pastures.

"I'm committed to finding access points for my readers that may be buying Time Out New York for, say, the music listings. I want to find ways for people to get excited about the things I'm excited about."

"You can't get people excited about the cocktail movement by making people feel like assholes."

"I love when a cocktail bar isn't just providing a sponge for the booze, but putting some attention into the food."

Jordana Rothman on The Speakeasy