By Dave Hunter
Matt Arnold and his business partners opened Birmingham cocktail bar Passing Fancies in 2022. Last year he won the GB leg of Diageo’s World Class cocktail competition, going on to represent Britain at the global finals in São Paulo.
Here, he shares his recollections of competing in the world’s biggest cocktail contest.
• Can you give us a bit of background to your career so far? How long have you been in hospitality and what did you do before Passing Fancies?
At the age of five, I wanted to be an ice cream man. It was only after I got a bar job at 19 years old to fund my Economics degree that I fell totally in awe of our industry. As a result, I quickly swapped calculators for cocktail shakers and never looked back. My career has been one based solely out of the Midlands; Birmingham has been the city in which I earned my stripes in working in small boutique venues to high-end volume, it was this diversity of venue styles that gave me the perfect foundation for opening Passing Fancies. I am coming up to my sixth year being a bartender.
• Have you been a regular entrant in cocktail competitions before World Class? If so, how many have you entered and how did you do?
In all honesty I only enter competitions I’m super passionate about. I entered a few when I was learning the ropes to build confidence and always placed second. It was only the UK finals last year where I was in fact the bride and not the bridesmaid.
• What was the motivation for entering World Class last year? Have you entered before?
The motivation is inherently for the city and the bar. World Class offers a platform to which you can express your own style whilst showing off where you’re from. I want Birmingham to be in conversations about having some of the best spots in the UK and World Class has inspired a start to those conversations and the work I’m so passionate about.
• How did you approach your initial entry? What was the drink and what was the thinking behind it?
There have been many serves over the past 12 months that I have represented in World Class. I think my favourite, however, has been the one that I built with Lele, a bartender now at The Connaught, where we not only developed an incredibly tasty serve that asked questions such as ‘What does fresh really mean?’ but truly created a great friendship between us both. The drink was a butternut squash Highball that used the squash in every aspect and caused conversation around the fact that fresh flavours are not necessarily linked to freshly picked.
• How did it feel to win the GB final of the competition?
Winning GB was incredible – a true milestone in my career. The endorphins and realisation hit you hard and the first thing I did was ring my Nan, the woman who supported me the most when changing the goals of my future from finance to hospitality.
• Tell us about your experiences in São Paulo
We were in São Paulo for just over a week and it was a true pressure cooker of passion. The itinerary was jam-packed: five intense challenges, 50+ bartenders from around the world, 3000 handshakes and most importantly a lot of incredible memories made. The final involved a speed round where we had to make ten drinks in six minutes. I believe I finished around the 4:40 mark.
• Is there anything your World Class adventure has taught you?
It has taught so much yet it’s hard to pin down specifics. If nothing else the whole process has taught me how behind us our city is. The level of love, support, passion and investment from Birmingham makes me almost shed a tear! I’m lucky to call this place home.
• Do you have any advice for bartenders entering the competition for the first time?
Take the risk. Forget the aim of burning glory and instead look at it objectively. This platform puts you in a room with the most passionate and talented bartenders in the country. Although that might sound daunting, you’re part of that group. Have the aim to increase your network, learn from your peers and innovate your style. If you think in that mindset, how could you ever think you’d lose?
