The World Class Bartender of the Year Competition is the world’s biggest and most respected bartending competition. The competition celebrates the skills and craftsmanship of bartenders worldwide. It is an annual competition entered by thousands of contestants across the globe, culminating in a Global Final event and experience.
For the first time ever St. Maarten / St. Martin will host local finals that will decide who will represent the island in an effort to win the world’s most prestigious title in the mixology and cocktail industry. Eight bartenders from various bars and restaurants on both sides of the island have been selected to battle it out to see who the first St. Maarten World Class winner will be.
It’s absolutely fantastic that our island gest a chance to be represented on such a massive global stage said Roel Kokkelmans, commercial manager at International liquor and Tobacco Trading NV, and driving force behind the initiative. “for years we have wanted to host a local final and compete in the global final, and for this to finally happen shows us that the cocktail culture on St. Maarten is very much alive and on a level we have never seen it before” St. Maarten will be one of four other Caribbean nations to represent and the smallest country overall. We intend to show the mixology world that we are small but strong and resilient, just like our island has shown many times.
The event will be hosted at popular beach lounge Roxxy Beach Club on Wednesday 28
th
and Thursday 29
th
of April from 7PM until 10PM. The event is open to the public and all spectators are welcome to see the show and cheer on their favorite contestant while enjoying a special world class cocktail yourself. Everyone is reminded to keep in mind the government covid-19 guidelines in mind.
In the first round on Wednesday all contestants will face 2 different challenges that they will have to complete, and which will be scored by a 3 headed jury of mixologists and industry leaders. The top 4 will advance to the final speed round on Thursday in which the bartenders get 6 minutes to make 6 different twists on classic cocktails. After this the jury will award the prestigious title to the highest point scorer.
Our newly crowned World Class St. Maarten winner will go on to represent the country in a unique multi-format event hosted in
Madrid, Spain from 5-8th July 2021
. Here after a range of testing tasks the new World Class Global Bartender of the Year will emerge victorious!
For more information, please visit the ILTT Facebook and Instagram page (ILTT SXM) to see the contestant’s profiles and challenge details.
World Class
is on a mission to inspire people to drink better and create unforgettable experiences in the process. World Class has supported, trained and inspired over 350,000 bartenders across the globe for more than eleven years, while partnering them with the world’s finest spirits – the Diageo Reserve collection. World Class is also the authority on the drinks industry. They are where consumers look for information on the latest drinks, trends, cocktail recipes and industry insight.
