Julio De la Torre

Finalist of the World Class Spain in 2016 and finalist of the 'Made With Love Madrid' in 2017, Julio de la Torre joined the Hubertus Circle Program (Jägermeister) in 2016. Now, Julio owns Santamaría Coctelería and 'Café Madrid, two iconic cocktail bars in the heart of Madrid, Spain.
Julio de la Torre started working behind a bar when he was only 13 years old, washing glasses, observing how the industry worked and learned about building professional relationships with clients. After that, in his first years as a bartender he worked in all kinds of places… including restaurants, bars, nightclubs and even fairs. When he felt more experienced he packed up his stuff and landed in England, which meant a big and important development in his career.
In London, Julio developed his skills and talent at Mews of Mayfair, one of the best-known cocktail bars in London. It was there where he learned all about the cocktail culture and high quality and volume cocktail work. His experience as a bartender in both countries has given him a very global view of the Cocktail Industry.
When he came back from England five years ago he started working at Santamaría, a cocktail bar that he now owns. In 2018 he decided to branch out and he took charge of Cafe Madrid, which helped him specialise in a different kind of cocktail making and deepened his knowledge in Vermouths and special coffees.
Julio's career has gone from the lowest rank, washing up glasses, to becoming trending and well-recognised bartender, this has made him very appreciative of all positions that go in between and that make a good service possible. Treating everyone in his team with upmost respect is his most important value for him.
In his business they are a big family and everyone is treated with love, from the first customer to the last, showing empathy, connection and humbleness, adding value to the profession.