[dropcap]S[/dropcap]aint Lucian bartender Steve Peter from The Body Holiday at Le Sport is off to Sweden after he teamed up with a Swedish bartender to win the Chairman Reserve Mai Tai Challenge.
The Chairman’s Reserve Cocktail Challenge is a competition that has evolved from just highlighting local bartending professionals to include a collaboration of international talent.
Over the past year, Chairman’s Reserve conducted smaller cocktail competitions in top spirit markets around the globe. These multi-market competitions were very competitive and saw some of the world’s top bartenders and mixologists create many variations of the Mai Tai cocktail recipe with Chairman’s Reserve as the star spirit.
Ten international bartender winners from the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and France all converged in Saint Lucia to participate in the Chairman’s Reserve Tropical Cocktail Challenge.
Once they arrived, the international bartenders were paired with their Saint Lucian counterparts, to start their four day partnership. The Saint Lucian bartenders represented Cappella at Marigot Bay, Sandals Resorts, Bay Gardens, Anse Chastanet, Rendevous, Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, and The Body Holiday.
The group of twenty bartenders attended seminars on their profession and Saint Lucian spiced rum. They also had the opportunity to learn more about Chairman’s Reserve, visit St Lucia Distillers and enjoy the sights of the island by sea.
The interaction between the Saint Lucian and international bartenders was to facilitate an exchange of ideas and methods and to encourage the international community to explore and experience the local culture and heritage of the island.
Visiting the Castries market in their two-man teams was an important component of the competition. It gave participants the opportunity to see, smell and purchase fresh local fruit and spices that played a major role in their competing cocktails.
In the end, Steve Peter of Saint Lucia and Sharam Mohebi of Sweden wowed the judges and the audience at the finals held at Capella at Marigot Bay.
Steve Peter and Sharam Mohebi scored a total of 449 points to win comfortably. Steve’s prizes included a trophy, cash, and an all-expenses paid trip to Sweden.
In second place was the United Kingdom/Saint Lucia team of Andy Turner [UK] and Ron Hilaire of Capella at Marigot Bay. Third place went to the USA’s Anthony Guaetta and Daniel Francois of Capella at Marigot Bay.
