Salvatore Calabrese
Salvatore has been making drinks for 40 years. From humble beginnings on the Amalfi coast in Italy, where he made his first cocktail aged just 11, to a succession of top hotel bars and private members clubs from London to Los Angeles, he has made cocktails for the rich and famous, for presidents and royalty and is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the drinks industry. He currently resides at Salvatore at Playboy, London, though consults globally.
Peter Dorelli
A veteran bartender of international repute, Peter Dorelli is best known as the former head bartender of the iconic American bar at London’s Savoy hotel, where he served everyone from royalty to film stars including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. Since retirement, he has been active in education through the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild. The consummate host, he remains a living legend – with the emphasis on ‘living’, he jokes.
spike Marchant
Spike Marchant is the Diageo World Class Global Ambassador and works on the Academy. Having held this role since the programme started, he has the task of designing the bartending challenges and hosting the Finals each year. Spike has been in the bar industry for over twenty years.
gaz regan
The artist formerly known as Gary Regan is a charismatic and articulate Brit born to pub-owning parents who made his name in the New York bar scene then turned his hand to publishing. Today, the author of several best-selling books including The Joy of Mixed Drinks, he still writes a column on cocktails for the San Francisco Chronicle and is a veritable walking encyclopedia of knowledge around mixed drinks.
Daniel Estremadoyro
Based in Cordoba, Argentina, Daniel is co-owner of The Real McCoy Bar and Tommy Gun, two of the leading cocktail bars in Argentina. A former mixology trainer for culinary and bartending schools, Daniel was named Argentinean Bartender of the Year in 2008 and 2011, has been part of the global jury panel of several international bartending competitions and conducted seminars about mixology in Argentina, Chile and Cuba.
Dale DeGroff
Known as ‘King Cocktail’, Dale helped initiate the New York cocktail revolution, is credited with bringing back fresh ingredients to the bar and for perfecting the Cosmopolitan during his reign at The Rainbow Room. His best-selling books include The Craft of the Cocktail and The Essential Cocktail, and he now spends much of his time developing cocktail programmes for global hotel chains.
‘living’, he jokes.
Steve Olsen
From his platform, as Wine Geek, Steve personifies contemporary dégustation. As one of America’s foremost experts, lecturers and writers on fine wine, beer, spirits and sake, with an impressive palate, he’s recognised on the world stage with a string of accolades and awards. His most recent venture is Viktor & Spoils, a mezcaleria in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Julie Reiner
Hawaii born Julie Reiner represents the crème of the contemporary New York cocktail scene. The co-owner of some of the city’s finest cocktail joints – Flatiron Lounge and Pegu Club in Manhattan and Clover Club in Brooklyn – and the consultant behind leading US hotel groups’ cocktail programmes from Manhattan to Hawaii, this Queen of Cocktails has nurtured some of the city’s best talent who have gone on to open leading bars of their own
Hidetsugu Ueno
Ueno-San is the embodiment of Japanese style, precision and theatricality. His small bar in Ginza, Tokyo, Bar High Five, is the epitome of modern hostmanship, where he personally looks after a select number of guests, makes drinks with the renowned ‘hard shake’ technique, and carves his famous ice diamonds – all elements among the most imitated techniques in modern bartending.