How Kayla Reid won the Victorian final of Speed Rack
Kayla will join Trinity Bird in representing Victoria at the national final in October.
Sunday night in Melbourne saw a packed house come together at Goodwater in Northcote, and they were for agood cause: the Victorian final of Speed Rack Australia.
Charity whisky and cocktails were the order of the day, while the crowd cheered on four women having a crack at the toughest bartending comp going around, making four drinks for four esteemed judges — including a Morning Glory Fizz on the fly.
No easy task.
Two bartenders have now made it throguh from the Victorian final to the national final in Sydney in Octber: Trinity Bird from Bouvardia, and taking out the win for the comp, Kayla Reid from Whisky & Alement.
Below, we talked to Kayla about the win, and get some advice from her on just what you need to do to set yourself up for a Speed Rack win.
Kayla, you’ve competed in Speed Rack before — how did it go this time? What was it like to win?
Hey Sam! Yes, I have competed before. I made nationals that time around as well but I totally cooked my prelim at nationals so hopefully there isn’t a repeat of that. Well, I won so I suppose you could say it went okay! I haven’t competed for a while and am generally my toughest critic so my brain started ticking over the things I would change and improve on if I made nationals immediately after I did my run. I am competitive so it’s great to win of course! But I mainly wanted to show up for the ladies and support a good cause.
What is it about Speed Rack that you think makes it special?
I love seeing women supporting women. From start to finish we were trying to be considerate of each other, hyping each other up, giving advice if needed even though we were competing against each other. It fosters more community which is always important.
What advice do you have for the next lot of bartenders competing? How can they set themselves up for a good time?
Speed Rack is a unique comp because you can’t prepare 100% for it which adds an extra layer of nerves. You don’t fully know which drinks you’re making until you get there on the day, so you can’t work out and practice a full run prior. The best advice I can give is to be confident in your free pouring and ensure all your speed pourers are secure on the day. Your bar setup takes longer than you think — don’t dally. Try your hardest not to overthink and psych yourself out before you go up - easier said than done I know. Jump around to get some nervous energy out and just look at it like another round behind the bar during a busy service, it’s what we get paid to do!