Morten Kjaerulff is the founder and Chief Experience Officer of Peche Hospitality. He spent more than ten years on the London hospitality scene, in some of the world's best cocktail bars and five-star hotels. In 2025 he won the Diageo World Class Northern European Finals outright and represented Denmark at the Global Finals, finishing in the global top 10. On Proof he writes about recipe standardisation, cocktail history and how successful bar teams train.
Morten Kjaerulff
Writing on Proof
Behind the Spec #2 - Jai-Alai
Behind the Spec brings you inside recipes and prep from the world's best bars. This #2 edition dives into Jai-Alai by the team at Quattro Teste in Lisbon.
The Paradox of Explaining Recipes
A long method can tell an experienced bartender what they already know without teaching a beginner what they need. The answer is simpler specs and better training.
Behind the Spec #1 - Trieu or Dare
Behind the Spec brings you inside recipes and prep from the world's best bars. This #1 edition dives into Trieu or Dare by the team at Sago House in Singapore.
Keeping Syrups Simple - In Defence of Simplicity and Elegance
Simple syrup has somehow become a lesson in unnecessary complexity. A practical guide to ratios, variations and the equipment myths that make basic bar prep harder than it needs to be.
The Evolution of Categorised Cocktails
Cocktail families became messy because we use one label to describe balance, style and ingredients at once. A practical working language starts with balance, then adds service, aroma and flavour.
The Wet Martini Does Not Exist or A Brief History of a Dry Classic
The Martini's opposite of dry was always sweet, never wet. A referenced walk through cocktail history from the first definition of the cocktail in 1806 to the first published Dry Martini recipes, and why the wet Martini is a misnomer worth retiring.