RYAN ADAMSON proved his mastery at the art of mixing cocktails when he beat out five competitors to be crowned Master Mixer in the Barbados Culinary Team Bartenders Finals last week.
Adamson’s cocktail “Spicy Jam” was the winner and he concocted it from ingredients selected from a mystery basket which all the competitors were given only a limited time to view.
It was a particularly happy moment for the Mount Gay mixologist who defeated last year’s champion Philip Antoine of Fusion restaurant.
Antoine’s “Sweet Flamboyance” failed to win the judges’ nod for first place this time around, and the flamboyant mixologist had to settle for second. Nonetheless he will join Adamson as part of Barbados’ team going to Taste of the Caribbean in Miami.
The other competitors were Kadeem Legall of Red Door Lounge, where the finals were hosted, Michael Bourne of Hilton Barbados and the only female, Gina Dupaul of Blakey’s. Dupaul was awarded third place for her cocktail “Caribbean Style”; Bourne was fourth with “Caribbean Sunrise” and Legall fifth with his “50 Rocker”.
Under the watchful eyes of their mentor and coach Jamaal Bowen, the anxious group of five randomly selected ingredients from a mystery basket to create a recipe for a cocktail.
Once they devised a recipe, the bartenders had just five minutes to demonstrate their cocktail-mixing skills for a panel of judges, encouraged by a large gathering of supporters.
It was the final round in a competition hosted by the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, which enables the selection of two bartenders as part of Barbados’ team competing in the annual Taste of the Caribbean competition in Miami, for which Bowen is a coach.
Barbados has repeatedly carried off top prizes in the Miami show which pits chefs and bartenders from the region against each other, and Bowen told the two winning bartenders they should be prepared for 11 to 12 rigorous weeks of training to meet the high standards of the competition. (GC)
