About the bartender Jonni started his career in the trade in 2014, as a nightclub bartender in Café Ceol. “By Christmas, I was behind the cocktail bar and just fell in love with it,” he says. “After four years there, I had got my cocktail knowledge up and went to... View Article
About the bartender Conleth started out in the trade as a glass collector at Massereene Golf Club in Antrim when he was 16 and then began bartending in the Sweet Afton in Belfast after university, rapidly working his way up to head bartender. “Then I got approached to go to... View Article
About the Bartender Rhian has worked in the trade for about three years, starting out in a pop up bar at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and then working as first a bartender and then a supervisor in a craft beer bar just outside Edinburgh City Centre for a year. “I... View Article
About the Bartender Hailing from Glasgow, Pamela started out in the trade working in a small local bar in her home city. After university, she worked abroad for a few years, at a karaoke bar in Turkey. “It was a ball,” she says, “and then when I came back, I... View Article
About The Bartender Josh started out his career in hospitality working for the Patterson family for an eight-year stretch, starting off as a part-time waiter and barman at The Tannery in Moira. Progressing through the ranks to supervisor and then manager, he moved within the group to The Plough in... View Article
About the bartender Billy Duffy has spent his entire career in the trade at Bootleggers on the corner of Church and Ann streets in Belfast City Centre. “I’ve worked here since day dot,” he says. “I started bar backing here in 2014, and have just worked my way up from... View Article
About the bartender Based at The Stokers Halt in Holywood, leading the beverage programme, Michael has been busy refining the categories in preparation for a new Stokers Halt opening in Belfast in 2018. His strong background in the drinks trade includes stints at Muddlers Club, Oliver’s and Botanic Inns. “Diversity and... View Article
About the bartender Christopher commenced his hospitality career cleaning dishes for his head chef brother at the age of 15, progressing to a bartending role at Madison’s Hotel in Belfast when he was 18. Moving on to the Fitzwilliam Hotel’s cocktail bar, “that’s where I started to learn about cocktails,... View Article
About the bartender “I started when I was 15, working in a place in Newtowards, and then I got a job as the assistant manager in The Goat’s Toe in Bangor, and was about four and a half years there,” says Tony. Australia beckoned and he then worked for a year... View Article
About the bartender Aaron’s career in the bar trade was kick-started a decade ago, when he began working at Scratch in The Taphouse (later renamed The Fly and most recently the Playwright Bar and Time Nightclub) while at university in Belfast. There for six years, “it was a very high-volume... View Article
