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Leslie Merinoff Kwasnieski

@thebookofbam

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Distiller/Partner @matchbookdistilling. I make perfume for drinking. ‘25 DistillerOfTheYear. ‘26 Distillery Of The Year. Innkeeper @thelinbeachhouse.

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If we could shriek, we'd shriek 😝🤩

October 14th is about to be a whole thing. 🔥
We’re teaming up with the one and only @thebookofbam (Leslie Merinoff Kwasnieski) of @matchbookdistilling, who’s bringing the heat to the cocktail menu alongside @lordandrewpierce. 🍸💥

And because that wasn’t enough, our own Chef @plantainsupernova_ is digging deep into his Dominican roots and serving up a storm of a menu. 🇩🇴🌪️

Big drinks. Big flavors. A little chaos. Exactly how we like it. No tix required. Just book your table or swing through!!

#womensupportingwomen #thisishowwedoit #ticktick #BOOM💥

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Join Leslie and the Matchbook crew for an afternoon of tasting, cocktails, and snacks.

📍 Bowler Wine Office
📅 Tuesday, September 22
⏰ 1–4 PM

Drop in whenever works for you and taste through the Matchbook Distilling portfolio, grab a cocktail, and hang out with the team.

RSVP • Industry Only

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𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗸… 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦🍴  The Weekend Dose is your invitation into what it truly means to live off the land & sea on the North Fork of Long Island. It’s that vacation mindset woven by an itinerary punctuated by the local catch, dinners in the garden, apothecary botanicals @matchbookdistilling, a sequestered weekend stay at @thelinbeachhouse, and all with enough time for your own side quest into the village of Greenport ⚓   💞 Next session: September 4th ☀️ Make this Labor Day weekend soft, swoon worthy, and a little unforgettable- and let yourself be swept up by the enchantment of the Lin 💫  ✨ Learn more in the link in our bio as well as @thelinbeachhouse.  Cheers 🥂 

#greenportny #northfork

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Magical few days thanks to @thebookofbam @thelinbeachhouse @matchbookdistilling 🌻 lucky to learn from such incredibly passionate and talented people. Your world in Greenport is so special.

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“I’ve visited the North Fork at least a dozen times, so I knew I would enjoy time in Greenport, but I didn’t expect to come home with an entirely new appreciation for the area. For three days, everything I ate, drank, and bought had a story to tell. Fishermen walked through the inn’s side door with the morning’s catch, straight from the Sound. The Lin’s chef-in-residence Meg Huylo plucked dill from the garden for an herb-packed frittata.”

Link in bio for the full story 🐚

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The Philip Duff Show doesn't care about mere knees-ups like Tales of the Cocktail, we publish an episode every week, events be damned! This was a fascinating chat with Distiller of the Year Leslie Merinoff*-Kwasnieski, maestra of Matchbook Distilling, which makes some of the most unique and hyper-local distillates in America, often as collabs with some of the finest cocktail bars across the country like Death & Co, Schmuck, and many more. (She's also an innkeeper!). If you have even the remotest interest in distilling, this is the episode for you. Link in Stories, bio or wherever you get your 'pods. *Sister of Andrew Merinoff, co-founder of Chinola, Coconut Cartel, etc., & who was on The Philip Duff Show episode #154.

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Here’s a sample of what’s happening during @tales_of_the_cocktail 💙⁠
⁠
Got an event, talk or panel you’re a part of? Drop the details in the comments!

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Day 2 at @barconventbrooklyn was about slowing down and listening

What I appreciated most was how the learning extended beyond the sessions. It was alive in the conversations, shared experiences, and reconnections along this path

The education panels were a major highlight. Across different backgrounds, the same core questions kept surfacing:

• How do we take inspiration without extraction?
• How do we tell stories with care?
• How do we reconnect the land to the glass?

Smells Like Green Spirit opened dialogue around what green spirits can mean beyond just the liquid. During Border Crossings @luifern shared a line that stayed with me:

When we borrow, we also credit. When we reinterpret, we also respect."

That idea carried through Roots, Resistance & Regeneration, where sustainability wasn't discussed simply as reducing waste, but as understanding history, supporting producers, and respecting the knowledge behind the ingredients we use

One smaller moment that stayed with me came after A Culinary Course in Cacao Cocktails. I had a care package left over from my last Terra Madre with cacao, coffee, and shadon beni from Trinidad. After hearing @rohithram15 speak about cacao, sharing it felt like the right thing to do

Between sessions, I explored the show floor, discovering new flavors and enjoying the creativity on display. And after what felt like the longest line of the day, I managed to grab one of the limited edition Barfly New York skyline shaker tins. Worth it. 😄

The day ended at @kabin.nyc, finally meeting @audrey.hands after connecting online through both @raisethebar_mentorship and @tahonasociety. I also crossed paths with familiar faces from those communities throughout the day, including @kapri.possible and @alchemistkate

Even brief moments like these are reminders that these programs create connections that extend far beyond the sessions themselves

More than anything, Day 2 reinforced something I've believed for a long time:

The future of beverages is not just about what is in the glass. It's about the people, the places, the stories, and the ecosystems that make that glass possible.

Garden to Glass has a place in that conversation

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I'm writing for @read.feedme every week from now on!
For the most part I think it'll be every Friday. Sometimes it'll be shorter, sometimes it'll be longer, but you'll always have something interesting and food related to send you off into the weekend hungry.

I wrote about my first trip to Long Island, staying and eating and drinking and fishing shucking and making my own gin at the @thelinbeachhouse on the north fork.

And I wrote a little bit about my local trattoria @ilpostoaccanto one of my favorite places to dine (and read) on a summers eve. I'd like to make a habit of eating lunch at il posto. I'll be taking my day time meetings there. HMU

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LAST STOP ON THE FIELD STUDY TOUR 🚎

@devie.bar @thedeadrabbitny @slowdrinks @bluehillfarm @thelifeofreillynj @seedlibrarynyc

Tomorrow @ The Dead Rabbit
Round Table 4 - 5:30pm
Drinks 6 - 10pm

Supported as always by @heavenhillbrands & for our final stop in collaboration with @matchbookdistilling 🫶🏼🙏🏼

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SPACE SODA 🥤

Created in collaboration with @matchbookdistilling

Part soda fountain nostalgia/ Part Star Wars.

Freeze-dried ice cream distillate layered with strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla distillates, blended with clarified whey, seasoned with tonka bean syrup, and force-carbonated.

A liquid memory from the future.
The first chapter of a new cocktail program currently deep in R&D.

Catch @thebookofbam and I at @tales_of_the_cocktail this year for “Break Down the Science and Techniques Behind Unforgettable Flavor Combinations” — a discussion on the science, creativity, and techniques behind building flavors that feel impossible, yet strangely familiar.

#vibes #nyc #cocktails #space #usa

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We love it when women do cool shit and @matchbookdistilling and @daytripamaro are no exception. The strawberry amaro is truly unique and is a wonderful reminder that all amari is different.

While we don’t have any strawberry in our drinks, we do have one sku that I would say leans more along the lines of the daytrip vibe. I have really struggled while formulating on what to call it - it’s less bitter, it’s sweeter BUT it still has many botanicals, florals and citrus profiles and is still engineered the same way as a traditional amaro. Tasting daytrip has given me the confidence that an amaro doesn’t HAVE to hit you in the face with bitterness, and for that, I’m grateful.

SCOOP IT if you drink the alcohols and tell me about it.

#amaro #zeroproof #cocktails #summer

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