Meet Robert Hess, our resident cocktail evangelist, and keynote demo master. What exactly goes on backstage in a general session hall, aka mission control? How many man-hours go into a three minute demo shown on stage? How many times do these demos blow up? And what happens then? Who takes control? All these answers, and more, are answered in this edition of Countdown to MIX09. And if you look really closely, can you see what’s on the table behind Robert? They used to say in the olden days it drove you crazy. Oh, and one more thing: 1 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce Benedictine,1/4 ounce Campari,1 dash Peychaud’s bitters, top with ginger ale.