UKBG Final 2011

With nearly 80 years of history, the UKBG still brings the brotherhood of bartenders together. No wonder it attracted so many high-calibre professionals to its cocktail competition final.

Some illustrious bartenders have claimed this prestigious cocktail competition title over the decades and among those vying for success in 2011 were faces from the Connaught, American Bar at the Savoy and the Four Seasons Hotel, where the event was being held.

Bombay Sapphire sponsored the final, along with Gentleman Jack, so the tenders were tasked with creating drinks that respected the quality and heritage of these two spirits. And as with the recent London and Edinburgh heats, one of the key challenges for the tenders was to use the Bombay to make the perfect interpretation of the Tom Collins, while the Jack was reserved for a digestif-style cocktail of their choosing.

Twisting a long and simple drink like a Collins, a cocktail that is deeply understood and recognised by bartenders and customers alike, is far from easy, so the botanical elements present in Bombay were crucial to the success of the cocktails produced.

Bombay is a gin that prides itself on the botanicals it contains, including almond, lemon peel, liquorice and cassia – all combined with the classic notes of juniper. Meanwhile, the brand team behind the gin is currently reminding the industry of these assets, hosting educational programmes and taking high-profile bartenders out on trips to sample the botanicals at first hand.

So judges wanted to see some recognition of this in the drinks they were served. Meanwhile, the style the gin exudes in its bottle design was something competitors would need to observe when it came to the aesthetics of their own creation.

Taking all this on board, then, how exactly would the bartenders impress the judges with their twist on the Collins?

The judging panel was made up of some prestigious industry bigwigs, most of whom have judged all over the world, with multiple award-winning bartenders such as Alex Kratena and Ago Perrone also moving around the tables.

“As we saw in the regional heats, there are two very distinct styles in the drinks we have been sampling,” said Kratena as he worked through the first heat of cocktails. “There’s clearly a more classic style next to some real innovation and modern thought. What’s really interesting is to see how the glassware is being seriously considered now. Five years ago bartenders didn’t really think about this, but now they recognise that they need to find a vessel that reflects the quality of their establishment and their drink.

“There have been some great examples of botanical flavours. It wasn’t important to me which of Bombay Sapphire’s botanicals they chose, more that they had recognised that this was an important element of the process when they looked at the cocktail.”

For Nathan Merriman of the American Bar at the Savoy, it was not only the recognition of the botanicals, but also his attempt to bring something modern to proceedings that mattered.

“Bombay is a gin everyone can appreciate,” he said. “It has a touch of the juniper dryness, but it’s elegant and if you know about your gins it gives you plenty to work with.

“I wanted to enhance something in it and infused the gin with liquorice root and star anise, which added to the perfumed nose of the liquid. I didn’t allow the infusion to last long because I was after the sweetness it would offer without too much of the dry woodiness.

“I also used a Perlini Carbonated System in the process. It’s made by Perlage Systems and there are only three available at the moment as far as I’m aware. You pour all your ingredients into it, seal it and pump the C02 with a small hand-held device into the top. Then you shake and end up with a fully carbonated drink.”

This sort of additional innovation proved the perfect twist on the drink, and the end result had a subtle kick of the anise with a wonderful sherbet zing, courtesy of the additional carbonation running through all the ingredients.

“It’s important to me to keep trying to push bartending methods forward,” Merriman added. “We work in a bar with lots of history and Bombay Sapphire is a sophisticated gin, but we also want to try new techniques. The drink proved popular with customers at the bar in the build-up to the competition.”

Extended contest

This important aspect of Merriman’s trial proved more relevant when the UKBG announced that four of the top Tom Collins drinks would go into an extended contest after the final.

The four selected will be expected to market and drive their Bombay Sapphire cocktail with customers over the following three months, and the bartender who can show they have sold most will be selected as a winner with a trip out to Tuscany as the prize. Similar to the Bacardi Legacy contest, this will test the skills of the bartender in not only the creation, but also the marketing and sale, of their cocktail.

The Gentleman Jack digestif element of the competition also produced some spectacular drinks. Here the judges were required to select a top six who would then go into a shake-off, the top three receiving a trophy as the UKBG winners, and the number one going on to the IBA finals to represent the UK.

Andrew Scutts, who runs the Boutique Bar Show, was also among the judges and took on the Gentleman Jack digestif heat.

“It was important that they showed off the core spirit in the drink and at least half of them did that well. There was a nice mix of the sort of after-dinner drinks you would expect, so perhaps more creamy, but it was also good to get some serious, stirred and spirituous creations as well.”

With more than 20 competitors, the process was taken very seriously and not rushed, but all competitors finished within their 10-minute deadline, proving they could make the drinks beautifully and efficiently. When all was done there was plenty of maths to consider as the panel added the scores to reveal the winners.

As ever, technical skills were judged, the UKBG taking seriously the presentation and service standards of the bartender. A highly revered award, it went to Tom Aske, one of the talented team behind Purl and Whistling Shop, and a first time UKBG competitor.