Dale DeGroff

Dale DeGroff, an American bartender and author, is renowned for reviving the great classic cocktails of the nineteenth century with simple, fresh ingredients. From 1987 to 1999, he held the position of chief bartender at the Rainbow Room, a prestigious venue at Rockefeller Center in New York City. He brought much-needed innovation to the bartending profession and sparked a cocktail revival that continues to this day.

A recipient of the 2009 Wine & Spirits Professional Award from the James Beard Foundation, DeGroff also boasts two other James Beard Awards, a Tales of the Cocktail Lifetime Achievement Award and the Wine Enthusiast 2018 Cocktail Legend Award. He is the founding president of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, an organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the rich history of cocktails in the United States.

DeGroff is not only a leading trainer and highly sought-after authority in the beverage industry but also a founding partner and consultant for the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) group, an award-winning collective of bartending professionals. He has penned two best-selling cocktail books, "The Craft of the Cocktail" and "The Essential Cocktail." "The Craft of the Cocktail," published in 2002, has become a cornerstone, widely considered an essential bartending reference. In 2020, DeGroff updated this influential work with "The New Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Think Like a Master Mixologist," encapsulating his 40 years of expertise and creativity in the art of mixology.