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El Bandarra competition returns for 2023

Spanish apéritif brand El Bandarra is bringing its Bar to Barcelona competition back for 2023, with a focus on the Spritz cocktail.

El Bandarra
This year’s competition will focus on the Bandarra Spritz

The brand was developed by twins Alex and Albert Virgili at the family-owned Casa Berger winery in Barcelona, Spain, and is said to be ‘a liquid reflection’ of the city’s rituals and culture.

This year the competition will invite bartenders to compete in pairs to create a Bandarra Spritz, using the brand’s Al Fresco expression; an aperitivo made with Spanish wines and Mediterranean botanicals.

The competition will consist of three rounds, which will take place between February and September.

The first round will require competitors to upload their Spritz recipe, picture, and team story at elbandarra.com/bar-to-barcelona. Thirty finalists will be selected from the pool of applicants.

Next, El Bandarra will host three regional finals to select the three entrants with ‘the tastiest and wildest approach’ to a Spritz.

The final will take place in Barcelona, where El Bandarra will take the three winning regional teams on an all-expenses paid trip to battle it out at the winery’s party. There, the winners will be crowned the UK’s ultimate Bandarras.

Entries close Friday 31 March.

In October, Zach Sapato and Libby Smith of Glasgow bar The Absent Ear were crowned the winners of the first Bar to Barcelona UK cocktail competition.

More than 50 teams took part in the ‘rogue bartender’ competition, which had tasked entrants with creating an El Bandarra serve that reflected the story of the creators, with extra points for taste, presentation and connection to the brand.

The winning cocktail combined El Bandarra Al Fresco, Giffard Menthe Pastille, fresh lime juice and cucumber syrup.

In November, El Bandarra embarked on a new distribution partnership with Proof Drinks.

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