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Alex Kratena, distinguished bartender having worked as head bartender at Artesian at the Langham, London from 2007-2015, has since established himself as a prominent consultant in the drinks industry. Before I came to London I worked in Japan. ClientAlex Kratena & Monica Berg LocationLondon, England. The vision for Tayer + Elementary was to create a bar, comfortable and practical for the daytime crowd, with great coffee, quick bites and wi-fi, and pair it with a forward thinking cocktail bar for the evening. On Monday 30 August 2010 the Bols Bartending Academy hosted a Master Bartending course with Gary Regan. This course was all about tips & trips for bartending. Alex Kratena is widely credited with reinventing modern hotel bar. Artesian, his bar at The Langham, London was recognized as Number 1, for the third consecutive year, in the World’s 50 Best Bar Awards. Want to learn more about Artesian cocktails? Follow Alex on Instagram @alexkratena & Twitter @AlexKratena.
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Havana Club has extended its Professional Edition series with two new rums that were created in partnership with bartenders Alex Kratena and Carina Soto Velasquez.
Havana Club Professional Edition C is recommended served neat or in high-end cocktails
The Havana Club Professional Edition range, which was developed with bartenders in mind, was first unveiled at trade show Bar Convent Berlin last year. It launched with Professional Edition A and Professional Edition B.
Alex Kratena Bar
At this year’s Bar Convent Berlin show, two new limited edition expressions were added to the range – Professional Edition C and Professional Edition D.
Described as a “rich and raw gold rum”, Havana Club Professional Edition C was developed by Kratena and Soto Velasquez, along with Havana Club rum master Asbel Morales.
The expression is made from young aguardiente blended with older rum bases that have aged in San José distillery’s warehouses. It has been matured for up to 12 years in large white oak barrels, which are aged up to 40 years old.
The “full-bodied” Professional Edition C is said to have an “intense character” and notes of tonka beans, dates, white flowers and chilli. It is recommended served neat or mixed in high-end cocktails.
Meanwhile, Professional Edition D is a white rum “that explores the raw expression of Cuban sugarcane and aguardiente”.
The rum is made from a blend of destilado de caña with extra-aged aguardientes. Its flavour and aroma is said to “evoke the sensorial profile” of Cuban sugarcane. The expression is said to have notes of fresh cane juice, mint and hay, along with mineral and saline profiles.
Soto Velasquez and Kratena created Professional Edition D with the head of Cuban rum masters, Juan Carlos González, and Cuban rum master Salome Alemán.
“Carina and I share the same passion for rum; co-creating Pro Editions C and D with her has been a fantastic experience,” said Kratena.
“I look forward to seeing many mixologists around the world experimenting with these rums and adding exciting innovations to their cocktail menus.”
Alex Kratena
The Professional Edition range is available exclusively in select leading cocktail bars around the world, including the UK, France, Greece and Cuba.
Alex Kratena Paragon
Nick Blacknell, global marketing director at Havana Club International, added: “This year, we wanted to go one step further to give bartenders a whole new opportunity to experiment with the flavours and rum bases in our distillery warehouse, and the result has been astonishing.
“An aged gold rum and a fresh white Cuban rum, both born from the collaboration between two leaders in the bartending scene – Carina and Alex – and the unsurpassed skills of our master of Cuban rum, Asbel Morales.
“They have inspired us with their creations, and we are positive that this range will continue to be the benchmark for authentic and high-quality rum cocktails within the bartending industry on a global scale.”