Diageo World Class 2016 : Welcome Indonesia’s Best Bartenders to Raise the Bars

Bali (Metrobali.com) –

Diageo World Class (DWC), the industry’s most prestigious and respected bartending competition, enters its fourth year in Indonesia. The participation of Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) marks the region’s presence in the global map in generating talented bartenders. DWC Global Final 2015 winner was Michito Kaneko from Japan and Asia’s profile is also elevated when 28 Hongkong Bar in Singapore was ranked number 7 in the 2015 ‘The World’s 50 Best Bars’ and Lobster Bar in Hong Kong was ranked number 18. Launched in 2009, the Diageo World Class Global Final is an internationally-recognised competition and a mark of distinction for bartending in which the Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year will be crowned. DWC 2016 Indonesia started by the completion of elimination rounds in Jakarta and Bali. Ten bartenders from each city were selected to advance to the semi-final round after a one-on-one judging process which included skill, technique, product knowledge, presentation and creativity. The semi finalists from Bali are Kenny Soetomo and I Gede Hary Wahyudi from Katamama, Azwar Annas from Potato Head Beach Club, Eko Prabowo from The Tavern (Semarang) I Putu Pande Suniantara from The Ritz Carlton, I Wayan Juniantara & I Made Ari Satrawan from Sofitel Nusa Dua, I Dewa Gede Raka Ambarawan from Locavore, Hery Kurniawan from Unique and I Wayan Wira Susana from Ayana. Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador, Katherine Nagar, “World Class bartenders are the figures that represent the art of cocktail creations. Over the judging process, I witnessed true dedication and passion from the bartenders who represent their outlets in the spirit of placing Indonesia in the global map of bartending. The bartenders need to have knowledge of the spirits so that we would be able to create unique cocktails. This is where Diageo comes in and contribute in elevating the bartenders’ knowledge about the spirits through master class activities”. The Diageo Reserve Brands which lead this year’s DWC competition are Ketel One Vodka, Bulleit Bourbon and Johnnie Walker Gold Label which will be the main spirits for bartenders in creating their signature cocktails. Bulleit and Ketel One were voted as the #1 brand in both Best Selling and Most Trending Spirits awards. While Johnnie Walker was awarded as the best-selling Scotch. To elevate the excitement and create more consumer engagement in DWC 2016, DWC collaborated with Qraved, Indonesia’s No.1 F&B discovery app, to bring the experience to cocktail lovers. Qraved’s website and application features the cocktails from all outlets which bartenders entered in the DWC competition. In this collaboration, DWC and Qraved launch a World Class photo competition on Instagram where consumers can post a photo of their World Class cocktail and get a chance to win Diageo Reserve brands – free bottles of Ketel One Vodka or Bulleit Bourbon. RED-MB