SURNAME: The bar man, 300

CURRENT INSTITUTION: À La Française, Le Bar Français,….

YOUR FUNCTION  

International SAINT JAMES Brand Ambassador

3 HASHTAGS TO DESCRIBE YOU 

#barfrancais #boirefrancais #apéro

ITINERARY IN 5 KEY DATES  

My birth on January 30, 1971. It was very cold and the family R16 did not start.

April 3, 1975, I sit for the first time at the table of a woman alone in my mother’s bar… Quite a program!!!!

11 years old, first season in my father’s bar with the old fishermen of La Turballe. I serve my first mixed drinks: Rouge limé, Rouge Vittel, Parrot, Tomato,…

November 2015, opening of A La Française; my friends, my loves, my troubles!!!!

2017, the adventure continues: ambassador, book, products, opening… !!!

Always on the run, always on the road!!!! and vice versa.

MENTOR OR REFERENT IN YOUR PROFESSION 

Charles Schumann

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SWORN IN A COMPETITION?

Bartenders Society (1st / 2^nd / 3^Rd edition)

Bacardi Mojito Cup (3 times)

Angostura (2 times)

Maker’s Mark

Saint James Cup Benelux Pagès Vedrenne Armagnac FranceAnd I forget… but I was also a member of the jury at the Tonnerre fair in Yonne

FAVORITE BAR IN PARIS

I’m unfaithful, but I come to parties

FAVORITE BARS IN FRANCE 

Santeuil Bar, at Matthieu’s in Nantes Can Can, at Clément de Bordeaux, Joker, at François de Lille’s house Carry Nation at Guillaume and Luc de Marseille Mama’s Shelter Marseille for Charlène and Théo The antique dealer, at Marc’s in Lyon The AEDAEN in Strasbourg, all the others to come and especially the refreshment bar at the Canaris stadium in Nantes…..

FAVORITE BARS IN THE WORLD  

KönigsWasser in Germany; better Becks and better electro, Republic in Harlem, Holland; canopy bed facing the North Sea, Simrock in Germany because the most unhealthy, a synthesis!!!!!

FAVOURITE SPIRITS 

Saint James Single Cask 1998

Päffgen Kölsch……

Matthieu Gouze is the sales director in Europe, APAC, Africa & Middle East for Maison Ferrand looking after Ferrand cognac, Plantation rum and Citadelle gin. He has been working alongside the award winning master blender and owner of Maison Ferrand and West Indies Rum, Alexandre Gabriel, for almost 10 years.

In addition to traveling the world to develop his markets, he is traveling regularly to Cognac and the Caribbean to visit the different distilleries in order to give his inputs on new products.

Matthieu Gouze has extensive knowledge of spirits and has conducted multiple seminars on Cognac, Rum and Gin. He has spread his spirits knowledge as a speaker on many industry panel discussions around the world and has served as a spirits judge for many organizations.

For the past four years, Global Brand Ambassador for the House of Angostura®, Daniyel Jones has been on the journey of a lifetime.

He’s criss-crossed the globe sharing the beauty of Angostura’s iconic bitters, its rums and, most recently, its award-winning Amaro Di Angostura®.

He’s traveled to more than 30 cities worldwide, voyaging from Moscow to Madrid, from Tel Aviv to Scotland, visiting the USA’s cocktail capitals — New York, Chicago, San Francisco — and touching down in Latin American hotspots in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama and Mexico.

Along the way, Daniyel has had the opportunity to work alongside the very best in the industry, including cocktail kings like Tony Abu Gamin and Philip Duff, and, closer to home, Angostura Master Blender John Georges. He’s appeared in some of the world’s top bars, including City Space Bar in Moscow, London Cocktail Club, and Gillhautino Bar in Brazil.

It all began when Daniyel swept the competition to win the 2013 Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge. It wasn’t his first win —  Daniyel had been named Trinidad and Tobago’s National Bartender of the Year in 2011, taking home several Taste of the Caribbean Golds since then — but it was a game changer.

“There is no replacement for Angostura; Every good bartender out there who picks up a bottle of Angostura aromatic bitters is confident that it will do what they expect it to,” says Daniyel, “I represent The House of Angostura with such pride and love. Growing up with the brands from childhood I am a witness to, and now a voice for, its cultural presence in Trinidad and Tobago and worldwide.”

Daniyel has also welcomed the opportunity to represent the Caribbean on the global stage. “As a Caribbean bartender I am motivated to share the depth of my rich culture, style of rum, and beauty in exotic drink,” he says, “I see each cocktail served as an opportunity to share our unique warmth and hospitality. Dale De Groff had it right when he said: ‘We go to bars for the bartender.’”

With ten years under his belt as a Bartender, Daniyel is also a successful entrepreneur, operating his own Professional Bar Service Company. He’s a big believer in education and training. He’s completed more than 100 seminars during his career and is currently pursuing MBA Logistics & Supply Chain Management. “I believe the future of the industry relies on education,” he says, “There are new emerging brands every day and they all require the role of industry leaders to share knowledge.”

Nominated for Best International Brand Ambassador 2017 at Tales of the Cocktail, Daniyel has been featured in Cocktail Lovers and Beverage Media New York magazines. He’s presented at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards and emceed the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge 2016 and 2018 US Finals. But he counts his judging experiences among his most memorable:

“As a judge I look for creativity, technical skillset and, most importantly, passion. During my tenure, I have judges scores of competitions for Angostura and I am astounded by the ingenuity of the bartenders I’ve met. I try to inspire them by sharing the motto that I live by: Let every toast reflect your passion and every sip your creative integrity!”

Leszek Wedzicha is a Cachaca Specialist who partners with various cachaca producers to grow awareness of the cachaca category and brands outside Brazil. The founder of Cachaca Festivals UK. The first and the largest cachaca festival outside Brazil with festivals in Manchester and London in 2018. Participants of festivals and events related to the promotion of cachaca. Co-owner of House of Cachaca ltd. He lived in Brazil for many years and is trying to spread the word about cachaca.

Joe has been involved with the alcohol industry for over two decades. In his twenties, he started his first bar in Buenos Aires in Argentina, which very quickly became an iconic place. After he got back to Great Britain he continued work as a bartender and he was managing several bars in London and Brighton, he had also the opportunity to be a bartender in the remote and exotic places such as Sri Lanka or Brasil.

Since 2013 Joe is in collaboration with Campari Group as independent Brand Ambassador and consultant. He had a direct influence on the dynamic development of the Aperol and Campari brands, and he also helped develop niche brands in the portfolio, such as Appleton Estate and Cynar, which are favourites of the best bartenders in the UK. While working at Campari, he was transforming his passion into brilliant cocktails, presenting the mentioned brands to thousands of bartenders and consumers, running numerous masterclasses and events.

In 2014, he founded a pop-up bar Sovereign Loss in Brixton, popular among bartenders and connoisseurs of cocktails. Winning many loyal supporters of this concept, he decided to open in Soho, the cult cocktail bar Disrepute and recently the new headquarters of Heads & Tails. He also advised on many other bar and restaurant projects in London and the surrounding area.

Joe has become a very recognizable face in the bartending world of the whole of Great Britain. Despite many duties related to running his own company, he still divides his time between the work of a consultant and Brand Ambassador at Campari UK.

For more than a decade, he has been involved in the promotion of true rum from the Caribbean and West Indies. The Rum for him is a generous world of aromas and flavours, which refer to the category of cognacs or whiskey, but as he says rum takes his own path in the rhythm of Caribbean music.
The beginning of his career begins in the early ’90s, when he attend at the Parisian acting school. It was not until 1996 that he began his journey in American, British and French cocktail bars working as Head Bartender and Bar Manager. In 2006 Greg began using his knowledge about mixology and using rum and cognacs, as lecture at world-wide event such us: Tales of the Cocktails, Bar Convent Berlin, and Rhum Fest Paris. In 2013-2016, he took the post of the Ambassador of the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers’ Association (WIRSPA) to educate bartenders about authentic rum.

In 2016, he began working with the Mezan brand to show the world true rum – without artificial additives such aromas, extra sweetening and colourings.

Thanos Prunarus has been a bartender since 1999.
He has studied touristic management In 1998 moved to London and by chance (or not) found in his hands the then, Class Magazine. A brand new world opened in his eyes.  He started working as a barista/bartender at a cafe/bar / restaurant in St. James park and a year later moved to Athens formed the first bar menu in the city included Negronis, Manhattans and  Grasshopers. In 2009 opened his own bar called Baba Au Rum. An institute that changed the history of the Athenian and Greek bar scene but mostly changed the way that Athenians drink.

Baba Au Rum bar is now a leading rum and cocktail venue, awarded as one of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2013, 16, 17, 18. — always at the top lists worldwide. Baba Au Rum bar is often awarded the Best Bar in Greece and Thanos is considered as a main rum and cocktail influencer globally.

Thanos travels around the world to discover rum, visiting and participating in rum festivals the world over, being a rum speaker and judging the most prestigious cocktail competitions as Diplomatico World Tournament. He is a member of rum jury at German Rum Festival and the Miami Rum Festival for the Rum Awards. Thanos is the author of the bar book “Handcrafted”, organises the annual Athens Rum & Whisky Festival and publishes the International Cocktail and Travel magazine FINE DRINKING. He is a member of the International Rum Experts.

Commenting on his role at Mount Gay, Miguel says:  “Mount Gay is the original rum – with the brand’s roots dating back as far as 1703 in Barbados.  Being born and bred in Barbados, I have a personal passion for this award-winning rum.  I seriously enjoy working on the Mount Gay Rum portfolio, and feel proud to present and share with enthusiastic rum and crafted aged spirits consumers, passionate bartenders and mixologists, journalists and bloggers, what makes Mount Gay so unique and special: our unparalleled history, our British heritage, our Caribbean roots, our artisanal production and of course our complex flavours”.

“My role is to tell the true story of rum, the Story of Mount Gay. By understanding that rum has a real history and over 300 years of refinement into the quality spirit that it is today, people can appreciate rum as a fine drink for all occasions. “

Based in London, UK, Miguel is Mount Gay dedicated Brand Ambassador for Europe, Asia and Pacific regions. As such, he runs marketing initiatives including training programs, dinners, mixology contests and helps local sales teams, account managers, bartenders, distributors and off trade partners to appreciate the versatility and character of Mount Gay rums as well as optimize their profits with qualitative super-premium rum.

Silvia Hübner takes you on a journey from the Caribbean to Spain, where one of the major Sherry producers, decided to set aside some of the most rare and special Sherry casks for finishing their own rum.

Caribbean & Spain. – Two Woods – DOS MADERAS.

Short Description: Area Manager at Williams & Humbert. Responsible for Central and Eastern European Markets

Jan Kachniarz “Janek z Krynicy” – Jeden z najbardziej utytułowanych polskich barmanów klasycznych XXI wieku. Swoje szlify od ponad 10 lat zdobywa we współpracy z najlepszymi barmanami z Polski, Europy oraz Azji. Startując w konkursach barmańskich na arenie międzynarodowej zdobył wielkie doświadczenie w dziedzinie kultury picia, którą chętnie się dzieli. Dwukrotny mistrz kontynentu Azjatyckiego podczas zawodów “The Masters 2015” oraz “The Masters 2017″oraz wicemistrz ostatnich zawodów w kategorii klasycznej, które odbyły się w 2018. Wielokrotne podróże po Tajlandii spowodowały, iż Janek stał się wielkim miłośnikiem kultury Tajskiej, którą dzieli się z innymi.