Derwayne Chesterman

Derwayne is in the third generation of barkeepers in his family and has a passion for the mixology trade and the craft of freestyle bartending.

After witnessing a bartender in London's first ever TGI Fridays captivate the crowd, make a fantastic drink and get all the ladies at the same time, he was hooked. Since Flaircos (high grade plastic shatterproof flair bottle) were still yet to be invented, he had to practice with the real thing wrapped in tape (the bottle, not Derwayne!).

Being part of the flair revolution in London from the birth of the Roadhouse flair competition to selling bar blades to the hungry bartending masses, if he hasn't seen it or done it, he was probably drunk at the time!

"Always learning, ever evolving"

Tim Ratsey

Tim has been bartending for over 20 years, and it has proven to be his forte. With a heavy passion for the art of mixology and experimentation, he is one of London's forerunning authorities. Tim has headed many bar openings all over Great Britain and has been a member of the Barlogical team right from the beginning, when we were a small consultancy firm.

Shawn Lindsell

Shawn has an amazing appitite for facts and snippets of information. His extensive research has earned him a fine reputation in the freelance writing world. His writing style has a humorous yet factual tone, making his work an easy read. Shawn's full time job is in the movie industry, proof reading scripts for film and television in the United Kingdom. He is also the brains behind Churchmice Productions, making short films and documentary's for television and the web.

Robert Hess

Robert traces his interest in cocktail to a childhood fascination of bartenders - who effortlessly transformed the contents of the bottles around them into gleaming jewels of refreshment. Eventually he took action on these early memories, absorbing all he could about the classic art of mixology. Using his culinary training as a canvas, he views cocktails as a cuisine with the same artistic flavor potentials as that of any French chef.

He has since become a ceaseless evangelist of quality cocktails, working with restaurants, bartenders, and consumers - as well as creating the informative and widely recognized website www.DrinkBoy.com - to increase recognition and respect for this undervalued art.

As the official emcee for Barlogical, Levi is one of the first mc’s to touch the mic in bartending competitions, by entertaining the crowd beyond just announcing the competitor. He has been there from the beginning of Barlogical’s competitions and is now one of the most experienced and professional MC’s on the circuit. He offers the powers of an exceptional host, but also has the energy and the rolling stamina of a professional crowd hype artist. This is one reason why he is such a good performer as he works alongside the competing bartender and his mixes to provide an exceptional show. His ability to adapt from the professional competitor to the first timers with his saloon style humor relaxes any tense situations.

Brian Diescher

Brian, based in Boston, is our cover photographer, specializing in Product and Performance Art Photography.

Since the age of six he has focused his artistic talents in the realm of photography and has been studying photography for many years, through private mentoring and full time study at the New England School of Photograph (NESOP). Brian successfully completed the NESOP professional program in May 2001 with a major in Commercial Advertising and a minor in Digital Imaging.