STUART BALE

‘When I started, the height of extravagance was a cosmopolitan in a martini glass with two straws,’ says Stuart Bale. You’ll have noticed when you go out that things have moved on since then. As well as the renaissance in classic cocktails, many bartenders have gone all Heston Blumenthal by experimenting with unusual favours, ingredients and techniques. Such creativity requires specialist equipment like dehydrators, centrifuges, distillation apparatus and ice cream machines, which gave Stuart the idea of creating an institute, Crucible, in London, where bartenders pay a membership fee and then let their imaginations run riot. It’s a Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory for cocktails. Stuart was training as a dentist in Glasgow when the lure of cocktails proved irresistible. He worked in bars in Scotland before moving to London in 2008 and doing a stint at Tony Conigliaro’s 69 Colebrooke Row (69colebrookerow.com) –a bar that is a sort of El Bulli for Britain’s cocktail scene, a place where many top bartenders learnt their trade. Previously, bartenders guarded their recipes and techniques but Stuart says that now, ‘Ideas are swapped between barmen around the world.’ Crucible is a place where like-minded individuals can meet, learn and innovate. It has infuence outside Britain, too; recently he received an email from someone looking to open a similar institution in Australia. Stuart now dreams of opening a Crucible in a double-decker bus that could travel around Scotland and Northern England like a mobile library of booze. crucible-london.com

Cocktail in a sentence

‘I don’t think you can get past the negroni: equal parts gin and Campari, but I substitute Buckfast for sweet vermouth.’

Best food & booze match

‘Absolutely the best pairing, hands down, is fino sherry and jamón Ibérico de Bellota.’

Next big booze trend

‘Infused vodka will be the next big thing, but made with accuracy and consistency. ’