Bacardi Superior Rum Legacy Cocktail Competition

Bacardi Superior Rum Legacy Cocktail Competition

If you were hoping for the spirit to move you, then the imposing surroundings of One Marylebone, a former church in the heart of London, would be a good place to start. And so it was that this splendid venue played host to the finale of perhaps the most challenging cocktail competition a bartender will ever face, the Bacardi Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition.

The culmination of 300 days and nights of blood, sweat and lime juice, February 4, the brand’s 148th Founder’s Day, was the night on which 2008’s trio of Most Promising bartenders would finally be whittled down to an Ultimate Winner. Chosen from The Connaught’s Agostino Perrone, Quo Vadis’s Marcis Dzelzainis and Mobar’s Sam Dean, that winner would walk off with an art deco cocktail shaker, a ticket to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and a place in the Bacardi hall of fame.

On the same night, a further seven bartenders also took to the stage, in the hope that their original Bacardi cocktail would see them through to the Three Most Promising shortlist for next year. Drawn from over 240 entries from seven regions around the UK, those finalists were: John O’Reilly (Apartment, Belfast), Joey Medrington (Tigerlily, Edinburgh), Scott Tyrer (Bibis Italianissimo, Leeds), Erik Lorincz (The Connaught Bar, London), Justyn Bell (Hausbar, Bristol), Darren Thrower (The Kenilworth, Kenilworth) and Matthew Dakers (Hoxton Pony, London).

Rising to the occasion
Industry faces were out in force too, as the likes of Ben Reed, Salvatore Calabrese, Spike Marchant and Andy Pearson all turned out to sample the drinks created by this year’s intake. Combined with hot lights, a lively crowd and a judging panel featuring former UKBG chairman Peter Dorelli, Ian Burrell, Jake Burger, The Observer Food Monthly’s Rebecca Seal and Bacardi rum’s global ambassador David Cordoba, it would have been enough to make lesser bartenders crumble, but our competitors rose to the occasion with a combination of passion, skill and charisma.

‘When we launched the Legacy Cocktail Competition last year we were impressed with the standard and scope of the entries, but this year represented a big step forward,’ said Bacardi rum’s David Paskins. ‘There were many great cocktails entered that did not make it to the final itself, showing the true versatility of Bacardi Superior rum as a liquid and also the inspiration of the challenge to create a lasting legacy. All the seven cocktails at the final had true balance and complexity of flavour and would warrant inclusion in any top cocktail list.’

But this competition wasn’t just about mixing drinks. Earlier in the day, the shortlisted seven had spent a nerve-wracking afternoon trying to convince the judges that they also had the marketing nous to make their cocktail a modern classic, not just with the trade, but with consumers too. As Dorelli said: ‘The thing is today we are so spoilt, as there are so many good drinks, and so the point becomes: how do you sell it. And that’s really the most interesting part of being a bartender in my opinion.’

Marketing savvy
And this group of seven, boasting degrees that ranged from law and graphic design to software engineering, displayed some impressive resourcefulness. Bespoke cocktail caddies, storybooks, viral campaigns, blogs and charity donations were some of the innovative ideas that competitors proposed putting into practice over the next 10 months. Friends with marketing degrees had also been drafted in to help in several instances – it’s amazing what a few free drinks can get you.

Judge Ian Burrell commented that it was about time a cocktail competition addressed the business side of things: ‘One of the natural progressions for a bartender is to become a bar manger or brand ambassador and this competition is great because it helps to achieve this mindset,’ he said.

Another highlight of the evening was the launch of the third edition of Bacardi rum’s exclusive Legacy Cocktail Book. This luxuriously-bound collector’s edition pays tribute to the brand’s long-standing role in the creation of classic cocktails, from the original Bacardi Daiquiri in 1898, through to the recipes submitted by the 2009 Legacy finalists. Taking their place alongside recipes from such legendary tomes as Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book and Harry McElhone’s Barflies and Cocktails, these drinks continue a tradition of timeless cocktails that Bacardi Superior rum has been helping to inspire for over 100 years.

2008 Bacardi Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition Winner

Agostino Perrone, The Connaught Bar

‘Why is it that success so often comes in small parcels?’ asked chairman of the judges Peter Dorelli as he readied himself to announce the winner of the inaugural Bacardi Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition. But anything he said after that was promptly drowned out as the room erupted into loud cheering in honour of this year’s extremely popular winner, The Connaught’s Agostino Perrone.

Having seen off some stiff competition from Quo Vadis’s Marcis Dzelzainis and Mobar’s Sam Dean, Perrone impressed the panel with a cocktail that was a hit with both consumers and bartenders, popping up on blogs, glossy magazines including Time Out and GQ and in bars from Belfast to Vancouver. ‘It has been a closely contested year, but the Mulata Daisy has consistently proved the most popular drink with consumers at events and also with bartenders at training sessions up and down the country. It is also one of the best selling cocktails at The Connaught Bar,’ said Bacardi rum’s David Paskins.

It was also a drink with a story that truly caught people’s imagination, a story that Perrone helped to tell with a photo essay featuring his own pictures, charting his journey as a bartender from Italy to London. Given away to influential friends in the industry and favourite guests, the booklet was also a tribute to the person he describes as ‘the inspiration of my life,’ his wife Gabriella.

‘But I’d also like to thank my team as it’s all about teamwork and without them I would be nothing,’ added Perrone on the night, joyously clutching his trophy, which was a bespoke art deco-inspired David Redman shaker.

‘The thing with this competition is you need to approach it in a different way. It’s very hard work,’ he admitted. ‘But to have the chance to visit the Bacardi family and see the distillery and how much they respect their product – it’s very inspiring. Throughout the last 10 months my respect for the brand grew day by day.’

So, as his fellow bartender Erik Lorincz goes into the final three for next year’s competition, what would Perrone’s advice be to other bartenders wanting to make their mark? ‘My advice is to try to find the roots of what you’re doing – there are many different styles of bartending and it’s important we respect all of them, but you need to know the roots of where you belong, the roots of what you do and how you do it. You can make the simplest drink in the world but if you serve it to the right people in the right way – that’s when it becomes amazing.’

MULATA DAISY
40ml Bacardi Superior rum
25ml crème de cacao dark
20ml lime juice
2 barspoons caster sugar
1½ barspoons fennel seeds
10ml Galliano L’Autentico
Method: Dust the rim of a coupe glass with chocolate powder and carefully rinse it with the Galliano l’Autentico. In a shaker muddle the fennel seeds, add the other ingredients with cubed ice, shake hard and fine-strain into the glass.

2009 Three Most Promising Winners

MATTHEW DAKERS, Hoxton Pony

Representing the London East & Central region in the Bacardi Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition was Matthew Dakers of the Hoxton Pony in London’s Shoreditch.

‘When I started doing competitions my cocktails were a little bit wild. So when someone asks you to make a new classic you’ve really got to put a sort of ceiling on your creativity,’ says the irrepressible Matthew Dakers, who started out as a barback at the tender age of 15. A law degree at Aberdeen University followed, but ‘I realised I didn’t want to sit in an office,’ and so his bartender training started in earnest, with stints at bars including Café Mambo in Ibiza and that most classic of cocktail bars, Dry Martini in Barcelona. ‘Except that I’m not a classical bartender, I’m an urban bartender,’ says Dakers. ‘I don’t like wearing a suit, I prefer wearing smart trainers. I like to jump up and down and dance around behind the bar if I want to and be myself, which is why the Hoxton Pony is perfect for me.’

The name of his Bacardi cocktail comes from two sources. ‘It’s called Angel’s Draft because I love the story behind the angel’s share, that there’s something heavenly about alcohol,’ he explains. ‘The word ‘draft’ is partly a reference to the writer Ernest Hemingway, because I love the Hemingway Daiquiri. And also at school you have first draft, second draft and final draft of essays – and for me this is my final draft,’ he says.

‘I feel like I’ve found a blueprint for a recipe that will work in any style of drink – it works as a Collins, a Mojito or a Daiquiri. I serve my cocktail in glassware from Selfridges but the point with this drink is it can be made in any glass – it doesn’t have to be a coupette – versatility is the most important thing.’

The judging panel was particularly impressed by his marketing plans, which were already well under way by 4 February, with the drink confirmed for the lists of 30 more bars and a potential tie-in with Chartreuse being explored.

But while Dakers was keen to impress the judges, there were two people whose opinion mattered even more, he admitted on the night: ‘My parents think bartending is just about pulling pints – and now’s my chance to prove them wrong!’

ANGEL’S DRAFT
‘This drink feels like a combination of classics. The grapefruit bitters is a reference to the Hemingway Daiquiri. The mint is the Mojito. The lime is the Daiquiri. And the Yellow Chartreuse is just a lovely old fashioned ingredient that gives the drink a little herbal lift. A lot of people don’t know that Bacardi is a white aged rum, and that helps make it smooth. There are almonds in there and subtle molasses flavours. It’s subtle, so I didn’t want the drink to overpower it. The garnish is a grapefruit zest and mint clapped on top for the aroma – so many of your taste buds come from your nose. And the egg white helps give a luxurious texture. So it’s a drink that plays on every sense.’
40ml Bacardi Superior rum
10ml Yellow Chartreuse
20ml lime juice
10ml honey
10ml egg white
1 dash grapefruit bitters
2-3 mint leaves
Method: Shake all ingredients with cubed ice and fine-strain into a chilled coupette glass. Garnish with a grapefruit zest sprayed around the glass and a mint leaf to finish.

ERIK LORINCZ, The Connaught Bar

Representing the London North, South & West region in the Bacardi Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition was Erik Lorincz of The Connaught Bar in London.

In the run-up to this year’s competition, the usually serene atmosphere of The Connaught Bar was a little more tense than usual, admits Erik Lorincz, who is hoping to follow in his colleague Agostino Perrone’s footsteps by taking the top prize in the new crop of Three Most Promising bartenders. ‘Ago and I started together at The Connaught on day one and have been soulmates and team mates ever since,’ he says, highlighting a bond which was clearly in evidence at this year’s competition, as Perrone lugged ice blocks around and squeezed lemons enthusiastically for his teammate.

‘With my drink, I wanted to capture the spirit of the Spanish world,’ says Lorincz. ‘From the outside the Cubans are so poor but inside they are so rich and so happy, there is a real celebration of life. And all of this I found when I was walking along the Malecon, the seafront promenade at the heart of Havana. If you go there in the evening you find all the locals drinking rum, singing and dancing.’

Lorincz was also influenced by a biography of the Bacardi family, ‘because the heritage is unbelievable. What a hard life they had, how Castro tried to confiscate the brand, their escape from Cuba and how they tried to fight for the freedom of Cubans, it’s fascinating.’ This social conscience was the inspiration behind his marketing strategy, which would see £1 from every Malecon cocktail sold go towards charity – ideally to Haiti, he says. The Connaught Bar has always made a point of offering guests a little more background on the drinks they order, so Lorincz has also created a ‘newspaper’ called the Malecon, ‘which gives a short history of each ingredient’.

‘I thought that Lorincz’s drink was very glamorous,’ said Bacardi global brand ambassador, David Cordoba, ‘it really had that feel of a classic from another era about it.’

‘My dream is to one day open my own bar and teach kids what I have learned from my mentors,’ says Lorincz. ‘But in the next 10 months what I really want to do is see my drink selling all round the world for charity, and I hope that my marketing plan can help to make that happen.’

MALECON
‘A classic cocktail is about achieving the perfect balance. Don’t use too many flavours, maybe four or five maximum. Everything must add something to the drink. With my cocktail the flavours are fruity, but slightly dry fruit, a little citrussy, in the style of drinks that were very popular in the 1920s. The oloroso is nutty and quite heavy, so I was playing with different measures for a long time to find the right balance. The ice cube is cut from a crystal ice block – I see it as the symbol of this happiness I saw on the Malecon. I wanted to keep the garnish simple, as it’s important that other bars can make it too.’
50ml Bacardi Superior rum
15ml tawny port
10ml dry oloroso sherry
30ml lime juice
2 barspoons caster sugar
3 drops Peychaud’s Bitters
Method: Shake all ingredients over cubed ice and fine-strain into a crystal coupette. Garnish with a large crystal clear ice cube.

SCOTT TYRER, Bibis Italianissimo

Representing the Northern region in the BACARDI Superior rum Legacy Cocktail Competition was Scott Tyrer of Bibis Italianissimo in Leeds.

The inspiration for his Bacardi Rococoa cocktail goes right back to Tyrer’s childhood. ‘When I was younger I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and there’s a paragraph in that where Charlie’s grandfather describes the factory to him. When I was younger I tried to imagine the smells – the smoke and the chocolate – and creating this drink brought that memory right back,’ explains Tyrer.

But don’t let the chocolate fool you – this is no beginner’s drink. Aromatic and strong, with an emphatically bitter finish, it particularly appealed to bitter fanatic and judge Jake Burger, who singled it out favourably as a short and strong, stirred-style drink in a line-up that otherwise erred more on the fruity, shaken side. ‘I don’t want it being typecast as one kind of drink,’ says Tyrer, who cut his teeth at the Living Room in Leeds before moving Bibis Italianissimo around 12 months ago. ‘I like the idea that it ties into a kind of coming of age, bridging the generation gap between the classics and contemporary drinks.’ Tyrer’s marketing plan correspondingly played on ‘two concepts: the Rococo, which is the more refined, elegant and mature, and the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory idea which is more playful,’ with creative ideas including specially designed glassware and bespoke chocolates.

Despite confessing to a spot of stage fright beforehand, Tyrer put in one of the most assured performances of the night, including some impressive ambidextrous bar skills, with the judges scoring him highly for a drink that had simplicity, elegance and a real clarity of flavour.

But the results still came as a surprise, he says. ‘In this competition there have already been so many great bartenders and so many great drinks. When Ian Burrell announced the results, and said one winner was a drink with cacao in it, I was just looking around thinking who else put cacao in their drink? I couldn’t believe it!’

‘We’ve just reinvented the Bibis bar, and so we’re really going for recognition now,’ says Tyrer. ‘It’s really important for me to win this competition for the whole team, because we want to put it on the map and get the name out there.’

BACARDI ROCOCOA
‘I find a slight blue cheese note in Bacardi Superior that works with chocolate incredibly well. But I wanted to give the recipe a tweak, give it a bit more character, so that’s why I added some smoke as well. I tried ordering smoke powder, smoking guns, liquid smokes, everything, until I finally ended up settling on a smoky whisky in the form of the Islay malt Lagavulin. All that peaty smoke is already there, so all you need to do is pour it! The chocolate helps to attract female drinkers to the drink, but the smoke means it’s also not too girly.’
62.5ml Bacardi Superior rum
12.5ml Giffard White
Crème de Cacao
4 dashes Bitter Truth
Xocolatl Mole bitters
1.25ml Lagavulin
Method: Stir all ingredients over ice until well chilled, then fine-strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with half a vanilla pod stirred into the drink.