People and Personalities

Elena Montomoli

In Italy, says bartender and brand ambassador Elena Montomoli, the bar is at the heart of the community. We start in the morning with coffee, then later

Louis Powlett

Having that extra cash was nice, but recognition outside the town was really nice, says Louis Powlett, co-owner and cocktail maven at Ballarat's Renard.

Philip Duff

I started bartending when I was 15. I lived in a tiny little town north of Dublin called Skerries, with, at the time, a population of 5,000 people and

Enrique de Colsa

When Enrique de Colsa set out to create Lost Explorer's first tequila, Blanco No. 1, he had just two priorities in mind. I wanted a small distillery that

Henry Preiss

Celebrating 50 Years in the Drinks Industry Henry Preiss started working with liquor as a delivery driver in 1974. Half a century later, he's still going

Trader Vic

Victor Bergeron is a man who swears in and out, like breathing, journalist Bob MacKenzie once observed. And, even though the Trader's remarks have been

Lucius Beebe

If Lucius Beebe did not exist, someone would have had to invent him. Dandy, bon viveur, wit, writer and aficionado of all things decadent, the American

Claes Puebla Smith

The last eight years have been the eight hottest on record, and 2022 saw disasters from floods to hurricanes to heatwaves and wildfires. As the world grapples

Kaitlin Wilkes

People buy things they know and drink flavours they understand, says Kaitlin Wilkes, the Edinburgh-based brand consultant who recently created the drinks

Wayne Collins

Wayne Collins, who played a huge role in the 1990s London-led cocktail revival, passed away, tragically young in February 2023. He was one of the few flair

Ngiam Tong Boon

Life is, broadly speaking, far too short to spend time engaging with internet comments. But when someone responds to an article you've written with (to

Gromit Eduardsen

The cocktail world was left reeling on 28th July 2022 when it was announced that British bartender and godfather of the Danish cocktail and nightlife scene,

National Hospitality Day

In the UK, the 3rd or 4th Friday in September (falls on September 29th in 2023) is National Hospitality Day, a celebration of the nation's pubs, bars,

Marc Alvarez

Techniques are a tool to your final destination. They don't need to be the main focus of your mixing work, says Marc Alvarez, one of Spain's most regarded

Luca Fanari

Paradoxically, despite representing Italy in the Patrón Perfectionists final, Luca Fanari is currently based in the UK. He left Rome's cool aperitivo

David Van Zyl

The 2022 Patrón Perfectionists final is set to be unusual in many ways - not least because it features no fewer than two finalists from Cape Town, South

Lawrence Christopher Gabriel

Back when I was at college, I barely passed the bar subject, laughs Lawrence Christopher Gabriel, who's representing the Philippines in the final of Patrón

Cassandra Eichhoff

Working at a club in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, the world's second emptiest country, Cassandra Eichhoff would never have thought she'd land up running

Zviad Khuntsaria

Zviad Khuntsaria has a competitive streak a mile wide. Growing up Georgian, he wanted to be a football player, but his parents steered him to the ultra-competitive

Eric Yu

It's 11am and Eric Yu is recovering after a party at his venue Martinez for Pete Tong, the DJ so iconic he's rhyming slang. I left at 1.30 in the morning.

Daniyel Jones

Daniyel Jones is the global brand ambassador for the House of Angostura and before the pandemic, he'd visited over 75 countries and cities evangelising

Douglas Ankrah

[Page updated: 16 August 2021] Like some artists, bartenders can struggle for creative appreciation, but Douglas was different, as one of his many creations,

Benito Cuppari

Some cocktails become well-known and perhaps even household names while their creators remain anonymous or forgotten. The Barracuda, created in 1965 and

Alisa Muraviova

My first steps in the bar were not the classic thing. I wasn't a poor student who came to work in a bar and started to love it, says Alisa Muraviova, the

Are you a Discerning Drinker?