A new generation of bartenders is revolutionising bar culture. With plenty of verve, new ideas and some surprising ingredients, they are creating 'spirited' concoctions for all the senses. But who’s the best? I go to London to find out – and I’m impressed.
What I saw during this year’s competition for World Class Bartender of the Year 2014 borders on magic. With amazing speed and sleight of hand, exotic ingredients are combined to make unique cocktails. Just watching makes you feel giddy. And yet all their movements are precise and exact, every gesture executed with care. Not a drop is spilt. Their movements seem to be part of some magical choreography. Exact measures of spirits flow from the wrist into the cocktail shaker, in the rhythmic action of a dance other ingredients are added and mixed together to make something new, then it cascades down from high up into a new receptacle to be decorated with a few carefully chosen accents and, finally, served. Maximum concentration is needed. And yet there is no shortage of charm and elegance.
Young, creative and innovative – that’s the impression given by this year’s finalists, who play skilfully on the traditions of their handicraft. The organisers of the WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year are the British company Diageo Reserve, the world’s largest distributor of spirits – who include Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Ron Zapaca in their portfolio – and who run an important training academy for bartenders. I reported on the World Class challenge last year too, and although I’m far from being a cocktail expert, I can assure you that this year’s candidates are even more creative than their predecessors. Their displays are of the highest calibre, and I am impressed by the serious professional preparation that these young men and women from around the world have put in. These are the top bartenders in their home countries. It’s unbelievable what ingredients they think of putting in cocktails, what techniques they use to produce the very latest taste experiences. The competition lets leash unexpected levels of creativity, and you can understand why making cocktails is regarded as being an art form – mixology – because artworks are really being created here. The sight, the smell and the taste merge into a feast for the senses; a feast conjured up by these 'artistes' of the bar. And that’s just what Diageo Reserve hoped to achieve with this competition: to nurture and develop bar culture, to get us excited about this culture and make us part of it. Because it’s not only in Switzerland that more spirits are drunk at home than in bars.
The 49 finalists have five days of 'challenges' to convince the international jury of their skill. Who will be the winner? The first stop is the 5-star Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, the home of fine whisky. Here the challenge for the candidates is – of course – to pay homage to whisky. The following day, we continue on the historic luxury Pullman to London, where immediately on arriving The Tale of Two Martinis challenge is set – to be completed in front of large numbers of travellers against the impressive backdrop of St Pancras Station. Very British! And here it becomes clear that, in the art of cocktail-making, the customer must be entertained, he must be told a story, talked to, taken on a journey by the ingredients until, finally, the masterpiece is finished and he can taste it. The customer watches the drama at close range, a drama full of humour and passion. He is amazed by the sheer manual dexterity and the many stages that need to be worked through. It’s a drama that no-one can tear themselves away from, a drama that captivates your senses. Perfume is sprayed, parsley plucked, the drink sluiced around a glass carafe filled with smoke, set alight ... The finalists show that they can turn cocktail-making into an experience, that they can entertain, that they have a touch of showmanship. And we spectators are really having fun. By the end of August 1st, we’ve finally come to the end: the bartenders, usually so relaxed, stand on the stage anxiously awaiting the decision. And the winner is: Charles Joly from the USA!
GOLD BASQUE PUNCH BY DAVID RIOS, WORLD CLASS WINNER 2013
(recipe is for a single serve)
Mix all ingredients in punch bowl, adding the soda last. Garnish with slices of orange, star anise and mint leaves.
60ml Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve
Blended Scotch whisky
30ml Amer Picon
30ml Pineapple Juice
10ml Grenadine syrup
30ml Soda water
