Vodka makers 42 BELOW are rolling into Glasgow’s Metropolitan bar today and Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms tomorrow as part of a twelve city tour of the UK to find the nations’ best bartenders.
During the tour, each bartender must craft two original cocktails to impress the judging panel: one Signature Cocktail using any weird and wonderful ingredients they can lay their hands on and one Honest Drink made using 42BELOW and no more than four ingredients.
One of last year’s winning cocktails came courtesy of the Voodoo Rooms’ Shervene Shahbazkhani who blended 42BELOW Pure Vodka, beetroot, ginger, poached pear and orange syrup.
The event is being overseen by one of academia’s less bookish dons: vodka professor Jacob Briars. Many of us made quite a close study of vodka during our student years but I never realised that you could take post grad courses in the subject.
Winners of the competition will have the chance to progress to the finals of the Cocktail World Cup in New Zealand in March next year.
The bartenders will be shaking their things between 2pm and 5pm after which they’ll be mixing it up for the general public. The Edinburgh event has massive potential for shaming yourself since the cocktail quaffing is just one element of the entertainment. Also on offer is the chance to join in the Guitar Hero World Tour Rock-a-oke!
Last year’s event was smokin’