DUSAN TOPOLIC

Bartender at People By Crystal Abu Dhabi

I was playing basketball professionally for the best clubs in Serbia, until I got injured in the most important season. After finishing my career, I just fell in love with bartending and all the things it brings. My friends helped me to get over my greatest passion which was basketball and guided me to raise my head and start from the beginning.

It was a great pleasure to serve Akon on a yacht during the Formula 1. There are no words to describe the feeling. Akon was so cool. We took a selfie. He was drinking a Shirley Temple, a mixed drink traditionally made with ginger ale, a splash of grenadine and garnished with a maraschino cherry.

The most expensive drink, by the glass, is a Johnnie Walker King George V. It costs Dhs350.

My favourite drink is Havana Club añejo. It is a seven-year-old aged rum, made to drink neat. It is extremely smooth and a clean tasting dark rum, with no caramel taste like so many dark rums have.

The current trend in cocktails is bottled cocktails. But bottling isn’t just about that, it’s about age. Cocktails can now age, and they do it gracefully. Examples include the Old Fashioned, Negroni and Manhattan.

People By Crystal, The Collection at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (050) 8269698. Taxi: St Regis Saadiyat Island. facebook.com/ PeoplebycrystalAbuDhabi