Manuela Runggaldier, a bartender from 45 Park Lane Hotel in London, part of The Dorchester Collection, has won the first ever BLOOM Gin Ladies Cocktail Competition.
Manuela, pictured right, beat 29 other contestants in a preliminary round and grand final with Valentina Carbone of Nobu Berkeley Street coming second and Marta Wanat of One Aldwych in third place. Runggaldier’s winning cocktail was Bloom Treasure, a mix of both BLOOM Gin and BLOOM Sloe Gin with lemon juice, figs and ginger.
Judging the competition were Bloom Gin master distiller Joanne Moore; The Spirits Business editor Becky Paskin; The Cocktail Lovers Editor Sandrae Lawrence; drinks PR Su-Lin Ong; London Cocktail Club founder JJ Goodman; former American Bar at The Savoy bartender Salim Khoury; the UKBG’s Armand Fasola, Fabio Immovilli, Pedro Paulo and Luca Cordiglieri; UKBG president Daniel Crebese; and UKBG London area chairman Mike Sweetman.
Held in collaboration with the UKBG at the Marriott County Hall in London, the contest sought to raise awareness of the skills of female bartenders in the UK, and encourage more to enter cocktail competitions.
The competition attracted an “overwhelming” number of entries from female bartenders around the country, all of whom were competing for the grand prize of a trip to the BLOOM Gin Ladies Polo Finals at Cowdray Park in July, and the chance to showcase their winning cocktail at the event.
Bloom Treasure
25ml Bloom Gin
25ml Bloom Sloe Gin
25ml lemon juice
15ml sugar syrup
5 drops Stevia
one egg white
half a fig
piece of fresh ginger
2 drops chocolate bitters
Method: Add all ingredients (except the bitters) to a shaker and muddle. Dry shake with just one ice cube, then wet shake. Double strain into a coupe glass, add chocolate bitters and garnish with dried pomelo rind.
BLOOM Gin is a premium London Dry Gin, inspired by Master Distiller Joanne Moore’s English country garden. Joanne, the world’s first female Master Gin Distiller, wanted to create a delicate, floral gin, particularly suited to the female palette, and took inspiration from the flowers in her own garden.
Joanne used honeysuckle and chamomile and added the citrus fruit pomelo to make up the three key botanicals for BLOOM – each one contributing to the delicate gin drinking experience.
Facebook BLOOMGin Twitter @BLOOMGin
For further information and hi res images, please contact: [email protected]
ABOUT QUINTESSENTIAL BRANDS
Quintessential Brands owns an award-winning portfolio of world-class spirit brands, which is powered by a strong entrepreneurial vision and passion for innovation, backed by centuries of handcrafted distilling expertise.
Quintessential Brands Group was established in 2011 with the acquisition of G&J Distillers, the UK’s foremost gin distillery, which evolved from Thomas Dakin’s original 1761 operation and now produces an unrivalled quality gin selection. In Ireland, Dublin Liberties Distillery is our home of modern Irish whiskeys and First Ireland Spirits in Abbeyleix crafts award-winning Irish creams. Our French hub, L&L France, creates fine French fruit liqueurs, cognacs, brandies and vodka.
For more information, please contact the communications team at Quintessential Brands by e-mail: [email protected]
