We had the honour to have Phil Duff hold one of his last presentations as Global Brand Ambassador for Bols at the BCB 2008.

Never shy of anything (just like we know him) he did not only prepare a phenomenally expensive drink using a diamond-studded silver shaker worth 35.000€ but also let us take part in ways to become a millionaire just by owning a bar.

If you want to check on him and his suggestions you can do so rather soon, as he is to open a speakeasy-style bar in Amsterdam in the next few days.

You will find his presentation here.

Link: www.bols.com

Foto: Miguel Lopes

Another great presentation at the BCB 2008 was held by Ago Perrone. Ago, former Bar Manager at the London hotspot "Montgomery Place" is now residing over the newly refurbished Bar at the Connaught Hotel and works for Galliano L'Authentico as Brand Ambassador.

As always the Traveling Mixologists presentation held at the BCB 2008 was a bit chaotic but -hopefully- entertaining.

Except of Alexander Hauck (who unfortunately had to keep an eye on his stand just 60 feet away from the stage) we saw all members on one stage for the first time ever so mayhem had its reason.

You won't find a lot of bars theses days that don't have one of Simon Difford's "Difford's Guides" being used as a recipe encyclopedia by the bartenders.

His latest issue compiles over 2250 recipes which all have been prepared and photographed in his so called house bar "Cabinet room". I have had the chance to see the place live and damn it is impressive let me tell you!

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As promised, we will start to post most of the recipes and presentations held at the BCB 2008 in no particular order from now on.

Jeffrey Morgenthaler was indeed a bit quicker and already posted his presentation on his own blog (which is more than worth reading but you all should know that by now!). Well he did the work so he should get the honors, right?

Actually I don't know which speaker the audience above is listening to, but as you can see the main stage was packed all the time yesterday. In about one hour we'll start with the next slot. A discussion about the efficient design of bars. It'll be interesting to see, if the nocturnal adventures of last night will show. It's likely that a few seats in the audience remain empty. I remember a young bartender from Dresden dancing on a table of club Maxxim's Beefeater lounge with his sun glasses on. Tonight we'll hand out the Mixology Bar Awards 2008. Another opportunity to climb on top of tables. ;)

The picture above gives you an impression of the build-up of Bar Convent Berlin today. I got an email from German cocktail blogger Thekenmeister just a couple of minutes ago. He'll be at the BCB this year, too. So we got a total of four cocktail bloggers with Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Jay Hepburn and Christian Niefanger. A quantum of solace (to quote the new James Bond) for those, who couldn't make it this year. I'm sure we'll see some nice coverage. [more ...]

Three months ago we published a statistic that showed the origin of people registering for Bar Convent Berlin. We've recently done another analysis when we crossed the threshold of 500 registrations. We even got bets running now, if we'll get 1000 registrations this year. It'll probably not be that much. But the split of different nationalties attending our Convent is interesting. Currently about 25% of all attendants registered are from abroad:

Apart from the GSA countries most visitors come from Holland and the UK. Bar Convent Berlin is slowly turning into a hub for the European bar scene. The more diverse the mix, the more attractive the whole event.

We're really looking forward to it!

Link: www.barconvent.de

On the 29th und 30th of September Bols will present a unique diamond shaker at Bar Convent Berlin.

This handmade 35.000 Euro bar tool was created exclusively by Coster Diamonds, Amsterdam. The French company Établissements Bernard RDB designed a high class leather case for the shaker, that is made of pure silver and 18 carat gold, emblazed with 480 brilliants of 19,05 carat.

The Bols Diamond Shaker sort of illustrates, what Phil Duff's speech "Get rich & famous with Bols" on the September 29th at 12.30 pm will be about. ;)

Link: www.bols.com

The Canadian Mike McLean is Director of the FBA and as a Certified Master Judge jury member at many flair competitions. He is furthermore Director of Marketing and Sales of Flairco.

Why are you coming to
the Bar Convent Berlin
and what do you expect from it?

I am coming to the Bar Covent Berlin as a representative for the Flair Bartenders’ Association (FBA). I will be involved with the Flair Camp area of the show, interacting with flair bartenders and other show attendees to talk flair. I will also act as a judge for the Mixology Flair Team Award.

How do you like your job as Director of the FBA and what are your main tasks there?

I truly enjoy my position with the FBA as it allows me to interact with bartenders all over the world. I am heavily involved in the competition aspect of flair bartending as an FBA Certified Master Judge and organizer of many smaller competitions specifically designed for up and coming competitive flair bartender.

One of my priorities with the FBA is the spread of information about flair bartending and bartenders, both within the hospitality industry and to the general public or media.

We organized Bar Tours Berlin for the first time last year to accompany our trade event Bar Convent Berlin. As the response to this was very enthusiastic, we've decided, together with the participating cocktail bars, to make this event even bigger this year. While the Bar Convent is for trade visitors only, the Bar Tours are for literally everyone: the Berlin public, the visiting bartenders from abroad, the tourists....etc.

Everybody coming to Berlin for Bar Convent Berlin will arrive with the question where to get the coolest chilled drink with the best bunch of people, when the doors of the Convent have closed. Therefore we've organized a number of liquid events, that will cater for your needs. You'll be too late for Bobby of Cascade bar (see above) though. He's been serving his Feuerzangenbowle punch around 1932.

The company ModernBartending consits of two pillars. On the one hand the bar academy Barschule München that offers courses and trainings for bartenders, on the other BarPerformance the section for events and catering.

Founder of ModerBartending is Matthias Knorr, further members of the team are his wife Anna Knorr, Tom Weinberger and the magician Tombeck. If needed the team can be enlarged with additional flairtenders.

Why are you coming to the Bar Convent Berlin and what do you expect from the Mixology Flair Team Awards?

We want to meet old and new friends and others from the bar business. Also we are looking forward to the competition and the presentation of our company.

Robin Weiss is owner of two Bar-Restaurants and the catering company SpeedBartending. He furthermore works as a consultant for the beverage and hospitality industries.

The former flairtender is Director Europe West of the Flair Bartenders Association and has been a jury member at many competitions.

Why are you coming to the Bar Convent Berlin and what do you expect from the panel discussion with the DBU (German Bartenders Association)?

Because Helmut invited me...

No, seriously, I wanted to be there last year already, and after hearing comments about it, I regret even more that I did not have the time. However, this year the date has been marked red in my calender...

I expect from the panel discussions that we can shed prejudices and possibly start a new, possitive cooperation all together in the near future to the good of the bartending profession. Amen!