Noah Sanborn Friedman, the co-founder of Top Shelf Ventures, spends his day looking for alcohol brands to invest in, and he has a lot of insights into everything from navigating the USA’s complex regulatory system to raising capital in a challenging market. In this interview, he discusses what he looks for in a brand, the importance of liquid-to-lips strategy and why he believes now is the best time to invest in alcohol. He also talks about the industry’s response to health and wellness trends and the rise of non-alc beverages.

Noah’s great combination of hard-headed financial acumen and great enthusiasm makes this a lively, insightful conversation.

Were you a brainy kid in high school? If so, science may be able to predict how much alcohol you will drink later in life. That’s a finding from Professor Sherwood Brown, a distinguished teaching Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses the relationship between IQ and alcohol consumption in later life, the factors that contribute to alcohol use disorder, and what’s currently known about the best way to treat alcohol use disorder. And also the surprising relationship between alcohol consumption and asthma.

But there’s also a lot we don’t know, and Dr Brown outlines the gaps, plus spills the tea on what doctors drink when they get together. It’s a great episode that answers a lot of questions about alcohol, addiction and the brain.

One of the hardest problems to solve in the non-alc category is the substitute wine. Charlie Friedmann, the president and co-founder of Proxies, was not only one of the earliest brands in the non-alcoholic drink space, but also one of the first to solve the taste problem — and do it in an artisanal way. In this episode of Drinks Insider, Charlie talks about his journey from corporate lawyer to food and wine writer to entrepreneur. He shares the story of Proxies, from its humble beginnings in a small production facility to its current status as a leading brand in the non-alcoholic beverage market. He also shares his insights on the non-alcoholic beverage market, and where he sees the opportunities for growth in the future.