WORLD CLASS is on a mission to inspire people to drink better and create unforgettable experiences in the process. Whether at home or in a bar, World Class encourages consumers to think and care about fine drinking in the same way they care about fine dining. World Class has supported, trained, and inspired over 350,000 bartenders across the globe for over eleven years while partnering them with the world’s finest spirits – the Diageo Reserve collection. World Class is also the authority on the drinks industry whom consumers look to for information on the latest drinks, trends, cocktail recipes, and industry insight.

Head, Heart & Hustle

Join Kathleen King, founder of the Leader Lab, as she explores the changing times and how they affect setting career goals, how skills from hospitality carry over to other career areas, takeaway tools to improve your resume, and vital interview skills. Our panel of World Class experts has been chosen to create a robust dialogue of what career success and change has looked like for them, and how you can learn from their experience to draw inspiration for the next chapter of your hospitality story.

Cask to Cocktail

Ron Zacapa’s Master Blender Lorena Vasquez joins Lynette Marrero and Katie Renshaw, for a powerhouse panel of Industry-leading women in a food pairing and Ron Zacapa training session. Lorena will even pair a dish with Lynette’s Zacapa cocktail! Panel discussion will include how different types of wood and aging influence the final expression of a spirit. Q&A Session to follow

Rule of Three

Balanced and creative three-ingredient cocktails aren’t just delicious, they’re profitable and smart. This session will walk you through what makes a successful three-ingredient cocktail, including profitability, consumer familiarity, workflow, and efficiency. Laura Newman and Tyson Buhler will be featured talking profitability for the rejiggered bar world.

Blending with Tea

Global Diageo scotch Ambassador Ewan Gunn will be on-hand to answer all your malt related questions and joins Aiden Bowie and Rebecca Edwards to spill the tea on the history of tea in cocktails and Johnnie Walker. Topics explored will be how tea can infuse life into your cocktails, and how other countries are using tea to create complexity in otherwise straightforward serves and suggested food pairing serves for different types of tea cocktails.

Heart of Gold

This seminar featuring Nic Wallace and Lauren Paylor is about citrus in spirits as well as how different acids and citrus effect the overall flavor profiles of your drinks. Hear about the famous “Tiny Ten” still, the still that gives Tanqueray no. TEN it’s distinctive citrus heart. After the presentation, Tanqueray's Master Distiller Terry Fraser and your World Class panel will be on hand to answer all the questions you wanted to know about citrus but were afraid to ask.

Bar Meets kitchen

Join Diageo Global Gastronomer Mark Moriarty and two World Class Bartenders that got their start as pastry chefs to talk about how the bar and the kitchen work together. Mark will demo a knife skills presentation and Patrick Abalos and Christina Mercado will share how their pastry skills translated to success behind the bar.

How To Shoot a Cocktail

Increasingly we find ourselves sharing our cocktail creations on Social Media for both personal and business reasons. World Class photographer Shannon Sturgis will take you through how to shoot your cocktails like a pro with delicious Don Julio tequila creations, and World Class Alum will be on hand for a panel discussion of tips and tricks to get it right, and how professional-looking photography has helped their business model.