A new spritz making contest for bartenders

Perrier has partnered with Australia’s national hospitality awards program Appetite for Excellence to challenge the country’s bartenders to a spritz making contest.

The competition will be judged by Luke Ashton, owner of award-winning spritz and cocktail bar This Must Be The Place and Diageo Australia’s Bartender of the Year 2013.

With the growing trend towards lower alcohol cocktails, the spritz has become increasingly popular across the country, with bartenders creating unique interpretations of this popular drink. Perrier, one of the world’s most renowned mineral waters, hopes to encourage bartenders to express their creativity and produce what could be Australia’s best spritz.

“I’m really excited to be judging this year’s competition at This Must Be the Place and seeing what some of Australia’s talented bartenders can produce with an iconic brand such as Perrier,” says Ashton.

The rules of the competition are straightforward: contestants must create a spritz that contains at least 30ml of Perrier, a wine of their choice, and no more than five ingredients; they can include spirits, aperitifs and liqueurs, as well as homemade ingredients such a syrups or shrubs (maximum two per spritz). Garnishes will not be counted as one of the five ingredients.

Entries should include a name for the spritz, a brief description of the inspiration and why it deserves to become an icon, an image of the final drink and a step-by-step recipe for any homemade ingredients.

Finalists will be flown to Sydney to make their spritz for Ashton and the Perrier team on 6 August at This Must Be The Place in Darlinghurst. The winner will then be announced at the Appetite For Excellence Awards that evening where the winning spritz will be served to leading industry guests.

The winning prize also includes a return flight with Virgin Australia on the newly launched route from Sydney to Hong Kong and $1000 to spend whilst exploring the vibrant bar scene of Hong Kong.

Applications opened on 27 June and will close on 25 July 2018. For more info, visit the event website.