MAINSTAGE

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Marian Beke (UK)

Martini Throw Ages: past, present and future

First, Do No Harm..Live! After a nasty bout of quinine poisoning from a house-made tonic water, Avery Glasser (Co-Founder of Bittermens) wondered how often house made tinctures, extracts, infusions and syrups were unknowingly making customers sick. That lead to the creation of First, Do No Harm, a forum where bartenders address all sorts of dangerous industry trends. We’ll answer questions like: - Why is activated charcoal potentially dangerous? - Can tobacco infusions really kill you? - What about cannabis cocktails? - How can Liquid Nitrogen be deadly? - Why is house made tonic water not a great idea? Come armed with questions as this is a very interactive session!

60 mins

Mainstage

Marian Beke (UK)

Growing up in the little city of Žilina in the country then called Czechoslovakia, Marian Beke always knew he wanted to work in hospitality. “My father has a wine business in our home town, selling from the cellar and distributing in restaurants and bars,” he says. “Since I was 9 or 10 I was helping him with the snacks and serving wine by the glass” But his original idea was to be a sommelier, or follow in his father’s footsteps. Žilina, Slovakia’s third city, has a population of barely 150,000, and Beke didn’t come across cocktail bars until he moved to Bratislava to study hospitality as a teenager. There were three or four international-style bars in Prague at the time, among them Bugsy’s and Tretter’s, which are still going today, and a trip across the border to the Czech Republic proved eye-opening. “The personalisation for each guest was what fascinated me the most,” Beke recalls. “It was liquid cooking, not just opening a bottle of beer or pouring a glass of wine, but customising the drink.” Beke’s school didn’t teach bartending, not least because the students were too young, but after graduating he started work at a well-known Bratislava bar, Paparazzi (no relation to the Warsaw Paparazzi). “They called Shaker Bar School in for consultancy to teach us the London trends, about 16 years ago,” Beke says. “They literally threw away all our syrups, all our frozen purees, and they told us to start from scratch working only with fresh fruits.” The training and inspiration worked a little too well. Beke decided on the spot to leave Bratislava, move to London, study English and learn to bartend. With both social media and smartphones in their infancy, no Google Maps and no Ubers, adapting to a new city where he didn’t speak the language – and a city double the population of his entire country – was tougher than it would be today. “My language school had an internet café and you’d sit there and do your emails,” he recalls. “The first thing you’d do when you came to London, everyone advised, was buy an A to Z [London’s iconic street map]. So you’d take undergrounds, you’d know the tube station, and at the tube station, you’d open the page of the A to Z, and then you’d be walking the streets for half an hour trying to find the place.” There was at least one familiar face in the big city: Erik Lorincz. “Erik was one year ahead of me, and he’s Slovakian: I knew him because he used to work across the road from me in Bratislava, and he left one year before me,” Beke recalls. “He got me my first job, at a nightclub called Attica: he was already a bartender, but I was a bar back.” Moving on from Attica, newly acquired language skills in hand, Beke embarked on a learning programme that could hardly have been better calculated. First was Townhouse, the second bar from the team behind LAB, one of the most influential bars of turn-of-the-millennium London, where he learned to work fast, fluidly and with fresh fruit flavours. Next up came Montgomery Place, a speakeasy then run by Ago Perrone. “That was something different to be doing classic cocktails, from Champagne to Negroni, and I learned Italian hospitality and how to socialise with guests,” Beke says. After three years, Perrone left for the Connaught, while Beke went to Artesian, where he worked alongside Alex Kratena, another émigré from the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia. After Artesian, the next step was Purl. “That was a learning experience for me because they’d been doing liquid nitrogen and foams – it was nice to play with liquid nitrogen, dry ice, those kind of things,” he says. And from there came the invitation to set up Nightjar, the much-awarded Shoreditch bar. “I started from zero, literally designing the bar, defining the team and creating the concept,” Beke says. “But after five years I was getting a bit comfortable there: after five years everything works, and you’re just doing a new cocktail menu once a year.” The prospect, also, of having a family, and of getting old, weighed on him: nobody wants to be working 16-18 hour days with young children, or indeed in old age. The logical next step? To start his own place. And so, three years ago, he found a spot on Old Street and opened The Gibson, soft launching from November 2015, and opening formally in early 2016. The transition from manager to owner was quite the culture shock. “Running a business is not about how good a bartender you are, or how good a cocktail it is – you can make the best cocktail in the world, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to open the bar and operate,” he says. “There could be a million factors that could close your bar, from hygiene to licensing.” Gibson is already much praised – it entered the World’s 50 best bars list at number 6 within weeks of opening – but Beke feels it’s barely hit its stride. “I was figuring it takes three, six, nine months to get the bar started, but now we’ve been open for one and a half years, it will take another six months to fix the social media, the music….” he says. “At a bare minimum, it’s two years.” His logic is interesting. “It takes really two years to go through the menu and understand the menu, because it’s not about you: it’s about your clientele, what they like, your team, how to work with them, how to choose the right ones, how to fix the mistakes and establish the brand,” he says. And what does his father, the wine merchant, make of his bar? I ask. Here Beke’s perfectionism glitters, hard as granite. “They’ve never been,” he says. “They know I opened a bar, but I want to fix the bar first. After two years, when I see it’s nice and settled, I’ll bring them in: there’s no point opening and just bringing them in two months later. That would just be stress.”

Kristian Jagerman & Frederik Kampman

Beertails, the art of mixing beers & spirits

The final seminar on the Main stage at Perfect Serve the 28th of May will see Frederik Kampman, Chief Botanical Officer for Lowlander beer, and Kristian Jagerman, manager alt Helst Amsterdam and long time beer cocktail creator talk about beer in cocktails. The origins of the word cocktail still fuel debate but there’s no mystery around the etymology of the beertail. Beer, spirits, wine, syrups and cider have been mixed for ages, and beertails are now popping up on menus at more bars and events across the globe. They are delicious and a little bit frivolous, but who said the drinks industry was a serious one? Although we are in the middle of an exciting craft cocktail renaissance that revels in unique ingredients and unusual combinations, beer remains an underutilized ingredient behind the bar. Botanical brewer Lowlander is brave enough to bring beer back to a deservedly prominent place in your bartender arsenal.

60 mins

Mainstage

Kristian Jagerman & Frederik Kampman

Avery Glasser is co-founder of Portland-based Bittermens where he focuses on creating and producing new modifiers for the cocktail community. A dedicated barfly, Avery was invited to a bitters making event while living in San Francisco in 2007. His first attempt at making a flavor combination resulted in what is now tFrederik Kampman – Chief Botanical Officer While working in a gin distillery in the United Kingdom I fell in love with the use of botanicals in distilling and the fascinating world of cocktails. Having basically grown up in beer in The Netherlands I guess it was only natural that I started wondering what would happen if you would brew rather than distil with these botanicals. I grew curious about what kind of character these herbs, spices and fruits could give to beer. To my surprise I discovered that the Lowlands actually have a very intriguing history where it comes to brewing with botanicals. As Dutch explorers travelled the globe they returned home with cargos brimming with precious herbs and exotic spices, which soon made their way into Dutch beer. And so the idea for lowlander beer was bornhe Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters. After requests from bartenders across the country for these bitters, he and his wife, Janet, formed Bittermens. and set off to launch a unique line of bitters, focusing on new combinations of flavors that would help enable bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts to make cocktails that couldn’t be made before. In 2017, Bittermens became part of the Sazerac family of companies with Avery and Janet still at the helm. On his company: Bittermens, now part of the Sazerac family of companies, is one of the world’s largest producers of all natural, GMO-Free and certified kosher bitters worldwide. Founded in 2007 by Avery and Janet Glaser, Bittermens has expanded its product line to include fourteen different varieties of bitters, ranging from their category-defining Xocolatl Mole Bitters to culinary-inspired blends like their Scarborough Herbal Bitters, supplying wholesalers and cocktail bars around the world. Solving problems for modern bartenders, the Bittermens portfolio now includes a line of liqueurs and specialty spirits as well as the Speed Craft line of all natural syrups.

Elliot Ball

Three lessons learned: About bars, people and life (plus rant)

In founding The Cocktail Trading Co., I got to live the dream of many bartenders, visionaries, ... people. There’s certainly been some accelerated growth, as well as many opportunities to apply my background in Psychology/Neuroscience, but easily the most rewarding has been in understanding people in bars. The result is entertaining, yes, and perhaps even insightful.

60 mins

Mainstage

Elliot Ball

Elliot Ball is a London bartender, who, with his partners Olly Brading and Andy Mil, formed the Cocktail Trading Co., which has garnered a reputation for a number of things - great cocktails with pretty radical serves, and a total absence of pretense. His background in Neuroscience aided him first in the understanding of flavour, but he eventually devoted his attention to overall enjoyment, and, in founding and running CTC, has experienced really quite a lot along the way...

Daniyel Jones (TR&TO)

House of Angostura Masterclass

Join us on the Main Stage during Perfect Serve Barshow Amsterdam for an exciting talk from the Global Brand Ambassador of a brand that pretty much every bar in the world has: Angostura! He shall give A masterclass on the world-renowned and celebrated Bitters, Rums and Amaro from the House of Angostura.

60 min

Mainstage

Daniyel Jones (TR&TO)

Daniyel Jones started competing in competitions in 2008, with just 8-years-experience in bar setting with a professional bartending certificate as well as a diploma in computing and information systems, and his business – Martini Makers - underway. In 2011 and 2012 he won consecutive titles of “National Bartender of the Year” and represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Taste of the Caribbean competition where he won “Best Rum Cocktail”, “Best Vodka Cocktail”and “Most Creative Cocktail” in each year of competition. During that time, he also earned the title of Caribbean Regional winner of the ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters Global Cocktail Challenge. Always one to persevere, in 2013, he was crowned the overall winner of the Angostura® Global Cocktail Challenge, and was awarded the opportunity to experience the following year as the House of Angostura’s Global Brand Ambassador. At the end of his tenure, he was asked to stay on with Angostura as a Brand ambassador, and from 2013 to 2015 he has been conducting seminars, tasting and pairings of the Angostura® rum range and bitters internationally. He has travelled with Angostura to approximately 20 countries around the world from Australia to Russia, Latin America and the USA. After the launch of the award winning Amaro di Angostura®, Daniyel was appointed the brand’s Global Brand Ambassador in 2015.

Dre Masso (UK)

The Conscious Bartender

During the Seminar he will introduce us to the world of agave and tequila; talking about the importance of it in the Mexican tradition and how the tequila in general is growing in international markets.

60 min

Mainstage

Dre Masso (UK)

Having spent some 20 years working in watering holes across London, Indonesia and Singapore, mixologist Dré Masso is a veteran of the international bar scene. So it may come as a surprise that Masso, who’s the Director of Mixology at PTT Family (which runs Potato Head Folk in Singapore and Katamama in Bali’s Akademi) never really planned on becoming a bartender. His first-ever bar stint was in 1992, when he was a Richmond College student studying photography in South London. As his course required him to pay for his own camera lenses and film, Masso had no choice but to take up a part-time service job at a nearby bar. There, he picked up skills in making cocktails — something he enjoyed so much he found himself more keen on going to work than to his classes. As they say, the rest is history. Masso worked at the bar throughout his college education and was later promoted to a full-time employee. He abandoned photography and, in the following years, honed his mixology skills in bars around Central London. Today, the 40 year-old is in charge of the cocktail programmes at PTT Family’s establishments and founding father of Altos Tequila.Over the years, Dre has become a recognized leader in the global bar industry. In 2009 he became a partner with our Maestro Tequilero, Jesus Hernandez, to create Altos Tequila. Writer of two important books on the history of cocktails, he was named Best Bar Mentor from the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards 2016.

Luca Missaglia (UK)

Italian cocktail culture: ‘Rosolio, Amaro, Vermouth and Bitter

Luca Missaglia will explore the history of Italy through some of its most iconic drinkings categories. From ancient Romans and classic cocktails to the modern Aperitivo trend and the popularity of Spritzes and Negroni...Salute!

60 min

Mainstage

Luca Missaglia (UK)

Italicus was created by the authority in Italian spirits, Giuseppe Gallo to bring back the forgotten Rosolio category. With key notes of Calabrian bergamot, IItalicus is made using the finest Italian ingredients to create a sip of Italy. The striking bottle design embodies the history and heritage of Italy’s distinctive regions, whilst telling the story of Rosolio’s time honoured traditional drinking occasion of Aperitivo. Italian born, Luca Missaglia joins the Italicus team from Aqua Shard where he held the position of Senior Bar Manager. Arriving in London in 2009, Luca worked in some of London’s renowned bars including LAB and Quo Vadis before taking over as Bar Manager the international Aqua Restaurant Group in 2014, Luca was been responsible for menu development for the iconic bar and restaurant, whilst creating and maintaining a fully immersive experience for guests. Since launching in late 2016, Italicus has received much critical acclaim, winning major industry awards and expanding into key international markets. In his new role, Luca will work alongside Giuseppe Gallo to continue to educate industry and consumers on Italicus and the ‘rebirth’ of the Rosolio di Bergamotto category. Giuseppe Gallo commented, “Luca is one of London’s leading bartenders, and his playful character and passion for his Italian heritage makes him a perfect addition to our team. 2018 is an important year for Italicus as we are planning global expansion, establishing our core markets and continuing the strong growth we’ve seen in our first 15 months.

Avery Glasser (USA)

Seasoning cocktails: understanding the basics of bitter

When you look at the average cocktail menu, you’ll see a description of a cocktail’s flavors, a listing of which spirits and juices were used, and then a single word to describe the sole bit of final seasoning in the cocktail - “bitters”. By just saying bitters, customers aren’t given a clue to what the final drink will taste like - and for those who aren’t familiar with craft cocktails, the word bitter may be a turn off. Where a decade ago there were only a few kinds of bitters available, now there are as many different types of bitters as there are herbs and spices available in a grocery store. They’re the final accent to your signature beverages and the difference between a mixed drink and a cocktail. In this session, Avery Glasser, founder of Bittermens, will start to teach you the basics of bitters, ranging from their historical use as folk medicine to modern methods of manufacture. You’ll leave this class armed with the knowledge of how to safely make bitters at home or at your bar, how to properly do a bitters tasting, and how you should approach using bitters for cocktails and in general cuisine.

60 min

Mainstage

Avery Glasser (USA)

Avery Glasser is co-founder of Portland-based Bittermens where he focuses on creating and producing new modifiers for the cocktail community. A dedicated barfly, Avery was invited to a bitters making event while living in San Francisco in 2007. His first attempt at making a flavor combination resulted in what is now the Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters. After requests from bartenders across the country for these bitters, he and his wife, Janet, formed Bittermens. and set off to launch a unique line of bitters, focusing on new combinations of flavors that would help enable bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts to make cocktails that couldn’t be made before. In 2017, Bittermens became part of the Sazerac family of companies with Avery and Janet still at the helm. On his company: Bittermens, now part of the Sazerac family of companies, is one of the world’s largest producers of all natural, GMO-Free and certified kosher bitters worldwide. Founded in 2007 by Avery and Janet Glaser, Bittermens has expanded its product line to include fourteen different varieties of bitters, ranging from their category-defining Xocolatl Mole Bitters to culinary-inspired blends like their Scarborough Herbal Bitters, supplying wholesalers and cocktail bars around the world. Solving problems for modern bartenders, the Bittermens portfolio now includes a line of liqueurs and specialty spirits as well as the Speed Craft line of all natural syrups.

INTERACTIVE STAGE

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Eric van Beek (NL) & Constantinos Kazelis (CY)

Creating your Legacy

*Breaking News* We have the pleasure to announce this very special seminar on the interactive stage on Monday 28th of May at 1 PM with none other than Constantinos Kazelis, one of the bartenders of Lost & Found in Cyprus, currently ranked #29 in the world's 50 best bars and finalist at this year's Bacardi Legacy, and our very own recent Bacardi Legacy World Champion, Eric van Beek from bar TwentySeven! For all bartenders longing for greatness this is not to be missed. Space is limited at the interactive stage and it is first come-first (Perfect) Serve so arrive early!

60

Interactive stage

Eric van Beek (NL) & Constantinos Kazelis (CY)

My name is Constantinos Kazelis. I was born and raised in Cyprus, went to the Uk in 2010 where I studied Landscape Architecture and Garden Design, dropped out in 2012 and returned to Cyprus. After 2 temporary jobs at Scarabeo and Red Bicycle i was hired at Lost + Found Drinkery as a preps guy. Lost + Found is currently listed #29 in worlds 50 best bars. This is the third consecutive year with the two past placements being 48th and 43rd. Also nominated and made it in the top 4 for best international bar team at tales of the cocktail last year. I have been in Lf drinkery for 4 and a half years. Previous competions were Legacy 2016, Skinos MCC2016 and 2017 where me and my partner won the Global finals. Im also in charge of the lost + found exposed youtube series. This year I competed Legacy where i made the Final 8 with my drink Back in Black. Eric van Beek is currently head bartender at Bar TwentySeven. Previously have worked as a bartender at the Pulitzer’s Bar and the Ink Hotel. Van Beek has been a bartender for almost 3 years now. This year van Beek competed in the Bacardi Legacy Global competition with his drink “Cariño” which was held in Mexico City. Van Beek was able to the trophy home and thus becoming the 1st dutch bartender to ever win Bacardi legacy and the 4th ever to win a global cocktail competition.

Matteo Zed

Into the darkness: Amaro to the MAX

During Perfect Serve's first day, May 28th at 2 Pm, join Amaro legend and bartending great Matteo Zed, on an exclusive interactive talk that goes deep into the depths of Amaro. Unique products, descriptions and brands that stretch what amaro is. Or does it?

60 min

Interactive stage

Matteo Zed

Considered one of the most talented Italian Bartender around the world, globally in less than three years he was in the first four positions at the Bacardi Legacy Finals 2012 in Portorico, 2nd position at the Diplomatico World Tournament in 2013 in venezuela and in 2015 he was Global American Champion (all Americas) during the Belvedere Martini Challenge Competition, then he also gaining the third position in the World Final as the USA Competitor in 2016 in London with his James Bond Drink The “International Martini”. In 2013 really curious and interested to the Japanese Bartending Concept, He had the great opportunity to work under the authority of the Sensei Hidetsugu Ueno behind the stick of the super famous ‘High Five’ bar in Tokyo, where he learned a lot about Japanese Concept of hospitality and Nippon Mixability. He collaborates with many National and International Magazines such as Drinks International, Bartenders Magazine and BarLife. His cocktails have been published by Simon Difford and even by Gary Regan in his book “101 Best New Cocktails” and Matteo's way to make ‘Bar’ was a subject in a BBC television program about Italian Food &Beverage panorama. From 2014 to 2016 he worked as Global Brand Ambassador for Strega Alberti Liquor, and during is role; Strega liquor gained a good position in the Most Loved Liquors in the Best World’s Bars ranking by ‘Drinks International’ Magazine. In 2015 BARGIORNALE Bar Awards given him the title of ‘Best Italian Bartender Abroad’, from 2013 he is one of the Academy Judges for the Famous Ranking of“BEST 50’s BARS. Right now he is in NYC where he moved in 2015, where he was behind the Bar of ‘DEL POSTO’a Joe Bastianich Fine Dining Restaurant, ZUMA, Black Tail and Sweet Polly. From October 2017 he is working as Beverage Specialist in the GIORGIO ARMANI RESTAURANT in 5th Avenue New York. His future desire and goal is to return soon in Italy to invest in a Bar Project with represents himself totally.

Team Typhoon Hospitality

Personal Branding

Always wanted to know how you can get your name more out there? Or perhaps you’ve been in a position where you had to generate publicity around yourself, your bar or your winning cocktail. During the ‘Personal Branding’ seminar Dorien Kuiken en Rachel Persoon of Typhoon Hospitality will share all the tips & tricks on how you can promote yourself in the online and offline media. This will help you to differentiate yourself from the competition and create more opportunities for yourself in the future.

60 min

Interactive stage

Team Typhoon Hospitality

Typhoon Hospitality is a storytelling agency and operates globally within the hospitality industry. With our international team we create, leverage and distribute the best stories through added-value and creative mix of marketing, events, design, PR & social media concepts for restaurant, bars, hotels, spirits, hospitality brands and the people behind them.

Jente Gees

Guilty by association

This seminar will be most interesting for seasoned bartenders who are in constant interaction with guests while making drinks & for servers who know their drinks and want to elevate there game. I want to try to give some insights to bartenders who want to be remembered by the guests they serve just by altering small details in there routine. We’ll talk about the macro of a guest experience and how to go into micro to make it memorable. This could even be of value for sales reps who’re pushing products or bartenders who enter competitions and struggle figuring out how not to be mediocre..

60 min

Interactive stage

Jente Gees

Walking on these mega yachts and training people to serve only small groups of high end guests made me rethink approaching menu’s & bartending in general. When there are only 10 guests to entertain paying approximately 250.000 euro for a week, there is a little part of you that should try to make it memorable. With the limited space in sky lounge bars, preference lists and the limited presence of centrifuges & other hardware the human factor becomes THE make or brake factor in the whole equation..

Tom Zyankali (DE)

Wizardry with Merlin

He will show you the different outcome of various common infusion-techniques plus his way in direct comparison and also gives you an insight into the optical, shelf life and sensory effects of cocktail aging and clarification. This seminar will be great for the beginning, as well as the experienced, molecular driven bartender!

60 min

Interactive stage

Tom Zyankali (DE)

Tom is well known for his scientific approach, and in this exclusive seminar we will dive deep into the technical matter!