Camper English profiles some of the experts invited to votein this years poll.

DALE DEGROFF, New York

Also known as King Cocktail, Dale DeGroff isoften credited with kickstarting the cocktailrenaissance were enjoying today with his workcreating gourmet and classic cocktails with freshingredients at New Yorks famous Rainbow Roomin the late 1980s. DeGroff is the author of TheCraft of the Cocktail and a partner in the BeverageAlcohol Resource a training and credentialingprogramme in distilled spirits and mixology. He isalso the founding president of the Museum of theAmerican Cocktail, an exhibit of 200 years of theAmerican cocktail.

HELMUT ADAM, Berlin, Germany

Adam worked as a bartender and bar managerin London, Zurich, Vienna and Berlin. In 2003 hestarted Mixology: Magazine of Bar Culture, a trademagazine for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Healso helps run Bar Convent Berlin. He is one of thecontributors to encyclopedia Cocktailian, which iscurrently only available in German.

GAZ REGAN, New York

The writer and bartender formerly known asGary Regan started working as a bartender whenhe was just 14 years old in his native Britain.After moving to New York in 1973, he continuedbartending at a variety of venues for two decadesin Manhattan. His first book, The Bartenders Bible,was published in 1991. Since then he has authoredor co-authored The Book of Bourbon, The BourbonCompanion, New Classic Cocktails, The MartiniCompanion, The Joy of Mixology, The BartendersGin Compendium, and the Annual Manual forBartenders.

CHARLOTTE VOISEY, San Francisco

Long-time Hendricks gin brand ambassador Voiseynow looks after the entire William Grant & Sonsspirits portfolio and brand ambassador team as thecompany mixologist.

JACOB BRIARS, San Francisco

Native New Zealander Briars became the barmanager at Matterhorn before becoming the42 Below vodka professor. From 2011, Briars hasundertaken the role of global brand director atLeblon cachaa.

ANN TUENNERMAN, New Orleans

Tuennerman is the founder and executive directorof Tales of the Cocktail, a week-long industry andconsumer cocktail festival held annually in New Orleans.Tales hosts the worlds foremost experts on everythingalcohol for seminars, pairing dinners, and parties.

KURT SCHLECHTER, South Africa

Schlechter is one of South Africas top bartenders.He co-founded South Africas largest bar school,The Bartenders Workshop, in 1998, and helpedopen the LAB Capetown in 2001.

MATHIN LUNDGREN, Sweden

Lundgren is the bar manager of the award-winningbars Kken and 1900 in Stockholm, Sweden.

MYFFY RIGBY, Sydney, Australia

Rigby is the food and drink editor of Time OutSydney magazine and chief critic of the annualTime Out Sydney Bar Guide.

AlLEXANDRE GABRIEL, France

Gabriel is owner of Cognac Ferrand. He alsoproduces Citadelle gin, the Plantation rum rangeof island rums finished in cognac casks, andMathilde liqueurs, a collection of all-natural fruitinfusion liqueurs. Gabriel, with help fromhistorian David Wondrich, launched 1840 Ferrand, developed to taste like the cognacs of its era.

EBEN FREEMAN, New York

Freeman is widely credited with leading themolecular mixology movement in the US at the barTailor in Manhattan where he became famous forSmoked Coke and fat-washed cocktails. Freeman alsopossesses a thorough understanding of the classics,as seen in his Emmy-nominated series of bartendingtutorials on Epicurious.com. Freeman is currentlyworking with Michelin-starred chef Michael White inNew York at the Altamarea group of restaurants.

MAX LA ROCCA, Barcelona, Spain

La Rocca has worked as a bartender andbar manager in some of the worlds finestestablishments, including Claridges in London,the Stravinskij Bar at the Hotel De Russie inRome, the Sheen Falls Lodge Relais & Chateaux inIreland, and the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona.He is currently the bar supervisor at Ohla HotelsBoutique Bar in Barcelona.

JIM MEEHAN, New York

Meehan is a New York City-based bar operator,consultant and writer. He is currently a managingpartner of number one bar PDT.

HIDETSUGU UENO, Tokyo, Japan

From Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, Ueno-san is one ofthe leaders of Japanese bartending. He becamehead bartender and manager of the famousStar Bar Ginza in 2000. It was here where heentertained the rich and famous with his nowinfamous diamond ice carving. His own venue, BarHigh Five, opened in 2008 in Ginza.

ERIC SEED, Minnesota

Eric Seed is the principal and owner of Haus Alpenz,a Minneapolis-based purveyor of speciality spiritsand wines for the US market. In the cocktail world,Seed is best known for tracking down obscurespirits mentioned in classic drink recipe books, oftenconvincing distillers to recreate extinct cocktailingredients. For this he earned the nickname TheIndiana Jones of Lost Spirits.

JOHN GAKURU, Los Angeles

Following a successful career at venues includingSouthamptons Orange Rooms and aboard PrincessCruises, Gakuru was appointed general managerat LAB in London in 2001. Gakuru founded eventand drinks consultancy Bartotal and was Sagitibabrand ambassador from 2005 until 2011.

ANGUS WINCHESTER, globetrotter

Winchesters current client roster is dominatedby the House Of Tanqueray for which he actsas global ambassador, but he is also a vodkaprofessor, the founder of The Rum Club in the UKand Australia, a malt advocate and a travellingmixologist.

JEFF BEACHBUM BERRY, North Carolina

One of Americas Imbibe magazines 25 MostInfluential Cocktail Personalities of the PastCentury, Berry is the author of five books onvintage Tiki drinks and cuisine. He has featuredin countless publications and co-created Tiki+for iPhone and iPad. Berry serves on the advisoryboard of the Museum Of The American Cocktail.

STANISLAV VADRNA, Paris, France andBratislava

A firm believer in serving the guest foremost,Vadrnas lifelong mission is to rejuvenate theprofessional bartenders status in the realm ofhospitality. To that end, he is working to redefineglobal bar industry standards in line with theJapanese philosophy of ichi-go ichi-e, or onelifetime, one meeting. He is the founder of AnalogBartending Institute.

PHILIP DUFF, Amsterdam

After more than a decade bartending in hisnative Dublin, followed by London, NewYork, the Cayman Islands, Rotterdam, and theHague, Duff changed gears to become a brandambassador and consultant. He and his firm, LiquidSolutions, have trained about 17,000 people in60-odd countries.

STEVEN OLSON, New York

Wine and spirits consultant for Bon Appetitmagazine, Olson teaches, lectures and writes allover the world about wine, beer, spirits, sake, andvirtually any other beverage under the sun. He isalso a partner of Beverage Alcohol Resource.

WAYNE CURTIS, New Orleans

Curtis is the author of And a Bottle of Rum: AHistory of the New World in Ten Cocktails (2006).Hes also written about spirits for many otherpublications, including Mens Journal, ForbseLife,the New York Times, and Liquor.com.

DAVID CORDOBA, London

Cordoba is one of the leading bartenders toemerge from Latin America and holds the enviablejob of Bacardi global brand ambassador.

STEPHAN BERG, Munich, Germany

In 2006, Berg founded the Bitters Blog, Germanysfirst weblog fully dedicated to cocktails, mixeddrinks, and the craft of bartending. Around the sametime, along with Alexander Hauck, he founded TheBitter Truth, a series of artisanal bitters.

PHIL BAYLY, Sydney, Australia

Tequila expert Bayly has been in the booze industryfor 31 years, beginning in Amsterdam with CafPacifico. He is founder and managing director ofCaf Pacifico Sydney and Tequilaworld.com.au.

THOMAS KUUTTANEN, Sweden

Kuuttanen is master blender and founder ofPurity Vodka. He has created a number of spiritsincluding vodka, whisky, gin, bitter, liqueurs andaquavit. The Swedish native is one of Scandinaviasmost prominent spirit educators.

GEORGE NEMEC, Shanghai

Originally from the Czech Republic, Nemec spentnearly eight years of bartending and bar managementin Australia. In 2009, he left for Shanghai, where hehelped launch Gosney & Kallmans Chinatown. He iscurrently a brand ambassador for Becherovka, a spiritfrom his native land.

DMITRY SOKOLOV, Moscow

After working in several bars and winning a fewcocktail contests, Sokolov opened what he callsMoscows first cocktail bar, Help, in 2003. Sincethen the Sokolov team has created seven moreprojects: Tema, Booze Bub, Tiki, Free Bar, Dream,All-Time and Aloha.

JIMMY BARRAT DE CECCO, Dubai

Barrat De Cecco is bar manager at Zuma Dubai ofthe Zuma group of Japanese restaurants. He hastravelled to other Zuma locations, including Miamiand Lebanon, to open new branches.

ANTONIO LAI, Hong Kong

Lai is a consultant at the One Bar Solution Companyand manages one of the most comprehensivemolecular mixology menus available in HongKong at FINDS bar & restaurant. His first book,Multiensory Mixology, was released in April.

SIMON FORD, New York

Ford is director of brand education and tradeoutreach for Pernod Ricard USA.

SOPHIE DECOBECQ, Mexico

Decobecq distills her own tequila, Calle 23,which has won several awards. She can be foundpromoting the brand at bar shows and in barsaround the world.

DANIEL ESTREMADOYRO, Argentina

Formerly a mixology trainer for culinary andbartending schools, Estremadoyro co-owns CocktailInc bartending school in Chile, Mexico, and Argentina.

MATTHEW BAX, Melbourne,Australia

Bax has two jobs that occasionally intersect. Oneis as a rising star of the Australian and Europeanarts scenes, where hes been painting commerciallysince 1999. The other is as owner and headbartender with Melbournes famed Der Raum bar,and as the creator of Singapores Tippling Cluband Bar Americano inMelbourne.

CHESTERFEILD BROWNE, Barbados

Browne joined Mount Gay Distilleries in 1995 asbartender at the visitors centre. Today he is thebrands international ambassador and mixologist.

TONY ABOU-GANIM, Las Vegas

Abou-Ganim bartended at several top venues inSan Francisco in the 1990s, eventually helpingopen Harry Dentons Starlight Room, an iconiccocktail bar to this day. He is author of The ModernMixologist: Contemporary Classic Cocktails.

CAMPER ENGLISH, San Francisco

In addition to his website Alcademics.com,writer/journalist English contributes to dozensof publications. He is one of the worlds besttravelled spirits writers.

MAX WARNER, globetrotter

Warner is an international brand ambassadorfor Chivas whisky and Plymouth gin. He joinedChivas Brothers in 2004 as the Chivas Regal brandambassador, previously working for 12 years acrossall sectors of the hospitality industry.

DAVID WONDRICH, New York

Wondrich is the worlds foremost expert on thehistory of the American cocktail. He is Esquiremagazines drinks correspondent, cocktailcolumnist for Imbibe (US) and the WhiskyAdvocate. He is a founding member of theMuseum of the American Cocktail.

SALVATORE CALABRESE, UK

Calabrese (aka The Maestro) is one of the worldsleading bartenders whose performance arena wasSalvatore at Fifty in London. His latest venture isSalvatore at the Playboy Club, London.

ALEX KRATENA, London

Originally from the Czech Republic, Kratena hasworked in establishments everywhere from NewYork to Tokyo, from a cyber trance club to Michelinstarred restaurant to five-star hotels. He is thehead bartender of multi-award-winning Artesianbar in The Langham Hotel, London.

IAN BURRELL, London

Burrell is the founder of UK RumFest. He was thefirst rum ambassador in the UK, working for JWray & Nephew creating drinks and educatingbartenders. He is now a global rum ambassador.

TOMAS ESTES, Oregon

Estes has opened many bars and restaurantsin six countries under two brand names, CafPacifico and La Perla Bar. He contributes to manyprint publications. The Mexican National TequilaChamber has recognised him as its ambassadorseveral times. In 2008 Tomas launched his ownbrand of tequila, Ocho.

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