World Class Studios Sessions Go Virtual And Available To All This Month

Three training sessions hosted by the fantastic Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassadors will be streamed live on Facebook during February.

A Facebook memory popped up yesterday of last year’s World Class Studios in London: a picture of Oriole Bar packed full of bartenders. It was one of the last events we went to before 2020 went pear shaped and I remember it fondly. There were cocktails, handshakes, not a mask in sight, even some hugs (remember those) and of course some fantastic speakers on stage sharing their knowledge and wisdom.

Don’t say it too loudly but we are edging back to a world were events like that will be possible again, but in the meantime World Class are bringing their themed seminars to you virtually for the first time.

For anyone who has attended a World Class Studio Session across the country in the last few years you don’t need us to tell you what a brilliant and fun learning tool they are. For anyone who hasn’t, well this is your chance to experience one of the best training sessions out there without having to leave your sofa or even put pants on.

The Sessions kick-off at 6pm tomorrow (February 4th) on the World Class GB Facebook page and will be running for the next three Thursdays. The activity aims to keep its community of dedicated bartenders well connected and informed through a series of educational sessions and here is what they have in store:

4th February, First Draft
First Draft, focuses on creativity, accessibility, service and methodology; through the lens of draught serves, an emerging technology to improve consistency and help to deliver perfectly balanced cocktails. The World Class Studio session is set to be hosted by Ervin Trykowski, Global New World Whisky Ambassador and TJ Littlejohn, GB Scotch Whisky Ambassador.

11th February, World Class Menus
World Class Menus explores the modern menu of today, delving into origins and how to best unleash creativity from behind the bar by effectively communicating to guests. This session is hosted by Pippa Guy, GB Tanqueray & World Class Ambassador and Lauren Mote, Diageo Global Cocktalian.

18th February, Punch Modernism
Punch Modernism is a deep dive into understanding the importance of flavour, textures and batching to help reduce waste and deliver exciting and memorable drink experiences for guests – hosted by Jenna Ba, Global Whisky Ambassador at Diageo and Jo Last, GB World Class & Malt Whisky Ambassador.

In more World Class news, the 2020 Top 100 have been given their semi-final challenge. The Singleton Challenge: Malt Memories will be judged virtually by Diageo Reserve World Class Brand Ambassadors, Jo Last and Pippa Guy, and Diageo Global New World Whisky Ambassador Ervin Trykowski.

From this challenge 5 finalists will be picked to join Stevie Kane, Kuba Korzynski and James Rawcliffe who were triumphant in the Bottled Cocktail Challenge at last year’s London Cocktail Week. The finalists will be announced on March 12th.

So grab your phone and put in some reminder alarms in to make sure you don’t miss out on these great sessions at 6pm on February 4th, 11th and 18th at the World Class GB Facebook page.

Head of Advocacy GB at Diageo, ‘Dapper’ Jack Sotti has these words to lead us out:

‘This is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before and we’re incredibly grateful to be able to continue the World Class journey virtually in an exciting way. It was important for us to be able to adapt the competition and launch a platform where we could continue to support our community. The hospitality sector has been hit hard and we wanted to be able to keep our community closely connected and carry on championing fantastic bartender talent. We’re incredibly excited to be launching World Class Studios and paying homage to such amazing industry talent by coming together and making this another memorable year.’