About the Academy

Achraf El Moufadal is a leading figure in the Moroccan bar scene and founder of Moroccan Mixology, the first company in Morocco dedicated to championing cocktail culture across North Africa and beyond. Through consultancy, judging and bartender training, El Moufadal plays a key role in shaping the region's hospitality landscape, supporting its bar community and promoting North African mixology on the global stage. 

A native New Yorker, drinks journalist and self-confessed Europhile, Alia Akkam has called Budapest home since 2015. A former editor of Beverage Media and Hospitality Design, Akkam writes about cocktails, bars, design, travel, food and culture for international publications. Her work has appeared in Architectural Digest and Men's Health, and she is the author of Behind the Bar: 50 Cocktails from the World's Most Iconic Hotels.

Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Ara Carvallo has more than 20 years' experience in the bar and spirits sector. Carvallo now focuses on supporting drinks entrepreneurs creating the brands of the future. She is also co-founder of Barra México, a leading spirits trade show in Latin America and the first zero-carbon bar show in the world, connecting drinks professionals, producers and emerging talent across the industry. 

Arina Nikolskaya has spent more than a decade developing bar communities across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. After leading Moscow Bar Show, Nikolskaya relocated to Kazakhstan and launched Nomad Bar Show in 2023 to spotlight Central Asia's hospitality scene. She also founded SHIFT Project and the SHIFT Community app, supporting cross-border visibility through mentorship, scholarships, guest shifts and international activations for hospitality professionals, venues and events. 

Czech editor and journalist Bára Urbanová has 20 years' experience in food and drinks. From 2010 to 2015, Urbanová was editor-in-chief of Barlife magazine, while also helping organise Prague Bar Show and the Czech Bar Awards. Since 2015, she has been editor-in-chief and co-owner of online journal AtBars.com, which focuses on the business of bars and related areas of the hospitality industry. 

B.E Mintz is editor of Neat Pour, a daily publication for the beverage industry. Before joining Neat Pour, Mintz founded and edited a community news source, bringing an editorial background to his coverage of drinks and hospitality. Based in New Orleans, he travels widely to explore the bar industry and, when at home, can often be found enjoying a perfect Manhattan. 

Brian Owango is regarded as one of Kenya's pioneering bartenders. Credited with bringing modern mixology culture to Kenya in 2004, Owango has helped develop the industry through community programmes, competitions and Nairobi Cocktail Week. He currently runs Aqueous, a Nairobi-based events company providing hospitality and event services. Away from the bar world, Owango balances his time by teaching and practicing capoeira. 

Charlene Rooke is a Canadian spirits journalist and educator, a WSET spirits educator and a Certified Specialist of Spirits. Trained in small-batch distilling at Kentucky's Moonshine University, Rooke is lead judge of the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition. A former editor for travel and hospitality magazines, she is drinks editor of Food & Drink, the in-store magazine of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. 

Based in Accra, Chris Beaney has been a key part of Ghana's bar and restaurant scene for a decade. Beaney has more than 20 years' experience as an operator, manager, trainer and consultant for restaurants and bars in London and Africa, training more than 200 staff in bar craft. He has also written for UK and US industry magazines, highlighting West Africa's emerging hospitality scene. 

National Magazine Award-winning writer Christine Sismondo has covered spirits, cocktails, bars, books and history for more than 20 years, with work in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Maclean's and other publications. Based in Toronto, Sismondo is also the author of America Walks into a Bar and Cocktails: A Still Life, and created Prohibition, a six-part podcast series for Wondery's American History Tellers.

Eleni Nikoloulia is a prominent drinks journalist, event organiser and spirits consultant based in Athens. As a founder of Difford's Guide Greece and Cyprus, Nikoloulia plays a central role in highlighting Greek bar culture on the global stage. She is also the co-creator of major drinks-industry events and a recognised voice in international hospitality, regularly connecting local bartending talent with the wider global bar community.

Emma Janzen is a James Beard Award-winning author and photographer, and a leading US authority on cocktails. Janzen wrote Mezcal: The History, Craft and Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit and co-authored The Way of the Cocktail with Julia Momosé and The Bartender's Manifesto with Toby Maloney. Based near Chicago, she writes and edits on cocktails, spirits and the people and cultures behind them. 

Esther Tseng is a Los Angeles-based writer specialising in food, cocktails and culture. Tseng contributes to publications including the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit and Food & Wine. Originally from Wisconsin, she began writing a food and cocktail blog before becoming a freelance journalist. Her work explores restaurants, bars and drinks through the lens of culture, with a particular focus on the diverse hospitality scene of Los Angeles. 

François Monti is a Belgian, Madrid-based cocktail and spirits writer. Monti is the author of three books, including El Gran Libro del Vermut and 101 Cocktails to Try Before You Die. His work has appeared in publications around the world, and he has led seminars at major international bar events including Bar Convent Berlin. A dedicated observer of global drinks culture, he lives for a good seat at the bar. 

Hamish Smith is an award-winning drinks journalist specialising in the bar industry. Based in London, Smith edits UK bartender magazine CLASS and works across sister title Drinks International as bars editor. A former editor of The World's 50 Best Bars, he has established himself as a key commentator on the global bar industry, covering its leading people, places, trends and developments.

Jakob Sundin began bartending in 2004, developing a long-standing passion for hospitality and the Nordic bar community. Sundin is a host and one of the founders of Bartenders' Choice Awards, an awards programme dedicated to the region's bar industry. He is also managing partner of Purfict, which supports the development of bars and cocktail culture through creative concepts, photography, events and other hospitality-focused projects. 

Hong Kong native John Ng has managed bars, hotels and drinks brands for more than 15 years. Educated in Switzerland, Ng returned to Hong Kong via the UK and US in 2008 and later supervised MO Bar, earning recognition in global bartending competitions. After serving as Asia brand ambassador for Michter's, he moved into magazine editorial, joining Tasting Kitchen as director of wines and spirits.

Juliane Reichert is a Berlin-based bar journalist with a passion for the people behind the bar and heavily peated whisky. Having studied philosophy, Reichert brings an inquisitive approach to the global drinks scene, exploring its bigger questions while closely observing new trends. She works at the frontline of bar reporting in Germany and beyond, following the people, places and ideas shaping contemporary drinking culture. 

Laurence Marot is a journalist who has specialised in cocktails, spirits and beer for more than a decade. Working across trade publications, mainstream media and specialist guides, Marot tracks trends, techniques and the stories behind drinks. She is a regular judge at cocktail and spirits competitions and the author of several books on spirits and cocktails, including Sur la Route des Rhums, published in 2024.

Cape Town-based Leah van Deventer is a freelance drinks writer with bylines in Rumporter, Food24 and other publications. Van Deventer is also a director of the Protégé Bartender Programme, a convenor of the South African Rum Awards and a regular cocktail competition judge. She has travelled through more than 40 countries in the name of drinks research, building extensive knowledge of bars, spirits and global hospitality culture.

Based in Tokyo since 1998, Nicholas Coldicott is the author of Tokyo Cocktails and co-founder of artisanal sake exporter KuroKura. Coldicott has been a drinks columnist for The Japan Times and CNN, an editor of Whisky Magazine Japan and Eat, and a judge for the World Whisky Awards. He has also written guidebooks for Wallpaper* and Time Out, covering Japan's drinks, dining and hospitality scenes. 

Pamela Wiznitzer has worked in New York and around the world since 2006, bringing cocktail culture to life as a bartender and drinks professional. Wiznitzer was named 2014 Bartender of the Year by the Village Voice and has received recognition from Food & Wine and Wine Enthusiast. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Bloomberg and Esquire.

Milan-based food and beverage editor Penelope Vaglini travels widely to report on restaurants and cocktail bars for publications including L'Officiel Italia, ICON Magazine, Forbes and Gastronomika. Vaglini is digital content coordinator for Robb Report Italia and co-founder of Coqtail Milano, an Italian mixology community with an online magazine. A specialist in trend research, she also edits annual reports analysing the food and beverage industry. 

Pedro Reyes has contributed to Mexican lifestyle magazines including Accent, Vuelo, Expansión, Life&Style and Chilango, and spent five years as deputy editor of Travel + Leisure Mexico. Reyes is the author of ¡Acá las Tortas!, about one of Mexico City's best-loved street foods, and a leading commentator on its bar scene. He is now creative director at Paladar, a gastronomic marketing agency creating food and drink experiences. 

Priyanka Blah is the founder of The Dram Attic, a spirits and cocktail platform highlighting notable bars and talent around the world. Over the past decade, Blah has explored cocktail culture through extensive travel, chronicling the evolution of the drinks industry from both sides of the bar, with particular attention to guest experience and creativity. Her F&B experience spans operations, creative work and global sales of craft spirits. 

Based in Singapore, Rachel Tann has led marketing campaigns for some of the world's most recognised spirits brands over the past decade. During her tenure at Rémy Martin, Tann was part of the team that founded and led La Maison Cointreau bartending competition across Asia. She also launched and grew Negroni Week into Singapore's largest spirits charity activation within three years, combining drinks marketing with community-focused initiatives. 

Rebecca Sturt has more than 25 years' experience in the spirits and bar industry, with a career spanning five continents. As a regional marketing manager for Rémy Cointreau and Dubai Bartenders Club, Sturt has played a key role in building concepts for global brands. She has also helped develop more than 80 food and beverage concepts and trained more than 10,000 people while supporting the UAE's bar scene. 

Sam Bygrave has worked in the drinks and bar industry for 20 years as a bartender, wine and spirits buyer and writer. Bygrave spent eight years as editor of industry monthly Australian Bartender and has written for international publications including Drinks International and The Spirits Business. His experience across both bar operations and drinks media gives him a broad perspective on cocktail culture, hospitality and the evolving bar industry. 

Award-winning British journalist and sommelier Sorrel Moseley-Williams has lived in Argentina for 20 years, championing Latin America's food, drinks and travel. Moseley-Williams contributes to publications including Decanter, Monocle, Time, Lonely Planet, Drinks International, The Drinks Business, Clarín, La Nación and Prazeres. She also lectures on drinks writing at the Basque Culinary Centre and co-authored Mil and Mayta, books exploring two leading Latin American restaurants.