Across two days in Daylesford, Victoria, 10 bartenders from throughout Australia have got together to celebrate community, showcase the great work of artisans in their cities, and compete for the prize of a trip to Brazil as the Australian winner of the Diplomático Artisans of Taste competition.
Yesterday, the finalists — Leo Reymond (Maison Bâtard, Melbourne), Brett Nebauer (11e Càve, Canberra), Carter Stacey (Savile Row, Brisbane), Jack Somers (Honeydripper, Adelaide), John Ross-Jones (Maison Bâtard, Melbourne), Matt Heid (Manchuria Bar, Melbourne), Olivia Beau (Shaman, Brisbane), Tibo Menut (Eau de Vie, Melbourne), Koby Gelven (Maybe Mae, Adelaide), and Marc Djurasevich (NOLA, Adelaide) — participated in a public speaking and presentation workshop, listened to a brand, cocktail comp and career talk, and got around the table to swap stories and create new friendships.
It was all preparation for the big day today. After a sound immersion session in the morning, the Australian Diplomático Artisans of Taste competition final got underway, with each of the 10 bartenders presenting their Diplomático cocktails and showcasing cacao and community with some very smart drinks.
The judges — award-winning bartender Alex Boon, Mark Fischer (head of super premium brands at Brown-Forman Australia), and myself — were impressed with the quality of drinks and presentations on offer from bartenders with a range of experience levels. The future of great drinking is in good hands.
But it was the veteran bartender John Ross-Jones representing Maison Bâtard in Melbourne who came out on top, with an elegant and elevated drink showcasing Diplomático Planas and cacao from an artisan Melbourne producer — served up, it had the judges coming back for sip after sip after sip.
It’s a super smart drink from a bartender at the height of his game — and you can get the recipe below.
Camino Rocoso
(Single serve)
Ingredients
35ml Diplomático Planas
9ml Cacao & Macadamia Distillate
5ml Jean Marc Roulout Raspberry Eau De Vie
10ml Lacto Coconut Cordial
8 drops (0.4ml) Cacao Husk Tincture
15ml dilution
Method
Add all ingredients to a thermos flask, put in freezer (minimum -10C) for 4-5 hours. Pour into a frozen Martini glass.
Garnish with homemade ‘Rocky Road’, chocolate rectangle with freeze dried raspberry, coconut and macadamia.
