Diageo’s global bartender competition has kicked off with virtual World Class Studio sessions. The studio sessions, the first of which was yesterday (4th Feb), will continue on the 11th and 18th February and are hosted on the World Class GB Facebook page.
World Class Studios has been created to educate and inspire bartenders around the world, and also act as a tool for the competition itself, providing competitors with top tips and guidance in preparation for the semi-final challenge. The themed seminars are historically led by the Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassadors, who take to the road visiting bars across the country.
However, this year the evolved digital sessions will be open to all bartenders via a live stream platform hosted on the World Class GB Facebook page. The activity aims to keep its community of dedicated bartenders well connected and informed through a series of educational sessions.
This year’s semi-final challenge has also been revealed to competitors – the Top 100 are tasked with completing The Singleton Challenge: Malt Memories, judged virtually by Diageo Reserve World Class Brand Ambassadors, Jo Last and Pippa Guy, and Diageo Global New World Whisky Ambassador Ervin Trykowski.
The remaining Top 100 will be whittled down to five finalists who will join Stevie Kane, Kuba Korzynski and James Rawcliffe who were triumphant in the bottled Cocktail Challenge and won their place in the final back in September 2020 as part of the London Cocktail Week series of challenges. Competitors must submit their creations by midnight on the 23rd February and the final eight will be announced on the 12th March.
The first session called the First Draft: was hosted by Ervin Trykowski, Global New World Whisky Ambassador and TJ Littlejohn, GB Scotch Whisky Ambassador and on 11 February World Class Menus will take place. This session is hosted by Pippa Guy, GB Tanqueray & World Class Ambassador and Lauren Mote, Diageo Global Cocktalian.
On the 18 February Punch Modernism: will be hosted by Jenna Ba, Global Whisky Ambassador at Diageo and Jo Last, GB World Class & Malt Whisky Ambassador.
Jack Sotti, Head of Advocacy GB at Diageo, comments, “This is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before and we’re incredibly grateful to be able to continue the World Class journey virtually in an exciting way. It was important for us to be able to adapt the competition and launch a platform where we could continue to support our community. The hospitality sector has been hit hard and we wanted to be able to keep our community closely connected and carry on championing fantastic bartender talent. We’re incredibly excited to be launching World Class Studios and paying homage to such amazing industry talent by coming together and making this another memorable year.”