Sunday night saw Kristin Christie, from Brisbane bar The Gresham, win the national final of Speed Rack Australia at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney.
Hospitality and bartendery types packed out the room and watched eight bartenders go head to head to see who could make a round of four drinks faster and better than the rest, with time added on for sloppy drink execution.
Earlier in the day, 12 bartenders went through the preliminary round, one by one, to whittle the competitors down to the final eight who would battle it out live on stage that night.
The semi-final round on the night came down to four women: Whisky & Alement’s Kayla Reid was up against Flick Eshman from Old Mate's Place and won, booking her spot in the final, whilst Kristin Christie was victorious over Bridget Love from Perth bar Sonnys.
Kayla Reid and Kristin Christie then faced off in the final round before a boisterous crowd — and four enthusiastic judges (Priscilla Leong, Shirley Yeung, Alicia Clarke, and myself) cheering them on. It was a nail biting event — both Kristin and Kayla moved at rapid pace, shaking, stirring, pouring and getting their drinks up as fast as they could. A quick misstep from Kayla had her re-shaking one of her tins, slowing her down, but at the end of the day Kristin was just too quick on the night, taking out the top prize.
Not only does Kristin score the trophy and the bragging rights, but she also picks up a tailored hospitality development prize worth $5,000.
It’s the first year back in Australia for Speed Rack after the Covid era, having previously staged two year’s finals in Australia; the previous winners were Millie Tang in 2019, and Priscilla Leong in 2018.
Speed Rack is a competition founded by American bartenders Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero — both of whom were on hand running the comp — to put a spotlight on the top female and femme-identifying bartenders working in the industry, and was made possible in Australia with the support of William Grant & Sons; all proceeds from the events go to supporting breast cancer education, prevention and research through Tour de Cure.
Here's hoping we see Speed Rack return to our shores for its next Australian season in 2026 — a huge congratulations again to Kristin on the win.
