Last night the Tales of The Cocktail Spirited Awards took place. London won.
Yep it is time for the annual ‘London Cleaned Up’ post from the Spirited Awards. Each year London do pretty well at our industries biggest awards ceremony, this year was almost embarrassing.
The awards are divided up into American and Rest of the World categories. This year the only winning bars from outside of the states were from London. A massive achievement.
The lovely Hidetsugu Ueno, from Tokyo, stopped it being a complete whitewash but apart from that we nailed it. The Connaught were this years biggest winners with International Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Bar.
On top of that American Bar, Callooh Callay, Hawksmoor Spitalfields, Happiness Forgets, Oriole and Dandelyan all got up on stage to pretend they weren’t as drunk as they were, and try to remember to thank their mums.
Our friends at the Cocktail Lovers also claimed an award as did Max Warner and Angus Winchester (he may live in London but his love of cricket means he will always be a Brit in our eyes).
It was a massive night for all of those winners but take a moment to remember the other three in each category who didn’t get their moment of glory (a feeling BarLifeUK know only too well). It is a huge achievement to be in the top four and they should all be very happy for what they have achieved.
Anyway I’m pretty hungover and bored of typing now. Well done everyone. Full list of winners below:
International Categories
Best International Bar Team
American Bar at the Savoy, London
Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar
Callooh Callay, London
Best International Restaurant Bar
Hawksmoor Spitalfields, London
International Bartender of the Year
Hidetsugu Ueno, Bar High Five, Tokyo
Best International Cocktail Bar
Happiness Forgets, London
Best International Hotel Bar
The Connaught Bar, London
Best New International Cocktail Bar
Oriole, London
Best International Brand Ambassador
Max Warner, Chivas Regal
Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication
Cocktail Lovers, London
Best New Cocktail & Bartending Book
The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual
Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer
Jeffery Morgenthaler
Best New Spirits Book
Divided Spirits
Best Bar Mentor
Angus Winchester
World’s Best Cocktail Menu
Dandelyan, London
Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient
Plantation Pineapple Stiggins’ Fancy
World’s Best Spirits Selection
Tommy’s, San Francisco
World’s Best Cocktail Bar
The Connaught Bar, London
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sasha Petraske
American Categories
Best American Bar Team
ABV, San Francisco
Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar
Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas
Best American Restaurant Bar
Saxon & Parole, New York
American Bartender of the Year
Jeffery Morgenthaler, Portland
Best American Cocktail Bar
Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco
Best American Hotel Bar
The Elephant Bar, New York
Best American Cocktail Bar
Sweet Liberty, Miami
Best International Brand Ambassador
Colin Asare-Appiah, Bacardi