Our group of Global Finalists was outstanding! What talented, professional, fun and nice people - truly what hospitality is about. Each person there was already a champion from their region or country in all parts of the planet. In addition to the overall global champion (who you will meet, below) there were a few other acknowledgements to make, each of these people deserve a round of applause:
Francesc Cairo- Barcelona, Spain. Bar: House SECOND PLACE OVERALL WINNER- Gorge Camorra- Geelong (Melbourne), Australia. Bar: Cloud 9 THIRD PLACE OVERALL WINNER
- Katrin Reitz- Berlin, Germany. Bar: La Dee Da BEST OVERALL KNOWLEDGE
- Meaghan Dorman, New York, USA. Bar: Raines Law Room BEST OVERALL TECHNICAL
Our other esteemed finalists were:
- Hannah Lanfear- London, England. Bar: Boisdale
- Denzel Heath- Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Bar: SoHo Molecular Lounge
- Antonio Lai- Hong Kong. Bar: Quinary
- Mathieu LeFeuvrier- Paris, France. Bar: Le Quarante Trois
- Cari Hah- Los Angeles, USA. Bar: Cole’s Red Car Bar
- Irwan Majid- Singapore. Bar: Cut by Wolfgang Puck
- Mari Nakano- Tokyo, Japan. Bar: The Peninsula Hotel
- Kellie Thorn- Atlanta, USA. Bar: Empire State South
- Michael Tomasic- Sydney, Australia. Bar: Wild Rover
- Ivan Villegas- Madrid, Spain. Bar: O’Clock
Finally, though, in every competition, there can only be ONE winner. In order for you to get to know him a little bit better, I’ve included a short interview with JAMIE JONES from Manchester, England:Describe your bar in Manchester:The Liquorists is a multifaceted bar, it acts as a playground for bartenders across the north to visit and use any of the products behind the bar to experiment with. We also do a lot of training sessions and tastings for bar folk as well as consumers. The Liquorists work all across the UK doing events and training sessions and have recently created a bar tending school in Sri Lanka in conjunction with Rockland Distillery. Have a look here to see some of the things we get up to www.theliquorists.com What are 3 of your interests when not behind the bar:
- I'm an avid collector of booze! I have over 300 bottles in my personal collection, almost all of which are unopened. My pride and joy is a 1916 pre prohibition bourbon!
- Travelling! I love seeing new places, whether in the UK or abroad. I love meeting new people and there's a hell of a lot more places I'd like to see...
- My family is the biggest commitment of my life. My girl and our small dogs are what keep me smiling even through the tougher times...
Describe your drink for the GCP Global Finals. (The name is brilliant, by the way):La Floraison D'être was designed to take very simple ingredients, some people may never have associate with cocktails and create a unique drink and experience.The addition of olive oil in my drink is what gives the most incredible velvety and soft mouth feel I have ever had in a drink. Olive oil works as an additional emulsifying agent with the sugar and egg white which when shaken hard creates the biggest and softest foam. The Lillet rose and pink peppercorns work so well together and bring out the spicier notes in the G'vine Florasion. The homemade perfume is a sort of ambient garnish, sprayed onto the back of the hand you drink with so that with ever sip you are hit with a bouquet of lavender, rose and subtle hints of ginger and black pepper.My table was decorated with a rainbow of locally sourced macaroons. The macaroons were the garnish to the drink, the idea being that their crisp texture counterbalanced the velvet smoothness of the drink.All in all it was a drink that was very well received and one I am incredibly proud of:
- 60ml Floraison
- 20ml Lillet rose
- 20ml sherbet (50/50 sugar and lemon juice)
- 10ml extra virgin olive oil
- 25ml egg white
- 10 crushed pink peppercorns
- Shake very hard with two cubes of ice
- Strain into glass
- 30ml Rose lemonade