The final round of Beefeater’s Global Bartenders Competition proved very tasty indeed – in more ways than one! Patience Gould highlights Gintime’s top two faves.

What a super evening! I refer of course to the finals of Beefeater 24’s Global Bartenders Competition. Staged in London’s Shoreditch Studios, this was a truly interactive event – all invitees were given a chart detailing the 14 bartenders’ winning cocktails, and we were asked to taste and score accordingly. There was no standing about watching judges marking the cocktails out of 10, which happens a lot in cocktail competitions and quite frankly is about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Delicious, and I mean delicious, canapés helped us along the way, and we studiously did the rounds. What a nice crowd too – and what an extraordinary array of teapots! Yes, teapots – as Beefeater 24’s tea botanicals, Chinese Green tea and rare Japanese Sencha tea, were centre stage – and we were being asked to find our favourite tea cocktail, which had won through the 14 heats around the world. This was indeed an evening of tasting (no spitting!) that would stick in the memory for all the right reasons.

The cocktail round was the third part of finals day, which had put the winning 14 finalists through such challenges as timed food pairings as well as an interview with an international blogger.  The cocktail challenge was the icing on the cake – and Gintime was there in force on the judging trail.

In the event we found our own favourites in addition to the winning cocktails made by the UK’s Nathan O’Neill and Germany’s Katrin Reitz. Gintime’s top two were the B24 Martninez created by Alex Chatte, who works at Plus 852 in Hong Kong and the Ginjamboa, created by Diogo Quinaz who works at Liquid Consulting in Portugal. And here they are:

B24 Martinez

Created by Alex Chatte

Ingredients:

60ml Beefeater 24

30ml Lavender Tea infused with Noilly Prat and Martini Dry

30ml Morande Late Harvest and Honeycomb Reduction

2 drops of Grapefruit Bitters

Glass: Martini

Method:

Blend French and Italian vermouths together and then cold infuse with lavender tea for 24 hours. A reduction of late harvest Sauvignon Blanc with honeycomb. 4 oz of Beefeater 24, then 2 oz vermouth blend infused with lavender and finish with 2 oz of white wine reduction and two drops of grapefruit bitters. Stir all in yazan mixing glass and pour into a martini glass and garnish with a Schezuan peppercorn bitter chocolate.

Ginjamboa

Created by Diogo Quinaz

“The basic concept of this drink is the inspiration and creation behind Beefeater 24, with its modern lines and simultaneous antiquity, and its exotic ingredients and botanicals.

I tried to combine these aspects in one cocktail, recreating a Korean tea with its own characteristics due to the mix of ginger and honey. I add the juice of a grapefruit to give a beautiful and elegant color, and at the same time a citric acidity, then some sugar to swing and balance the mix. Finally I add the Beefeater 24.

After a vigorous shake, I pour the mixture into a glass with modern and simple lines, full of ice to the top, with only a hint of crushed ice and a small sprig of mint to awaken the sense of smell.”

Ingredients:

2 barspoons fine white sugar

20 ml ginger and honey tea

60 ml grapefruit natural juice

60 ml gin Beefeater 24

Garnish: a wheel of grapefruit, mint sprig on the top of the crushed ice.

Glass: Collins / Highball

Method:
Ginger and Honey Tea (saenggangcha) – to create this tea, we need equal parts of ginger and honey. Peel the ginger, cut it in small pieces and puree the ginger with either a grater or food processor. Put 1 cup of the pureed ginger into a bowl. Add 1 cup of honey and mix well. To serve, mix 2-3 barspoons of the mixture into a teacup of boiling water. Pour the ginger tea and grapefruit juice over the sugar and dilute it with a barspoon before adding the gin in a shaker/mixing glass. Then, add the Beefeater 24, we fill the shaker/mixing glass with ice, and the cocktail’s ready to shake. Fill a Collins/highball glass with ice (don’t forget the wheel of grapefruit) and, using the double strain technique, pour the cocktail into the glass. To finish, top with crushed ice and the sprig of mint (with a slight slap to activate aromas).

Ginjamboa

Created by: Diogo Quinaz

Market: Portugal

Place of work: Liquid Consulting

Mr Oolong’s Fixer Upper

Created by: Hasse Bank Johansen

Market: Nordic

Place of work: St. Pauls Apothek

Elletaria

Created by: Raphael Tremerie

Market: Belgium

Place of work: Crystal Lounge

Desert Punch

Created by: Alex Frezza

Market: Italy

Place of work: Bar in Movimento