MOTIVATION

In the name, the union of OUR and PURE, there is the mission of the group, who researches the “purity” of the product, uncontaminated, and of “our” meant as a past shared in every corner of the world. Three are the indispensable paradigms of P(our): knowledge, sustainability and growth. Alex Kratena, Ryan Chetiyawardana, Jim Meehan, Simone Caporale, Monica Berg, Joerg Meyer and Xavier Padovani the young bartenders that have undertaken the difficult enterprise of relaunching the founding values of each society, the same that are at the basis of the Nonino Risit d’Aur Prize. Their most significant project is Pour Amazon meant to save the Aji Negro, a fermented sauce made with bitter manioc which is the result of a thousand year old culture and is prepared by the indigenous populations of the Amazonian rain forest. Explorers of the past, immersed in the present and projected into the future, every year they organize the Symposium, an international meeting where to face and study in depth the fundamental themes of the society, such as the matter of the Gender in the sector of the bartender community.

The prize is delivered by Ermanno Olmi

BIOGRAPHY

P(our) is an international charity organization established in 2016 by Alex Kratena, Ryan Chetiyawardana, Jim Meehan, Simone Caporale, Monica Berg, Joerg Meyer and Xavier Padovani, which has the target of creating a global community of bartender, barmen, sommeliers, brewers, distillers and wine producers that can stimulate and re-invent the world of beverage, through new ideas, knowledge, inspirations, experiences and values. P(OUR) = OUR + PURE. Our community, Our industry, Our responsibility, Pure honest, Pure reliable, Pure Uncorrupted. Sustainability, growth and knowledge are intrinsic elements of the very identity of P(our). On these values and these certainties they have started the #PourProject Project Amazon, a plan for the construction of an environmental and eco-friendly structure in the Amazonian rain forest, in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lima, to produce Aji Negro, a fermented sauce made with bitter manioc which has been handcrafted by native tribes living in the Amazon Forest for over a thousand years. Nowadays, due the current borders, it is produced in Peru and Venezuela only by the communities of the native “Bora” tribe. A Forest like the Amazon, botanically speaking, has no borders which differentiate the produce from one area to another. The Bora communities have been the victims since the slavery trade of the early twentieth century for the Rubber Tree business which has literally used the Bora as slave-workers who had been taken away from their native areas of the present “Venezuela” and forced to settle and work in the Peruvian Forest. With the project of the Aji Negro sauce P(our) wants to give the Bora community settled in the “Pucuarquillo” village (in the Loreto region of Peru) a support to make a better living. The sale and commerce of this sauce in the cities will give a great support to the forty-four families of this village. The whole project is financed by P(our) and coordinated by a local trusted Charity Organization called “Despensa Amazonica” which not only will look after the development of the project but also provide a “trading training” to the local tribe in order to stop the abuse of the lack of knowledge which led to the exploitation of these community in the latest 200 years. The sauce will be bottled and labeled in Lima City to prevent the introduction of plastics and potential disposable packages which might increase the trash and contamination of the Forest of Peru. The Amazon project is joined by Symposium, the annual event organized by P(our) which, in the 2017 edition, wanted to focus the attention on the theme of the Gender and on the problems linked to equality and diversity meant as values, also and above all in the world of work, and in particular in the beverage world. The events of the convention are shared for free on the P(our) platform. Discover more on pourdrink.org

THE TEAM

Alex Kratena
Alex is the founder of P(OUR) and former Head Bartender of Artesian, at The Langham, London, where Alex led the bar and his team to win multiple UK and international awards. In November 2015, Alex left Artesian to pursue a new joint project with Simone Caporale and Monica Berg. Alex travels the globe developing new products, cocktails and marketing strategies, presents at various cocktail conventions and trains bartenders around the world.

Ryan Chetiyawardana
Ryan Chetiyawardana is a multi-award winning bartender, author and owner of White Lyan, the first cocktail bar in the world to feature no perishables. His second venue ‘Dandelyan’ launched on Southbank, London within the Mondrian Hotel in October 2014, and – like its sister bar – was awarded ‘Best New Bar in the World’ at the 2015 Spirited Awards.

Jim Meehan
Bar operator, educator, and author of The PDT Cocktail Book, Jim worked at some of New York City’s most popular restaurants and bars, before opening the James Beard Award winning bar PDT in 2007. Meehan currently serves as the drinks editor for Tasting Table, as the global ambassador for Banks Rums, and as the curator of the cocktail programs for American Express Centurion lounges in the US.

Simone Caporale
Internationally renowned bartender with a distinctive personal style, who is credited during his years at Artesian at The Langham, London, with turning the bar into the best in the world, as recognized in World’s 50 Best Bars by Drinks International.

Monica Berg
Award-winning bartender and author who has quickly established herself on the international bar scene. Monica achieved critical acclaim for her seasonal aquavit and was awarded the Linie Honorary Award in 2015, a recognition given to individuals for their ambassadorship for Norwegian food and drink culture.

Joerg Meyer
Joerg Meyer is a bartender and entrepreneur who operates two award-winning bars in Hamburg; Le Lion and The Boilerman. Joerg is the creator of Gin Basil Smash and apart from consulting, he travels around the world as a keynote speaker presenting on entrepreneurship, bartending, classic cocktails and drinks history.

Xavier Padovani
Xavier Padovani is the founder and director of Orfeus Ltd; a brand-building agency that focuses on using alternative marketing methods in the on- and off-trade with a specialization in launching new brands and consolidating existing ones. He is also a director and partner of Experimental Group, the global hospitality collective of cocktail and wine bars, including Experimental Cocktail Club, Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, Experimental Beach Ibiza and Joyeux Bordel.