Love Drinks invites the bartenders of Newcastle to an afternoon of spirituous delights

Kirsty & Emily will take you through the history, heritage & tasting of the ultimate bartenders portfolio, including:

Hangar One Rare and exotic fruit infused Vodka’s from San Francisco
Haymans Gins The oldest Gin distilling family in the U.K
Ron Barceló A stunning range of Dominican Republic rums.
Goslings Rum Cult Brand from Bermuda. Official Dark n Stormy rum.
The Bitter Truth Bartenders favourite including bitters & liqueurs.

Limited places, so please email me john@wanttoimpress.com

Here is a little more about about the girls from LOVE DRINKS.

Kirsty Loveday, Biography

After falling in to the industry back in 2001 as part of the Budweiser Regional Impact team, I soon realised this was the industry I was born to be in. I then moved to Allied Domecq exploring different departments of marketing and customer marketing but it was sales where I really found my calling and a skill to developing a natural rapport with my customers.

A keen interest in adding value and premiumising the industry has kept my focus with high end brands and it was with this desire that I moved to Castle Brands in 2004 as country manager on their acquisition of Goslings Rum.

Having this blank canvass and massive challenge drove the success of Goslings like no other; culminating in a nomination then an award at the prestigious Class awards as Brand Ambassador of the year 2007 for Goslings Rum

Realising this successful model of quality brand with heritage couple with mass education within the On Trade drove me to set up Love Drinks in October 2007 – a unique, on trade, sales and marketing solution, dedicated to driving focused distribution and growth of super premium brands. This agency soon turned in to being a fully independent import, distributor and brand building company choosing only family owned or craft distilled products.

Love Drinks now has exclusive U.K distribution rights to arguably some of the most Iconic and quality brands of the future. Hangar One Vodka, Hayman’s Gins, Ron Barceló, and The Bitter Truth and in a very pleasing twist of fate now welcomes Goslings Rum back to where it belongs.

Love Drinks continues to grow and focus on quality spirits and outstanding individuals. A recipe for long term success.

Emily Williamson

I’ve always loved the buzz of working in the On Trade, getting my first taste at the age of 14 waitressing, it wasn’t long since I found the bar and knew I wanted to master it. I found that variety increased my thirst for knowledge and perfection so no Cocktail or Hotel or American Bar, Real Ale, Irish or Gastro pub was left unturned.

Learning is one of my key passions and I make sure I know as much as there is possible to know about subjects such as distilling, drinking habits, fermentation, history and heritage of a brands

It was dance that brought me to London. In order to pay my way I worked in various bars around Greenwich and New Cross so I could nip out of classes and into bar set up.

In my final year I got a job in a restaurant which allowed me autonomy behind the bar, I got to order my own spirits and write my own cocktail list. This was when I discovered the joys of pouring over cocktail books! After getting my degree in contemporary dance I decided to travel and took a full time job in a cocktail bar in Cambridge, promoted quickly to bar supervisor and entering my first ever competition I’ll never forget it.

I then travelled and moved back to London to work as a free lance dancer and worked full time in Soho as the bar supervisor in Meza. I was then discovered by the esteemed Morgans hotel group, working my way round their array of stunning bars and restaurants.

I realised that my natural skill with making beautiful drinks with fantastic brands and communicating with people could lead me on to a long term career path. I decided to start a Marketing course and free lance training for some premium spirits brands and see what else was out there.

Then late in 2009 I bumped in to Kirsty who I knew well from stocking her brands at The Light Bar and we realised there was a naturally synergy behind what we both wanted to achieve and she invited me to join the team. The Bartender focussed portfolio and credible brands was more than I could have hoped for and proved great tools for the trade.

Working with Kirsty and the fabulous brands we nurture has been everything I hoped it would be and I am excited about who, what and where we’ll be in a few years time!