4 bartenders hailed winners in the 1st Don Papa Rum Cocktail Competition in BGC
Four out of 12 bartenders were hailed winners in the 1st Don Papa Rum Cocktail Competition held September 26 at Downtown & Halsted in BGC. They will go on an all-expense-paid trip to Negros Occidental to visit the distillery and sugar mill of Don Papa Rum, and one of the best white sand beaches of the province.
Out of 50 entries, 12 bartenders from in and outside Metro Manila were chosen as finalists to demonstrate their unique cocktail creations, which use Don Papa Rum as the main ingredient, for the 1st Don Papa Rum Competition at Downtown & Halsted in BGC.
All of the bartenders laid on the table their select and even personally concocted ingredients, like purees, syrups, and a chili-infused Don Papa Rum, and presented a combination of bartending and storytelling in front of the judges. The judging was based on five criteria: taste, balance, visual presentation, story, and the use of the brand.
Social icon Tessa Prieto-Valdes, along with her fellow judges, enjoyed not only the drinks but also the presentations.
The judges – Andrew Garcia (Managing Director and Co-Founder of Don Papa Rum), Tessa Prieto-Valdes (social icon and designer), Benjamin Schertzer (Restaurant Manager at Hyatt Hotels Corp.), and Bea Ledesma (Group Publisher at Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.) – admit that it was a fierce competition among the finalists.
But four bartenders have stood out because they effectively left their marks on each of the judges:
Maxniel Seruelo came all the way from Boracay to represent Prisma bar and present his cocktail called “Audaz Filipinos” in a beach-inspired coconut cup alongside a model of Mount Kanlaon in Negros.
John Robert Lorenzo came to represent Samba in BGC and presented his fruity cocktail called “Corazon.”
Kathrin Osmillo represented Oto bar in Makati and demonstrated girl power in her drink “La Fuerza.”
Abigael Quilal-an represented ABV bar in Makati and smoked her drink “Road Less Traveled” in an unusually-seen cylindrical capsule before serving it to the judges.
Don Papa Rum is a Filipino homegrown brand of spirit that is now one of the hottest premium spirit brands in Europe. The Don Papa Rum cocktail competition was first held in the UK in 2014, followed by the Netherlands in 2015, and then in Denmark in 2016. Now, the competition has launched in the Philippines in recognition of the growing cocktail scene and to strengthen the brand’s relationship with the bartending community in the country.
Also read: 5 years of premium rum: Don Papa Rum celebrates ‘Sugarlandia’
Written by Rizelle “Rei” Leaño”
