DrinkUp Live Podcast

Hosted by Samuel Anderson

Business Marketing

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Episodes

131

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to DrinkUp Live, the beverage industry's favorite happy hour disguised as a podcast. Welcome to DrinkUp Live, the beverage industry's favorite happy hour disguised as a podcast. Hosted by Samuel Anderson and Adam Smith, each week we sit down with founders, suppliers, distributors, retailers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders for real conversations about building brands, growing businesses, and navigating the beverage world. No corporate jargon. No fluff. Just great stories, practical insights, a few laughs, and the people shaping the future of the industry. Grab a drink and join us.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 24, 2026Episode 291 hr 4 min

Thirty Stores, Ninety Days: Warren Ezra of Brand Vault 360 on Testing Before You Scale

Thirty stores. Ninety days. Test before you scale. Warren Ezra, founder of Brand Vault 360 and author of Avoid the Learning Curve, joins Sam Anderson, Adam Smith and Chris Sico on DrinkUp to talk about protecting founders from expensive mistakes. We cover honest market tests, retail velocity, sponsorship spending before launch, celebrity partnerships, speed to shelf, and why signing a distributor is only the beginning. Learn more: Brand Vault 360 More DrinkUp: drinkuppodcast.com Commercial strategy and field execution: Frontline Beverage | BevAssets

October 20, 2026Episode 2851 min

The 44 Foot Shelf Problem: Brian Rosen on Capital, Bourbon Gluts and Founders Who Get Back Up

Every founder wants a check. Brian Rosen writes them. InvestBev founder Brian Rosen joins Sam Anderson on DrinkUp to talk about capital, bourbon inventory, crowded retail shelves, and the founders who keep getting back up. We cover the pitches that end an investor meeting, why distribution needs real support in the market, the role of credit and insurance, and why the founder can matter more than the liquid. Connect with Brian and InvestBev: investbev.com More DrinkUp: drinkuppodcast.com Commercial strategy and field execution: Frontline Beverage | BevAssets

October 19, 2026Episode 2552 min

Craft Spirits Is Not Dead. It Just Went Back To The Tasting Room.

Emily Pennington of the American Craft Spirits Association joins Sam Anderson to discuss craft distillers, tasting rooms, creating demand, distributor partnerships and building a business for the long term. Season 5, Episode 25 American Craft Spirits Association | DrinkUp Podcast

October 19, 2026Episode 2255 min

$100K Gets You On The Shelf. It Will Not Keep You There.

Sam Anderson, Adam Smith and Chris Siconolfi discuss the true cost of launching a beverage brand, working capital, pricing, distribution, finding the right partners and building demand one account at a time. Season 5, Episode 22 Pour Proof | Alias Advising | DrinkUp Podcast

October 19, 2026Episode 2657 min

Your Bottle Is Not The Hook. The Barrel Is.

Bryan Weisberg of Thousand Oaks Barrel Company joins Sam Anderson and Adam Smith to discuss small barrels, cocktail smokers and helping spirits brands earn a place behind the bar. Season 5, Episode 26 Thousand Oaks Barrel Company | DrinkUp Podcast

October 18, 2026Episode 2453 min

He Watched The Ocean Splash A Rock And Invented A Wine Decanter. It Took Him Two Days To Build The First One.

Michael Fors spent twenty-six years hosting Thursday night wine nights in his backyard before a walk on the rocks in Gloucester turned into a patented decanter. Sam Anderson talks with Michael, founder and inventor of Liquid Jazz Experience, about the idea behind the rocking decanter, building a prototype in two days, and turning a wine ritual into a business. Liquid Jazz Experience: https://liquidjazzexperience.com/ DrinkUp Podcast: https://drinkuppodcast.com/

October 18, 2026Episode 2758 min

Ten Years, 20,000 Names, One Plastic Mockup: Building Strobe The Slow Way

Chris Hicks of Strobe told us why a pre revenue RTD brand is skipping the retail shelf, why reorders beat first orders, and why he does not believe in a no win situation. Everybody wants the splashy launch story. The big party. The big raise. The shelf in every state. Chris Hicks has a different one. A box of nine shots built from art store plastic. A decade of research. And a brand name picked from 20,000 options. Strob: https://strob.com/ DrinkUp Live Podcast: https://drinkuppodcast.com/ Frontline Beverage: https://frontlinebeverage.com/ BevAssets: https://liquorsalesanddistribution.com/

October 18, 2026Episode 231 hr 0 min

All Publicity Is Not Good Publicity

Steve Turner owns Solomon Turner PR in St. Louis. Threedecades of campaigns. Named a top St. Louis PR firm by Small Business Monthlyfor 17 straight years. His client list reads like a personal development hall offame. Tony Robbins. Brian Tracy. Steve Forbes. Coldwell Banker. NorthwesternMutual. He just published a book called PR That Works because hewent looking for one and could not find it. Adam Smith joined us from Alias Advising, and he wentdeep on this one. Adam did PR and radio before beverage, so the two of themspoke the same language for an hour.

September 27, 2026Episode 2148 min

He Sold Pickle Shots Out Of His Trunk. Now He Runs The Co-Packer That Won't Bury You In MOQs.

Dan Graves built Dirty Dill from a garage in Denver, then builtScaleaway to fix the exact problem that almost broke him: co-packers who wantsixteen thousand cases from a brand that hasn't sold one yet. Everybody wants to hear the version where the brand takesoff. Nobody wants to hear the version where you hand pumpshooters into bottles in a garage that was, in his words, embarrassing to showpeople. That second version is the one that actually builtsomething. Dan Graves lived both, and now he owns the facility thatdecides whether other founders have to.

September 20, 2026Episode 2058 min

300 Tequilas On The Wall. Five Of Them Sell with Henry Matus

Henry Matus built a menu intelligence platform that ranks bypalate instead of by brand size. If you make a small brand, this is the shelfmath you have been waiting for. One of my clients walked me down her back bar last week. Three hundred tequilas. Beautiful wall. Great lighting. I asked her how many of them actually sell. Five. Three hundred SKUs. Five movers. And every one of theother 295 brands paid something to get up there.

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