East Vs. West London to see which cocktails are the best

EAST VS WEST LONDON to SEE WHICH COCKTAILS ARE BEST
THE UK’s BIGGEST NATIONWIDE COCKTAIL COMPETITiON

The 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup hit London last week as part of a 12-city tour to find the UK’s best bartenders. The city was split into East and West Finals at Trailer Happiness and Callooh Callay where London’s finest mixologists shook, stirred and muddled it out in the nation’s most exciting cocktail competition. In the West, Bex Almquist from The Londsdale, Stuart Fritz from LAB and Danny Winter from Chloe emerged victorious. The winning trio will form Team West London and go through to the National Final where they will be pitted against Andy Mil from The London Cocktail Club, Julian de Feral from Lutyens and Milk & Honey’s Dean Callan who will form Team East London after winning the East London final on Thursday. The London teams will also face the 11 other winning city teams competing for the chance to represent the UK in the international 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup 2010 in New Zealand next March.

EMERGING TRENDS: The caliber of London bartending continued to outshine almost every other city in the world where the international competition is held. The West saw the surprise 80s revival of the “Blue” cocktail with Blue Curacao used in 3 of the 24 cocktails presented including one by winner Bex Almquist. In the East hot drinks and homemade herbaceous reductions were the clear trend with 2 of the winning cocktails served hot.

THE WINNING COCKTAILS

42 Blazer, Danny Winter

40ml 42BELOW Manuka Honey
20ml Benedictine
20ml Lemon juice
10ml Clove infused gomme
10ml Gomme
2 Blackberries
1 Orange twist
1 Lemon twist
1 Earl Grey teabag

Add ingredients to large brandy balloon, blaze then pour into a teapot with teabag and dilute with warm water.

Red Router, Stuart Fritz

50ml 42BELOW Feijoa
12.5ml Mandarin Nepoleon
25ml Lemon Juice
25ml Beetroot
1 Spoon Thai Basil sugar syrup (homemade)
1 Cooked beetroot

Muddle the beetroot and add all other ingredients, shake and strain.

The Pineapple Starfish, Bex Almquist

50ml 42BELOW Pure
20ml Pineapple juice
10ml Lime juice
5ml Coco Lopez
5ml Gomme

Muddle 1 star anise and 2 chunks of pineapple, pour in remaining ingredients, shake and strain into a coupette. Garnish with a star anise and orange twist discard.

THE EAST

Play of the Day, Andy Mil

42BELOW Feijoa
Vanilla bitters
Coffee bitters
Cloves
Cinnamon

Set alight blue blazer style, serve in a rocks glass on a 'rugby pitch' with an ipod playing Jonny Wilkinson's winning drop kick from the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

The Devil You Don't, Julian de Feral

50ml 42BELOW Feijoa
25ml Orange & Carrot cordial
20ml Golden Devil Syrup
15ml Lemon juice
5ml Sugar syrup
2 Dashes Peychaud bitters
150ml Water

Heat gently, pour into a toddy glass. Garnish with a carrot stick and a lemon.

DILLIGAF, Dean Callan        

42BELOW Feijoa vodka infused with bitter and sweet botanicals
42BELOW Pure based citrus liqueur (homemade)
42BELOW Feijoa based Pastis (homemade)

4BELOW Pure based Vermouth aromatized with coriander seed, orange peel and cassia bark (homemade)
Shake and serve in a sherry glass, balance with Lemon peel and garnish with Juniper.