Here is the winner of the national final of the Diageo Reserve World Class, which triumphed thanks to a drink inspired by the Statue of Liberty
The Best Bartender of Italy 2019 comes from the heart of Campania, armed with a shaker, tattoos and thick ordinance beard. Salvatore Scamardella – of the Piazza Vanvitelli Experimental Bar of Castellammare di Stabia, obviously in the province of Naples – won the coveted gold medal during the national final of the Diageo Reserve World Class, the prestigious international competition established by Diageo Reserve that celebrates the art of mixology by bringing together the best bartenders in more than 50 countries around the world.
The regulation of the final
The national final took place this year at the Officine Riunite in Milan, and saw the 8 best bartenders that Diageo experts selected among the best pubs in the boot to compete against each other after careful research and training. Competitors have found Reserve products available to them, a range of spirits and spirits from luxury portfolio from Diageo which includes Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Talisker single malt whiskey, Bulleit Bourbon, Ketel One vodka, Zacapa rum and Don Julio tequila. The challenges scheduled to arrive at the awards ceremony were played on horseback, as they say, between tradition and innovation: the bartenders thus tried their hand at the test Single Ingredient, in which they had to choose only one ingredient and treat it in all its possible variations with creativity and creativity; but also in the challenge Finishing moves – Raise your drink, in which it was required the creation of a signature cocktail that at the same time reflected the soul of a Diageo brand and a hint of its own personal history; finally, very high voltage per the Showdown, the ultimate test to test speed and skill under pressure, which required you to prepare 6 classic cocktails with your own personal twist in just 6 minutes of time.
The winner
Salvatore Scamardella beat the other bartenders brilliantly overcoming all the different creativity and technical tests, and succeeding at the same time in highlighting his savoir-faire and his skill behind the counter. In particular, for the challenge, Single Ingredient chose banana as a supporting ingredient, in memory of an afternoon at the zoo with his family, creating a special cocktail called baptism Banana is good for you and made with clarified banana juice, Ketel One vodka with banana flowers and Belsezar White vermouth with banana leaves. For the Raise your drink test, instead, Salvatore has decided to take inspiration from the Statue of Liberty in New York and his legendary journey, creating Lady Liberty's Journey of which you find the (complex) recipe below. Now the Campanian bartender is ready to fly to Glasgow, where from 21 to 26 September it will represent Italy in the World Class global final. Objective: to bring the title of Best Bartender of the World.
Lady Liberty's Journey
Ingredients
4.5 cl Bulleit 10 bourbon infused with Pacchero di Gragnano
1.5 cl of olive water syrup with cold-infused burnt bread
0.5 cl of clarified tomato juice
2 teaspoons of Bulleit wood concentrate 10
9 cl of Acqua di Coca-Cola, obtained from the distillation of Coca-Cola
Top of red wine
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