With a unanimous vote from the National Board, we are proud and excited to officially welcome the Cincinnati Chapter to the USBG! Congratulations to Pilar Zeglin for getting the chapter started, and we welcome her to the team as the first Cincinnati Chapter President.
The Chapter Officers are:
Pilar Zeglin - President
Adrian Tata - Vice President
Charla McNeeley - General Secretary
Leslie Ackermann - Treasurer
Welcome, Cincinnati! Congratulations!
Livio Lauro
National President of the USBG
Team USA Wins Cocktail World Cup
From more than 2,000 bartenders around the world, the Team USA trio of Mark Stoddard, Todd Thrasher and Sean Hoard emerged as the clear winners in the sixth annual 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup.
The grand final event capped off five days of intense competition, with 24 bartenders from seven countries competing in a series of challenges in Queenstown and Wellington, New Zealand. Team USA was crowned the best bartenders in the world, with their wordy cocktail titled “I have too much thyme on my hands right now at this point in my life” (42BELOW Pure, apple bitters, lime thyme syrup and an artichoke aperitif). The team was backed on stage by Run DMC before shedding their black tracksuits and donning cocktail aprons to make a truly classy drink.
Earlier in the competition, Team USA won the 21st Century Punch challenge, and the members were strong contenders throughout. "The drink was sorted from day one but the presentation came together in the last minute on the plane. It was phenomenal," Thrasher said.
U.S. bartender of the year and judge Jim Meehan commended the team for being both confident and humble. ”Their level of performance and presentation was amazing,” he said.
Coming in a close second was Team France with Le Rendez-Vous, which they served alongside a dessert also created on stage. “France was a surprise. They had been lagging before tonight,” said Jacob Briars, 42BELOW global vodka professor.
In third place were the home favorites, Team New Zealand with their 42 Cuba St cocktail. The team of Josh Crawford, Calem Chadwick and James Goggin displayed a never-before-seen technique of “flazing” – using dry ice to aerate the drink instead of flames. Their cocktail contained 42BELOW Manuka Honey, chocolate, decanter bitters and a spray of gunpowder and over-proof rums. Simon Difford, founder and editor of Class magazine, said the New Zealand drink was classy and his favorite tasting drink of the night.
The Irish kicked off the competition wearing their trademark emerald green velour tracksuits and used their national tipple to create Wilde Honey Porter (42BELOW Manuka Honey, Irish stout, white wine, white crème de cacao, gomme syrup, lime juice, egg white, Angostura bitters and cardamom pod).
Team London had some of the most “turbulent” CWC experiences (contact Queenstown police for more information) but made consistently good cocktails. London team members said it was the experience of their lives. “Being woken up at 7 a.m. to do crazy things and then having cocktail competitions in the most beautiful settings in the world was truly awesome,” said team member Danny Winter.
To read more, visit the USBG blog at www.USBG.wordpress.com.