The global cocktail competition Giffard West Cup is finally back, and this year’s theme is Listen To The Flavours. The competition was held at Reka:bar and was open to all bartenders in Malaysia with a total of 10 finalist where 2 winners will represent Malaysia at the Giffard West Cup Asia Finals which will go on to compete in the global finals in Anjou, France, where Giffard family distillery was founded.
The Art Of Mixing: Listen To The Flavours
Competitors this year are required to create a cocktail inspired by music which should be paired with the cocktail they’re making where the cocktail story needs to be relevant to the music, with at least 20ml of Giffard liqueurs being used.
Bartender Contestants
The selection of bartenders were based on submissions by videos by contestants which were shortlisted internally by Giffard Malaysia.
Name: Choo Kean Kee
Bar: Good Friends Club
Cocktail: Sip Of Redemption
Song: Feel Good Inc. by Gorrilaz
Name: Jason Dennis D’cruz
Bar: Luca
Cocktail: Hail
Song: Come And Get Your Love by Redbone
Name: Jason Yee
Bar: Ikiya 2.0
|Cocktail: City Blossoms
Song: Stay With Me by Miki Matsubara
Name: Kamarul Nizam
Bar: Frank’s Bar
Cocktail: Mei Flowers
Song: April Flowers by Natey G
Name: Kelvin Wong
Bar: Good Friends Club
Cocktail: To Good Life
Song: Good Life by One Republic
Name: Kenny Ng Jian Heng
Bar: Reka:Bar
Cocktail: To Good Life
Song: Rasa Sayange by Saykoji (Remix)
Name: Koh Yung Shen
Bar: Backdoor Bodega
Cocktail: Le Paradis
Song: Kokomo by The Beach Boys
Name: Lean Ming Shen
Bar: Pahit
Cocktail: Makeba
Song: Makeba by Jain
Name: Mailen Danisan
Bar: Boudoirz
Cocktail: Dreaming
Song: Dreaming by Blondie
Name: Thanesh Kumar
Bar: Backdoor Bodega
Cocktail: Mata Kuching
Song: Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor
Giffard West Cup Malaysia 2022 Winners
The top two bartenders that qualified to the finals were Koh Yung Shen of Backdoor Bodega and Jason Yee of Ikiya 2.0 who will go on to compete in the Giffard West Cup Asia Finals in Bali.
Giffard Malaysia Judging Panel
This year’s judging panel was made up of Shirmy Chan, GWC 2019 Asia Winner and Co-Founder of Bar Terumi, Lolita Goh, Co-Founder of Junglebird and Nicholas Ng of Food For Thought & Tipple.my. Judging is made based on 6 criteria, technique, expression of Giffard, link with the theme, charisma, appearance, and taste / aroma / flavour with deductible points for mistakes.
Giffard West Cup 2022 Asia Finals will be had on Monday 4th July 2022 at Kaum, Desa Potato Head, Bali.