In its sixth edition, Diageo World Class continues to look for Lebanon’s best mixologist and has selected last week Mike Kassabian from SAPA Best Bartender in Lebanon to represent his country in the global finale taking place in Mexico in August.
Participants from several bars in Lebanon teamed up with international and local mixology experts to partake in Burst 1 & Burst 2 of this year’s World Class competition in Sapa and Garcia’s and six bartenders qualified to the finals: Moe Naanaa from Jackie O, Gerrard Aalam from The Tipplers, Hady Harmanani from Bistro Bar Hamra, Mike Kassabian from SAPA, Sally Sabeh from Trainstation and Wael Kossaifi from Discotek.
I was there at the competition and the participants were creating cocktails using prime brands including Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Ketel One, Zacapa, Don Julio, Cîroc, and Tanqueray No. Ten.
The winner Mike Kassabian prepared a Tanqueray No. Ten-based cocktail called “Fountain of Life”. The cocktail included in addition to the Tanqueray basil, Aloe vera oil , Aged chamomile Campari and Pink Grapefruit.
For those interested, I made sure to get my hands on the full recipe to give it a try at home:
4 basil leaves
1 drop of Aloe vera oil
50 ml Tanqueray N10
20 ml Lemon juice
20 ml Simple syrup
10 ml aged Campari ( chamomile tea pre-washed barrel )
Combine the ingredients in a shaker
Shake with a chunk of crystal clear ice, double strain in a short glass
Garnish : grapefruit zest for aroma
Basil leaf
Congrats to Mike and best of luck at the Global World Class competition in Mexico.