Over the years, with globalisation and the desire to match international standards in the
hospitality sector in Goa, the quality of bartending in Goa has surely
improved. There have been recent cases that have provided credence to this,
such as bartenders based in or from Goa who have gone on to excel in various
high level bartending competitions among other achievements in this field.
One such competition
has seen Goa’s top bartenders compete for top honours for the last few years.
Since its launch in
2009, Diageo Reserve World Class has been instrumental in transforming fine
drinking and cocktail culture around the world. Now in over 60 countries, it
has supported, educated and inspired over 250,000 bartenders through its
training and advocacy programme. World Class Bartender of the Year competition
brings together the best bartending talent from around the globe to decide who
will be crowned the world’s best bartender.
For this year’s
edition, Diageo conducted their World Class 2018 modules at Grand Hyatt Goa in
January and February, where contestants were enlightened on two modules.The
first one was on Signature Cocktails. In this round, the bartenders learned how
to create cocktails based on a theme or a concept based on their
culture/bar/experience/ daily affairs. After the module, a test was conducted.
The highest scorers qualify for the West Regional Finals that happen between
Goa/ Mumbai/ Pune. Similarly, qualifications happen for East, North and South.
Devi Singh Bhati
qualified for the West Region finals Goa representing Peep Kitchen.
The second module was
titled Resource Full Bartending. The idea behind this was that wasting
resources can not only impact the environment but also the bottom line. The
resourceful bartending module looked at making a bar more sustainable by saving
time, money and resource. The module was followed by the test in which Devi
from Peep Kitchen and Rohan Barbosa from SinQ Beach Night Club, qualified for
the West Regions finals representing Goa.
They both were
mentored by Karl Fernandes and Hansel Vaz at Fireflys as they prepared
themselves for the two Modules.
Karl, a former brand
ambassador for Diageo Reserve World Class, had conducted the modules in the
past and has beenguiding participants in the previouseditions; he accompanied
Devi and Rohan for the West Regions (Semi Final) that was held at Grand Hyatt
Mumbai last month.“Rohan has a Sao Joao theme with flowers and colours. Rohan
made his drink with this fruit called citron, a huge Portuguese lime that
exists in Goa.He had a great performance but it was not enough to qualify.
Having said that, it was Rohan’s first time and he’s done very well for his
first time,” explainsKarl.
“Devi went ahead to
impress the judges and win a direct pass to the Nationals as he was the best
performer for the day,” adds Karl. Devi’s drink has some interesting
ingredients such as Poi jaggery, butter liquor and grated coconut.
Devi is representing
Goa as the top 12 best bartenders all over India compete today, June 26, 2018
at the National Finals to be held at JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi, Aerocity.The
Delhi finals will have three rounds. Round 1: Two Cocktails (one based on the
past and one based on the future). Round 2: Top guys who qualify to this round
will have a Speed Round (six cocktails in 5 minutes). Round 3: Mystery Round
(top three bartenders get a mystery box with few ingredients inside and have a
limited time to come up with three cocktails).
“It feels great to
represent Goa as it has always been my second home. I’m a little nervous as
well because I will be competing with the best in the industry,” says Devi,
while talking about this opportunity and the response he has received from Goa.
Winner
of today’s competition will represent India at the Diageo World Class Grand
Finale in Berlin, Germany alongside 65 other countries to win the Best World
Class Bartender of the Year 2018
