Top 5 Bartenders from Cruise and Ferry Selected for BACARDI® Legacy Cruise Competition in Puerto Rico

HAMILTON, BERMUDA 15 NOVEMBER 2018 The top five finalists have been selected for the 2019 BACARDÍ® Legacy Cruise Competition, now slated to compete in the finals in Puerto Rico in February 2019. Setting out to recognize the best of the best talent amongst bartenders from cruise-lines and ferry companies, the competition is now in its 14th year and is the longest running event of its kind in the marine hospitality sector.

Since 2016, Cruise has been a dedicated sector within the global BACARDÍ LEGACY COCKTAIL GLOBAL COMPETITION and competitors benefit from increased training, experiences and international recognition. The global competition was established to test the world’s most passionate, innovative and inspiring bartenders and challenges them to create a BACARDÍ rum cocktail, with the potential to become a classic, joining the pantheon of BACARDÍ Legacy cocktails alongside the Mojito, Daiquirí and Old Cuban before it. Contestants are required to create their own original BACARDÍ Legacy cocktail featuring either BACARDÍ® Superior, BACARDÍ Gold or BACARDÍ OCHO (8) Años.

The personal development benefits for the five finalists stretch beyond the kudos of the ultimate prize, as Zachary Sulkes, International Key Account Manager Cruise, Bacardi Global Travel Retail explains. “Being part of the BACARDÍ LEGACY COCKTAIL GLOBAL COMPETITION, the finalists from cruise and ferry are required to build on their recipe developments skills and now develop their prowess in sales and marketing.

“A fundamentally important phase of the competition is the measurement of how well the bartenders get behind their creation and demonstrate its potential to become established in the drinks industry as a true classic. This can only be achieved by securing trial, consumer and trade awareness and distribution. So our five finalists are now busy promoting their recipe direct to guests and sharing it with fellow bartenders in their company so as to get it listed and served across the fleet. These are incredibly useful business skills that we help them to develop but are theirs to keep enabling them to further develop commercial acumen.”

From over 1200 recipe entries, the final five and their cocktails are:

Sanja Cvijetic – Carnival Cruise Line

Cocktail: Purple Sunset®

Recipe:

60ml BACARDÍ Superior

22ml Monin® Lavender Syrup

15ml lemonade

15ml fresh lime juice

Splash of MARTINI®

Rosemary bunch

Narciso ‘Archie’ Mariano Jr – Holland America Line

Cocktail: Velvet Fashionista®

Recipe:

30 ml BACARDÍ Ocho Años

15ml Islay whisky

15ml ST. GERMAIN® Elderflower Liquor

30ml espresso

15ml agave syrup

orange zest for garnish

Marc MacArthur from Norwegian Cruise Line

Cocktail: Up, up and Away®

Recipe:

60 ml BACARDÍ Ocho Años

30 ml espresso

20 ml cinnamon syrup

10 ml Fernet-Branca®

orange twist and coffee beans

Siddhant Naik – P&O Cruises Australia

Cocktail: Bitter Blanca®

Recipe:

30ml BACARDÍ Superior

15ml ST.GERMAIN Elderflower Liqueur

30 ml egg white

60ml grapefruit juice

Garnish with grapefruit zest and cinnamon powder

Mattias Nilsson - Tallink Silja Line

Cocktail: Bring Back The Summer®

Recipe:

40ml BACARDÍ Superior

30ml ST.GERMAIN Elderflower Liqueur

25ml fresh lemon juice

2 fresh strawberries

4 basil leaves

40ml MARTINI® Prosecco

All five finalists receive $1000 and an all expenses paid trip to the finals in Puerto Rico. The 2019 BACARDÍ Legacy Cruise Bartender of the Year will go on to compete in the finals against 41 other finalists from different markets, in Amsterdam in May 2019 with US$4000 prize monies.

Media enquiries: anne@kavanaghcommunications.com