PHILIPSBURG--For the first time, St. Maarten/St. Martin will host a local competition to pick a candidate to represent the island in The World Class Bartender of the Year Competition, in Madrid, Spain, from July 5 to 8. The local representative will get a chance to compete for a chance to win the world’s most prestigious title in the mixology and cocktail industry.
Eight bartenders from various bars and restaurants on both sides of the island have been selected to battle it out to see who the first St. Maarten World Class winner will be.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that our island gets a chance to be represented on such a massive global stage,” said Commercial Manager at International Liquor and Tobacco Trading NV (ILTT), and driving force behind the initiative Roel Kokkelmans.
“For years we have wanted to host a local final and compete in the global final, and for this to finally happen shows us that the cocktail culture on St. Maarten is very much alive and on a level, we have never seen it before.”
St. Maarten will be one of four other Caribbean nations to represent and the smallest country overall. “We intend to show the mixology world that we are small, but strong and resilient, just like our island has shown many times.”
The event will be hosted at Roxxy Beach Club on Wednesday and Thursday, April 28 and 29, from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. The event is open to the public and all spectators are welcome to see the show and cheer on their favourite contestant, while enjoying a special world class cocktail themselves. Everyone is reminded to keep the government COVID-19 guidelines in mind.
In the first round on Wednesday, all contestants will face two different challenges that they will have to complete, and which will be scored by a three-headed jury of mixologists and industry leaders. The top four will advance to the final speed round on Thursday, in which the bartenders get six minutes to make six different twists on classic cocktails. After this, the jury will award the prestigious title to the highest point scorer.
The newly crowned World Class St. Maarten winner will go on to represent the country in a unique multi-format event in Madrid, Spain. Here, after a range of testing tasks, the new World Class Global Bartender of the Year will emerge victorious.
To see contestants’ profiles and challenge details, visit ILTT’s Facebook and Instagram page (ILTT SXM).
The World Class Bartender of the Year Competition is the world’s biggest and most respected bartending competition. It celebrates the skills and craftsmanship of bartenders worldwide, and is an annual competition entered by thousands of contestants across the globe, culminating in a Global Final event and experience.
World Class is on a mission to inspire people to drink better and create unforgettable experiences in the process. World Class has supported, trained and inspired more than 350,000 bartenders across the globe for more than eleven years, while partnering them with the world’s finest spirits – the Diageo Reserve collection, it was stated in a press release.
