Bartenders' Choice Awards just took place in Copenhagen, and we were there to experience it live. Excitement was certainly in the air, especially as most of the nominees were present at this year's venue - The Plant.
Also several brands from the business were represented, meaning there were lots of opportunities to grab a solid cocktail. We tried a Tanqueray Negroni, an Absolut Martini and a Koskenkorva highball just to mention a few.
The gala was elegantly hosted by Georgia and Jakob - announcing all winners and taking good care of them on stage. Guest presenters from some of the participating brands also did a solid job of making each winner announcement extra exciting.
It's almost easy to forget how Bartenders' Choice Awards is somehow about winning prices, there's just so much happy partying in the middle of all of it. But winners there were. Some of the Swedish one that stood out to us was Stjärtilleriet winning Best Cocktail Menu, David Kringlund winning Improver of the Bar Industry, and of course Svante Garsten Schön winning Best Bartender.
As we were in Copenhagen several days ahead of the gala we managed to try out quite a few of the Danish nominated bars. And it warmed our hearts seeing Bird. winning Best Cocktail Bar, Best Cocktail Menu and Best Signature Cocktail. Also nice was to see superstar Adrián Michalcík being crowned Best Norwegian Bartender (as we recently visited Pier 42 in Oslo, where Adrián works).
It's hard to accurately capture in photos, the festivness of this gala. It's a whole bunch of fantastic people, joined by the love for cocktails, dressed up, in good party mood. Some are nominated and have the chance of winning prices, but most of us are simply there because it is so much fun. It really is!
Bartenders' Choice Awards is arranged by Purfict and we want to give a big shoutout to Joel Katzenstein, Michael Bergström, Andreas Näslund and Jakob Sundin for putting up such a good show, for the thirteenth time! Skål!
