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Featured on Bartender at Large

Tyler Zielinski

Founder & Director

Tyler is a multifaceted drinks professional who has worked in the drinks industry through a balance of journalism, content creation, marketing and bartending for the past decade.

Editorial

Tyler is best-known for his work as a drinks journalist, writing about bars, cocktails and spirits. His stories have been featured in esteemed titles, such as PUNCH, Food & Wine, Eater, London Evening Standard, Class, Condé Nast Traveler, Wine Enthusiast and more; and his work as a multi-media drinks communicator landed him on the shortlist for the IWSC’s Emerging Talent in Spirits Communication in 2022. Tyler is also the soon-to-be author or Tiny Cocktails, which is set to be published globally in Spring 2025 by Clarkson Potter (Penguin Random House). It's through his travels as a highly regarded drinks writer that he has garnered a robust knowledge about bars and drink culture globally.

Marketing and Advertising

Tyler’s foundational knowledge as a marketer and communicator was shaped while working in media advertising at Carat and Dentsu Aegis in New York City. His first role was working in North American client operations for Procter & Gamble. Working on behalf of the world’s largest advertiser polished his understanding of process, big business and client management before rotating onto ABInBev’s newly acquired business. For ABInBev, he worked as an integrated media planner and buyer, negotiating and planning US media advertising for an array of clients, including Stella Artois, Goose Island IPA and the rest of ABInBev’s Craft portfolio.

After his near-three year stint in advertising, while simultaneously building his brand in the drinks industry on social media, Tyler took this acquired knowledge and served as a marketing strategy consultant, social media expert and content creator for an array of brands and clients, including Diageo, Beam-Suntory, Campari, and smaller businesses, communications and marketing agencies. He did this work in a freelance capacity while working in bars and building his journalism portfolio.

Bar Industry Expert

Tyler has worked in the bar industry for a decade.

While he’s not actively bartending after switching gears as a result of the pandemic, he was previously a U.S regional finalist at Woodford Reserve’s Manhattan Experience bartending competition in 2019 while tending bar at Backbar and Fish & Game (Hudson, NY); and an East Coast finalist for Nikka Whisky’s Perfect Serve in the same year while serving as creative director of Lawrence Park (Hudson, NY). In 2021, Tyler was also recognized as a top 4 U.S national finalist in Jack Daniel’s “Try Rye” cocktail competition.

His general drinks expertise has seen him featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, The Telegraph, Metro UK, Liquor.com and Fast Company, in addition to being a guest on the award-winning bar podcast, Bartender at Large. Tyler has also served as a bar educator and judge for bar awards and cocktail competitions alike, including the Italicus Art of Aperitivo UK Finals 2023, the inaugural World Young Mixologist Competition UK 2023 and the No.3 Gin Unrivalled Classics Cocktail Competition 2024.

Joe Brayford

Creative Director

Joe is a commercial drinks photographer and ex-bartender with 10 years of experience in the drinks business. After developing a love for cocktails and bartending while studying fine art and fashion photography at university, Joe kept one foot in both worlds, capturing cocktails for brand clients, such as Diageo and William Grant & Sons, by day while serving his daytime photography subjects (cocktails) to bar guests by night.

It’s this amalgam of professional experiences in the hospitality industry that gives him a unique perspective behind the lens, as he uses his deep understanding of the bartending process, mixing methods, ingredients and cocktail culture to help brands and bars creatively tell their stories with authenticity and panache. Using his keen eye for detail shaped by his years of studying fine art and portraiture, Joe not only helps small emerging brands shape their visual identities, he also executes larger scale creative campaigns for Pernod Ricard, Campari and William Grant & Sons, demonstrating his range as one of the drinks industry’s rising photographer talents.

Want to keep up with Joe and his deep hatred of Vespers? Follow his drinks-focused Instagram @todays_tipple.

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