Sit Down with Ketel One Global Brand Ambassador Paulo Figueiredo

I love vodka-based cocktails and about 60% of my favourite cocktails are vodka based. That being said, I am always up to discovering vodkas and learning more about them. I got the opportunity to have a lovely chat with Paulo Figueiredo, the Global Brand Ambassador for Ketel One, and I must say, I am officially a Ketel One fan.

About Ketel One

Ketel One Vodka was released in 1983 and is distilled by the Nolet family in Schiedam, the Netherlands. The distillery was founded in 1691 by Joannes Nolet and is currently managed by the 10th and 11th generations of Nolet distillers. In 1979, Carolus Nolet took control of the family business, travelled to the United States where he discovered an emerging cocktail culture, and returned to the Netherlands to create his own high-end spirit.

Dutch distillers refer to pot stills as ketels, so Carolus Nolet named Ketel One after the distillery’s oldest, coal-fired copper pot, Distilleerketel #1. Ketel One Vodka undergoes an unconventional distillation as the Nolet distillery utilizes both column and pot stills, a combination they believe produces a smoother flavor profile. Each run of Ketel One Vodka must be personally tasted and approved by a member of the Nolet family before bottling begins.

About Paulo Figueiredo

Born in Portugal, Figueiredo has done pretty much all the jobs in this industry for the last 18 years. Throughout his career, he’s travelled to over 90 countries (this year will reach 100) and visited many cities behind the latest trends in mixology, including London, Berlin, Barcelona, Moscow, Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York.

In 2011, he joined Diageo in Latin America and the Caribbean, where he’s been focused for the last 5 years, developing the cocktail culture at all levels through platforms such as World Class, Business of Bars and Diageo Bar Academy.

In 2016 he was appointed to the role of Global Brand Ambassador of Ketel One Vodka and he’s based in Amsterdam. For the last 2 years Paulo continued to travel the World spreading the love of Ketel One Vodka and World Class.

He still spends most of the year on the road delivering the World Class Studio seminars, talks about trends in the industry, judging World Class and doing diverse activities with Ketel One Vodka. When not travelling you can find him in Amsterdam writing new programs or at the Nolet distillery.

I sat down with Paulo Figueiredo to chat about all things Ketel One and cocktails.

1. What does it take to be a brand ambassador?

It takes a lot of work; there’s no shortcut. It’s just like anything else you want to do in life; you keep doing the best you can. Ketel One is a brand that I really identify with and that knew I wanted to work with even when I was a bartender and running restaurants. I love the family and the  327 years of tradition, and when the opportunity came up, I applied for the global brand ambassador position without hesitation.

My job is to develop brand awareness and share expertise so one day I could be sitting with consumers, another day I could be talking to the media, and another day I could be working with bartenders or speaking at seminars to industry players. It’s a bit of everything really.

2. What is your mission in Kenya?

I met Patrick Mutua in Berlin, the winner of World Class Kenya 2018, and I loved his project of bringing a sustainability aspect to cocktail making in Kenya, so I wanted to come to see it for myself. At Ketel One we believe in community as the path to sustainability. We want to get the bartenders to talk more to local producers to understand local ingredients and how that can be creatively used in cocktails.

I also wanted to take the opportunity that is the Nairobi Cocktail Festival to spread Ketel One brand awareness. Kenya is more of a whiskey market, but there is definitely room for vodka, especially with the growing interest in cocktails. We are advocates for responsible drinking as well as informed drinking – knowing the right drink for every occasion. I am very excited to share and interact with Kenyan consumers as well as Kenyan bartenders during the festival.

3. What are your top 3 favourite cocktails?

Espresso Martini for sure because I love coffee. I also love Bloody Mary – it’s my go to when I go to brunch on a Sunday. The third one is a hard pick, but I’ll go with the Dutch Mule. It’s refreshing and delicious, so you can have a few of those, and easy to make so it’s a safe option to order anywhere as not many people get it wrong.

While in Kenya, I am looking forward to trying out cocktails in Kenya made with local ingredients. Ingredients shift a cocktail in interesting ways and a good example is an Espresso Martini. Coffee is not just coffee as it has multiple flavours, so coffee used plays a part in how the cocktail tastes, so I am excited to try out the cocktail with Kenyan coffee in it.

4. What has been the reception in Kenya?

Ketel One is not well-known in Kenya, but this is an exciting opportunity for us to grow here. So far, I have had the chance to connect and meet with bartenders and thanks to the Nairobi Cocktail Festival, we will also interact with and expose consumers to Ketel One through making our cocktails and masterclasses. One of the things we’ve noticed is that the younger generations are more open to new experiences and drinks and tend to comfortably switch drinks depending on mood and occasion. This is good news for us of course as we are able to share the long tradition of Ketel One with new consumers.

5. What cocktails will you be making at the Nairobi Cocktail Festival?

We will be making Patrick’s version of the Espresso Martini. It’s an easy, fun and delicious cocktail and will feature Kenyan coffee. We want to break through the idea that making cocktails is a complicated affair and that you need all these fancy tools to do it.

The Espresso Martini

I had a chance to have this cocktail and it’s refreshing and delicious, and from the ingredients, a fun and easy cocktail that you can whip up at home either for yourself, or to impress guests.

Ingredients:

45ml Ketel One

15ml homemade citrus/vanilla

Cinnamon liqueur

15ml cane juice

30ml arabica espresso

Garnish – coffee beans

Glass – Martini