What's on at Imbibe Live 2016
This year’s event at Olympia London, on 4 and 5 July, has been organised with the help of industry experts and show ambassadors Laure Patry of Social Wine & Tapas, Alex Kratena and Mark Dorber, of the Anchor at Walberswick to ensure its tasting and seminar programme is as 'supercharged as possible'.
Find out more about what you can expect from this year's show in BigHospitality's Imbibe Live guide:
Centre Stage
The main stage again forms the focus of the show and the platform for the annual Bartenders vs Sommeliers competition and Very Important Personality awards.
Bars from across the UK will be sending their finest to compete in Shakes & The City – a showdown to discover which city is the nation’s cocktail capital and sommeliers will be going for gold in the £5,000 Sommelier Challenge with quiz master Ronan Sayburn MS testing their skills to the limit. Brewer’s Den will also be searching for the best wheat beer of 2016.
Beer & Cider Hub
The Thinking Drinkers, Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham, will be travelling Around the World in Six Beers, the new face of brewing in the Czech Republic will be explored in Pilsner & Beyond and Gabe Cook will get to the core of the matter with The Nuts & Bolts of Craft Cider.
Mature Then Pour will see Fuller’s John Keeling present his stars of the cellar and Imbibe’s Educator of the Year, Jane Peyton BS, will be exploring the versatile world of sour beers. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) will also be inviting visitors to taste the best from Britain’s independent brewers.
Wine Sessions
Sessions will include a Krug Champagne Masterclass, hosted by winemaker Jérôme Jacoillot, a tasting and seminar exploring Biodynamics with Gut Oggau hosted by Austrian winemakers Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe-Eselböck, and Weird is the New Normal: The Swartland Revolution a talk with winemaker Adi Badenhorst.
The Palate Training with the Masters session will also return and there will be the opportunity to try winning wines from the Sommelier Wine Awards 2016.
Cocktail Lounge
Come face to face with some of the stars of the bartending world and hear their stories in the Cocktail Lounge. Curated by Kratena, the talks include Luke Whearty & Aki Nishikura of Operation Dagger in Singapore telling all on what it takes to open some of the world’s most thought-provoking venues and Marc Álvarez, head bartender for elBarri Adrià, presenting cocktails matching eight concepts developed by restaurateur Albert Adrià.
Taste Zone
Warren Geraghty of Galvin HOP pub group will be Beer & Food Matching and Hakkasan Group’s Christine Parkinson will be exploring saké's food pairing potential in the Taste Zone.
Scandinavian food and drink expert, Monica Berg will also be introducing the world of Aquavit, and visitors will be heading to South America to find out more about Pisco in a tutored tasting.
Exhibitors
Hundreds of wine, spirit, beer, cider and soft drinks brands will be exhibiting at this year's show. For news of those exhibiting click here. For a full list of exhibitors click here.
Register for free at live.imbibe.com
