The streets around London’s Sun and 13 Canton echoed to cries of “The Horror, The Horror” and “Arggh MY EYES” last week…
…as crowds of distressed bartenders were seen running at full tilt in search of an all night post traumatic stress counsellor.
Initial reports that Training Team boss Ian McLaren and a thong were somehow responsible proved incorrect however, and the culprit was finally revealed to be Tristan Stephenson’s truly horrendous Christmas jumper.
At the heart of this mini-riot was the Ghost of Bartenders Past competition, which called Bacardi Brown Forman Brands ambassadors, trainers and sales folk out of competition retirement and stuck them in front of a baying, Rematch-style crowd.
And a crowd it was, with the venue packed with spectators who, much like every Formula 1 fan, were secretly praying for a massive pileup on the first corner.
Alex 'check out my skillz' Turner
However, to the disappointment of some, the BBFB boys and girls nailed it, and in some instances, showed the young pups in the audience how a competition entry should be done.
Alex Turner was on imperious form, displaying pours so long that due to laws of physics and the theory of relativity, time actually passed slower at the bottle end than it did in the shaker.
Asked to don outfits that matched their drinks, for BarLifeUK’s money Ben Carlotto won the sartorial battle, looking every inch the flaky-skinned, freshly revived corpse.
Dolf Comas is worthy of mention too, dressed as he was in a rather fetching, and dare we say revealing, dress that prompted a family member to comment: “You don’t realise how much you look like Mum!” on the Training Team’s Facebook page.
Sam Carter also turned in a great performance, distance-spraying foam for his Long Island Ice Tea with uncanny accuracy; although we have to say, he looked (and sounded) a lot more like Tim Westwood than Ice-T himself.
Bacardi Ambassador Shervene Shahbazkhani was the competition’s overall winner, with Ben Carlotto taking the prize for Best Classic, and Alex Turner scooping the Best Original category.
The drinks
Shervene Shahbazkhani – From Jack to a King
40mls Gentleman Jack
35mls Buckfast
12.5mls Vanllia Syrup
12.5mls Apple Juice
25mls Lemon Juice
2 dashes OJ bitters
Bar spoon of Corriander seeds
Dash of egg white.
Shake and strain.
No skin flakes in my drink please, barkeep...
Ben Carlotto – Corpse Revivor Redux
25ml Bombay Original dry
25ml Fresh lemon juice
40ml of Lillet
25ml of Pierre Ferrand traditional french Triple sec. Wondrich consulted on this it is awsome.
2 dashes of Absinthe
Shaken strained into a flute, atomised with more absinthe for aromatics. Obviously the cherry garnish grew from a wound in Ben’s head planted by the Barback who killed me in 1930 for drinking his tequila.
