Bartending is a highly competitive profession, but the Spirited Awards 2014 have selected these 10 mixologists for their killer cocktails, innovativeness and outstanding customer service.
18 top bartenders tell us their favorite cocktails to order From Istanbul to L.A. To Shanghai, the world’s best bartenders tell us their go-to favorite cocktails on a night out By Joel Meares. Bartending is a highly competitive profession, but the Spirited Awards 2014 have selected these 10 mixologists for their killer cocktails, innovativeness and outstanding customer service. All bartenders have drinks that they secretly love to make and those that they secretly hate to serve.The same can be said for the brands of liquor they use. Every year MetrixLab surveys 10,000 bartenders in the US to learn what type of spirit they recommend to their customers most often.
Top 50 Bartenders In The World
These are the world’s 10 best bartenders, as identified by the Tales of the Cocktail
As the cocktail renaissance of the 21st Century continues across the globe, there has never been a more exciting time to enter the bartending profession.
While the on-trade was once confined to serving rum and cokes, beer, and shots, intercepted with the odd Daiquiri or Mojito, the industry is now seeing greater experimentation and talent than ever before.
But a flair for true innovation is what separates the great and the good. One of the world’s foremost cocktail and spirits festivals Tales of the Cocktail recently endeavoured to recognise the world’s bartending greats when it announced the top 10 finalists for its International Bartender of the Year Spirited Award, spanning the international bar scene from London to Tokyo.
Click through the following pages to see our list of the world’s best bartenders, as identified by Tales of the Cocktail’s International Bartender of the Year Spirited Award.
If you think a talented bartender should have received a spot this list, let us know by leaving a comment below.
Matthew Talbert has been developing craft cocktails and bar menus around the United States for more than two decades. Matt started working in restaurants at the age of 16 in the suburbs of Chicago where he worked his way up through the ranks in a number of establishments, honing his skills in both the front and back of the house.
The Bartender Song
During his first bartending gig in 1999, Matt became hooked on the art of the cocktail, learning everything he could on the subject from a scientific standpoint down to studying flavors, researching the history of spirits and distilling and creating hundreds of his own unique libations, liqueurs and bitters for customers, colleagues and friends. In 2010, Matt made the move to the Bay Area where he took a role with celebrity chef (and DJ) Hubert Keller as Beverage Director and Buyer at Burger Bar. There, he was responsible for creating a relevant bar program for the restaurant and implemented several new events including a monthly prix fixe beer dinner series with local brewers.
In his current role at Scoma’s in San Francisco, Matt has taken the restaurant’s bar program to a whole new level, pushing the boundaries of the modern cocktail while expounding upon the classics. Matt’s passion for the business and this art form is completely self-evident in his infectious knowledge, endless creativity and the smile that comes across his face whenever anyone wants to talk shop.