BARTENDERS from Scotland are headed to New York this summer after reaching the UK final of Carounn Gin’s 10 Year Switch cocktail competition.
Declan Coffey from Bramble in Edinburgh and Jack Docherty of Alston Bar & Beef in Glasgow will compete in the UK final on July 31 in New York.
The contest’s US final will be held on the same day, with the UK and US winners given the chance to ‘switch’ countries and work at a bar on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Declan and Jack will battle it out with bartenders from Leeds, Manchester and London for the UK title, with acclaimed bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, founder of London cocktail bars Dandelyan and Cub, chairing the judging panel.
Entrants were tasked with creating a drink that drew on both Scottish and American heritage and accentuated Caorunn by prominently featuring at least one of its botanicals.
Declan won the Edinburgh heat of the competition with his cocktail Verdent Tuxedo, which combined Caorunn with absinthe, vermouth and sherry. Jack’s winning cocktail, The Chicago Clansman, was described as a “pizza-inspired cocktail that captures a different kind of essence of a traditional tomato-based cocktail”.
