As one of the largest cocktail festivals in the world, London Cocktail Week has been a mainstay for the past 11 years. But even though London has now opened up, bar owners across the capital are still finding it tough. 

To help encourage people back to the bars, this year's festival has again been extended to run for a month over the whole of October. 

Offering masterclasses, immersive pop-ups, bar takeovers and cocktail dinners to name but a few of the highlights, the event is set to see the return of favourite bars like Tāyer+Elementary and Lyaness, as well as some new names including Park Row and Hacha Brixton. 

To find out more, we speak to organisers, Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne, about how the land lies and what to expect from this year's event

As more and more people took to making drinks at home during the pandemic, the need for home bar tools has grown exponentially over the last two years. 

At the forefront of supplying this need is New York cocktail tool company, Cocktail Kingdom. But beyond just supplying tins, muddlers and glassware, Cocktail Kingdom has their signature range with contributions from some of the biggest names in the industry. 

We talked to owner Greg Boehm about pivoting through the pandemic, creating speciality lines and working with bar personalities. 

While today it might not be so uncommon to see women behind the stick, it hasn't always been easy for women to make an impact behind the bar. 

As a way to try and level up that perception two female New York bartenders, Ivy Mix and Lynette Marrero held the first-ever Speed Rack competition. And it didn't take long for their energy and passion to spread not only to other US cities but also through the bartending community across the globe.

A decade later, the competition is about to hold its long-awaited, ninth season final in New York as part of Tales Of The Cocktail. We speak to Lynette and Lauren Paylor, Speed Rack's digital maven about equality, women in hospitality and what changes they have seen in the industry over the past decade.