Bristol Cocktail Week Is Done and Dusted For One More Year!
Well, what a week was Bristol Cocktail Week 2015!
Bristol Cocktail Week – Day One:
The week started on the Monday with the traditional competition for the Bristol Cocktail Cup to decide who should be Bristol’s Best Bartender 2015. Round one was held in Goldbrick House on Park Street featuring 12 of Bristol’s finest bartenders presenting their cocktail interpretations of “original sin” featuring Mamont Vodka.
The second (and, by far, the most entertaining round) was held a few minutes walk up the hill at Manos on Clifton Triangle. This was a sudden death round of cocktail entertainment and wit where our highly creative and often most theatrical cocktail-meisters were paired up to compete in who could serve their rather demanding customers best with only one winner per pairing, nothing getting past our guest judges from Crazy Pedro’s, Manchester.
Round three was held at the recent arrival on the Bristol cocktail scene, Her Majesty’s Secret Service (HMSS) at Clifton Down. Remaining contenders were individually quizzed in quick fire rounds of general cocktail and Bristol knowledge with questions such as: where does Aviation gin come from? and where’s a good place to go for Sunday brunch in Bristol? as well as several more challenging cocktail and industry-related questions.
The final and fourth round was held across the road on Whiteladies Road at The Flipside Cocktail Club where the remaining four contenders were rapidly whittled down to two: Will Garnett from Red Light and Luke Robinson from HMSS. Each were challenged to create and perform their own interpretations of Tom Cruise’s “The Last Barman Poet” from the 1988 film “Cocktail” which they did with unforgettable and hilarious results! They also had to correctly identify an American, Irish, Welsh and a Japanese whisky.
After an entertaining and fast moving set of rounds, the winner was finally and noisily declared. Congratulations to Will Garnett of Red Light! You are now Bristol Cocktail Week’s Bartender of the Year 2015 and holder of the Bristol Cocktail Cup!
Bristol Cocktail Week got off to a great start. At this stage, we were 1 day down and only 6 more still to go!
Barbara Hollyhead is Owner & Director of Agave Blue Marketing and one of the Board Members and Organisers of Bristol Cocktail Week.
Agave Blue Marketing 