Booze hounds

Gary Sharpen & Sandrae Lawrence aka The Cocktail Lovers

Who are you?

Individually we're Gary Sharpen and Sandrae Lawrence, together we're a married, cocktail-loving couple who go by the name of The Cocktail Lovers (geddit?).

Where do you work and what to you do? 

We work in our office aka Cocktail Towers producing our magazine and website, The Cocktail Lovers.

What's the best thing about your job? 

Other than working together in a business that we created ourselves, doing something that we absolutely love? That would be being inspired by the incredibly creative minds of the bartenders that we are privileged to meet; travelling around the world judging cocktail competitions, visiting distilleries and bars; attending bar shows and all manner of fantastic opportunities that come our way – it's a fantastic industry and we pinch ourselves every day that we're lucky enough to be part of it.

You can teleport to any bar in the world, where are you going?

Are you mad? We've got too many favourites to narrow it down to one. Instead, we'll go for a beach bar – somewhere remote, tropical and totally unfussy, probably ordering something simple like a rum and coke.

You're at the bar ordering a drink – who in the drinks biz do you want rocking up next to you?

Can we rewind back in time please? We'd love to sit and chat with Tom Bullock, the first black bartender to write a cocktail book (published 1917), him or Ada Coleman. They'd hate it of course because we wouldn't stop asking questions – can you imagine the stories they'd have to tell?

What is your desert island bottle? 

Desert Island as in being stranded on a desert island or desert island as in go-to bottle? If it's the former, then a good whisky, something that we can sip and savour and would last a (reasonably) long time. Something like Chivas 18 or Craigellachie – the good stuff, obvs. If it's the go-to bottle, then it's gin: Tanqueray No. TEN, Sipsmith or No. 3 – classics that work a treat in our favourite Martinis.

What's your hangover cure?

 Lots of water and a Purdey's for the fizz, then sweating it out in the gym. Works like a charm every time.

Type

Booze hounds