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News
London bartenders win 24 Hour Bar Build
Team London was declared champion of the 24 Hour Bar Build competition, where bartenders from four cities battled it out to build and design a bar in less than 24 hours.
Team London will receive flights to next year’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans
Team London triumphed over Paris, New York and Singapore to be crowned World’s Best in the 24 Hour Bar Build Challenge which was hosted at N&C Showrooms in Shoreditch to round off London Cocktail Week.
Each participating city was challenged to create a bar from concept through to cocktails with the support of a different drinks brand; London with Patrón Tequila, Paris with Bombay Sapphire, Singapore with Bacardi rum and New York with Grey Goose vodka.
The bars were judged industry experts and the general public on their bar aesthetic, drink quality and invention as well as how well they captured the spirit of their individual cities.
Team London comprised Iain Griffiths of Dandelyan, Sly Augustin of Trailer Happiness, Nathan Shearer of Callooh Callay, Luca Missaglia of Aqua and Andy Shannon of The London Edition Hotel, and was led by Duck and Waffle’s head of cocktail development, Richard Woods.
Their bar featured distressed walls and cacti littered around the bar for an “authentic Mexican feel”.
Woods said: “It’s amazing and a relief. Ultimately we’re the best cocktail city in the world – we were given a brief and we delivered. The best bar won.
“The biggest challenge was the timing. It was a huge ask putting something like this together in this time period. We wanted to create a space that captured the sustainable ethos of Patrón and would capture consumer’s imaginations.
“It’s about giving Tequila a second chance that empathised the idea of second chances by demolishing the preconceptions of what Tequila is. We want people to put their hand prints on the wall as it takes 60 hands to make Patrón but loads more for a great night.”
Paris came second with its Grand Bleu bar – featuring a disco ball suspended above a bath tab full of ice cubes, while New York City and Singapore took the last two spots, with the former going for a hip-hop style club and the latter opting to turn their bar into a Cuban boxing ring.
Matthew Sykes, marketing director for Patrón Tequila, said: ‘We couldn’t be prouder of Team London, they are a super group band of bartenders and have worked incredibly hard to devise a concept consumer love and deliver it in record timing.
“I have not seen a trade competition like this before that has focused on what really matters, delivering a great bar experience as well as great drinks to consumers. The reaction from guests tonight was amazing. London is a city that really loves its cocktails and has world class bartenders to match, as seen tonight.”
The winners will receive flights to next year’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, the world’s biggest cocktail festival.
Click through to the next page to see a selection of each team’s cocktails.
London – Negroni
20ml Patrón Reposado, 20ml Martini Rosso, 10ml Campari
Paris – Into The Bleu
30ml Bombay Sapphire, 30ml rinchinchin, 15ml lemon juice, 10ml raspberry leaf cordial, rinchinchin foam
Singapore – Ringside Breezer
30ml Bacardi Superior, 10ml Luxardo Maraschino, 90ml orange juice, lemon peel, 2 chunks of pineapple, stick of lemongrass, pinch of salt, dash of bitters
New York – Block Party
45ml Grey Goose, 30ml fresh watermelon juice, 20ml simple syrup, 15ml lime, 6-8 mint leaves, lightly muddled