By Rebecca Harris
The first bartenders through to the 42Below Cocktail World Cup were announced last night at the Queensland state finals in Brisbane.
Held at barsoma in Fortitude Valley, 10 competitors battled it out in for the chance to represent Australia at the final in Queenstown, New Zealand, with Kerin Golley of Little Jumbo and Sebastien Derbomez of Byblos the final winners.
“It was such a close competition,” said judge and senior brand manager for vodka at Bacardi Lion, Demetrius Giouzelis.
“Any one of those drinks could have represented Australia at the finals in Queenstown.”
The 42Below Cocktail World Cup has developed a reputation as being a competition that pushes cocktail making to its limits. In true 42Below fashion, the evening saw fake snow thrown at the crowd, tiki drinks and, in a possible world first, a French man doing the haka, when Marco Nunes of the Chalk Hotel shook his creation whilst performing the traditional Maori dance.
“It was a great night all round,” said Giouzelis. “It’ll be interesting to see what NSW and Victoria do for their finals.”
The Victorian and NSW finals will be held on August 11 and 12 to determine the ultimate team of six who will represent Australia in the world final.