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 bar
• Building foundations at Cantina, Prizefighter, Perch and Mrs. Fish – and what high-volume vs high-craft venues each taught him
• Picking up a GoPro, posting rough early videos and realising a working bartender could step into the influencer space
• COVID as a turning point: brand deals, staying afloat and the decision to leave regular bar work for full-time content creation
• The responsibility of bartender-creators: transparency around paid partnerships and learning to say no to brands that don’t fit
• The inside story of the Batanga “conspiracy” and what it reveals about how online trends drive real-life orders
• Balancing social-friendly recipes with drinks that bars and home drinkers can actually execute
• Why Hawk is less interested in rotovaps and more focused on simple, repeatable cocktails you want four of—not just a one-off spectacle
• How films, food and ingredients inspire his recipes, including a deep dive into his Joker-inspired cocktail build

About Saeed “Hawk” House

Saeed “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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

• How 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.

• “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.

• Follow Sother Teague → @CreativeDrunk
• Amor y Amargo — amoryamargo.com
• SAUCED Podcast → Check out the Kickstarter now live
• I’m Just Here for the Drinks – Sother Teague’s essential book on spirits and flavour

Follow & Subscribe:

👉 Instagram @welovecocktails

👉 TikTok @welovecocktailsx

👉 Listen & support → thecocktailacademy.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.lounge
• Jamie Lewis @jamielewislewis
• Drew Fleming @drewfleming00
• The Cocktail Academy @welovecocktails | @welovecocktailsx
• sayhello@thecocktailacademy.com

If 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.