A 25-year-old bartender from Bengaluru, Rohan Matmary won the Brown-Forman American Whiskey Legacy Cocktail Challenge 2019 held in New Delhi on February 6.
Bengaluru :
A 25-year-old bartender from Bengaluru, Rohan Matmary won the Brown-Forman American Whiskey Legacy Cocktail Challenge 2019 held in New Delhi on February 6. The third edition of the challenge saw participation of 300 mixologists from Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Bengaluru and 17 of them were shortlisted for the finale.
The competition was judged by industry experts, including Yangdup Lama, one of India’s finest and well-known mixologist; Vikram Achanta, CEO and co-founder of the popular portal Tulleeho and Vinay Joshi, Brand Manager, Jack Daniel’s for Indian subcontinent and Maldives, Brown-Forman Worldwide LLC. The annual championship expects mixologists to create some signature cocktail recipes with some of the most well-known American whiskies. Matmary, a mixologist at the Byg Brewsky, Sarjapur Road, prepared Lillianaire and Aztec Mule at the finale. Lillianaire is a combination of whiskey, hibiscus plant and egg white and Aztec Mule is a mix of whiskey, pineapple, jaggery and jalapeño.
He says, “I created these cocktails over three months with several trials and errors and received feedback from my customers. Some said it’s spicy and others found them too sweet. So I worked on creating a balance between sweet and sour so that it suits the Indian palate. Indians prefer their drinks slightly sweeter, while Americans prefer it sour.” He adds that as these combinations for cocktails are rare, people were initially hesitant to try. Coming up with these recipes weren’t easy for Matmary. “These ingredients are a rare combination. Some, for example, would associate hibiscus with whiskey. So, I did a lot of trials before making these creations,” he says, adding that these cocktails will be included in the menu and patrons can try them with some meat options. “Lillianaire is quite velvety while Aztec Mule is very tiki-like, fun-loving and a good drink during a brunch,” he says. But, his personal favourite is
Aztec Mule.
This was the second time Matmary participated in this challenge. Last time, he secured the second position. “This time, luckily, I came first,” says Matmary, who has always been interested in bartending and loves trying out different combinations with whiskey and gin.
Now, the 25-year-old bar chef will go on a guided tour to the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, USA. Besides the distilleries, he will also attend the Bar Convent Brooklyn, a leading international bar and beverage trade show, as part of a global bartending contingent and rub shoulders with some of the best bartenders globally.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Akhila Damodaran / Express News Service / February 18th, 2019