Carnival celebrations for Angostura Cocktail Challenge winner

David Delaney Jnr from the USA has been named the winner of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge 2012.

In second place was Rikki Carter (New Zealand), and Jamaal Bowen (Trinidad & Tobago) in third. The competition took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Carnival Sunday (21 February) – the climax of the largest celebration on the island.

Mixologists came from across the globe to participate, from Australia and New Zealand, to china, Russia, South Africa, India and the USA.

The judging panel consisted of US mixologist Tony Abou-Ganin, Hine cellar master Eric Forget, mixologists Jacob Briars, executive director technical operations at Angostura, Visia Persa-Doodnath, and the 2011 Angostura global brand ambassador, and former cocktail challenge winner, Andy Griffiths.

The panel tasted 30 different cocktails; two from each contestant, one for the rum category, the other freestyle. The judges awarded points for appearance, aroma, taste and presentation.

Persa-Doodnath commented: “Now in its fifth year, the competition gets tougher every year and 2012 was no exception. The creativity and technical ability from our finalists was very impressive. It was a very close final but in the end David was crowned the winner.”

As winner, Delaney Jnr will be the angostura global brand ambassador for 2012, as well as receiving a cheque for $10,000.

On winning, Delaney said: “This has been such an amazing experiencing for me. To compete against some of the world’s best mixologists is a real honour, the competition was fierce. I’m really looking forward to the year ahead as brand ambassador for Angostura and teaching people about the uniqueness of this amazing brand.”