Diffordsguide.com was founded in 2001 and has grown to become one of the most complete and authoritative sources on cocktails and bartending.
It is staffed by a dazzling array of top talents, as you can see:
Simon lives and breathes the modern drinks industry. His own bar, at his house in South London, is one of the best stocked bars in the world, with practically every example of spirits and liqueurs on the market today. He has become a world authority and expert on distillation and is respected for his encyclopeadic knowledge of spirits production. And when he's not tasting and testing new products, he's out there 'in the field' road-testing bars around the world - instantly recognizable if not by his personal appearance but by his signature bar call - so if you hear someone ask for a 'Classic Daiquiri' in a Cockney accent, better make sure it's a good 'un!
Likes: Blue shirts, gadgets, everything just-so
Dislikes: Religion, tweeting, public transport
Ian's our intrepid in-house hack - a career journalist who used to work for our rival magazine Theme. Having spent his formative years as a medical journalist, he's much happier writing about bars and booze, as you might imagine. He's also authored a number of cocktail books too, and ghost-writes for some well-known figureheads in the cocktail world - though he won't say who. Armed only with a napkin and a blunt pencil he's always on the look-out for a story.
Likes: Riding his bike, turning left on planes, You've Been Framed
Dislikes:Making everyone tea, other people's mess, Eastenders
Sally is also responsible for keeping us up to date in the ways of the internet. She's a kick-ass digital designer who is extremely patient and known for her ability to speak slowly until the rest of us understand. She works from Bristol and is also a professional trapeze artist, but is currently between circuses - seriously!
Likes: Hanging upside down, pot plants, her many cats
Dislikes: Stopping smoking, our continual spec changes
Jon joined in October 2011 and is responsible for keeping the business running. If you have any good ideas about joint ventures or ways to part with your cash - he's the man for you. Jon has a law degree from LSE and was a professional bartender and manager for ten years previously heading up Red Hook and Eighty-Six Fulham Road.
Likes: Cheese, Gin, new socks
Dislikes: Uselessness, Twitter, Emma's dog
Tara came to work with the firm in October 2011 direct from Hakkasan, Mayfair, before which she spent some time in South America and Mexico meaning she is now in fluent Spanish. She is our resident cocktail expert and runs all the events, photoshoots and filming that happens here at The Cabinet Rooms. She is also the boss of Simon and ensures he's in the right place at the right time. Good luck.
Likes: Crème de Banane,yoga, oysters
Dislikes: Toothache, nicknames, bad oysters
Jane came to us fresh out of university after doing a journalism degree. As Ian's mini-me she helps write the content for the weekly and follows Simon around the world on distillery visits. She's a proper Aussie and swears like a trooper, but is so young she has no memory of early Neighbours plot lines. Strewth!
Likes: Raw green peppers, Henry VIII, swimming in Noosa
Dislikes: Mozzie bites, sand in her cozzie, neck sunburn
Dan is our happy-go-lucky Art Director and has worked for Simon for 12 years on all our publications. Happiest when taking photographs, he lives with his little boy Jake in North London. He also looks a bit like Bruce Forsyth.
Likes: Drinking, smoking, stripes, sheds
Dislikes: Colour, pictures of people smiling, pickled onion monster munch
Hannah started working for Captain Cocktail in 2007 and looks after the PR, marketing and events for all our projects - and is focused on developing London Cocktail Week. She started in the bar trade in 2002, working for Jonathan Downey and has a very useful degree in tap dancing.
Likes: Bicycles, Smythson, beautiful things
Dislikes: Shouters, grey hairs, having to be on time
Our newest graphic designer Gavin joined the team in 2010 after taking a prolonged trip round Latin America, which he talks about non-stop. Gavin has been a designer for 14 years and previously worked for London Underground. His love of lists has helped us a lot but his tendency towards lime green is causing problems with the art director.
Likes: Notebooks, Neil Young, Brussel Sprouts
Dislikes: Queues, cucumbers, bad service
Harry jumped aboard the good ship Difford in July 2010 as our pet geek. He's responsible for taking us into the 21st century and has made our weekly digital magazine possible, which we find all the more impressive as he does it from Matlock, which is somewhere up north. He's conversant in ten different computer languages though still has to talk to us in English.
Likes: Golf, darts, anything IT-releated
Dislikes: Buses, triple-bogeys, Watford Gap Services (M1)
Mike is our website developer: working closely with our Harold on all-things webs-related, and based in the Matlock technology corridor of the north. Our multi-talented Mike has been a skateboarder for almost 23 years (has broken many bones) and also plays bass guitar in a rock band.
Likes: Summer, Tom Waits and red wine
Dislikes: Winter, hospitals and Internet Explorer
Siobhan joined the PR department of the firm in August 2011. Following her degree in Economics from Sheffield and an extended trip around the world she is now integral to ensuring our name is in the papers for all the right reasons. She also works on London Cocktail Week and oversees all the public relations for the festival.
Likes: Hunks, Bloody Mary's, being tanned
Dislikes: Negativity, negativity, negativity