We take a look at the year that has past and try to sum up the results of all the different cocktail competitions that have been throughout this year. For some it was an introduction to a whole new aspect of bartending and for others it was a wish come true after several attempts in competitions.
One of the first competitions this year was the Danish National Championship in Classic Cocktail. As always many bartenders, experienced and unexperienced, signed up. The nationals are often the cause of heated debate within certain circles because it´s not always the obvious or most experienced bartender who wins. However this year it was a guy most of us know and like very much: Rolf Bender, partner and bartender at Oak Room, took home the gold with a well balanced crowd pleasing cocktail. Very deserved!
Not long after his victory at the Danish National Championships Rolf went on and competed in the Aquavit Competition. Again he took the prize and won the competition. Well done Rolf, sometimes life is hard but as a former american footballplayer it is great to see you tackle the shizzle out of it!
The Danish Nationals Championship in Freestyle Mixology took place once again this year. It was a chap from Ys´ Café & Cocktailbar who won the 2015 edition of Mix Meisters competition which celebrate creativity and “out of the box” thinking. Congratulations to Jonas Møller Sørensen!
There is one competition where the Danish barscene have established a strong name for itself; Sidecar by Merlet. A couple of wins by Danish bartenders and this year the Danish competition went to Michael Olson (from Strøm Bar at the time) and Kristian Kramp from Mash when the comp. was held at Bar25. Great job guys!
Martin Palmberg Clausen from Ruby is becoming a known participant in the competition scene and this year he took the prize at Beefeater MixLDN in front of some strong candidates. We look forward to see you in some more competitions this coming year!
Nikka Perfect Serve is a competition with a completely different setup than any other competition we´ve witnessed this year. With a judges and host as spiritual as Stanislav Vadrna the participant were in for a tough time. In the end Goran Aziz from Strøm Bar was crowned the winner. Great service and great drinks secured the victory – well done, buddy!
The Ti Punch Competition at Brass Monkey was a great competition with a lot of familiar faces among the crowd as well as in the bartender lineup – big up to Brass Monkey, Max Scott and Clément Rhum for hosting a fun and great tiki competition. Despite many known faces from the industry it was a, for many, relatively unknown bartender from Judland who took home the gold! Congrats to Caspar Mönniche!
Sebastian took one of his first competition, after moving from Judland to Copenhagen, by storm when he won the Giffard West Cup Competition in Copenhagen and went to represent Denmark in France. Great job and nice to see you so in so many competitions, we hope to see you in many more!
World Class is one of the big events bartenders look forward to every year. This year it was “The Renes´” from Ruby and Weltkuglen who took home the bacon at Burst 1. Great job you guys!
Anna Hellmann-Clausen from Lidkoeb won the Bacardi Legacy and qualified for the international final with her drink “Two Mothers”. We cheer for you and very much look forward to see you kick some #!? in the final! By the way if you haven´t tried it yet keep track of when Anna is doing pop-ups in different bars serving her winning drink. You are in for a treat!
Bag om Baren once again congratulates you all on the great things you have achieved in 2015 and look forward to see what 2016 will bring for all of us!
