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Diageo World
Class has announced that they are
resuming the 2020 competition this year
and that the much-anticipated World
Class Studio Sessions will take place
virtually for the first time.
Like most things Diageo's World Class
2020 Competition, Diageo's global
bartender competition, was hit by
Covid-19 and was cut short but the good
news is Diageo World Class has announced
that they are resuming the competition
and that the much-anticipated World
Class Studio Sessions will take place
virtually for the very first time this
year.
Resuming the 2020 competition, the
much-anticipated World Class Studio
Sessions are set to take place on the
4th, 11th and 18th February hosted on
the World Class GB Facebook page.
World Class Studios has been created to
educate and inspire bartenders around
the world, and also act as a tool for
the competition itself, providing
competitors with top tips and guidance
in preparation for the semi-final
challenge. The themed seminars are
historically led by the Diageo Reserve
Brand Ambassadors, who take to the road
visiting bars across the country.
However, this year the evolved digital
sessions will be open to all bartenders
via a live stream platform hosted on the
World Class GB Facebook page. The
activity aims to keep its community of
dedicated bartenders well connected and
informed through a series of educational
sessions.
This year’s semi-final challenge has
also been revealed to competitors – the
Top 100 are tasked with completing The
Singleton Challenge: Malt Memories,
judged virtually by Diageo Reserve World
Class Brand Ambassadors, Jo Last and
Pippa Guy, and Diageo Global New World
Whisky Ambassador Ervin Trykowski.
WORLD CLASS STUDIO SESSIONS
4 February First Draft: First Draft,
focuses on creativity, accessibility,
service and methodology; through the
lens of draught serves, an emerging
technology to improve consistency and
help to deliver perfectly balanced
cocktails. The World Class Studio
session is set to be hosted by Ervin
Trykowski, Global New World Whisky
Ambassador and TJ Littlejohn, GB Scotch
Whisky Ambassador.
11 February World Class Menus: World
Class Menus explores the modern menu of
today, delving into origins and how to
best unleash creativity from behind the
bar by effectively communicating to
guests. This session is hosted by Pippa
Guy, GB Tanqueray & World Class
Ambassador and Lauren Mote, Diageo
Global Cocktalian.
18 February Punch Modernism: Punch
Modernism is a deep dive into
understanding the importance of flavour,
textures and batching to help reduce
waste and deliver exciting and memorable
drink experiences for guests – hosted by
Jenna Ba, Global Whisky Ambassador at
Diageo and Jo Last, GB World Class &
Malt Whisky Ambassador.
The remaining Top 100 are set to be
whittled down to five finalists who will
join Stevie Kane, Kuba Korzynski and
James Rawcliffe who were triumphant in
the bottled Cocktail Challenge and won
their place in the final back in
September 2020 as part of the London
Cocktail Week series of challenges.
Competitors must submit their creations
by midnight on the 23rd February and the
final eight will be announced on the
12th March.
Jack Sotti, Head of Advocacy GB at
Diageo, comments: "This is unlike
anything we’ve ever experienced before
and we’re incredibly grateful to be able
to continue the World Class journey
virtually in an exciting way. It was
important for us to be able to adapt the
competition and launch a platform where
we could continue to support our
community. The hospitality sector has
been hit hard and we wanted to be able
to keep our community closely connected
and carry on championing fantastic
bartender talent. We’re incredibly
excited to be launching World Class
Studios and paying homage to such
amazing industry talent by coming
together and making this another
memorable year."
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