Service isn’t servitude: the skill of hosting

La’Mel Clarke, front of house at London’s Seed Library, looks at the forgotten art of hosting and why it deserves the same respect as bartending.

Challenges stack up for hospitality

Tess Posthumus hates to be a doom-monger, but the reality is that many bars are facing a decidedly tough time.

Tales shows it's shifting focus

Tess Posthumus reports from the recent tales of the cocktail – and finds it’s becoming so much more than just a cocktail festival.

Staffing crisis could open opportunities

The pandemic has thrown many challenges at bar owners over the past couple of years and the ones that survived the various lockdowns and restrictions deserve a pat on the back. However, while revenues are returning and bars are beginning to recruit once more, we’ve come up against a whole new set of problems, one of which is a global starring crisis.

Talking the challenges of cocktail weeks

Having recently returned from the US visiting both Oakland and Arizona Cocktail Weeks I was amazed by the differences in approach. In Oakland there was a much bigger trade focus and it felt more relaxed, whereas in Arizona it was one massive party for consumers.

The Great Tipping Debate

Tipping can be a difficult subject in the bar industry. As a bar owner, bartender and regular consumer, I see it from every perspective and it can be tricky to get right.

How we can truly help Ukraine

The world’s eyes have bee on Ukraine the past month following the devastating military invasion from Russia. But, while it’s been upsetting to see the horrors of war, it’s also heartwarming to see our industry come together for those in need.

Tess Says: Minimalism vs Variety

The Scandinavian chic approach has had a huge influence on the modern bar scene. Thin glassware, no garnishes and plain interiors have become the norm for a lot of top bars around the world and to fit this aesthetic many have reduced their spirits offering.

The effects of Covid-19 on 50 Best Bars

The World’s 50 Best Bars reflects travel restrictions and spotlights neighbourhood bars, says Nick Strangeway.

Sustainability: No more excuses

COP26 littered newspaper headlines throughout November. The focus was supposed to be on resolving the climate change crisis, but predictably turned into a game of political chess. In the absence of any authoritative leadership, our industry needs to set an example.

Could bars be no-phone zones?

For about six hours in early October the world was brought to a standstill. However, it wasn’t the outbreak of a global pandemic that spread panic, but the simultaneous crash of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

Bar food's blurred lines

Once upon a time pubs and bars were somewhere you went with the sole purpose of getting pissed and there wasn’t a knife and fork in sight, just a packet of dry roasted nuts.

STRANGER THOUGHTS: A place for members

The recent launch of Martinez members’ cocktail bar on Soho’s Greek Street struck a chord with me.

Hacha leads by example

Back in 2002 celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched Fifteen, a restaurant made up of a team of trainee chefs from underprivileged backgrounds.

STRANGER THOUGHTS: Ambassadors

Nick Strangeway on the pros and cons for bartenders taking on an ambassadorial role in post-Covid times.

How the industry has changed since travel limits

Nick Strangeway looks at how travel restrictions have left a permanent impression on the global bar trade.

How bars must adapt to post-Covid industry

Nick Strangeway on how bars must adapt to a new and improved hospitality sector as we emerge from lockdown.

Safety is paramount for female bar staff

Nick Strangeway on the duty of care which bars must have to their female staff and customers.

The new era of Instagram earning

Trade shows – remember them? Before the world stopped we’d have attended a number of them throughout the year and be able to look down the list of recognisable guest speakers with their seminar titles. They were a source of great education which had been curated by the organisers to provide a spread of credible, engaging information.

Bottled cocktails: The dos and don'ts

Pre-made cocktails have always carried a stigma, which I find odd. The romance of watching bartenders make drinks from scratch left pre-batched cocktails feeling cheap to many consumers, but lockdowns have forced this attitude to change.

NOTHING'S NORMAL

Happy customers across the UK enjoyed their first pints and non-homemade cocktails at the start of July as its hospitality sector reopened after months of lockdown. But normal service has hardly resumed.

Duff Said: Awash with rum

As the weather gets bleak Philip Duff turns to the warming notes of rum for comfort. But there are currently several elements unsettling the category

Duff said: 2020: Back to the future

Philip Duff sits down 100 years after the start of American prohibition to ponder what may – or may not – have been learned

Dirty cocktail names: Is it the end?

There are lies, damn lies, statistics – and then there are statistics about cocktails. It emerged recently that a UK firm named Travel Republic surveyed punters, and apparently 29% of them disapprove of sexually suggestive cocktail names.

Gender equality: The industry revolution

Gender equality is a hot topic of debate in today's society and La'Mel Clarke from London's Lyaness gives us his thoughts on where the hospitality sector lies with the issue.

Make safety sexy

It was the Worshipful Company of Distillers’ annual dinner at the Lord Mayor of London’s residence Mansion House a few weeks ago, and as a junior member of the Gin Guild I was permitted to attend, provided I promised not to pinch any silverware and did a little light sweeping afterwards.

It’s ‘up periscope’ for Irish distilleries

I know how wierd this might seem but I often think that the opening of a new distillery is like the launch of a new submarine. It is unveiled in all its pristine glory in a blaze of publicity and fanfare.

Why craft brands are gaining traction

I’ve always maintained that the cards are stacked against craft spirits brands wanting to build a meaningful travel retail presence.

The wine state of the US nation

Here is, as usual, a feast of arresting facts and figures in Silicon Valley Bank’s annual study of the US wine market.

Championing the unsung wine heroes

The wine trade can be divided into two fundamentally opposed camps. on one side, you have the romantic idealists who believe that wine is – or can be – something special, bordering on mystical: an elixir like no other, comparable to the greatest works of art.

Chalk it up to experience

Don’t know about you, but I can’t help feeling that the year has not started well.

Will the year of the pig bring in the bacon?

At this time of year my inbox invariably gets flooded with press releases from wine and spirit producers trumpeting their latest Chinese new year special-edition gift boxes and travel retail exclusives.

All change at Diageo Global Travel

There is a new man at the helm of Diageo Global Travel, the largest drinks supplier to the duty free industry.

A wish list for change in 2019

This is the time of year to resolve to do something about our bad habits.

The crazy world of the small distiller

One of the main attractions of social media is that it allows individuals and small businesses a platform from which they can shout loudly, without the need for the big-buck budgets that the global companies can call on.

The final straw for hospitality

Recently someone described me as a ‘lefty communist’, which is a bit weird really. What, as opposed to a ‘righty communist’?

What lies ahead for duty free in 2019?

Now that my christmas decorations have been packed away for another year, it’s time to dust off my crystal ball and try to predict what 2019 has in store for the travel retail liquor business.

The harsh reality of sommeliers

What does the sommelier stand for today?

It’s time to ditch style over substance

If you could consign something to history, what would it be?

Securing french wines’ future?

When people make predictions about the next big grape variety, what they’re usually trying to anticipate is the next big switch in consumer taste.

The new rock ’n’ roll

I am writing this on my birthday, and being an (increasingly) old heavy rock fan, I’ve got british rock station planet rock on at full volume.

The future's orange

The cult 1980s British film withnail & I has many quotable lines.

Urban distilling could be the future

Over the past 12 months I have had the pleasure of spending a considerable amount of time in three of my favourite cities – Glasgow, Dublin, and Louisville.

Getting those Geneva blues

In the middle of a europe-wide heatwave Geneva airport is not the place to kill a couple of hours before catching a flight home.

Rum's time to shine

Who would have thought it? After decades of dabbling on the margins of the fashionable bar trade, rum is enjoying its most successful spell in the limelight since the early ’90s, when spiced rums swept all before them.

Can high whisky prices be justified?

Here we go again. when japanese specialist retailer dekanta released a special bottle of Japanese whisky to mark its third birthday in June, the twittersphere predictably rose up in anger and indignation.

From the crystal ball

Few days before writing this article, i came across an old piece by Robert Parker, written in 2004, in which he made 12 bold assertions about how wine would look by 2015.

How far we have come

About 15 years ago, while I was the editor of Whisky Magazine, we teamed up with cutting-edge bartender Nick sSrangeway to hold a whisky cocktail competition, encouraging the use of Scottish single malt whisky.

The high price of luxury liquor

Dubai airport-based retailer Le Clos’ partnership with the macallan has to be one of the most successful operator-supplier relationships in the history of duty free liquor.

The mystery of generic campaigns

How do you market a region? it’s hard enough getting a message right if you’re a one-man band or family firm processing a single or handful of opinions.