By Sacha Delfosse – editor bars&clubs
Thirty local bartenders will battle it out next month in a series of heats held across Australia for a spot in the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge national final.
The local leg of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge is run by the brand’s Australian distributor, island2island.
“The number of entries this year has been exceptional, and their calibre really high," said Angostura brand manager, Auriane Bourdin.
"Each of the selected state finalists has shown skills, creativity and a good understanding of balancing flavours."
“At this stage of the competition, they will have to be more innovative and demonstrate their capacity to create well-balanced cocktails to stand out from other finalists.”
Cristiano Beretta, Ed Loveday, Jay Gray, Luke Redington, Mike Tomasic and Simon McGoram will be competing in the NSW finals on August 12 at Miss Peaches.
The SA event will be held on August 19 at Casablabla, with Chad Hanson, Dave Meadows, Eoghan O'Neill, Luke Fleming, Roman Tazhdynov and Erin Shaw competing.
Evan Stanley, Joel Persson, Nathan Beasley, Peter Nguyen, Samuel Cumming and Joshua Crawford will be competing in the VIC finals, which will be held at the Royal Saxon on August 26.
In Queensland, Alissa Gabriel, Douglas Gilmour, Edward Quatermass, Keaton Loxley, Sean Chow and Perryn Collier will be competing at the Press Club on August 28.
WA's Universal Bar will play host to Andrew Bennett, David Nguyen, Dimitri Rtshiladze, Ebony Clark, Joe Sinagra and Ben Tua on September 2.
The winners of each heat will earn a place in the national final, where they will have a chance to win a cash prize of $10,000, $5000 worth of stock for their venue, and a trip to Trinidad to represent Australia in the global finals.
Each state final will commence at 7pm on the night. To attend please email Brittany Page at bpage@island2island.com.au.