As part of the Scottish Licensed Trade News’ celebration of our 60th year in print, we are winding the clock back to the 1960s for a unique cocktail competition focused on the decade in which our publication was born.
It was the era of Beatlemania, flower-power, free love, civil rights and space travel … and SLTN, in partnership with Inverarity Morton, is now inviting bartenders and mixologists to create a delicious drink that channels that Sixties vibe of fun, optimism and freedom.
Entering is easy – between now and 18th April, share your recipe and a short video clip or photos of you putting your drink together onto Instagram, including the hashtag #60yearsofSLTN.
From the entries received via that social media tag, our judges will then select six finalists to come and make their drinks in person, at a summer final where it will be decided who has truly captured the Spirit of the Sixties.
The creator of the winning cocktail will get automatic entry to their choice of the Mixologist or Bartender Of The Year category shortlist at this year’s SLTN Awards. They will also get to design a drink to be served to all the guests at this year’s SLTN Awards final in November.
Want to be a part of this happening? Don’t let us oppress you with ‘rules’ … but here’s some, like, friendly advice…
- Entrants should prepare one cocktail using a spirit of their choice. The drink should be inspired by the ‘spirit of the 1960s’ – whatever that means to the individual entrant.
- Entries should be posted on the entrant’s Instagram page, including video, images or both, as well as a list of ingredients and the hashtag #60YearsofSLTN
- They should also tag SLTN and Inverarity Morton on Instagram (@scottishlicensedtradenews and @invmorton) to ensure we get to see every entry.
The Spirit of the Sixties final will be held in Glasgow in the summer, where finalists will be invited to prepare and present two cocktails: their original entry drink and a second cocktail prepared using a brand chosen by Inverarity Morton. This second drink should be suitable for preparation in large volumes.
The winner will then have their high-volume drink served at the 2024 SLTN Awards in November, as well as receiving four tickets to the event.
They will also receive a bye into the top six of either the SLTN Bartender of the Year or SLTN Mixologist of the Year categories for this year’s awards (the winner can decide which category they would rather enter).
Entrants will be scored on the concept behind their drinks, the link to the 1960s and their ability to communicate this; the flavour of the drinks; the balance of the ingredients and how well they work together; and their ability to prepare and present the drinks with skill and professionalism.
These details are reproduced on this entry page, but with much cooler graphics. Groovy!
