Neil Ridley

Neil Ridley is an award-winning professional drinks writer, broadcaster, consultant, host and presenter with over 15 years of food and drink industry experience.

He has been shortlisted four times as a 'Communicator Of The Year' by the Intenational Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) and his first book, co-written with Joel Harrison, Distilled: A Guide To The World's Best Spirits (Octopus Publishing), was awarded ‘Best Drinks Book’ in The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards in 2015. To date, it is the biggest selling book globally on pan-spirits, now published in 14 different languages. His recent cocktail book, 60-Second Cocktails is a no.1 bestseller in both the UK and the USA.


His latest book, Hot Sauce, A Fiery Guide to 101 of the World’s Greatest Sauces also reached the top ten in the food book charts. He is also the author and co-author of a further 7 books on drinks, cocktails and bar culture.


Neil is also an experienced and highly versatile TV host and presenter, serving as a resident drinks expert on Channel 4 Sunday Brunch for the past 9 years.