Diageo World Class is a global bartender competition. Every year, over 60 bartenders from around 25000 countries compete against each other.
The winner of the 2011 tournament was Manabu Otake, the seventh chief bartender at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. The winner of the 2022 tournament and world champion is Adrian Michalczyk from Czechoslovakia.
By the way, Michalchik is currently based at the bar "Pier 42" in Oslo, Norway. He has won the Norwegian Best Bartender award for consecutive years from 2021 to 23.
According to Otake, who participated as a judge in the 2022 competition, "I thought he had everything a bartender should have, and that he would win." However, he said, "There are many great bartenders in Japan that I respect."
Adrian Michalczyk from Czechoslovakia.
A cocktail invented by the two.
On the evening of July 3rd, at the Privé Lounge Bar on the sixth floor of the Palace Hotel Tokyo, the dream collaboration between Michalczyk, who visited Japan this year when the World Championship was held in Tokyo, and Otake came true.
For this day, the two came up with six cocktails, three each. There were three themes: the first was "Experience the Heart of Japan," which expresses the "highest quality of Japan," and the second was "Summer Season," which evokes the feeling of summer, and for these, the two used different gin and whiskey. Only the third had the same base spirit, and the theme was to bring out the best in the ultra-premium tequila "Don Julio 1942," which is said to be the most delicious of all tequilas.
I won't go into detail about all six of them, but Otake's first creation, "THE HEART OF JAPAN," was based on Tanqueray No. 10 gin and incorporated the four seasons of Japan into it. It was an extremely delicate cocktail, with cherry blossom vermouth for spring, gyokuro for summer, Japanese pepper for autumn, yuzu for winter, and finally lime. The third creation, a room temperature tequila cocktail made without ice ("Don Julio 1942 tastes best at room temperature," says Otake), was also very innovative.
Michalczyk's second drink, "DATSUZOKU," is an unusual combination of whiskey and champagne. He adds strawberry juice, maple syrup, plum wine, and lemon. Even though it is based on whiskey, the beautiful red color is also impressive. The taste of this creation, which draws on Japanese ingredients, is extremely complex and subtle.
Manabu Otake is the seventh chief bartender at the Palace Hotel Tokyo.
According to Otake, 50% of guests who come to the bar enjoy cocktails. Westerners tend to prefer bitter and sweet flavors, while Japanese people tend to prefer sour and sweet flavors. The six cocktails the two created that night seemed more geared towards Japanese tastes. The world that unfolds within a single glass is comparable to a single dish of French cuisine. In fact, the flavors contained within a single glass are so diverse that they may even surpass food in that respect. Either way, there is no doubt that it is a truly delicate and enjoyable experience, with various tastes stimulating in the mouth.
Michalczyk will return to Norway, but the three cocktails created by Otake will be available for one month from July 7th at the Palace Hotel Tokyo's main bar, the Royal Bar.
Palace Hotel Tokyo
1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3211-5211
Toshizumi Ishibashi
Former editor-in-chief of ``Claire Traveler'' and ``Claire.'' He is currently a freelance editor and writer, working as a contributing editor in the Premium Japan editorial department.
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