Bartenders Are The New Rock Stars

BACARDI does it right!
The first Canadian Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition was done in great style. Nights like this don’t come along every day. They sent a car for me.

About 200 guests from the bar-tending community were guided through the dark tunnels of Casa Loma and entered the gorgeous Solarium, which had been transformed to CASA BACARDI.
Eight of Canada’s leading rum bartenders had been chosen to compete. They showed their skills and created their versions of true classics. Toronto residents Alana Nogueda for her cocktail, A night in Santiago; Simon Hooper for his creation, Behind The Bat (My favorite. See his recipe below); former Vancouver native, Evelyn Chick for her cocktail, Just in Thyme; Montreal resident, Drahos Chytry for his creation, Bayamo; two hopefuls from Halifax, Jeffrey Van Horne for his cocktail, The Stepping Stone, as well as Shane Beehan for Golden Glow; Vancouver resident Mike Shum for his drink, Chan Chan, and Calgary resident, Jimmy Nguyen for his cocktail, Cuban Cola.
We watched and tasted in fascination, as our best competed for their chance to represent Canada among 35 other countries in Sydney, Australia, May 5th, 2015.
Tonight I have been converted from my unwavering allegiance to the Grey Goose classic martini to something new and exciting: the Bacardi White Rum Daiquiri. The texture is liquid silk, a testament to the Bacardi Rum 5-step distillation process, mellowed in American white oak barrels and filtered 5 times.
And the winner… chosen by a panel of professionals, is: Mike Shum from Vancouver for his cocktail “Chan Chan”.
The trademark of Bacardi is: “Live passionately. Drink responsibly”. They mean it. Taxi chits for guests and a fleet of taxis waiting in the Casa Loma courtyard took everyone home safely.
Behind the Bat, by Simon Hooper
Ingredients:
2 oz Bacardi White Rum
1 oz Ginger Liqueur
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white
Angostura Bitters stencil
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker.
Dry Shake.
Add ice and shake until chilled
Fine strain into a coupe glass
Spritz with Angostura mist over Bacardi Bat Stencil.

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