Lucas Bols USA today announces today the appointment of a new team of US ambassadors for its Bols Genever brand.
The team of six, to be overseen by National Education and Trade Development Manager Sean Bucalo, will be responsible for brand advocacy, providing support to local sales managers, and staff education of accounts.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have assembled such a solid team of quality individuals to help tell the Bols Genever story from coast to coast in the United States,” said Bucalo. “Each one of these unique personalities has the same level of commitment to helping build the brand and preaching the gospel of this incredible spirit we’ve been distilling since 1664. It all starts with our annual Jerry Thomas Celebration, the week of December 15th.”
Bols Genever Brand Ambassadors:
· Naomi Levy – Boston
Award-winning bartender Naomi Levy, formerly bar manager of Eastern Standard, has won multiple regional and national titles including Bacardi Legacy U.S., has been a national finalist at Diego World Class and Speed Rack Boston. She is the founder of Beyond the Mixing Glass, a company which aims to bring the principles of bartending and hospitality to a wider audience.
· Katie Renshaw – Chicago
Katie’s road to becoming Chicago brand ambassador for Lucas Bols USA has been anything but linear. She worked as an actor, web developer, and graphic designer before finding her calling in cocktails. She’s bartended at several Chicago cocktail hotspots including Moneygun, GreenRiver, and (currently) GT Prime.
· Rafael Jimenez Rivera – San Francisco Bay Area
Like Renshaw, Rafael’s background is varied and diverse. The son of Puerto Rican transplants, he grew up between Upstate New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts before earning a degree in Film Studies from Bloomfield College and graduating from CIA Hyde Park (baking and pastry). After bartending and cooking stints on the East and West Coasts, he settled in San Francisco in 2005. Career highlights include working alongside chefs Hiro and Lissa as part of the opening team at Ame; and working with Loretta Keller and Clay Reynolds at Coco 500 and the Moss Room, first as a bartender then later returning as general manager and beverage director. After leaving the Moss Room he became general manager and sommelier of The Flytrap, working with the infamous Chef Hoss Zare. He is currently working with the Back of the House restaurant group and Belga.
· Chad Larson – Denver
Chad started bartending in Minneapolis in the early 2000’s after working in and running kitchens. After learning the ropes he became a corporate bar trainer for Copeland’s of New Orleans helping open venues across the country. Since, he has worked in several of the top bars in Minneapolis including Town Talk Diner, Bradstreet Crafthouse, and Café Maude at Loring. Eventually he met the owners of Williams & Graham and accepted a position to move to Denver to work at the highly touted bar, which since has been named best cocktail bar in America and been a finalist for best bar team in America for four consecutive years.
· Crystal Chasse – NY Metro
Crystal Chasse is a New York City-based bartender currently working at Seamstress. She has tended bar in Massachusetts, San Francisco, Hawaii and NYC. Hospitality and creating interesting, delightful cocktails are the most important part of the job to Crystal.
· Ashley Williams – Dallas
Ashley began bartending in 2011 in Dallas, Texas working behind the bar at Boulevardier, Standard Pour, and Harlow. She’s the longest active member of the USBG Dallas Chapter and works as a consultant to bar programming in the city. Her passion comes from the culinary channel where she’s able to express her creativity in freshly made ingredients for her programs.
