By Rebecca Harris
The NSW final of the Appleton Estate Tiki Cocktail Competition went off with a bang at Sydney nightclub Rambutan on Monday night (October 27).
The third in a series of state finals, the competition was won by David Beatty from The Beresford with his original ‘How Blackula Got His Groove Back, a cocktail made with Appleton Estate Reserve, white grapefruit juice, orange juice and passion fruit and coconut syrups.
Second place went to Nick Van Tiel from Tha Colada Club and third went to Ryan Gardam from Rambutan.
Each contestant had to use a minimum of 30ml of Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum (V/X, Reserve or Extra), and the cocktails were judged on taste, presentation, balance and their special ‘Tikiness’.
Each drink was served in the special 420ml Tiki mug that Appleton created especially for the competition.
Rambutan embraced the Tiki-feel, decorating the venue with Tiki statues and Hawaiian leis and serving up plenty of Tiki-style cocktails.
Along with cash prizes, winners received a bottle of a special blend of Appleton Estate Rum personally selected for the competition by master blender Joy Spence.