By Andy Young
Ten bartenders from around Australia are set to take part in Time Out magazine’s first Hotel Bars Cocktail Competition, which is taking place this week.
Bringing together bartenders from top Australian hotels, the competition will see the finalists present their reinvented version of a classic cocktail. Each bartender has selected a classic cocktail to reinvent, from a list of five: Bloody Mary; Martini; Mojito; Old Fashioned or Whiskey Sour.
Time Out CEO Michael Rodrigues said that the competition was an opportunity for top hotel bars to stamp their place in the local hospitality scene.
“In cities like London, New York and Paris, hotel bars are recognised as some of the best, most exciting places to drink,” he said.
“Australia’s bar scene tends to focus on laneway bars or speakeasies but the hotels represented in the competition are kicking goals in terms of service, atmosphere and bartender skill. We wanted to push them into the limelight.”
Judging the cocktails on the day will be Tim Philips, co-owner of Bulletin Place and Dead Ringer and the 2012 Diageo Reserve World Class Global Bartender of the Year; Emily Lloyd-Tait, bars and pubs editor, Time Out Sydney and James Wilkinson, editor-in-chief, Hotel Management magazine.
The competition, which is an industry-only event, will take place on Thursday 5 May at Zeta Bar in the Hilton Sydney, with the winner to take home a prize pack which includes $3000 cash.
CONTESTANTS
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Andrew Mae, The Bar, Park Hyatt Sydney
Cocktail: The Truffle With Vlad -
Art Palomata, Blu Bar, ShangriLa, Sydney
Cocktail: Scarlet Affair -
Alex Clark, Gilt Lounge, QT Sydney
Cocktail: The Squealing Throw Down -
Andrew MacLeod, Grain Bar, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney
Cocktail: Grain Geisha -
Jared Thibault, Lucky’s Speakeasy, QT Canberra
Cocktail: QTique Old Fashioned -
Jay Spencer Tokmak, Marble Bar, Hilton Sydney
Cocktail: The Salcha -
Zikra Armeda, Sokyo, The Darling at the Star, Sydney
Cocktail: Suppai Siyan -
Jeff Clifford, Stingray, QT Gold Coast
Cocktail: The Weekend Away -
John Toubia, Supper Club, InterContinental Sydney
Cocktail: Beat Down Tonic -
Flavio Tripepi, Zeta Bar, Hilton Sydney
Cocktail: The Reuben Mary