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A rainy Monday in October at Dirty Martini in the heart of London, saw 15 Bartenders come together to compete in the annual Pub & Bar Magazine Classic Cocktail Competition 2024. Frona Fruits, via Drinkstuff, had the honour of being one of the Brand Sponsors, obviously sponsoring the Garnishes for the competition, which meant our very own Steve the Barman got to be a judge as well. His task, judging the Long Island Iced Tea entries!
The whole ethos of this competition is right at the heart of what Steve believes in. Why invent brand new Cocktails that no one has heard of, when you can just put your own spin on Classic Cocktails that everyone has heard of and have a proven track record of selling and making Bars money!
Overall, the standard was incredible. Steve commented, "after nearly 30 years in the industry, you think you’ve seen it all, but these Bartenders came up with new combos and techniques that blew my mind!”
Now it’d be rude to focus on one particular Cocktail, especially when each Bartender made 6, however, let's just say the one that Steve enjoyed enough to polish off, was from eventual Winner, Aidan Beaumont (Manahatta, Leeds) and his Pineapple riff on the Long Island. Super well balanced and not sweet at all.
But as we’re here to talk about Frona Garnishes, we should really focus on how our Fruits were used.
Yes, of course, some of it was simplicity. From Lemon Wheels in Highballs, to Passion Fruits on the Pornstars. But there was also some superb ideas that we’re definitely stealing...
Step forward Antonio from the Inception Group.
For his Thyme Infused Spicy Margarita, Antonio opted for a combo of our Rimming Powders. He mixed together some Frona Passion Fruit Sugar, some Frona Strawberry Sugar, some Frona Chilli Salt AND some chopped up Thyme, then used that to Rim is Coupe Glasses. This finished effect looked stunning, and totally different to any normal Margarita Rim you’ve probably seen before.
Plus of course, we had the standard Spicy Margarita rim using the Frona Chilli Pepper Salt. It complemented David Beaumont's herbaceous riff on the Marg, using Basil Oil and Soy Sauce no less!
Another of Antonio’s garnishes that stood out was on his Pornstar Martini. To finish off his drink he created a Passion Fruit, Coconut & Pineapple Foam, but then Sprinkled some Frona Passion Fruit Sugar over the top, then finished with a Frona Passion Fruit!
And then, when it came to the Long Islands, the Garnish that stood out here was from Demi Harper (Inn Collection Group). Her floral take on the Cocktail was expertly finished with some crushed up Frona Hibiscus Flowers stuck to the glass. Honestly, it looked stunning!
Demi also took a blow torch to some of the Frona Bananas adorned with Demerara Sugar to Caramelised them, before laying them on top of a large Ice Cube for her Old Fashioned!
Our Frona Oranges also made a great base for a floral finish to a Negroni. While David Beaumont from Rank Group decided to use the Frona Purple Apples as a “plate” for his Pepper & Blackberry BBQ Sauce. (Confession, Steve may have stolen a few of the Apple Slices as "snacks"!)
The final Show piece though was the Sponsor Drinks at the end of a long afternoon. Step forward last years winner, Ed Garner (Nightcap) who decided to use some Frona Purple Dragon Fruit to garnish his Boiron Prickly Pear Cocktails. We have to say, to see these lined up for guests to grab, simply looked incredible.
It was a massive honour to be a part of this competition. Well done to all the finalists. But a special well done to Aidan, not forgetting his tasty Pineapple Long Island Iced Tea!
Here at Drinkstuff, we have well over 20 different Fruits to Garnish your Cocktails