Initiative Crowned Cocktail Champions At The Blis Golden Shaker Grand Final

Once again, B&T was on-hand to judge an impressive array of cocktails at the Blis Golden Shaker Grand Final 2017 last Thursday night at The Calyx in Sydney.

Coordinated by location tech company Blis and hosted by World Class Cocktail Competition ambassador Krystal Hart, I was lucky enough to be on the judging panel along with cocktail expert Brendan Keown, bar manager of Restaurant Hubert, as well as Blis’ Aussie and NZ managing director, Nick Ballard.

Media agencies UM, Blue 449, OMD, Initiative, M2M, Ansible, OMGP and PHD battled it out in the grand final after receiving some professional training by Sweet&Chilli’s Dave Rozario to help them come up with their own signature cocktail.

Each of the eight teams put on a show in creating their unique alcoholic concoction for us judges in front of a 100-strong industry crowd, with taste, aroma, look and flair all part of the criteria.

Blue 449 finished third with its delicious blueberry-infused cocktail ‘The Blue Rose’, while OMPG’s very tasty ‘Dirty Crumble’ placed second.

However, the night belonged to Initiative, who entertained the judges with their own wildlife documentary to produce ‘The Attenborough’.

The eight media agencies weren’t the only ones to have people drinking their cocktails on the night, with ‘The B&Teaser’ being served to guests upon arrival.

Here’s the recipe, in case you want to make it yourself:

• 30ml lime juice
• 15ml agave sweetener
• ½ slice of pineapple (muddled)
• 2 slices of ginger (muddled)
• 60ml dark rum
• Mint (shaken in)