Incredible Hulk routine wins 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup

A trio of American bartenders have been named the winners of the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup, after staging a ‘highly choreographed’ show inspired by The Incredible Hulk.

The team, hailing from Oregon, New York and Colorado, performed an entertaining routine in keeping with the event’s theme ‘Lab Experiment’ while creating a vodka sours-style cocktail named Formula 42.

Their performance was enough to beat the teams from New Zealand and the UK who finished in second and third place respectively.

Steve Schneider from Employees Only and Macao Trading Company in New York, who competed on the US team with Beckaly Franks from Clyde Common in Portland, Orgeon and Ken Kodys from Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado, said the event held in Auckland, New Zealand on 7 September was inspirational.

“Winning is one thing but even being here is another,” he said. “Getting the chance to meet other bartenders from around the world and of this caliber is an amazing opportunity. I’ve learned so many new bartending methods and made friends for life.”

The judges, which included Jacob Briars, Tony Conigliaro, Marco Faraone and John Lermayer, said the US team demonstrated great unity and creaticity.

“They are three very different individuals but they had a lot of national pride,” said Lermayer. “They managed to take three different styles and morph them together. They were the tightest team of the week and it stood out.”

The 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup featured 21 bartenders from across the world

The US team’s winning cocktail, Formula 42:
45ml 42BELOW Pure
15ml fresh lemon juice
7.5ml fresh lime juice
22.5ml passionfruit and Champagne vinegar shrub
5ml green chilli-infused Chartreuse
15ml black pepper-infused egg white
Cucumber air garnish

Method:
Shake and served in a small Rocks glass. Top with cucumber air.