Dustin Haarstad is a bartender and founder of the consulting business Blind Tiger Cocktail Company. Alongside menu and bar design consulting, the team of professionals at Blind Tiger host educational seminars about beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, conduct staff training in service and technique, and customize private and corporate events. 

We had a chat with Dustin about all things booze.

Eau-de-Vie is an award-winning cocktail and whisky bar located in Sydney and Melbourne. It is so good even the cocktail book they put out won an award! The man behind this venue is Sven Almenning.

Following the success of Eau-de-Vie, Sven and The Speakeasy Group he directs have gone on to open The Roosevelt in Sydney and Boilermaker House in Melbourne. A serious entrepreneur and expert in his field, Sven also runs The Experimental Spirits Co, a boutique drinks business for handcrafted, small batch, high quality products.

We talked to Sven to gain some insight into cocktail culture and how he opened the bar he’d been dreaming of for years.

Pete Licata won the World Barista Championship in 2013. Along with his former coach Holly Bastin he now runs the cafe consulting and barista training business Licata Coffee Consultants and online bean evaluation platform Roast Ratings. We caught up with Pete to find out what it takes to be the best.

Andres Walters is the bar manager of Sydney rum and cocktail bar The Lobo Plantation, and Kittyhawk, a new venture from the same team, inspired by the liberation of Paris at the end of the Second World War. He also runs the online hospitality equipment company barGEEK. We caught up with Andres to get some insight on running multiple venues, building a good team and selecting the right drinks for customers.

This week we spoke to a Quality Analyst at one of the most respected specialty coffee companies in the United States – Counter Culture. Basically, she makes sure Counter Culture’s coffee is up to snuff through regular cupping sessions and visits to coffee farms in Columbia, Uganda and other countries. 

Not only does this particular coffee professional run CC's West Coast coffee quality laboratory – she's also a former US Barista Champion. We’re talking about Katie Carguilo.