With a trip to Jamaica up for grabs for Australia’s best bartender PLUS the design inspiration for the next Appleton Tiki mug it’s easy to see why this is going to be a must win competition for 2012!

This is a competition that has significant bragging rights attached if you win it.

The Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge goes live today (May 11^th) on Facebook and the competition runs for three weeks with entries closing on June 1.

This challenge is not a “popularity” contest but rather a very structured bartender challenge with a strict scoring process based around the two cocktails created as well as some Appleton Estate knowledge, this is designed to find the best of the best.

If you make it through the first round, then round 2 comprises of tasting the finalists cocktails in their venues so that the Bartender can be observed in their element!, from this 6 people will be chosen from across the nation to mix it up in a spectacular grand final night in Sydney, the winner will be picked by 4 industry recognised judges on July 10. This person will be the Australian representative in Jamaica for the Global Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge.

So, if you have what it takes to mix a good Appleton Estate Tiki cocktail and like the thought of jetting off to Jamaica, Tiki mug in hand, then make sure you visit the Facebook page to enter before June 1.

On Monday, May 14, begins the largest global cocktail event in history.

Approximately 200+ bartenders from around the world will compete in an unprecedented competition where only one winner is decided. The deciding factor is speed. It’s the one thing, that at one point (or several) in our career, we all measured who was best. Speed meant you got to keep your job. Speed meant you got to pay… your bills. Speed meant you got to survive and fight another day. If you were not fast, you did not belong.

Andres Walters took out the Sydney leg of the Global competition with a time of 2 minutes 5 seconds - impressive Andres, very impressive. Check out gourmantic.com for more images of the night.

This event is completely unsponsored. It was done through a network of like-minded individuals.

People around the world have donated their time, venues and products. Bartenders, Brand Ambassadors, Owners, Writers and others have worked together to see this through. I do not think there has ever been a time where all of us came together to work on one specific event. Many have looked past money and personal gains. We have helped organize this event because honestly it would be cool to be in a room full of people you either love, respect (or secretly hate) and see them presented with a round of cocktails that is utterly ridiculous and see them make what is probably the worst set of drinks in their careers

Details for the Sydney Event

Venue: Pelicano, 28 Bay St, Double Bay
Time: 6pm onward
Date: May 14

Global Rematch Beeyatch Sydney will be held at Pelicano, 28 Bay St, Double Bay on Monday 14^th May kicking off at 6pm.  Sydney’s finest will be going head to head with the world record holder, Luke Reddington getting pumped to defend his title and to set a new world record.  As always from The Colada Club, great times, fat beats and liquid treats are to be had so come down and support the fastest booze slingers down under!

Sydney Bar Week is the evolution of Australia’s most successful exhibition dedicated to bar culture for the professional and passionate. In 2012 Sydney Bar Week will have a whole new look, with new exhibitor opportunities, a new consumer format and a whole new venue - the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks.

Dates for the week

• Sunday, September 23 - Consumer Day, OPT, The Rocks
• Monday, September 24 - Trade Day, OPT, The Rocks
• Tuesday, September 25 - Australian Bar Awards, Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf

“After a decade of being the premier trade only event we feel it the right time to expand and educate not only the professional but also the passionate! From 2012 Sydney BarShow Week will now get a slight name change to be known as Sydney Bar Week and will incorporate our best trade elements from BarShow along with a host of exciting consumer drink educational events.” David Spanton, Director Spanton Media Group

You can follow all the action of Sydney Bar Week through our Social Media outlets:

Facebook: facebook.com/barweek
Twitter: twitter.com/barweek

One of the most exciting developments for this year’s show is the addition of a Consumer Day to the existing Trade Day format. By opening Sydney Bar Week to consumer audiences, exhibitors will be able to target and interact with consumers who are passionate about bar culture and high quality spirits.

Selling to consumers and trade

Exhibitors will be able to offer discounted bottle sales to both Consumer and Trade, giving them enhanced opportunities to connect with the market and showcase their products. As usual, there will also be the same line-up of sensational Mixology workshops, Talks and Tastings Seminars and a week long line-up of events and parties.

The Venue, Overseas Passenger Terminal

Set in the heart of Sydney’s Rocks precinct, the OPT offers exhibitors a centralised venue to showcase their brands. The OPT is easily accessible by public transport and is set against the unique backdrop of Sydney Harbour.

Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards goes Roaring Twenties!

There are already some sensational events lined up for this year’s Sydney Bar Week, but none is more anticipated that the annual Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards - the glitziest night on the hospitality calendar. Once again the Awards will be at Doltone House, set against the Jones Bay Wharf backdrop and sensational views of the Harbour and the Bridge. Be sure to make yourself available!

After the success of the Mad Men theme in 2011, the Awards will once again reach into history to create something special. 2012 will see the evening turn it on in Roaring Twenties style, so don your flapper dresses and bowties because this will be an party celebration of Gatsby proportions.

Australia’s most coveted bartending title is gearing up for another round in 2012. The Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year Competition sponsored by Ketel One is aimed at discovering and celebrating Australia’s top bartending talent - and if you’re a bartender you can get involved.

“This year we’ve done away with the voting process for the competition,” explains Bartender’s drinks editor and competition organiser Simon McGoram. “This competition is about finding excellence in bartending by testing all facets of the bartending craft and no popularity contest can help you with that.”

“Every year the standard of competitors in this challenge improves dramatically. It’s a sign that Australia’s bars and bartenders are becoming increasingly professional. We’d like to think that by championing the trade with this competition over the past decade that we’ve in some small way contributed to this improvement in standards.”

The Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year Competition sponsored by Ketel One will be held over Sydney Bar Week - September 22-25, 2012. The winner will be announced at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards at Doltone House on September 25.

How to Enter

To compete we’re inviting all-comers to email their intent to participate to Bartender’s drinks editor and competition organiser Simon McGoram. Simply email your name, mobile number, postal address and venue you work at to simonmcgoram@fullproof.com.au to receive your invitation to compete at Sydney Bar Week this September. Entries close with the conclusion of Bar Awards voting on May 27.

The Prize

Apart from national bragging rights the winner of this year’s Bartender of the Year Competition will gain automatic entry into the Australian national World Class final in 2013. In addition to this the lucky winner, courtesy of Ketel One, will also win a trip for two to a Reserve brand home of their choice, choosing from Jose Cuervo in Mexico, the Malts Advocates Course in Scotland, Zacapa in Guatemala or a Tanqueray No Ten visit in England combined with Ketel One tour in Holland.

Do you have what it takes to compete in Australia’s premier bartending challenge? Well now you can take last year’s test to see if you have what it takes to compete in the Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year Competition sponsored by Ketel One in 2012.

Use this test below to help with your revision - we won’t offer the answers (you’ll have to research those yourselves) and there will be completely different questions in this year’s exam based on content from the past 12 months of Bartender magazine.  This will give you a good idea of the format for this year’s paper and what level of study you’ll need to put in.

REALLY IMPORTANT - If you haven’t entered the Bartender of the Year Competition yet make sure you email your mobile number, postal address, venue and name to simonmcgoram@fullproof.com.au before midnight May 27.

TAKE THE TEST

Australian Bartender magazine is proud to announce that Diageo’s Reserve has once again thrown its support behind what’s billed as Australia’s toughest bartending challenge with Ketel One vodka on board as the official sponsor of the Bartender of the Year Competition.

Each year Sydney Bar Week’s premier attraction hosts the cream of Australia’s bartending talent, and the event would not be possible without the on-going support of Reserve and Ketel One.

David Beatty, Ketel One vodka’s national brand ambassador, was thrilled to partner the competition and is looking forward to what bartenders can create in the finals. “I’ve had some ace Ketel One vodka drinks during recent trips to Perth and Melbourne so I’m very much excited to see what they’ll be bringing to the table at Bartender of the Year.” As for his tips for success - Beatty recommends simplicity and planning when making your cocktails. “Balance is key! Ketel One has exceptional character, and so if they choose it from the Reserve portfolio, try and play to that by complimenting it with components expressive to Ketel One. Every component in the cocktail needs to have purpose - you need a method to the madness!”

David Spanton, editor and publisher for Bartender magazine was also hugely excited to have the icon brand sign-up to headline the competition. “We’re extremely excited to have the support of Ketel One for this year’s Bartender of the Year Competition - with the Reserve portfolio on hand for the finalists, as well as the extra training and education sessions that are planned by the Reserve team for participants, we know that this year’s comp will raise the standard of Australian bartending once again.”

Last year’s written exam saw a tick under 100 Aussie barkeeps converge on theLoft for a two hour paper. The Top 11 then went on to compete on stage in front of a host of their peers, and Tim Philips (ivy, Level 6) came out on top.

It’s hard to believe that we’re back here already, but voting for the Australian Bar Awards has now kicked off! Have you checked out barweek.com.au yet to cast your vote?

There are loads of new venues around the nation vying for a spot in the finalists’ list and 2012 has also seen the ‘Hotel’ category changed to ‘Pub’ so as to accommodate the numerous boutique venues popping up on the scene that are bringing back the old style ‘public house’ offering.

As usual the biggest prize up for grabs is the Bartender of the Year Competition, which is sponsored by Ketel One vodka in 2012, and it’s set to be the talk of the town in September. These sorts of national competitions are not possible without the support, and brand presence, of leading products like Ketel One so it is fantastic to have them on board for this year’s comp.

Planning on taking the exam?

Last year we saw a record number of ‘tenders turn out for the tough written component of the competition and after an arduous number of rounds Tim Philips (ivy, Level 6) stood tall in the final. Are you planning to take part? This year there’s no voting format to enter, just simply email your name, mobile number, bar and address to our Drinks Editor, Simon McGoram: simon@fullproofmedia.com.au

If you’re stuck on what to study then make sure you read Australian Bartender magazine as we draw material from that to make it easier. On top of this, it’d be best to brush up on your general bar/ drinks/ category knowledge - plus get ready for some lateral thinking. What are five uses for the ubiquitous beverage napkin?

Bar Awards Voting: March 1 - May 27 (midnight), 2012

Sydney Bar Week (various locations, Sydney): September 22 - 25, 2012

Australian Bar Awards at Doltone House: September, 25, 2012

The finalé of Sydney Bar Week (which is at the Overseas Passenger Terminal this year) will be the awards night and Doltone House will again play host to the hundreds of industry personalities who turn out for the glitzy night. After the success of last year’s Mad Men theme, 2012 should be a stellar evening, so if you’re interstate make sure you book your time off now!

Get set for Iron Bartender IV!

Come on down and watch the these two Melbourne bad boys battle it out at Lily Blacks - April 29.

Nathan DeBritt (Kodiak Club) V Patrick Walsh (Burlesque Bar)

Venue: Lily Blacks, 12 Meyers Place, Melbourne

Time: from 8pm

Any questions - hit up lilyblacks.com.au for more info

Parched March’s third year wrapped up, and once again the month long celebration of Sydney bars was a huge success.

This time round $20,000 was raised for the Animal Welfare League (NSW) and Parched March founder, Amy Cooper, was thrilled at the outcome.”We’re thrilled to have doubled last year’s total,” Cooper said. “The support and enthusiasm we had from our participating bars this year was unprecedented. They created amazing drinks, put on exciting events and threw themselves into raising money for a very grateful Animal Welfare League NSW.”

The wrap-up party was held at Bondi’s Bucket List with celebrations going on well into the night.”March is now established in the Sydney calendar as a month-long celebration of bars for charity and I’m incredibly proud to have achieved this,”Cooper stated. ”We’ll continue to grow but the core values of Parched March will always remain the same: bringing people together in a spirit of celebration to help animals.”

Visit parchedmarch.com for more info on this year’s event.

This was the Editor’s Page in the Australian Bartender’s March issue.

Like any other big event our BarShow week brings with it a host of positive and negative outcomes. The important thing is to try and learn from both and to try and listen to what your suppliers and audience is saying. So here it is.

Today’s young adult consumers are showing that they are eager to learn more about quality drink brands, cocktail culture and most importantly that they appreciate the variety of bars both big and small that exist in Sydney and elsewhere. You just have to see the number of relatively new and successful consumer food and drink events taking place around the country to see that consumers want to drink and eat better, and they are prepared to pay a bit more to do so.

Sydney’s recent boom of fantastic new small bars has been overwhelmingly well received by consumers. They are loving the choice in venues they now have to enjoy a drink, and no, it didn’t leave the streets awash with drunks as the Hotels Association proclaimed it would! Simply put, this is the right time for the trade show with the largest selection of premium spirits (yes, BarShow can lay claim to exhibiting more premium spirits each year than any other trade show) to expand and exhibit to both the trade and consumers.

“So after a decade of being the premier trade only event we feel it the right time to expand and educate not only the professional but also the passionate!”David Spanton

The other factor for us expanding into new markets is the realisation that over the years trade bartenders, bar managers and bar owners have been spoiled with quality training and promotions by many suppliers; this makes it harder and harder for all suppliers and events to attract attendees. I regularly speak to suppliers and I know I have spoken of this myself in past editions, but the number of ‘no shows’ to most trade events can be staggering.

If the invitees are not hand held all the way to the function or are at least paying to attend (which is very rare for a trade event) they vary rarely follow through. A major reason for this is the sheer number of events taking place throughout the year, so it’s no wonder it’s hard for the trade to find the time.

I looked at all of this it and realised that while we do a great show with very respectable attendee numbers of 3,000+, at the end of the day we can cater to that number over one exhibition day rather than both days. So why not tighten up the trade elements to make some room for consumers to get involved if the trade part isn’t growing? Done.

This has been the direction of hospitality events around the world over the past few years. Suppliers see this happening and diminish their trade budgets while increasing their consumer budgets. To me it’s a rather simple issue in that you choose to adapt or die. There’s just not the budgets anymore from suppliers to stage a top quality trade-only event with expensive international speakers etc. So I chose to adapt and expand our event to ensure its future and I’m confident that it will now prosper for another decade or two!

So after a decade of being the premier trade only event we feel it the right time to expand and educate not only the professional but also the passionate! From 2012 Sydney BarShow Week will now get a slight name change to be known as Sydney Bar Week and will incorporate our best trade elements from BarShow along with a host of exciting consumer drink educational events.

Get online and check out what we have planned and make sure you mark your diary for what I promise will be a great week for all involved.