All posts by Zenon Slawinski

Beverage Alcohol Resource Opens New Chapter By Expanding Partnership

News

Source: Beverage Alcohol Resource

The partners of Beverage Alcohol Resource LLC, Dale DeGroff, Doug Frost, Steve Olson, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour and David Wondrich, are pleased to announce that four associate partners have joined BAR. The four new associate partners are Leo DeGroff, Sean Kenyon, Julie Reiner, and Charlotte Voisey.

In a joint statement, the six founding partners stated, “The expansion of the BAR partnership is necessary to perpetuate well into the future the educational programs we’ve established since 2005. These four professionals were each exceptional graduates of the BAR 5-Day Program and have served as instructors in the ensuing years. Their individual accomplishments within the beverage alcohol and hospitality industries are likewise of the highest rank. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we welcome them to the BAR partnership.”

The founding BAR partners are:

Dale DeGroff (aka King Cocktail), author of the award-winning “The Craft of The Cocktail” and “The Essential Cocktail” (Random House), developed his groundbreaking techniques while tending bar at legendary establishments – most notably, New York’s famous Rainbow Room. Dale was awarded the James Beard “Wine & Spirits Professional” award in 2009, and the “Best Bar Mentor” award at Tales of the Cocktail, 2010. Dale is the founding president of The Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, which features an exhibit that brings to life the colorful 200-year history of the cocktail. His most recent endeavor is his Pimento Aromatic Bitters, a product he developed with absinthe distiller Ted Breaux.

Doug Frost is a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, as well as an author and wine consultant based in Kansas City, Missouri. He was the second person in history to complete both Masters exams and a quarter century later he is still one of only three people in the world to hold both these remarkable distinctions. He has written about wine and spirits for numerous publications, is the author of several books, and continues to teach and examine within the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine programs. He has won multiple Regional Emmy Awards for his public television work about wine, spirits and cocktails. The Wine Spectator has bestowed the accolade of “Master of Spirits” on Frost and, according to USA Today, “Frost likely knows as much as anyone in the world about how to make, market, serve and identify wines.”

Steven Olson has been helping to shape the beverage industry for over 40 years.  Getting his start in restaurants, he’s gone on to be a writer, consultant, educator, and lecturer, and is particularly known for his pioneering work with Sherry, Spanish and Greek wine, Sake, Gin, and Agave spirits. He’s opened nearly 50 restaurants and bars to date, including Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and was honored as “Best Bar Mentor” at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in 2012.  In addition to continuing to serve as founding partner in Beverage Alcohol Resource, his newest role as Global Mezcal Advocate / aka maguey geek / co-operating partner in Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal is a dream come true.

 F. Paul Pacult, “America’s foremost spirits authority” (Forbes.com). Through Spirit Journal, Inc., Paul consults to tens of beverage alcohol industry companies and operates THE RUM AUTHORITY, THE WHISKEY AUTHORITY, and THE BRANDY AUTHORITY trade education programs. Recently, he was named Master Blender for an upcoming American whiskey program, centered out of Bardstown, KY. He is also the founder and judging director of Ultimate Beverage Challenge, headquartered in Westchester County, NY. He is the only journalist worldwide to concurrently be a life member and Master of Keepers of the Quaich whisky society (Edinburgh, Scotland), a life member of Kentucky’s Bourbon Hall of Fame, and a life member of France’s Compagnie des Mouquetaires d’Armagnac (Company of Armagnac Musketeers). He is currently writing Kindred Spirits 3: 2,400 New Spirits Reviews (2020). Once done with KS3, he will write Buffalo, Barrels & Bourbon: The Story of How Buffalo Trace Became the World’s Most Awarded Distillery (John Wiley & Sons/2021).

Andy Seymour counts over twenty years experience in the hospitality industry. He has dedicated himself to a life of producing great service and educating others to do the same. His company, Liquid Productions, is devoted to understanding the current cocktail culture, and bringing great drinks and hospitality to one large audience after another. He and his team can be credited with developing and executing large format projects that range from bartender education programs and competitions, to high profile events like the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. In 2018, Andy was honored as “Best Bar Mentor” at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. He continues to expand his role as a mentor to bartenders around the world on his mission to make the cocktail and spirits scene a source of great fun and entertainment for anyone who steps up to a bar to order a drink.

David Wondrich is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the history of the cocktail and one of the people who helped to shape the modern craft cocktail movement. The Senior Drinks Columnist for the Daily Beast, Dr. Wondrich is the author of countless newspaper and magazine articles and five books, including the hugely influential Imbibe!, the first cocktail book to win a James Beard award, and Punch. His writing, lecturing and mentoring have earned him a near-record six Tales of the Cocktail Spirit Awards. At present, he is immersed in the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, a multi-year project. As a consultant, he has been involved in the creation of a number of spirits that are found on the backbars of practically every craft cocktail bar on the planet, from Ransom Old Tom gin to the multiple award-winning Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum.

The associate BAR Partners are:

Leo DeGroff is a New York City-based bartender and proprietor of the beverage consultancy, Prince Cocktail, Inc. DeGroff’s career has spanned over a decade with work experiences ranging from bartending at well-regarded establishments like BED NY, ‪Pegu Club, and ‪Sweetwater Social to coordinating the back of house for high profile events, such as the BAR 5-Day Certification Program, Ultimate Beverage Challenge, BarSmarts, World Class Competition, Life is Beautiful, and many others.  Utilizing his affinity for technology, DeGroff has been able to develop efficient and organized bar concepts and layouts for dozens of world-class bars. DeGroff continues to educate himself on the world’s spirits and his desire to learn has taken him to Mexico, Peru, Chile, Spain, France, Ireland, Japan, China and Cuba for first hand experiences in distillation, culture, and bar life.

Sean Kenyon is a third generation barman and a proprietor of Williams & Graham, Occidental and American Bonded in Denver, Colorado. Over the course of his 33-year bartending career, Sean has managed bars and cocktail programs in New Jersey, Texas, and Colorado and consulted on several national programs. Williams & Graham opened in 2011 and has since been named one of the “World’s Top 50 Bars” by Drinks International. Food & Wine, Imbibe, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Playboy, USA Today, and Esquire have recognized his beverage programs and bars. At Tales of the Cocktail 2014, Sean was honored as “American Bartender of the Year” and in 2015, Williams & Graham was named “American Cocktail Bar of the Year”. Occidental has been noted as one of Esquire’s Best Bars and Playboy’s Top Ten Bars. American Bonded, was recently named one of Liquor.com’s “Best New Bars in the World”. He works with several local Denver charities.

Julie Reiner has been elevating the cocktail scene in NYC for 20 years, most notably with the opening of the Flatiron Lounge in 2003, which helped change the way New Yorkers drank. In 2008, she opened Clover Club, a pre-prohibition cocktail bar and restaurant in Brooklyn, focused on classic cocktails. In 2015, she opened Leyenda, a pan-Latin bar and restaurant. At Tales of the Cocktail 2009, Clover Club was awarded “Best New Cocktail Lounge in the World”, and in 2013, took home the award for “Best American Cocktail Bar”, “Best High Volume Bar”, and Julie was personally awarded “Best Bar Mentor”. In 2019, Leyenda received a James Beard nomination for “Outstanding Beverage Program”. Julie’s recipes have been featured in numerous publications.  Her company, Mixtress Consulting, helps to create top-notch beverage programs and cocktails for resorts, restaurants, bars, and spirits companies. In 2011, Julie was honored with a James Beard nomination for “Spirits Professional of the Year”.

Charlotte Voisey is the Director of Advocacy for William Grant & Sons USA. She has been named “Best American Brand Ambassador”, two times Golden Spirit Award winner at Tales of the Cocktail and has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation for her contribution to mixology. Charlotte’s passion for all things spirits and cocktails keeps her in active speaking roles at all major industry events including Tales of the Cocktail, Aspen Food & Wine, Las Vegas Nightclub & Bar Show, Roots and Barra Mexico and a regular contributor on television.

Beverage Alcohol Resource LLC is an award-winning educational company founded in New York in 2005. Queries about the BAR 5-Day Program, the BAR partners or BAR LLC may be directed to Sarah Tirone at 201.232.4534 .

••• BAR PRESS RELEASE – New BAR 5-Day Time and Location •••

News

The Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) 5-Day Certification Program Takes Up Residence in Lower Manhattan’s Pier A Harbor House, Starting January 2017!

February 15, 2016 (New York, NY) – Under the steady gaze of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, the BAR 5-Day Certification Program, headlined by beverage industry veterans Dale DeGroff, Doug Frost, Steve Olson, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour, and David Wondrich, will take up residence at Pier A Harbor House in January 2017. This occasion will mark the 14th BAR 5-Day Certification Program to be held in New York City.

Said Steve Olson, co-managing member of BAR LLC, of the move from Manhattan’s Lower Eastside to Battery Park, “For the past several years the seismic surge in applications meant we’ve been turning away 20 to 25 people each year who’ve wanted to participate but couldn’t due to the space limitations of our former venue where we could accommodate no more than 50 to 52 students. The reality is, our Program simply outgrew our last space, which, make no mistake, served us admirably for eight years. We will always be grateful to our friends at Astor Center for their partnership. Now, we look forward to forging a new long-term relationship with Pier A Harbor House.”

Added co-managing member of BAR LLC F. Paul Pacult, “Staying in Manhattan, the epicenter of spirits and mixology in North America, was the primary directive with the BAR partners in our search for a new home base. By concluding this three-year agreement with Pier A Harbor House, we are cementing the future of the BAR 5-Day by landing in a new, spacious, full-of-daylight venue. Pier A has all the amenities required for us to expand the Program. It will allow us to have up to 65 students each year, bringing more energy and opportunity to the Program that’s graduated scores of successful bartenders, bar owners, authors, and brand ambassadors over the last decade. I see this as an exciting new era for the BAR 5-Day Program.”

Anthony Malone of Pier A Harbor House said of this affiliation,” We are delighted to welcome the BAR 5-Day Certification Program program to Pier A. Having admired the groundbreaking work that BAR has done throughout the years and the remarkable contributions made by its members and graduates to our industry, we are honored that they have chosen to make Pier A the new home of the BAR 5-Day. To be part of such a prestigious training program is an exciting new chapter for us. ”

The BAR 5-Day Certification Program won the Cheers Innovator of the Year Award in 2007. The now legendary program is the brainchild of six of the beverage industry’s highest profile personalities, who are award-winning authors, educators, mentors, and journalists. Commented co-managing member Doug Frost about the Program, “The 5-Day gives the BAR partners and our top graduates the chance to share what we’ve learned over the past collective century of industry experience. The intense curriculum is designed to allow us to cover all related topics of spirits and cocktails in a manner that’s informal, in-depth, and meaningful in the current sense. It likewise gives us the opportunity to do what we do too little of and that’s being together.”

The 14th Beverage Alcohol Resource 5-Day Certification Program is scheduled to take place January 9-13, 2017. Participation requires each applicant’s successful completion of BarSmarts by Pernod Ricard USA (www.barsmarts.com). The BAR 5-Day Certification Program costs $3,950.00. Applications are now being accepted for consideration.