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Cameron
Attfield of Disrepute, London crowned
Diageo Reserve’s World Class GB
Bartender of the Year 2019.
Following a challenging finale which
took place at Taste of London last week,
Cameron Attfield of Disrepute, London
has been crowned Diageo Reserve’s World
Class GB Bartender of the Year 2019.
The final kicked off on Tuesday with ice
breakers and informal challenges amongst
the competitors to build this year’s
World Class community. The two-day
competition then started heating up on
Wednesday with two challenges at Andaz
London Liverpool Street’s newly
renovated Rake’s Café Bar. The first
challenge required competitors to
showcase a chosen British ingredient and
maximise its flavour by utilising
techniques of flavour extraction or
manipulation to create a serve using
Ketel One Vodka as the base spirit. The
second challenge that day asked
competitors to create a Singleton whisky
serve using inspiration from a chosen
country as the story and inspiration for
the drink using the idea of exploration,
travel and adventure.
The second day of the competition saw
competitors take over the buzzing World
Class bar at Taste of London for the
final challenge – the speed round.
Competitors were tasked with making a
round of five cocktails in four minutes
for the panel of judges – focussing on
skill, speed, style and taste. Testing
the ability to perform under pressure,
each competitor’s five cocktails were
drawn from a menu of fifteen bespoke
World Class classics – ranging from a
Don Julio Blanco Paloma, to a Tanqueray
No. TEN Collins, Ketel One Espresso
Martini, Bulleit Bourbon Boulevardier
and a Johnnie Walker Highball - with
competitors free to mix the drinks as
they pleased with the ingredients
supplied. One of each competitor’s five
drinks was also selected by an audience
member and bartenders were asked to
tailor the drink to them – testing their
ability to engage with an audience and
demonstrating their hospitality skills.
This year’s judging panel included:
Simon Difford (Difford’s Guide), Sandrae
Lawrence (The Cocktail Lovers); Simon
Webster (BarLife UK); Diageo Reserve GB
Brand Ambassadors, Jason Clark, Ali
Reynolds, Jenna Ba and Kate Jackson;
Diageo Reserve Global Whisky Ambassador
Ervin Trykowski; Diageo Reserve GB
Bartender of the Year 2018, Daniel
Warren and global winner, Orlando Marzo;
and Erik Lorincz, World Class Bartender
of the Year 2010 and former Head
Bartender at the American Bar at The
Savoy.
Jack Sotti, World Class GB Brand
Ambassador at Diageo Reserve, commented:
"From our World Class Studios UK-wide
tour which kicked off back in February,
to the final speed challenge at Taste of
London yesterday – I know Cameron has
worked tirelessly on his World Class GB
journey, showing extraordinary skill and
attention to detail. Not only this, he
managed to showcase personality,
exceptional presentation skills and how
to bring the story behind the serve to
life whilst under pressure over an
amazing couple of days at the GB final.
We’re absolutely delighted to crown
Cameron World Class GB Bartender of the
Year 2019 and have every faith in a
fantastic performance at this year’s
Global Final in Glasgow."
Diageo Reserve World Class GB Bartender
of the Year 2019, Cameron Attfield
added: "It’s been an honour to be part
of this year’s World Class community and
to get the seal of approval from the
judges, who are a real inspiration to
myself and the wider industry really
does mean a lot. The competition has
been extremely challenging and a real
test from start to finish. I’m over the
moon to be crowned this year’s 2019
World Class GB winner. But, it’s not
over yet and now my focus will turn to
preparing to represent Great Britain in
the global final in Glasgow – game on!"
Cameron wins a prize package consisting
of:
- Nationwide exposure and
dedicated PR for himself and bar
throughout year.
- A trip to Glasgow to represent
GB in the World Class Global Finals
2019.
- A tour of a selection of key
Diageo owned distilleries covering
the four corners of Scotland.
- A guest bartending shift at a
European city.
- Cocktail Kingdom bar tools and
equipment.
- Offers for paid event work with
Diageo GB leading up until next
year’s competition.
- Professional signature serve and
profile photo shoot with top
industry photographer.
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