World Class: Raising the Bar

The Fluid Movement team recently had the pleasure of being invited to Barcelona and Madrid to conduct ritual seminars and judge the semi finals of the globally renowned world class competition. Thirty of Spain’s finest bartending talent attended the competition that blew us away.

Both Tristan and I had previously spent a combined seven years working for Reserve brands on the program that over the years has seen significant change and significant investment. In its infancy back in 2006 individual spirits master classes conducted by the Reserve brand ambassadors would be followed up by a minimal list of relatively simple cocktail entries that sometimes left the final competitions a little flat and lacking innovation… not any more it might seem.

Since then Reserve Brands have completely transformed this simple platform into what can only be described as the greatest exhibition of bartending talent on the planet. We are now regularly entertained by some of the industry’s leading figures, speakers and master distillers – the most recent addition of which was esteemed author and drinks historian David Wondrich alongside none other than Tanqueray master distiller Tom Nichol. It is this type of industry guru involvement and media coverage that has enticed some of the worlds finest bartenders including the Savoy’s Erik Lorincz and Stefano Cossio to Purl’s very own Andreas Tsanos.

During our recent visit to Spain we were delighted to see that the bartenders are really trying to push the boundaries on what is considered mixology and it’s pretty evident that ‘molecular mixology’ is certainly making a big push globally. Amazingly I would say that one of the most popular pieces of equipment used for the cocktails on show was of all things a smoking gun – a piece of equipment that only a few years ago would have been confined to the kitchen. That said the spirit in question for this round of the competition was Ron Zacapa 23 – a Guatemalan rum aged above the clouds giving reference to the popular billows of smoke that were evident in both Barcelona and Madrid.

Both winners’ drinks were standout and really inspired Tristan and I with their originality and ritualistic approach. In Barcelona we had Alberto Pizzaro who wowed us with his adaptation of two Ron Zacapa bottles by turning them into a set of Zacapa bell jars to encase his cocktail and infused them with smoke produced by his very own Ron Zacapa glass smoking gun – something I have never seen before in all of the years of working with this competition. In Barcelona we had Juan Vals with an unusual combination of Zacapa 23 and a homemade mushroom reduction balance with cinnamon and vanilla candy floss, again evidence of the cross-over between the kitchen and the bar. Needless to say that both creations were expertly balanced and showed off what is considered one of the world’s finest rums.

Prior to the competition Tristan and I had the opportunity to showcase some of our own theatrical serves that included the Highland Mist – a combination of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, hazelnut and liquorice bitters, sandalwood smoke infused and served in a Quaich over a highland mist ( a sherry infusion with heather and honey – activated with dry ice). On balance, today there is a lot more emphasis on theatre and with the big brands always wanting to be at the cutting edge of serves and looking for new ways to engage with their consumers, I would expect to see this continue through 2011 and beyond.

That said, I might also add that one of the highlights of the trip included visiting the highly regarded Dry Martini both in Barcelona and Madrid and also Boadas – three of the most exciting bars I have visited for some time. Dry Martini Barcelona’s vast selection of vintage gins and vermouths was enough to have me staring at the back-bar for quite some time before I even considered what to drink – not that I really needed to decide… a Dry Martini please.