NSW Cocktail Finals Tonight

By Rebecca Harris

The second in a series of state finals for the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup 2010 will be held in Sydney tonight (Nov 30).

Hundreds of Sydney’s liquor industry elite will gather at the Beach Road Hotel, Bondi to see who will win the chance to represent Australia at the final in March 2010.

Each year, thousands of bartenders worldwide compete for the chance to represent their country at the final.

This year, Australia will hold three regional finals in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, with the winner of each making up the Australian team.

Twenty-four finalists in each state will compete in the ‘Ready, Steady, Shake’ format made popular in Brisbane, where each competitor is presented with a mystery box and challenged to create a unique cocktail using only its contents.

Tonight’s finalists include Nick Braun from Raval, Hamish McShane from Bayswater Brasserie and Dan Knight from Longrain.

The winner will join Queensland winner Karel 'Pappy' Gonzalez from Laruche.

The Victorian final, to be held next Monday (Dec 7) will determine the final team member.