21st September 2015
US bartender Mariena Mercer, of the Cosmopolitan Bar in Las Vegas, claimed the crown of the 2015 Opihr World Adventure Cocktail Competition, following an exciting final in Marrakech, Morocco at the weekend. Runner up was Alvaro Martinez, of Me Hotel Ibiza, Spain. John Burns of the Intercontinental London Park Lane, London and Joe MacBeth of Rub Smokehouse & Bar in Nottingham came joint third. Eleven finalists from the UK, Ireland, US, Spain and Portugal, were flown to Marrakech, Morrocco, last Thursday for the grand final that took place on Saturday.
Contestants were challenged with creating an original cocktail using Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin, and given a budget of 300 dirham (roughly £30) to source and haggle for all other ingredients and drinking vessels from the souks of Marrakech, with a mad dash round the Souk with a two-hour time limit.Mariena impressed the judges with her drink Classy Lassi – a play on the Indian lassi milkshake – made using Opihr Gin, mango purée, passion fruit purée, kalamansi, yoghurt, “Marco Polo” syrup (made from green cardamom, ginger, pepper corns and coriander), and a handful of her favourite herb, lemon verbena. Her drink was garnished with a caramelized orange chip, with “snake oil” of vanilla, white ginger and eucalyptus.Mariena commented: “Each bartender was incredibly talented and it was such a pleasure to watch and learn from each one of the competitors – we are all winners here.”
Group two featured Dave Wade of Vodka Wodka, Glasgow; John Burns of Intercontinental London Park Lane, London; Steve Maduro of Spoonbar, California; Alvaro Martin of Hotel ME, Ibiza; and Tiago de Sousa of Casino Lisboa, Lisbon.
Judging the first heat was Raj Ravalia, Brand Specialist, Marblehead and Kate Harrison, International Brand Manager, Premium Gins at Quintessential Brands, with Judith Garcia, Opihr Gin Brand Ambassador from Luis Caballero Spain, and Melita Kiely, senior staff writer at The Spirits Business Magazine, forming the second panel of judges.After lengthy deliberations, third places were awarded to Stephanie Shen and Dave Wade, second places were given to Joe MacBeth and John Burns, while first place positions were bestowed upon Mariena Mercer and Alvaro Martin. Mariena and Alvaro were then tasked to go head-to-head before both the judges and their peers, who together cast the final votes, which saw Mariena named the 2015 champion.
“We work in an amazing industry and everyone here is exceptionally talented,” commented Raj Ravalia as he announced the results. “At the end of all this, I would love you to keep entering cocktail competitions, keep meeting people from around the world and learn from each other.” Kate Harrison added that: “The standard has been phenomenal and we are enormously proud of gathering such an esteemed group of talented bartenders from around the world, who love Opihr Gin and have demonstrated the amazing quality and versatility of the spirit.”
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]
