The hunt is on for Scotland’s top bartender – with the aim of finding the best on the planet.
Diageo Reserve’s world-renowned bartender competition, World Class, is set to return, launching with its UK-wide studios tour next month.
On the hunt for the very best home-grown talent, there will be two Scottish events taking place at Revolution, Mitchell Street, Glasgow (25 February) and Revolution, Chambers Street, Edinburgh (26 February) designed to nurture Scottish talent ahead of the GB finals of the competition.
World Class Studios 2019 aims to widen the search for this year’s World Class champion by extending its reach to an even bigger pool of outstanding bartenders.
The series of training sessions have been created to push boundaries, educate and inspire bartenders around the world, preparing them for the hotly anticipated World Class GB competition set to launch in March.
The World Class Global Finals will be held in Glasgow in September.
With bartenders across Scotland encouraged to get involved, the Edinburgh and Glasgow sessions will be delivered by a number of Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassadors including Jack Sotti, Ali Reynolds, Kate Jackson, Jenna Ba and Joe Tivey – a collection of the world’s best bartenders, drinks professionals and creatives.
World Class will comprise of all-new content with community at its heart, as well as exciting new challenges, promising to be bigger and better than ever before.
Edinburgh and Glasgow will form two of five hero sessions, with others taking place in London and Manchester. Smaller satellite activations are also scheduled for Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham.
Diageo Reserve World Class Brand Ambassador Jack Sotti said: ‘2019 marks a step change in the World Class programme. Now in its 11th year, we’ve seen an array of personalities share their talent whilst participating in the competitions and have watched the competition develop year by year, each time tapping into today’s trends and cocktail culture.
‘The World Class studios are an amazing way for us to get out there and work incredibly closely with both new and established talent nationwide to help build new skills, grow our World Class community and share a wealth of knowledge and insight. We can’t wait to hit Edinburgh and Glasgow to start recruiting and spreading the word for yet another exciting World Class year, kicking off the competition with a series of challenges encompassing everything which makes up todays bartending scene.’
This year, the World Class studios sessions are each centred around a different spirit in the Diageo Reserve portfolio and are inspired by the spirit’s production, history or ethos.
The studio seminars are designed to bring to life modern cocktail trends to inspire and teach bartenders and grow the World Class community. Modules for the year’s national training drive include ‘Tech Tonics’, ‘Science of Smoke’, ‘Single Ingredients’ and ‘Tartan Tiki’, with two modules specifically tailored to this year’s World Class competition entry challenge, due to open in March with in-bar judging in May.
The ‘Science of Smoke’ module requires competitors to grasp and demonstrate the delicate skill of creating the perfect blend by ensuring liquids work together in harmony. ‘Tech Tonics’ is a module which draws on inspiration from Tanqueray No. TEN and Tonic – a much-loved recipe which highlights the ground-breaking technology behind the spirit’s production process and botanical combinations. The session will explore how best to create your own mixers and unlock unique flavours.
The ‘Single Ingredients’ module focuses on Ketel One Vodka and getting the most out of ingredients to minimise wastage and make better, more responsible choices in the bar and at home. The fourth module, ‘Tartan Tiki’ is inspired by Talisker’s brand platform, Made By The Sea. It explores specific whisky flavour profiles and showcases the versatility of Single Malt Scotch Whisky by mixing malts in a cocktail context better known for its rum credentials.
To sign up for the World Class studio session in either Edinburgh or Glasgow, interested bartenders should visit https://Worldclassgb.events.idloom.com.
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