Lucy George of Lucky Liquor Co in Edinburgh will represent the UK at the Stauning Drinks Kollektive global final
Last week ten bartenders from all over the UK gathered at The Seed Library in Shoreditch for the Stauning Drinks Kollektive UK final. Each competitor was given ten minutes to present the drink that had seen them selected from a huge, nationwide field of entries, for a judging panel that featured BarLifeUK, former World Class ambassador Jack Sotti, Mangrove whisky honcho Stef Holt, and Stauning’s global ambassador, Ali Reynolds.
This being a whisky competition, I had mentally prepared to taste a few ‘stirred down and brown’ drinks, but the Drinks Kollektive UK final completely confounded that expectation. Instead, lighter, more refreshing drinks were the order of the day. Fruit, and berries in particular, featured heavily, along with carbonation and even a couple of drinks that could be served as a lower ABV option, if the prospective customer so chose.
The competition took place on a very warm and humid day, so this ‘Summer drink’ theme was very welcome, but more than that, it demonstrated a really impressive level of creative thought by each of the competitors. The standard was very high, which meant that the eventual winner would need to nail both their drink creation and bar skills, and deliver a fluent, engaging verbal presentation.
Lucy George of Edinburgh’s The Lucky Liquor Co. in Edinburgh did just that, delivering a beautifully balanced and tasty drink that was served in hand-painted glassware, accompanied by an entertaining presentation that was so full of obscure Stauning facts, ambassador Ali Reynolds told me he had learned quite a lot during Lucy’s ten minutes behind the bar.
As UK champ, Lucy will go on to represent the UK at the Stauning Drinks Kollektive global final in Copenhagen, competing against other country finalists from Europe, the US, and Australia, and BarLifeUK will not be remotely surprised if Lucy goes on to win the whole shebang.
Thanks must go to everyone who competed for the time and effort they put into their entries, it was a pleasure to taste your drinks, and, of course, the wonderful team at Seed Library, who looked after us so well.
And hats off to Stauning, this was a great competition heat, thanks for inviting BarLifeUK to be a judge.
Lucy George’s Winning Drink
The Evergreen
50ml Stauning Rye
10ml Fresh fennel Akavit
10ml Peach Stone Amontillado
10ml Luck Liquor Peach Liqueur
Pine Needle Aroma