JQ's bartender competition

For all bartenders out there, there is a new kid in town! JQ’s, a Dutch premium spirit brand, is proud to present it’s first and annual bartending competition completely covid-19 proof.

As a bartender you can apply and represent the bar, hotel or restaurant you are currently employed by. Also is it possible to compete as an independent participant when you are currently not working in hospitality as long as you can show you have the necessary experience. The contest will contain two elimination rounds followed by a grand final where a panel of judges will score the ten final competitors and their creations.

There is in total 10.000 euro of price money to be awarded to the winning bartenders and some serious other prices. As a venue you can win up to 200 bottles out of the JQ’s collection free of choice. Check below to see the how, the what and the when. To keep things clean and organised there will be only 100 spots in this competition.

Goodluck!

Prizes

Second place

€1500
For you as bartender

Price for your bar

  • 100 free JQ's bottles

First place

€8000
For you as bartender

Price for your bar

  • 200 free JQ's bottles

Third place

€500
For you as bartender

Price for your bar

  • 50 free JQ's bottles

All finalists will also have the opportunity to develop their own gin in collaboration with JQ’s. 

All contenders will receive a JQ’s package!

Challenge

Let us start by saying that the outline of the competition is rather simple and straightforward. There are 3 rounds of which 2 are qualification rounds and one final round. Every round has one challenge, every challenge has a theoretical part and a practical part. For every challenge you need to create a cocktail from scratch and send it to competition@jqs.wes.digital. You will receive a format that will show you how to describe or present your creation, with all the requirements and such. Before starting the challenges you will receive a package with all the required JQ’s products and materials.

Timeline

Meet the judges

MEG ABRAHAM

Given her background in theater, it’s perhaps no surprise that Meg Abraham’s approach to cocktail-making and service is so joyfully dramatic.Queens”, a special cocktail made with Jefferson’s Small Batch Bourbon, J’Enwey Tea Co’s Champagne and Berries Tea, and a syrup created by steeping the peels of meyer lemons, limes and oranges in tea with fresh Lemon Verbena and pink peppercorn.

JUYOUNG KANG

Philadelphia-born Juyoung Kang has come a long way since her first bartending job, filling in at a wedding when one of the bartenders failed to show up. Her career has taken her from the East Coast to California, and then into the desert: she’s currently Lead Bartender & Mixologist at The Dorsey in Las Vegas.



JONATHAN MILLER

Nothing gets past Jonathan Miller, whose attention to detail is evident in every beautifully-presented drink he sends over the bar at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona. He started bartending after college in Santa Cruz, California, and has accumulated more than his fair share of awards since then, including the 2018 Marriott International 2018 Masters of the Craft first prize (The Phoenician is a Marriott property).

Application form

Apply and receive detailed information about the competition.

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