East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has officially launched the 6th edition of World Class Bartender of the Year competition in Kenya.
The Diageo Reserve World Class competition seeks to upskill bartenders and mixologists through a rigorous training regimen after which they compete for the right to represent Kenya in the international competition.
Sixty of the best Kenyan bartenders will be part of the competitors battling it out for the World Class Bartender of the Year title, which will be held at EABL offices.
Mixologists will go through a programme dubbed World Class Studios. It is a series of training sessions that seeks to push boundaries, educate and inspire bartenders around the globe. The sessions will be hosted by a collection of Diageo Reserve brand ambassadors and World Class national champions including Brian Kassim Owango, one of Kenya’s pioneer mixologists, and the previous World Class Bartender of the Year, Angeliqua Rivera.
Every year, the World Class Global Bartender competition creates a one-of-a-kind training module for the World Class Studios. It challenges the bartending skills of every mixologist to create unique, contemporary cocktails that showcase the future of cocktail culture.
For this year’s competition, bartenders will have three training modules that each examine the different skills required to become a World Class bartender. They are;
- The ‘Rituals of Hospitality’ module will focus on creating signature serves with Bulleit Bourbon.
- The ‘Singleton Rule of Three’ module will focus on creating cocktails with only three ingredients.
- The ‘Highballing’ module explores the Highball trend, revealing the tricks of the trade and creating memorable serves; with a nod to Johnnie Walker Black Label.
The Kenyan bartender competition is part of the Global World Class competition which set to take place in Sydney, Australia this September. The global competition is now in its twelfth year and has trained and educated over 250,000 bartenders in 60 countries.