By Sacha Delfosse – editor bars&clubs
Some of Perth’s top bartenders will be gathering at The Deen tonight (March 10) from 7pm to battle it out in the Shaken and Stirred cocktail competition.
Now in its third year, the Shaken and Stirred competition tasks bartenders with making two drinks in under eight minutes – one a classic cocktail twist, and the other an original creation.
Bartenders must use at least 30ml of a dark spirit for one of the drinks, and 30ml of a white spirit for the other, from a selected pool of products that includes Ketel One Tanqueray 10, Don Julio Blanco, Bulleit Rye, Ron Zacapa 23 Year Old, and George Dickel No. 8.
“It originally started when myself and a mate at Diageo, Paul Hickey, wanted an event to showcase the talent that we have behind our bars here in WA,” said James Connolly.
“The feedback we had after the first two years was really positive so we decided to do another one,” said Connolly.
Amongst those competing will be Ben Tua from Purl, Jessica Beaver from Ace Pizza, Tom Kearney and Dim Rtshiladze from Mechanics’ Institute, Andrew Bennet from The Classroom, Andrew McIntyre from Five Bar, Mike de Vos from Choo Choo’s, Nick Harris from El Publico, Joe Sinagra from Bobeche, and Jamie Passmore from Varnish.
“The winner gets all the stuff bartenders like… bragging rights, something shiny (a trophy), some dollar bills and fancy booze,” said Connolly.