If you are a part of the spirit industry, you must be aware about the prestigious Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition. The annually-held competition encourages the bartending community, by offering a platform to talented bartenders to showcase their skills on a global scale.
For the 2020 round, 16 bartenders have been shortlisted in the country. Out of these 16, Bacardi will announce the National winner on 25th February this year, who will go on to compete with other countries’ national winners to win the competition.
Five extremely talented bartenders have made it to the national finalists list from West India –
Harish Subhramainam from Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai
Ninad Raul from Tresind, Mumbai
Divyanshu Mishra from ITC Maratha, Mumbai
Vineet Krishnan from Koko Asian Gastropub, Mumbai
Siddhant Hule from Thirsty City 127, Mumbai
The luxurious rooftop bar Aer Bar & Lounge at Four Seasons, Mumbai invited the five finalists for guest shifts at its bar. The finalists offered their competition cocktails, which are their original recipes, to the guests at the venue.
First off, we tried Harish’s Turtuk cocktail. It is inspired by the divided Turtuk village that lies between the borders of India and Pakistan. The cocktail gives a taste of passion, dedication and determination that not only comes from Harish’s hard work but also from the village families split between the two hostile countries. The cocktail uses angostura bitters, apricot brandy, Rosso, rice wine vinegar and Bacardi Gold. Though there is time in the national rounds of the competition, Harish is a definite winner in my colleague’s eyes.
Ninad’s delicious creation is named The First Bat which is inspired by the bat on Bacardi’s logo. The logo is well-known today and enjoys a strong brand recall value. The name ‘The First Bat’ is an ode to the brand’s legacy. The cocktail uses Campari liqueur, homemade orange & honey syrup, pineapple juice, lime juice, absinthe and Bacardi Oro. The output is an orange-citrus flavoured tangy cocktail which is extremely pleasant on the palate, and a favourite of mine.
Next, we had Divyanshu’s B2B cocktail. B2B stands for Butler to Bartender, the name narrating his own journey from the career path of butlering to bartending. The cocktail is as unique as Divyanshu, the recipe calling for fruity ripe pineapple, tangy Worcestershire sauce, sweet maple syrup, sour lemon juice and of course Bacardi Carta Blanca! The result is a flavourful drink you need to taste to fully appreciate the efforts and thoughts that went behind its conception.
Vineeth, a former BLCC finalist entered this year’s competition with his refreshing cocktail Alquimia. The name is inspired by the renowned author Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, which talks about following dreams and always listening to the heart. This cocktail is delectable; one sip and you can not keep the glass down! The recipe calls for Elderflower liqueur, citric acid, absinthe, celery salt solution and Bacardi Carta Blanca.
Siddhant’s cocktail stood out from the rest! Named Ajedrez, which is Spanish for chess, the cocktail is inspired by the game and uses six ingredients that denote the six players of chess. According to Siddhant, the beauty of chess lies in its depiction of life. This rare but welcoming blend uses basil, cocktail onion, Bianco, lemon juice and Bacardi Carta Blanca.
All the cocktails use commonly available ingredients so that they can easily be replicated by bartenders at international bars. As we sipped on these original creations, we concluded that 2020 was going to be one of the hardest years for BLCC judge panel as all these cocktails were extraordinary.
With this guest shift at Aer, the finalists ended their campaign and now, look forward to attending the final rounds in Bangalore next month.
Unsobered wishes them all the best and we can’t wait to find out who takes the trophy home!
