After Flor de Caña cocktail competiton regional heats in Scotland, the north and the south, three competitors traveled to the company’s impressive, expansive headquarters in Nicaragua for the UK final.
Hundreds of bartenders across the UK vied for the opportunity to compete in one of the three regional heats, with a particularly brilliant prize hanging in the balance – a trip to Nicaragua for the UK final.
Aman Johl, Ben Purslow, and Russell Downie were taken to a local fruit stall, where they were given ten dollars and ten minutes to choose ingredients for their competition cocktail. To their credit, all three took inspiration from the stunning quality of the local produce, and the results were uniformly delicious.
After much deliberating (during which time the rest of us helped ourselves to the leftover cocktails) Russell Downie was declared the official winner, and we celebrate by drinking quite a lot more rum.
Agua de Caña – Russell Downie, Tonic (Edinburgh)
- 75ml flor de Cana
- 50ml orange juice
- 50ml grapefruit juice
- 1/2 passion fruit
- 2 chunks mango
- 1 chunk pineapple
Garnished with a pineapple and half a passion fruit filled with rum and on fire (ish), served with a lot of attitude, and some serious mugging for the camera.
A full report of the spectacular trip to sunny, sexy Nicaragua will be featured in the next issue of BarLife Magazine, available for the iPad.