The date is set, the teams have been finalised and the concepts have been decided. All we can say is: stop everything. If you’ve got anything planned for Saturday 10th October, do yourself a favour and cancel it now.
Yesterday, we sat on the #24hrBarBuild judging panel along with the ledge that is Ben Reed from Cocktail Credentials, Simon Mills from Wallpaper*, Siobhan Payne from London Cocktail Week and Marc Plumridge, Head of Trade Advocacy, Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands. The point of the day-long session was to hear the four concepts from each of the teams. And boy, our minds were totally blown.
As they would be. Have you heard who’s lined up for this 24 hour extravaganza? We’re talking the likes of Rich Woods, Iain Griffiths, Sly Augustin and Luca Missaglia representing Team London; Leo Robitschek, Ivy Mix, Don Lee and Nico de Soto flying the flag for Team New York; Carina Soto Velasquez, Remy Savage and Mido Yahi in the French corner and Joel Fraser, David Cordoba and Phillip Bischoff bringing it from Singapore.
Naturally, with talent like that we could have easily ended up with 16 bars on the night – the ideas submitted were through the roof. But rules are rules: we were tasked with whittling down the ideas to one belter of a bar per team and by gosh and by golly if that isn’t what we’ve ended up with.
Of course we can’t tell you what the themes are – you’ll have to book up and find out for yourself. And you should. You’ll be able to immerse yourself in the concepts, taste the drinks (each team will serve cocktails from either Bacardí, Patron Tequila, Bombay Sapphire or Grey Goose), and experience the four truly inspirational bars manned (and womanned) by the best in the biz. If you don’t suffer from FOMO now, trust us, you will do.
£35 buys you five tokens for five drinks, plus four showstopping bar experiences. (And you get the chance to play judge by voting for your favourite bar).
For tickets, book here.
THE TEAMS
Team London – making cocktails with Patrón Tequila
Captain: Richard Woods (above), Duck & Waffle
Andy Shannon, The London Edition Hotel
Iain Griffiths, Dandelyan
Luca Missaglia, Aqua
Nathan Shearer, Callooh Callay
Sly Augustin, Trailer Happiness
Team Singapore – making cocktails with Bacardí rum
Captain: Joel Fraser (above), The Cufflink Club
David Cordoba, 28 Hong Kong Street
Christian Hartmann, Vasco
Julian Serna, The Powder Room
Nicholas Quattroville, L’Aiglon
Phillip Bischoff, Manhattan
Team New York – making cocktails with Grey Goose vodka
Captain: Leo Robitschek (above), NoMad
Alex Day, Death & Co, Nitecap, 151
Don Lee, Boilermaker
Ivy Mix, Leyendaand co-founder of Speed Rack
Joaquin Simo, Pouring Ribbons
Nico de Soto, Mace
Team Paris – making cocktails with Bombay Sapphire gin
Carina Soto Velasquez (above), Candelaria
Aurelie Panhelleux, Copper Bay
Mido Yahi, Cafe Moderne
Remy Savage, Little Red Door
Simon Perich, Hero
Sullivan Doh, Le Syndicat
#24hrBarBuild #LCW15
