Following the tragic news of Gaz Regan’s passing, we bring you our late-2018 conversation with him.

News came through on Friday that Gaz Regan passed away peacefully, aged 68, following a bout of pneumonia. He was one of the most loved members of the bar and cocktail world, and for good reason.

Gaz was brought up in British pubs in the 1960s, before he made his way to the US aged 19. Over the next five decades, he became a larger-than-life pioneer of the cocktail revolution – his impact epitomised by the popularity of his iconic finger-stirred Negroni. His books, such as The Bartender’s Bible and The Joy of Mixology, have become some of the most-referenced texts of today’s cocktail renaissance.

More recently, Gaz was passionately promoting the concept of ‘Mindful Bartending’, in which he sought to transfer meditative techniques to the practice of keeping bar. Ultimately, as always, with a view to enhancing the entire experience for both guests and mixologists alike.

Above all, Gaz was an exceedingly generous and giving soul, who we are all greater for having known.

Vale, Gaz Regan.