SPEAKERS’ BIOS
INTERNATIONAL & LOCAL SPEAKERS CONFIRMED FOR SYDNEY BARSHOW WEEK
Ian Burrell Ambassador for Rum, UK Ian is recognised as The UK Ambassador for Rum and Spokesperson for the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers Association, acting as consultant to all the major spirit companies including Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Diageo and J Wray & Nephew; as well as travelling around the globe conducting rum seminars, academies, tastings and as well as judging many cocktail competitions. Ian is also the founder and brains behind UK RumFest…The Rum Experience- Europe’s first ever festival to celebrate the diversity of Rum, held in London every year. Over the years, Ian’s career has taken him on an interesting inspired journey. He first dived into the cocktail world during the boom of the early 90’s while taking a year off from school. It was his love of tropical cuisine and creating drinks to match that brought his attention to drinks companies such as J Wray & Nephew, who made Ian one of the first Rum brand ambassadors in the UK. His role was to create rum cocktails for their high profile accounts, as well as telling the story of rum to an ever growing cocktail and bar culture. Although the task of educating a new wave of bartenders and mixologists was demanding, Ian still found time to co-present two TV shows on ITV, perform on stages around the world as rapper, ‘Via B’ and play professional basketball in the British Basketball league. Ian will be hosting The Rum Shack. Click here to find out more info… |
 Hidetsugu Ueno
Japanese Bartending & Ice Carving Expert From Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, Hidetsugu Ueno is one of the leaders of Japanese bartending, with a dedicated following of cocktail aficionados across Tokyo and the world. In 1992 he was a bartender at Lounge Bar, Nobuko. Eight years later he became the head bartender and manager at the famous Authentic Bar in Star Bar, Ginza where he entertained the rich and famous with his highly skilful and now infamous diamond ice carving. Ueno is now owner and manager of High Five in Ginza, seen by many experts as one of the best cocktail bars in the world. Cocktail making has been in Ueno-san’s blood for many years proven by his impressive array of international awards and acknowledgements. He is also a judge at the annual Nippon Bartender Association NBA) National competitions and more recently Diageo’s World Class Competition. |
Philip Duff Globetrotting drinks consultant and founder of the award-winning Door 74 in Amsterdam Back by popular demand a globe-trotting Irishman, drinks writer, bartender, consultant (with his firm Liquid Solutions), and former saloonkeeper, Philip bartended in Dublin, London, NYC and Grand Cayman before moving to Holland in the ’90s. Between consulting for drinks brands and speaking at numerous bar shows, Philip also enjoys boxing, reading and drinking Manhattans, in roughly that order (it doesn’t work the other way ’round, you see). |
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Global brand ambassador for Sagatiba Cachaça, London John has been at the leading edge of London’s dynamic and fast-changing bar and club scene for over 10 years. He was appointed general manager at the renowned London Academy of Bartenders (LAB) in 2001. Whilst securing LAB’s reputation at the forefront of London mixology, John founded event and drinks consultancy Bartotal, created to offer premium brand support in bar design, spirit selection, menu creation and event management. John was quickly offered the role of brand ambassador for Sagatiba. As further evidence of John’s international reach and renown, he won the 2010 Best Brand Ambassador at the Spirit Awards at New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail. |
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Tequila ambassador to UK and Europe Tomas Estes is one of the most influential people in the Tequila industry worldwide being one of two Tequila ambassadors for the Mexican government. During his time Tomas has opened 17 restaurants and bars in Holland, England, France, Germany, Italy and Australia including the successful Café Pacifico concept of which four flagship venues he still owns to this day. Tomas is also behind the single estate Tequila Ocho. |
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42 Below ‘Vodka Professor’, New Zealand Jacob Briars is the 42 Below ‘Vodka Professor’ and the 7th most famous bartender in New Zealand. In the course of a decade mixing cocktails, he has conducted training sessions for bars and restaurants as far afield as Wellington and Washington, as well as some pleasant assignments in Morocco and Fiji. He can’t wait to be back at Sydney BarShow where in addition to his vodka duties he’ll be presenting a seminar on his other love – amari and bitters. |
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Bacardi Global Brand Ambassador, London David Cordoba is one of the leading bartenders to emerge from Latin America. David’s passion, commitment and attention to detail make him one of the world’s most influential mixologists which, coupled with a pioneering cocktail spirit, makes him the perfect person to represent the world’s favourite rum, Bacardi Superior rum. When not travelling the world as Global Brand Ambassador for Bacardi, David spends his days in London, the cocktail capital of the world and the perfect place for him to be constantly honing his skills and expertise. |
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Bartender & Drinks Writer, New York Former Bartender magazine editor, Naren is an authority on the bartending profession. He has worked at Sydney’s top venues including Bayswater Brasserie. Currently in NYC, he’s worked at Public, La Esquina, Pegu Club, and Bobo. His work has been published in Good Living, Australian Gourmet Traveller, GQ and Class. |
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LOCAL SPEAKERS |
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Owner of Café Pacifico, Sydney Owner of Café Pacifico, Sydney, Phil hails from Adelaide. Starting in the industry in the ’80s in Amsterdam, Phil has travelled extensively promoting Tequila. Pacifico has the only ‘Award T’ from the Tequila Regulatory Board of Mexico, in the Southern Hemisphere. Phil was awarded ‘Outstanding Contribution’ at the Australian Bar Awards ‘08. |
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Brand Training Team Manager, Mixxit Englishman Jason Crawley has a rich industry profile with over two decades of international experience. Since arriving in Australia in 2000, Jason has been at the forefront of the bartending community and opened some outstanding venues; Hilton’s Zeta being his swan song in 2005, where he won “Cocktail List of the Year” & “New Venue of the Year”. Since moving into corporate life, Jason has won Brand Ambassador of the year twice in 2008-09 and was recently recognised as the top three most influential industry figure heads by Australian Bartender magazine. Jason has carried on his scholarly passion as a keen and satirical writer developing a cult industry following from his monthly contributions to both trade and consumer press. Jason now works as the Brand Training Team Manager for CCA. |
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Bartender, cocktail geek, owner of 1806, and lover of ‘80s vinyl, Melbourne Sebastian was Bartender magazine’s Bartender of the Year in 2008 and in the same year 1806 was awarded ‘Best Cocktail List in the World’ at New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail. Following that success, Sebastian settled down to write Complete Cocktails (in stores now) and has a new book on cocktail history that will be available late 2011. When not reading or writing about cocktails, Sebastian is either making them, or training other people to make them. With a little searching, Sebastian can still be found behind the bar at 1806. |
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Founder of Robot Bar and Golden Monkey and owner of Izkaya Chuji and Nihonshu Sake & Shochu Bar, Melbourne Often hailed as the ‘quiet achiever’ in the Australian bar scene, Andre Bishop is the visionary behind venues such as Robot Bar, the multi award winning Golden Monkey and owner of the Izkaya Chuji Japanese restaurant chain in Melbourne. His 10 year love affair with sake further inspired the opening of his latest venue – Nihonshu Sake & Shochu Bar in September 2008. He is the only Australian to have graduated from the Level 2 Sake Professional Course conducted by the Sake Education Council in Tokyo, Japan. |
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Sake Master, Melbourne Originally from Kobe, Japan, this Japanese sake master is now based in Melbourne. Since 2007, Maeda has been introducing and teaching about Japanese sake to Australians through his sake tasting events ‘Kikizake’ and many other events all over Australia. In 2008, Maeda opened a Japanese Izakaya style sake bar and restaurant called ‘Sake & Grill Maedaya’ in Richmond, Victoria as well as an Australian premier sake online shop www.sakejapan.com.au |
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Melanie Topham Senior creative director ‘Tomorrow People’, Sydney Melanie is the ex-head graphic designer for one of the market leaders of the Sydney bar scene – Keystone Hospitality. She has been responsible for the brand identity and successful graphic design of some of Australia’s most dynamic and cutting edge bars. In January 2008 she formed the design agency Tomorrow People, where she is the senior creative director. The agency has quickly become one of the leaders in graphic design for the hospitality industry in Australia. Most recently Melanie’s studio have created the branding, website and internal signage for the newest members of Sydney’s much loved Gazebo venues – The Winery & Manly Wine. |
John Gakuru 
More speakers to be announced soon…
