By Sacha Delfosse
Ten of the best Perth bartenders will be battling it out on Monday, January 28, in a blue-themed cocktail competition held at Mechanics Institute.
The 'Any Way the Wind Blues' contest is being sponsored by local premium gin producer, West Winds, which will be hosting a Ginstitution Masterclass prior to the start of the competition.
The rules are simple – each bartender has to produce two identical cocktails in less than six minutes with at least 30ml of West Winds The Sabre and 5ml of blue curaÒ«ao. They will be scored on both their drink and their performance.
Competing on the night will be Kenny Lim (399 Bar/The Good Shepherd), Jess Beaver (399 Bar/The Trustee), Andrew Shugg (The Merrywell), Matius Ng (Print Hall), Jimmy Kerr (Mechanics' Institute), Kenny Soetomo (The Brisbane Hotel), Nick Harris (The Publican Group), Mat Field (The Aviary), Ben Tua (Mechanics' Institute) and Jamie Passmore (Luxe Bar).
West Winds’ Jeremy Spencer, who chose the ten finalists after blind tasting all the entries, will be judging the proceedings alongside Night Owl Group food and beverage manager, Tim Wastell, and drinks writer and critic, Max Veenhuyzen. Also, on the judging panel is Renee Bergere, who won a Facebook competition that was run to fill the fourth spot.
The winner of the cocktail competition will receive a trip to the West Winds gin distillery in Margret River as well as a bottle each of West Winds The Sabre and The Cutlass. Second place will get a bottle of The Cutlass while third will get a bottle of The Sabre.